of a temple buried beneath his dwelling.  Some of the original statues of Rameses II. remain in front of the ruins.  I measured the right arm of one of these figures, from the pit where it touches the side to the same point in front, a distance of about six feet, and that does not represent the entire circumference, for the granite between the arm and the body was never entirely cut away.  Near by stands a large red granite obelisk, with carvings from top to bottom.  A companion to this one, for they were always erected in pairs, has been removed.  In ancient times a paved street led from this temple to Karnak, which is reached by a short walk.  This ancient street was adorned by a row of ram-headed sphinxes on each side.  Toward Karnak many of them are yet to be seen in a badly mutilated condition, but there is another avenue containing forty of these figures in a good state of preservation.

The first of the Karnak temples reached is one dedicated to the Theban moon god, Khons, reared by Rameses III.  The Temple of Ammon, called “the throne of the world,” lies a little beyond.  I spent half a day on the west side of the river in what was the burial ground of ancient Thebes, where also numerous temples were erected.  My first stop was before the ruins of Kurna.  The Temple of Sethos I. originally had ten columns before it, but one is now out of place.  The Temple Der el Bahri bore an English name, signifying “most splendid of all,” and it may not have been misnamed.  It is situated at the base of a lofty barren cliff of a yellowish cast, and has been partially restored.

In 1881 a French explorer discovered the mummies of several Egyptian rulers in an inner chamber of this temple, that had probably been removed to this place for security from robbers.  In the number were the remains of Rameses II., who was probably reigning in the boyhood days of Moses, and the mummy of Set II., perhaps the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and I saw both of them in the museum in Cairo.

The Ramasseum is another large temple, built by Rameses II., who is said to have had sixty-nine sons and seventy daughters.  There are also extensive remains of another temple called Medinet Habu.  About a half a mile away from this ruin are the two colossal statues of Memnon, which were surrounded by water, so I could not get close to them.  The following dimensions of one of them are given:  “Height of the figure, fifty-two feet; height of the pedestal on which the feet rest, thirteen feet; height of the entire monument, sixty-five feet.  But when the figure was adorned with the long-since vanished crown, the original height may have reached sixty-nine feet. * * * Each foot is ten and one-half feet long. * * * The middle finger on one hand is four and a half feet long, and the arm from the tip of the finger to the elbow measures fifteen and one-half feet.”