Benson, Margaret; Gourlay, Janet: The temple of Mut in Asher: an account of the excavation of the temple and of the religious representations and objects found therein, as illustrating the history of Egypt and the main religious ideas of the Egyptians (London, 1899)

16| THE TEMPLE OF MUT. [part iv.

very petals and calyces of the flowers are delicately
marked, the bee's wing in the royal titles is veined
and his body ringed, the white calf's head has neat
black spots on the cheek, and it is possible to see

that the sign for Mes f\ represents three strings

of onions, and to identify the Seten

Y

with

Scirpus grass *

The temple of Deir el Bahari is the glory of
Hatshepsut's reign, but it is the memorial also
of another name than hers ; the Queen might
command, but an artist must execute.

Hatshepsut had the power which all great queens
should have, of raising up great men. Chief
among such men was Sen-mut, the architect of
the beauties of Deir el Bahari. A man of low
birth, for " his ancestors were not found in writing,"
he aspired to some of the greatest offices in the
kingdom, and if his work there were but half as
great as his work in architecture, they were
worthily filled.

We have already spoken of the finding of the
statue of Sen-mut at the temple of Mut; we have
still to consider the import of his inscription (p. 299).

Much was already known about Sen-mut from
his tomb, a rock-cut inscription at Aswan, and the
only statue existing, that at the Berlin Museum.
This is a squatting statue, and from its inscription

* See the coloured plates, ' Deir-el-Bahari,' I. and II.