[Illustration Fig. 202.—­Queen Ameniritis.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 203.—­The goddess Thueris.  Saite work.]

The Renaissance did not dawn till near the end of the Ethiopian Dynasty, some three hundred years later.  The over-praised statue of Queen Ameniritis[50] (fig. 202) already manifests some noteworthy qualities.  The limbs, somewhat long and fragile, are delicately treated; but the head is heavy, being over-weighted by the wig peculiar to goddesses.  Psammetichus I., when his victories had established him upon the throne, busied himself in the restoration of the temples.  Under his auspices, the valley of the Nile became one vast studio of painting and sculpture.  The art of engraving hieroglyphs attained a high degree of excellence, fine statues and bas-reliefs were everywhere multiplied, and a new school arose.  A marvellous command of material, a profound knowledge of detail, and a certain elegance tempered by severity, are the leading characteristics of this new school.  The Memphites preferred limestone; the Thebans selected red or grey granite; but the Saites especially attacked basalt, breccia, and serpentine, and with these fine-grained and almost homogeneous substances, they achieved extraordinary results.  They seem to have sought difficulties for the mere pleasure of triumphing over them; and we have proof of the way in which artists of real merit bestowed years and years on the chasing of sarcophagus lids and the carving of statues in blocks of the hardest material.  The Thueris, and the four monuments from the tomb of Psammetichus[51] in the Gizeh Museum, are the most remarkable objects hitherto discovered in this class of work.  Thueris[52] (fig. 203) was the especial protectress of maternity, and presided over childbirth.  Her portrait was discovered by some native sebakh diggers[53] in the midst of the mounds of the ancient city of Thebes.  She was found standing upright in a little chapel of white limestone which had been dedicated to her by one Pibesa, a priest, in the name of Queen Nitocris, daughter of Psammetichus I. This charming hippopotamus, whose figure is perhaps more plump than graceful, is a fine example of difficulties overcome; but I do not know that she has any other merit.  The group belonging to Psammetichus has at all events some artistic value.  It consists of four pieces of green basalt; namely, a table of offerings, a statue of Osiris, a statue of Nephthys, and a Hathor-cow supporting a statuette of the deceased (fig. 204).  All four are somewhat flaccid, somewhat artificial; but the faces of the divinities and the deceased are not wanting in sweetness; the action of the cow is good; and the little figure under her protection falls naturally into its place.  Certain other pieces, less known than these, are however far superior.  The Saite style is easy of recognition.  It lacks the breadth and learning of the first Memphite school; it also lacks the grand, and sometimes rude, manner of the great Theban school.  The proportions