neck, are brought out with minute
fidelity. A statue was no longer, as in earlier days, merely a piece
of sacred stone, the support of the divine or human double, in which
artistic value was an accessory of no importance and was esteemed only
as a guarantee of resemblance: without losing aught of its religious
significance, a statue henceforward became a work of art, admired and
prized for the manner in which the sculptor faithfully represented his
model, as well as for its mystic utility.

The reign of Psammetichus lasted till nearly the end of the century, and
was marked by peace both at home and abroad. No doubt skirmishes of some
kind took place in Lydia and Nubia, but we know nothing of them, nor
have we any account of engagements with the Asiatics which from time to
time must have taken place during this reign. Psammetichus followed with
a vigilant eye the revolutionary changes beyond the isthmus, actuated
at first by the fear of an offensive movement on the part of Syria, and
when that ceased to be a danger, by the hope of one day recovering,
in Southern Syria, at all events, that leading position which his
predecessors had held so long. Tradition asserts that he wisely confined
his ambition to the conquest of the Philistine Pentapolis; it is even
reported that he besieged Ashdod for twenty-nine years before gaining
possession of it. If we disregard the cipher, which is evidently
borrowed from some popular romance, the fact in itself is in no way
improbable. Ashdod was a particularly active community, and had played
a far more important part in earlier campaigns than any other member of
the Pentapolis. It possessed outside the town proper, which was situated
some little distance from the coast, a seaport similar to that of Gaza,
and of sufficient size to shelter a whole fleet.

[Illustration: 361.jpg THE RUINS OF SAIS]

Drawn by Boudior, from a photograph by Golenischeff.

Whoever held this harbour could exercise effective control over the main
routes leading from Syria into Egypt. Psammetichus probably undertook
this expedition towards the end of his life, when the victories gained
by the Medes had demonstrated the incapacity of Assyria to maintain the
defence of her distant provinces.*

* At one time I was inclined to explain this period of
twenty-nine years by assuming that the fall of Ashdod took
place in the twenty-ninth year of the king's reign, and that
Herodotus had mistaken