tion, and the weight of
influence which it enabled its possessor to exercise, that the office
had become hereditary. As far back as the reign of Ramesses IX., we find
that the holder of the position has succeeded his father in it, and
regards himself as high-priest rather by natural right than by the will
of the king. The priest of that time, Amenhotep by name, the son of
Ramesses-nekht, undertakes the restoration of the Temple of Ammon at
Thebes of his own proper motion, "strengthens its walls, builds it anew,
makes its columns, inserts in its gates the great folding-doors of
acacia wood." Formerly, the kings were the builders, and the
high-priests carried out their directions and then in the name of the
gods gave thanks to the kings for their pious munificence. Under the
ninth Ramesses the order was reversed--"now it is the king who testifies
his gratitude to the High-Priest of Ammon for the care bestowed on his
temple by the erection of new buildings and the improvement and
maintenance of the older ones." The initiative has passed out of the
king's hands into those of his subject; he is active, the king is
passive; all the glory is Amenhotep's; the king merely comes in at the
close of all, as an ornamental person, whose presence adds a certain
dignity to the final ceremony.

[Illustration: HEAD OF HER-HOR.]

Under the last of the Ramessides the High-Priest of Ammon at Thebes was
a certain Her-hor. He was a man of a pleasing countenance, with features
that were delicate and good, and an expression that was mild and
agreeable. He had the art so to ingratiate himself with his sovereign as
to obtain at his hands at least five distinct offices of state besides
his sacred dignity. He was "Chief of Upper and Lower Egypt," "Royal son
of Gush," "Fanbearer on the right hand of the King," "Principal
Architect," and "Administrator of the Granaries," Some of these offices
may have been honorary; but the duties of others must have been
important, and their proper discharge would have required a vast amount
of varied ability. It is not likely that Herhor possessed all the
needful qualifications; rather we must presume that he grasped at the
multiplicity of appointments in order to accumulate power, so far as was
possible, in his own hands, and thereby to be in a better position to
seize the royal authority on the monarch's demise. If Ramesses III. died
without issue, his task must have been facilitated; at any rate, he
seems to h