stones, which were so arranged as to form a rough representation of a
human head and shoulders. His piety, however, was not rewarded as he
expected, for Memnon became silent, and his oracle fell into oblivion.
The temple no longer exists, and a few ridges alone mark the spot where
it rose; but the two colossi remain at their post, in the same condition
in which they were left by the Roman Cæsar: the features are quite
obliterated, and the legs and the supporting female figures on either
side are scored all over with Greek and Latin inscriptions expressing
the appreciation of ancient tourists. Although the statues tower high
above the fields of corn and _bersîm_ which surround them, our first
view of them, owing to the scale of proportion observed in their
construction, so different from that to which we are accustomed, gives
us the impression that they are smaller than they really are, and it
is only when we stand close to one of them and notice the insignificant
appearance of the crowd of sightseers clustered on its pedestal that we
realize the immensity of the colossi.

The descendants of Ahmosis had by their energy won for Thebes not only
the supremacy over the peoples of Egypt and of the known world, but had
also secured for the Theban deities pre-eminence over all their rivals.
The booty collected both in Syria and Ethiopia went to enrich the god
Amon as much as it did the kings themselves; every victory brought him
the tenth part of the spoil gathered on the field of battle, of the
tribute levied on vassals, and of the prisoners taken as slaves. When
Thûtmosis IIL, after having reduced Megiddo, organised a systematic
plundering of the surrounding country, it was for the benefit of Amon-Eâ
that he reaped the fields and sent their harvest into Egypt; if during
his journeys he collected useful plants or rare animals, it was that he
might dispose of them in the groves or gardens of Amon as well as in his
own, and he never retained for his personal use the whole of what he won