ngs of the same kind, as
much by their height and extent, as by the size and quality of the
materials;" he had, moreover, embellished them by a fine colonnade, and
made an approach to them by an avenue of sphinxes.

[Illustration: 113.jpg AMASIS IN ADORATION BEFORE THE BULL APIS]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken in the
Louvre.

In other parts of the same building were to be seen two superb obelisks,
a recumbent figure similar to that at Memphis, and a monolithic naos
of rose granite brought from the quarries of Elephantine. Amasis had a
special predilection for this kind of monument. That which he erected at
Thmuis is nearly twenty-three feet in height,* and the Louvre contains
another example, which though smaller still excites the admiration of
the modern visitor.**

* The exact measurements are 23 1/2 ft. in height, 12 ft. 9
ins. in width, and 10 ft. 6 ins. in depth. The naos of Saft
el-Hinneh must have been smaller, but it is impossible to
determine its exact dimensions.

** It measures 9 ft. 7 ins. in height, 3 ft. 1 in. in width,
and 3 ft. 8 ins.

[Illustration: 114.jpg THE NAOS OF AMASIS AT THMUIS]

Drawn by Boudier, from the sketch of Burton.

The naos of Sais, which amazed Herodotus, was much larger than either of
the two already mentioned, or, indeed, than any known example. Tradition
states that it took two thousand boatmen three years to convey it down
from the first cataract. It measured nearly thirty feet high in the
interior, twenty-four feet in depth, and twelve feet in breadth; even
when hollowed out to contain the emblem of the god, it still weighed
nearly 500,000 kilograms. It never reached its appointed place in the
sanctuary. The story goes that "the architect, at the moment when the
monument had been moved as far as a certain spot in the temple, heaved
a sigh, oppressed with the thought of the time expended on its transport
and weary of the arduous work. Amasis overheard the sigh, and taking it
as an omen, he commanded that the block should be dragged no further.
Others relate that one of the overseers in charge of the work was
crushed to death by the monument, and for this reason it was left
standing on the spot," where for centuries succeeding generations came
to contemplate it.*

* The measurements given by Herodotus are so different from
those of any naos as yet discovered, that I follow Kenrick
in thinking