There is no longer any need to trust to the scanty notices of these early times that occur in writings of later date. Egyptian inscriptions now tell their own story; the monuments begin to speak. In the valley of Wady Maghara, in the peninsula of Sinai, carved upon the rocky precipice, is to be seen King Senefru himself, in the act of striking down an enemy; the accompanying inscription gives the name and titles of the sovereign, and designates him the conqueror of the Mentu, the ‘foreigners of the East.’ In these rocky valleys rich mineral treasures had been discovered, valuable copper ore, besides the blue and green precious stones so much prized in Egypt. These mines were explored and worked by labourers sent from Egypt, and the district gradually passed into possession of its kings. Fortresses were erected and soldiers stationed there to protect the workmen, and temples were erected that all might be carried on under the protection of the gods. This treasure-yielding district was jealously watched and guarded by the Egyptians, who were thus often brought into collision with neighbouring tribes. Nor is Senefru’s tablet by any means the sole record of battle and of conquest, for his successors left many such memorials there. It is not, however, by these alone, or by these principally, that their name and fame has been preserved to modern days. [Illustration: THE SPHINX.] The rocky platform at the foot of the Libyan hills is of unequal breadth; at one spot, near Memphis, it widens considerably, and forms a sort of promontory jutting out into the plain. It was here that the pyramids of Ghizeh rose in their stupendous majesty. Not far off a huge block of limestone rock, bearing probably some accidental resemblance to an animal at rest,[11] was transformed by the skill of the royal architect into the colossal image of a mysterious being—a lion with the head of a man wearing the crown and insignia of an Egyptian monarch—symbol of strength, intellect, and royal dignity. He lay in solemn repose, gazing ever towards the east, where arose each morning Horus of the horizon (Hor-em-khu), the bright deity he represented. To the south of the Sphinx (as the Greeks afterwards called the mystic creature), Khufu, successor of Senefru, erected a temple to Isis, ‘Queen of the Pyramids,’ and to the north a temple to Osiris, ‘Lord of the unseen world,’—thus consecrating the whole of that vast city of the dead to the threefold guardianship of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, names so nearly associated in the Egyptian mind with death, the unseen world, and life triumphant and immortal. Whilst the great image of Horus was being shaped, and the temples of Osiris and Isis were building, Khufu was by no means unmindful of his own sepulchral monument. The colossal pile,—which he named ‘Khut’ (Splendour of Light),—is known to us by the name of the ‘Great Pyramid.’