d through it were alike owing to the divine help
given in battle. A tenth, therefore, of the slaves, cattle, and precious
metals was set apart for the service of the gods, and even fields,
towns, and provinces were allotted to them, the produce of which was
applied to enhance the importance of their cult or to repair and enlarge
their temples. The main body of the building was strengthened, halls and
pylons were added to the original plan, and the impulse once given to
architectural work, the co-operation of other artificers soon
followed. Sculptors and painters whose art had been at a standstill for
generations during the centuries of Egypt's humiliation, and whose
hands had lost their cunning for want of practice, were now once more in
demand. They had probably never completely lost the technical knowledge
of their calling, and the ancient buildings furnished them with various
types of models, which they had but to copy faithfully in order to
revive their old traditions. A few years after this revival a new school
sprang up, whose originality became daily more patent, and whose leaders
soon showed themselves to be in no way inferior to the masters of the
older schools. Ahmosis could not be accused of ingratitude to the gods;
as soon as his wars allowed him the necessary leisure, he began his work
of temple-building. The accession to power of the great Theban families
had been of little advantage to Thebes itself. Its Pharaohs, on assuming
the sovereignty of the whole valley, had not hesitated to abandon their
native city, and had made Heracleopolis, the Fayum or even Memphis,
their seat of government, only returning to Thebes in the time of the
XIIIth dynasty, when the decadence of their power had set in. The honour
of furnishing rulers for its country had often devolved on Thebes,
but the city had reaped but little benefit from the fact; this time,
however, the tide of fortune was to be turned. The other cities of Egypt
had come to regard Thebes as their metropolis from the time when they
had temples. The main body of the building was strengthened, halls and
pylons were added to the original plan, and the impulse once given to
architectural work, the co-operation of other artificers soon
followed. Sculptors and painters whose art had been at a standstill for
generations during the centuries of Egypt's humiliation, and whose
hands had lost their cunning for want of practice, were now once more in
demand. They had probab