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)

^54

THE TEMPLE OF MUT.

[PART IV.

Piankhy pardoned him, warning- him that "the
heart is a rudder that wrecketh its owner in that
which concerneth the will of God." After the king
had sacrificed to Thoth he visited the royal stables,
and found that the horses had been neglected and
starved, a neglect which angered him a great deal
more than resistance to himself. " As I live, as I
love Ra, as my nostril is refreshed with life, very
grievous are these things to my heart, the starving
of my horses, more than any ill which thou hast
done in the fulfilling of thine own desire. The
fear which thy surroundings have of thee beareth
witness to me of thee."

Thereupon Piankhy assigned all Neman's wealth
to the treasury and his granary to the god Amen.

Then he went his way northward, summoning
each city to open its closed gates. " If a moment
passes without opening, behold ye are reckoned as
conquered—and that is painful to the king. Do
not love death and hate your life." "Open and ye
live, close and ye die. My Majesty passeth not by
by a city closed."

Such hints were enough for all the cities of
Middle Egypt, and the march to Memphis was
bloodless. So religious a king was most anxious
to spare so sacred a city as the ancient capital
of the Old Kingdom, and he besought it to open
its gates and let him enter in peace to sacrifice
to its gods. " For His Majesty loveth the ... Be
safe and sound, that even the children weep not."