n it
upon him to assume the direction. He could cast his eyes over the
unhappy Egypt--depressed, down-trodden, well-nigh trampled to death--and
give his best consideration to the question what was to be done to
restore her to her ancient greatness. There she lay before his eyes in a
deplorable state of misery and degradation. All the great cities, her
glory and her boast in former days, had suffered more or less in the
incessant wars; Memphis had been besieged and pillaged half a dozen
times; Thebes had been sacked and burnt twice; from Syene to Pelusium
there was not a town which had not been injured in one or other of the
many invasions. The canals and roads, carefully repaired by Shabak, had
since his decease met with entire neglect; the cultivable lands had been
devastated, and the whole population decimated periodically. Out of the
ruins of the old Egypt, Psamatik had to raise up a new Egypt. He had to
revivify the dead corpse, and put a fresh life into the stiff and
motionless limbs. With great energy and determination he set himself to
accomplish the task. Applying himself, first of all, to the restoration
of what was decayed and ruined, he re-established the canals and the
roads, encouraged agriculture, favoured the development of the
population. The ruined towns were gradually repaired and rebuilt, and
vast efforts made everywhere to restore, and even to enlarge and
beautify the sacred edifices. At Memphis, Psamatik built the great
southern portal which gave completeness to the ancient temple of the god
Phthah, and also constructed a grand court for the residence of the
Apis-Bulls, surrounded by a colonnade, against the piers of which stood
colossal figures of Osiris, from eighteen to twenty feet in height. At
Thebes he re-erected the portions of the temple of Karnak, which had
been thrown down by the Assyrians; at Sais, Mendes, Heliopolis, and
Philae he undertook extensive works. The entire valley of the Nile became
little more than one huge workshop, where stone-cutters and masons,
bricklayers and carpenters, laboured incessantly. Under the liberal
encouragement of the king and of his chief nobles, the arts recovered
themselves and began to flourish anew. The engraving and painting of the
hieroglyphics were resumed with success, and carried out with a
minuteness and accuracy that provokes the admiration of the beholder.
Bas-reliefs of extreme beauty and elaboration characterize the period.
There rests upon som