History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 5 (of 12) by Gaston Camille Charles Maspero
page 56 of 299 (18%)
page 56 of 299 (18%)
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second cataract is full of traces of Amenôthes, and the evidence of
the veneration shown to him would lead us to conclude that he played an important part in the organisation of the country. Sedeinga possessed a small temple under the patronage of his wife Tîi. The ruins of a sanctuary which he dedicated to Anion, the Sun-god, have been discovered at Gebel-Barkal; Amenôthes seems to have been the first to perceive the advantages offered by the site, and to have endeavoured to transform the barbarian village of Napata into a large Egyptian city. Some of the monuments with which he adorned Soleb were transported, in later times, to Gebel-Barkal, among them some rams and lions of rare beauty. They lie at rest with their paws crossed, the head erect, and their expression suggesting both power and repose.** As we descend the Nile, traces of the work of this king are less frequent, and their place is taken by those of his predecessors, as at Sai, at Semneh, at Wady Haifa, at Amada, at Ibrîm, and at Dakkeh. Distant traces of Amenôthes again appear in the neighbourhood of the first cataract, and in the island of Elephantine, which he endeavoured to restore to its ancient splendour. * Thus the small temple of Sarrah, to the north of Wady Haifa, is dedicated to "the living statue of Ramses II. in the land of Nubia," a statue to which his Majesty gave the name of "Usirmârî Zosir-Shâfi." ** One of the rams was removed from Gebel-Barkal by Lepsius, and is now in the Berlin Museum, as well as the pedestal of one of the hawks. Prisse has shown that these two monuments originally adorned the temple of Soleb, and that they were afterwards transported to Napata by an Ethiopian king, who engraved his name on the pedestal of one of them. |
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