king's grace" that they occupy that position. Rarely as this privilege was
granted, it resulted in a vast accumulation of votive statues, so that in
the course of centuries the courts of some temples became crowded with
them. At Karnak, the sanctuary enclosure was furnished outside with a kind
of broad bench, breast high, like a long base. Upon this the statues were
placed, with their backs to the wall. Attached to each was an oblong block
of stone, with a projecting spout on one side; these are known as "tables
of offerings" (fig. 110). The upper face is more or less hollowed, and is
often sculptured with bas-relief representations of loaves, joints of beef,
libation vases, and other objects usually presented to the dead or to the
gods. Those of King Ameni Entef Amenemhat, at Gizeh, are blocks of red
granite more than three feet in length, the top of which is hollowed out in
regular rows of cup-holes, each cup-hole being reserved for one particular
offering. There was, in fact, an established form of worship provided for
statues, and these tables were really altars upon which were deposited
sacrificial offerings of meat, cakes, fruits, vegetables, and the like.

[Illustration: Fig. 110.--Table of offerings, Karnak.]

[Illustration: Fig. 111.--Limestone altar.]

[Illustration: Fig.112.--Naos of wood in the Museum at Turin.]

The sanctuary and the surrounding chambers contained the objects used in
the ceremonial of worship. The bases of altars varied in shape, some being
square and massive, others polygonal or cylindrical. Some of these last are
in form not unlike a small cannon, which is the name given to them by the
Arabs. The most ancient are those of the Fifth Dynasty; the most beautiful
is one dedicated by Seti I., now in the Gizeh Museum. The only perfect
specimen of an altar known to me was discovered at Menshîyeh in 1884 (fig.