n the throne of Horus. This was an occasion for the Pharaoh
to bring to remembrance all the great exploits he had performed during
his reign--his triumphs over the Libyans and over the peoples of the
sea, and the riches he had lavished upon the gods: at the end of the
enumeration he exhorted those who were present to observe the same
fidelity towards the son which they had observed towards the father, and
to serve the new sovereign as valiantly as they had served himself.

[Illustration: 327.jpg THE MUMMY OF RAMSES III.]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a, photograph by Emil Brugsch-
Bey.

The joint reign lasted for only four years. Ramses III. was not
much over sixty years of age when he died. He was still vigorous and
muscular, but he had become stout and heavy. The fatty matter of the
body having been dissolved by the natron in the process of embalming,
the skin distended during life has gathered up into enormous loose
folds, especially about the nape of the neck, under the chin, on the
hips, and at the articulations of the limbs. The closely shaven head and
cheeks present no trace of hair or beard. The forehead, although neither
broad nor high, is better proportioned than that of Ramses II.; the
supra-orbital ridges are less accentuated than his, the cheek-bones not
so prominent, the nose not so arched, and the chin and jaw less massive.
The eyes were perhaps larger, but no opinion can be offered on this
point, for the eyelids have been cut away, and the cleared-out cavities
have been filled with rags. The ears do not stand out so far from the
head as those of Ramses II., but they have been pierced for ear-rings.
The mouth, large by nature, has been still further widened in the
process of embalming, owing to the awkwardness of the operator, who
has cut into the cheeks at the side. The thin lips allow the white and
regular teeth to be seen; the first molar on the right has been either
broken in half, or has worn away more rapidly than the rest. Ramses III.
seems, on the whole, to have been a sort of reduced copy, a little
more delicate in make, of Ramses II.; his face shows more subtlety
of expression and intelligence, though less nobility than that of the
latter, while his figure is not so upright, his shoulders not so
broad, and his general muscular vigour less. What has been said of
his personality may be extended to his reign; it was evidently and
designedly an imitation of the reign of Ramses IL, but fe