In the construction of this temple, Rameses III. did not scruple to employ materials taken from those of his predecessors. Bricks with the names of Seti I. and Rameses II. were freely used to build up its walls. Nor was this all he borrowed, for, as if he had not acquired sufficient renown on his own account, he adopted an inscription in honour of Rameses the Great as his own. It is a long panegyric in the most grandiloquent language, and not only abounds in general phrases of much high-flown glorification of the king, but especially commemorates his building up of the city of Zoan and his first meeting with the Princess of Kheta. Rameses III. had the whole panegyric copied, with a few slight necessary changes. He, however, let it appear as if he had been the builder of Zoan, only stopping short of claiming the Khetan princess as his bride. It is curious that, after all, these attempts of the third Rameses to associate and almost to identify himself with the second Rameses may be said to have so far succeeded that they were in fact often confused with each other by foreign historians, and it is doubtful to this day which of the two was meant by the Sesostris of the Greeks—the probability being that he was a personage created out the confused traditions of both the Egyptian conquerors. In spite of riches and renown, the throne of the third Rameses was not too securely based. It may have been that he was not of the ancient race, so long venerated and deified by the people, or it may have been that there was a general decay in Egyptian loyalty, but the fact is certain that a conspiracy of the most alarming extent was discovered, originating in the royal household itself. The conspirators were detected in time, and the record of their trial has been preserved. Many officers of high rank and many ladies in the palace were implicated. The first page of the papyrus is unfortunately defaced, so that the precise object and nature of the plot must remain uncertain. The royal commission to the judges is in the following terms:—‘Those who are accused by the country I give them into your charge. As to the talk of men I know nothing about it. Go ye and judge. Let what they have done be upon their own heads.’ Sentence of death[74] was pronounced on most of the criminals, others were condemned to have their noses and ears cut off, the women appear to have been sentenced to a sort of penal servitude.