Grebelein, from which Seti I. had obtained the building materials for the temple, and drew from thence what was required for the repair of the edifice.  Two of the descendants of Nsbindidi, Psiukhannit I. and Amenemopit, remodelled the little temple built by Kheops in honour of his daughter Honit-sonu, at the south-east angle of his pyramid.  Both Siamonmiamon and Psiukhannit I. have left traces of their work at Memphis, and the latter inserted his cartouches on two of the obelisks raised by Ramses at Heliopolis.  But these were only minor undertakings, and it is at Tanis that we must seek the most characteristic examples of their activity.  Here it was that Psiukhannit rebuilt the brick ramparts which defended the city, and decorated several of the halls of the great temple.  The pylons of this sanctuary had been merely begun by Sesostris:  Siamon completed them, and added the sphinxes; and the metal plaques and small objects which he concealed under the base of one of the latter have been brought to light in the course of excavations.  The appropriation of the monuments of other kings, which we have remarked under former dynasties, was also practised by the Tanites.  Siamon placed his inscriptions over those of the Kamessides, and Psiukhannit engraved his name on the sphinxes and statues of Ame-nemhait III. as unscrupulously as Apophis and the Hyksos had done before him.  The Tanite sovereigns, however, were not at a loss for artists, and they had revived, after the lapse of centuries, the traditions of the local school which had flourished during the XIIth dynasty.

[Illustration:  404.jpg THE TWO NILES OF TANIS]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-
     Bey.

One of the groups, executed by order of Psiukhannit, has escaped destruction, and is now in the Gizeh Museum.  It represents two figures of the Nile, marching gravely shoulder to shoulder, and carrying in front of them tables of offerings, ornamented with fish and garnished with flowers.  The stone in which they are executed is of an extraordinary hardness, but the sculptor has, notwithstanding, succeeded in carving and polishing it with a skill which does credit to his proficiency in his craft.  The general effect of the figures is a little heavy, but the detail is excellent, and the correctness of pose, precision in modelling, and harmony of proportion are beyond criticism.  The heads present a certain element of strangeness.  The artist evidently took as his model, as far as type and style of head-dress are concerned, the monuments of Amenemhait III. which he saw around him; indeed, he probably copied one of them feature for feature.  He has reproduced the severity of expression, the firm mouth, the projecting cheek-bones, the long hair and fan-shaped beard of his model, but he has not been able to imitate the broad and powerful treatment of the older artists; his method of execution has a certain hardness and conventionality which we never see to the same extent in the statues of the XIIth dynasty.  The work is, however, an extremely interesting one, and we are tempted to wish that many more such monuments had been saved from the ruins of the city.*