FLOOll.] 
CENTEAL SALOON. 
83 
offerings to a deity; from Alexandria. — The sarcophagus of King 
Nectanebo I. (b.c. 387-369), formerly described as that of Alexander 
the Great, on the exterior of which are representations of the sun 
passing through the heavens in his boat, and on the interior various 
divinities; Alexandria. — Sarcophagus of Nesatu, a Memphite priest, 
covered with inscriptions ; Memjjhis. — Two obelisks erected by King 
Nectanebo I- before the Temple of Thoth ; Cairo. 
The two following compartments contain the remains of the 26tli 
dynasty, which commenced under Psammetichus I. and was conspicuous 
for its encouragement of art, and for the extensive employment of 
Greeks in its service. It terminated at the conquest of Egypt by the 
Persians under Cambyses, B.C. 545. The principal objects are : — 
The granite sarcophagus of Hapimen, a royal scribe ; Cairo. — The 
elaborately- worked sarcophagus of the Queen of Amasis II. (b.c. 
538-5"27); Thebes. — A slab of basalt, on which is represented 
Psammetichus L, making offerings ; Alexandria. — A basalt kneel- 
ing figure of a public functionary, named Uali-ha-tira ; Natron Lakes. 
In the next recess are monuments of the 22nd dynasty, which is 
supposed to have been of foreign extraction. iVmong its monarchs 
was Sheshonk I., the Shishak of Scripture, who plundered Jerusalem. 
The name of this king occurs on two figures of the Goddess Pasht 
(Bubastis), from Earnak. — Near these is a statue of the God Hapi, or 
the Nile, dedicated by King Sheshonk 11. 
The other objects in this compartment are of uncertain date ; in the 
centre is a large scarabasus, the symbol of Cheper (the Creator), which 
had been removed to Constantinople under the Byzantine Emperors. 
The remainder of this Gallery, and the whole of the Central Saloon, 
are filled with the monuments of the 19th dynasty, a race of kings of 
great power, during whose dominion the Egyptians conquered Phcenicia, 
and by whom extensive edifices were erected at Thebes. 
In the last compartment is a finely-sculptured group in sandstone, 
of a male and female figure seated ; and a statue of King Seti 
Menephtah II. on a throne, with a rams head on his knees, from 
Karnak. 
CENTRAL SALOOK 
Between the columns on the left is a colossal fist in red granite, from 
one of the statues which stood before the great Temple of Phtah at 
MempJtis. The principal part of the monuments in this room are of 
the age of King Rameses II., the Sesostris of the Greeks, and the 
greatest monarch of the 10th dynasty. On the left are two colossal 
heads, the first a cast from a statue of Rameses at Mitrahenny, the other 
a granite head and shoulders from the building called the Memnouium, 
at Thebes. — The remaining sculptures represent chiefly the king and 
his ofiicers; on the walls are tablets dated in his reign. — Between the 
columns, at the entrance to the Northern Gallery, are, on one side, a 
granite statue of Rameses II., erected by King Menephtah, from 
Karnak; and on the other, a wooden statue of King Sethos I. 
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