hresholds of their mosques. Not only have they been
ruined, but the remains of their ruins have, as it were, melted away
and almost entirely disappeared in the course of ages. And yet, wherever
excavations have been made among these remains which have suffered such
deplorable ill-treatment, colossi and inscriptions commemorating the
Pharaohs of the XIIth dynasty have been brought to light. Amenemhait I.
founded a great temple at Tanis in honour of the gods of Memphis: the
vestiges of the columns still scattered on all sides show that the
main body of the building was of rose granite, and a statue of the same
material has preserved for us a portrait of the king. He is seated, and
wears the tall head-dress of Osiris. He has a large smiling face, thick
lips, a short nose, and big staring eyes: the expression is one of
benevolence and gentleness, rather than of the energy and firmness which
one would expect in the founder of a dynasty. The kings who were his
successors all considered it a privilege to embellish the temple and to
place in it some memorial of their veneration for the god. Usirtasen I.,
following the example of his father, set up a statue of himself in the
form of Osiris: he is sitting on his throne of grey granite, and his
placid face unmistakably recalls that of Amenemhait I. Amenemhait II.,
Usirtasen II., and his wife Nofrit have also dedicated their images
within the sanctuary.

Nofrit's is of black granite: her head is almost eclipsed by the heavy
Hathor wig, consisting of two enormous tresses of hair which surround
the cheeks, and lie with an outward curve upon the breast; her eyes,
which were formerly inlaid, have fallen out, the bronze eyelids are
lost, her arms have almost disappeared. What remains of her, however,
gives us none the less the impression of a young and graceful woman,
with a lithe and well-proportioned body, whose outlines are delicately
modelled under the tight-fitting smock worn by Egyptian women; the small
and rounded breasts curve outward between the extremities of her curls
and the embroidered hem of her garment; and a pectoral bearing the name
of her husband lies flat upon her chest, just below the column of her
throat.

[Illustration: 372.jpg THE STATUE OF NOFRIT]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. In
addition to the complete statue, the Museum at Gizeh
possesses a torso from the same source. I believe I can
recognize another portrait o