where the statue was kept, and performed in its presence the invocatory
rites, and questioned it upon the subject which occupied his mind. The
priest replied under direct inspiration from on high, and the dialogue
thus entered upon might last a long time. Interminable discourses,
whose records cover the walls of the Theban temples, inform us what
the Pharaoh said on such occasions, and in what emphatic tones the
gods replied. Sometimes the animated statues raised their voices in
the darkness of the sanctuary and themselves announced their will; more
frequently they were content to indicate it by a gesture. When they were
consulted on some particular subject and returned no sign, it was their
way of signifying their disapprobation. If, on the other hand, they
significantly bowed their head, once or twice, the subject was an
acceptable one, and they approved it. No state affair was settled
without asking their advice, and without their giving it in one way or
another.

The monuments, which throw full light on the supernatural character
of the Pharaohs in general, tell us but little of the individual
disposition of any king in particular, or of their everyday life. When
by chance we come into closer intimacy for a moment with the sovereign,
he is revealed to us as being less divine and majestic than we might
have been led to believe, had we judged him only by his impassive
expression and by the pomp with which he was surrounded in public. Not
that he ever quite laid aside his grandeur; even in his home life,
in his chamber or his garden, during those hours when he felt himself
withdrawn from public gaze, those highest in rank might never forget
when they approached him that he was a god. He showed himself to be a
kind father, a good-natured husband,* ready to dally with his wives and
caress them on the cheek as they offered him a flower, or moved a piece
upon the draught-board.