The king is seen in the act of seizing his prostrate prisoners by the hair of their heads, and uplifting his mace as if about to shatter their heads at a single blow.  At Karnak, along the whole length of the outer wall, Seti I. pursues the Bedawin of Sinai.  At Medinet Habu Rameses III. destroys the fleet of the peoples of the great sea, or receives the cut-off hands of the Libyans, which his soldiers bring to him as trophies.  In the next scene, all is peace; and we behold Pharaoh pouring out a libation of perfumed water to his father Amen.  It would seem as if no link could be established between these subjects, and yet the one is the necessary consequence of the others.  If the god had not granted victory to the king, the king in his turn would not have performed these ceremonies in the temple.  The sculptor has recorded the events in their order:—­first the victory, then the sacrifice.  The favour of the god precedes the thank-offering of the king.  Thus, on closer examination, we find this multitude of episodes forming the several links of one continuous chain, while every scene, including such as seem at first sight to be wholly unexplained, represents one stage in the development of a single action which begins at the door, is carried through the various halls, and penetrates to the farthest recesses of the sanctuary.  The king enters the temple.  In the courts, he is everywhere confronted by reminiscences of his victories; and here the god comes forth to greet him, hidden in his shrine and surrounded by priests.  The rites prescribed for these occasions are graven on the walls of the hypostyle hall in which they were performed.  These being over, king and god together take their way to the sanctuary.  At the door which leads from the public hall to the mysterious part of the temple, the escort halts.  The king crosses the threshold alone, and is welcomed by the gods.  He then performs in due order all the sacred ceremonies enjoined by usage.  His merits increase by virtue of his prayers; his senses become exalted; he rises to the level of the divine type.  Finally he enters the sanctuary, where the god reveals himself unwitnessed, and speaks to him face to face.  The sculptures faithfully reproduce the order of this mystic presentation:—­the welcoming reception on the part of the god; the acts and offerings of the king; the vestments which he puts on and off in succession; the various crowns which he places on his head.  The prayers which he recites and the favours which are conferred upon him are also recorded upon the walls in order of time and place.  The king, and the few who accompany him, have their backs towards the entrance and their faces towards the door of the sanctuary.  The gods, on the contrary, or at least such as do not make part of the procession, face the entrance, and have their backs turned towards the sanctuary.  If during the ceremony the royal memory failed, the king needed but to raise his eyes to the wall, whereon his duties were mapped out for him.