Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/121

 king, was sent by order of his imperious sister to the almost inaccessible marshes of the Delta, where he was doomed to wear out the years of his dreary boyhood, cherishing, there can be little doubt, the most vindictive feelings towards the sister who, having usurped his place, was ruling Egypt with splendour and renown.

No reign was more distinguished than that of Hatasu for art and architecture. She completed the magnificent temple begun during her joint reign with her brother. An avenue of sphinxes led up to the gate towers and the obelisks, which were 97 feet in height, and made of red granite capped with gold. The temple itself stood upon four broad and stately terraces, which rose one above another until they touched the dazzling marble-like limestone cliff against which they rested; the terraces were covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions and carvings in bas-relief. In the limestone rock above were excavated vast funeral chambers, and here were buried the queen's father and mother, a sister who died young, and Thothmes Here also Hatasu