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)

THE TEMPLE OF MUT.

[part iv.

religious festivals depended ? Certainly he must
have been able to teach her as much of the " wisdom
of the Egyptians" as she could take in. If we
imagine Michael Angelo and St. Jerome, Beacons-
field and Elizabeth's Burleigh, combined in one man,
who has not so far lost the touch of reality but that
he can oversee the works he has inspired, who is not
ashamed to honour his obscure parents at his side,
such a man would bear some likeness to Sen-mut.

But there is still more to be known about this
building of the temple. The statue of Sen-mut
gives the date of the building and the name of the
architect. The same year we found (Trench B,
p. 68) another of the statuettes, of rather later
date, bearing the cartouches of Hatshepsut and her
nephew. This is of one Pu-am-ra, "The erpa- and
/^-prince, the skilled noble, the royal chancellor, the
second priest of Amen " (p. 315).

Pu-am-ra is kneeling, and holds in his hands two
bowls for libation. The statuette is of black
granite and the pedestal is inscribed with his testi-
mony, grivinor- us the record of the actual material
of the fabric and the shrine :—

" The Royal Chancellor, the second priest of Amen, he says :
' I saw the erection of the great house, the shrine in ebony worked
in dectrum by the Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-ma-ka
[Hatshepsut], to her mother Mut, mistress of Asher.'

" ' I saw the erection of . . . in good white stone ofAmi [lime-
stone] by the Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-ma-ka, to
her mother Mut, mistress of Asher.' "

So the temple of Mut was built in white