Westward from the Nile, behind the Libyan hills, lies the valley of Fayoum, about 60 miles distant from Cairo. There the king ordered the excavation of that immense basin or artificial sea known to us as Lake Mœris, and caused it to be connected by canals with the river. Lake Mœris was about 30 miles in circumference, and here the surplus waters were stored, to be distributed by irrigation or withheld, as might be best. The rock-encircled and desolate Fayoum thus became a smiling oasis, full of the most luxuriant vegetation, and alive with busy industry. When the Greek Herodotus visited Egypt, some 2000 years later, Lake Mœris was still in existence, as were also the two pyramids that stood either on its banks or in its centre. A still greater wonder met the eye of the inquiring traveller, and excited his profoundest amazement. This was the vast structure close by Lake Mœris, which the Greeks called the Labyrinth, for what reason it is hard to say. Herodotus tells us of this other gigantic work of Amenemhat III., that it had twelve courts, with gates opposite each other, and that it contained 3000 chambers, half of which were above and half below ground; the courts were adorned with columns, and the walls covered with inscriptions. This colossal edifice covered a space 1150 feet in length, and 850 in breadth; its purpose is not altogether clear, but there seems some reason to think that it may have been intended for a vast Hall of Assembly. It is all in ruins now. Lepsius, who in 1844 visited the district, which is 25 miles distant from the Nile, states that it had been so arranged that three enormous masses of buildings enclosed a square place 600 feet long by 500 broad, and that in this square once stood the courts and columns mentioned by Herodotus, mighty fragments of which the explorer dug up: upon them was carved the name of the royal builder, Amenemhat III. [Illustration: Painting a Statue.] [Illustration: Carving a Statue.]