Wherever, too, the temples were constructed not of limestone, but of sandstone, there was, in the comparative uselessness of their material, another cause at work in favour of their preservation. Probably, however, that which most effectually of all contributed to this result was the circumstance that from the time when these temples were built, that is to say, throughout the Greek, Roman, and Saracenic periods, the upper country has never been prosperous, or made the seat of government. That has always established itself in the Delta. It has been a consequence of this that in Upper Egypt, that is in the district to which our attention has been just directed, there has been little or no occasion for building: it was not, therefore, worth while to pull down these temples at the time they were standing clear, or to disinter them after they had been buried in the rubbish heaps of the cities in which they had stood, for the sake of the building materials they might have supplied. CHAPTER XXX. THE RATIONALE OF THE MONUMENTS. Jamque opus exegi, quod non Jovis ira, nec ignes, Nec poterit ferrum, nec edax abolere vetustas; ... nomenque erit indelebile nostrum.—OVID. It was for us a piece of great good fortune that the mighty Pharaohs of old Egypt felt to an heroic, almost sublime, degree the narrow, selfish, oriental desire to perpetuate their names, and the memory of their greatness. Of course, this was connected very closely with the traditional, primitive idea that great kings were not as other men. They were of the materials of which gods had been made. Were they not, indeed, already objects of worship to their subjects? Were they not already received into the family of the gods? It is to these feelings that we are indebted for the possession of one of the earliest—and not least interesting—chapters in the records of our race. We have at this day precisely what, four or five thousand years ago, they deliberately contrived means for our having; and we have it all written in a fashion which indicates, through the very characters used, much of the artistic peculiarities, and even of the moral condition, and of the daily life, of those who inscribed it. There is nothing in the history of mankind which combines such magnitude, such far-reaching design, and such wise provision of means for the purpose in view, crowned, as time has shown, with such complete success. Some circumstances and accidents, such as the climate of the country, the materials with which they had to work, and the point the arts they had to employ had then reached, happily conspired to aid them; but this does not deprive them of the credit of having turned everything they used to the best account with the utmost skill, and the most long-sighted sagacity.