The tide of prosperity was now flowing northward and such monumental energy as remained was expended more widely. For several centuries after the fall of the New Empire Thebes was but one of several alternating or contemporaneous capitals. Mem phis, Tanis, Bubastis, Sais, Heracleopolis had at one time or an other at least equal claims. The Ethiopian conquerors of Egypt made Thebes their Egyptian capital, but in 668 Assur-bani-pal sacked the city. Psammetichus did not neglect it, but Ptolemy I. gave a new capital to the upper country in the Greek foundation of Ptolemais, and thus struck a fresh blow at the prosperity of Thebes. For a short period in the reign of Epiphanes, when Upper Egypt was in rebellion against the Ptolemaic rule, Thebes was the capital of independent native dynasts. In a later rebellion, Thebes was captured after a three years' siege and severely pun ished by Lathyrus (Ptolemy X., Soter II.). In the reign of Augustus, having joined in the insurrection against the tax-gath erers, it was destroyed by Cornelius Gallus and became a collec tion of villages. Though its vast buildings have since served as quarries for mill-stones and for the lime-burner, Thebes still offers the greatest assemblage of monumental ruins in the world.
We will now briefly enumerate the principal groups of monu ments. On the east bank at Karnak stand the great state temple of Amen-Ra with its obelisks of Hatshepsut and Tethmosis I. and the vast columnar hall of Rameses II. ; the temple of Mut and the well-preserved temple of Khons; the temple of Luxor and ave nues of rams and sphinxes connecting all these. On the west bank, in front of the necropolis, on the edge of the desert or pro jecting into the cultivation, was a low row of temples : the north ernmost, placed far in front of the others, is the well-preserved temple of Seti I. at Kurna; then follow the Ramesseum and Medinet Habu ; and the foundations of many others can be traced. The temple of Amenophis III., to which the colossi of "Memnon" were attached, was again far forward of the line. The Ramesseum contains the remains of a stupendous seated colossus, in black granite, of its builder Rameses II., thrown on its face. When perfect it was probably 57 ft. high and weighed about i,000 tons, surpassing the "Memnon" statues of Amenophis III. in size and
weight. The temple of Rameses III. at Medinet Habu, sculptured with very interesting scenes from his Syrian, Libyan and other wars and from religious festivals, is remarkable also for the unique entrance-tower which probably formed part of the royal palace. Northward and far back in the foot-hills is the Ptolemaic temple of Deir el Medina, and beyond under the cliffs of Deir el Bahri the terrace temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the walls of which are adorned with scenes from her expedition to Puoni (Somaliland) in search of incense trees, and many other subjects. Far behind Medinet Habu are the Tombs of the Queens, where royal relatives of the XXth Dynasty are buried; and immediately behind the lofty cliffs of Deir el Bahri, but accessible only by a very cir cuitous route from Kurna, are the Tombs of the Kings (from Tethmosis I. onward to the end of the XXth Dynasty) in the Biban el Moluk and the Western Valley. Those of Seti I. and Rameses III. are the most remarkable. These royal sepulchres are long galleries excavated in the rock with chambers at intervals: in one of the innermost chambers was laid the body in its sarcoph agus. In the XXIst Dynasty, when tomb robberies were rife and most of their valuables had been stolen, the royal mummies were removed from place to place and at last deposited for safety in the tomb of Amenophis II. and in the burial-place of the priest kings at Deir el Bahri. The finding of the two cachettes nearly intact has been among the greatest marvels of archaeological dis covery. The systematic exploration of the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings has been annually rewarded with results of the highest interest. The greatest as well as the most recent of these is the discovery in Oct. 1922 of the tomb of Tutankhamun (reigned 1360-1350 B.c.) with its magnificent equipment almost intact.
See Baedeker's Egypt; E. Naville, (Temple of) Deir el Bahari, intro duction and parts i.—v. (London, 1894-1906) ; Sir W. M. F. Petrie, Six Temples at Thebes (ruined temples on west bank) (London, 1897) ; G. Daressy, Notice explicative des ruines de Medinet Habu (Cairo, 1897) G. Maspero, "Les Momies royales de Deir el Bahari" in Memoires de la mission archeologique francaise au Caire, tome I. ; and many other works. (F. LL. G.; X.)