neighbourhood. As the road to the funeral valley was a difficult one,
and as it would be unreasonable to condemn an entire priesthood to live
in solitude, the king decided to separate the component parts which had
hitherto been united in every tomb since the Memphite period, and
to place the vault for the mummy and the passages leading to it some
distance away in the mountains, while the necessary buildings for
the cultus of the statue and the accommodation of the priests were
transferred to the plain, and were built at the southern extremity of
the lands which were at that time held by private persons. The divine
character of Amenôthes, ascribed to him on account of his solar origin
and the co-operation of Amon-Râ at his birth, was, owing to this
separation of the funerary constituents, brought into further
prominence. When once the body which he had animated while on earth
was removed and hidden from sight, the people soon became accustomed
to think only of his Double enthroned in the recesses of the sanctuary:
seeing him receive there the same honours as the gods themselves, they
came naturally to regard him as a deity himself.

[Illustration: 073.jpg THE TWO COLOSSI OF MEMNON IN THE PLAIN OF THEBES]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. The
"Vocal Statue of Memon" is that on the right-hand side of
the illustration.

The arrangement of his temple differed in no way from those in which
Amon, Maût, and Montû were worshipped, while it surpassed in size and
splendour most of the sanctuaries dedicated to the patron gods of the
chief towns of the nomes. It contained, moreover, colossal statues,
objects which are never found associated with the heavenly gods. Several
of these figures have been broken to pieces, and only a few scattered