e river in imposing array. To say
that the decline of Egyptian art began with Rameses II. is a commonplace of
contemporary criticism; yet nothing is less true than an axiom of this
kind. Many statues and bas-reliefs executed during his reign are no doubt
inconceivably rude and ugly; but these are chiefly found in provincial
towns where the schools were indifferent, and where the artists had no
fine examples before them. At Thebes, at Memphis, at Abydos, at Tanis, in
those towns of the Delta where the court habitually resided, and even at
Abu Simbel and Beit el Wally, the sculptors of Rameses II. yield nothing in
point of excellence to those of Seti I. and Horemheb. The decadence did not
begin till after the reign of Merenptah. When civil war and foreign
invasion brought Egypt to the brink of destruction, the arts, like all
else, suffered and rapidly declined. It is sad to follow their downward
progress under the later Ramessides, whether in the wall-subjects of the
royal tombs, or in the bas-reliefs of the temple of Khonsu, or on the
columns of the hypostyle hall at Karnak. Wood carving maintained its level
during a somewhat longer period. The admirable statuettes of priests and
children at Turin date from the Twentieth Dynasty. The advent of Sheshonk
and the internecine strife of the provinces at length completed the ruin of
Thebes, and the school which had produced so many masterpieces perished
miserably.

[Illustration Fig. 202.--Queen Ameniritis.]

[Illustration: Fig. 203.--The goddess Thueris. Saite work.]

The Renaissance did not dawn till near the end of the Ethiopian Dynasty,
some three hundred years later. The over-praised statue of Queen
Ameniritis[50] (fig. 202) already manifests some noteworthy qualities. The
limbs, somewhat long and fragile, are delicately treated; but the head is
heavy, being over-weighted by the wig peculiar to goddesses. Psammetichus
I., when his victories had established him upon the throne, busied himself
in the restoration of the temples. Under his auspices, the valley of the
Nile became one vast studio of painting and sculpture. The art of engraving
hieroglyphs attained a high degree of excellence, fine statues and bas-
reliefs were everywhere multiplied, and a new school arose. A marvellous
command of material, a profound knowledge of detail, and a certain elegance
tempered by severity, are the leading characteristics of this new school.
The Memphites preferred limestone; the Theba