On these were wrought nothing save boldly cut inscriptions, in which the beauty of the temple, the names of the builder-kings who had erected it, and the glory of the gods to whom it was consecrated, are emphatically celebrated.

Finally, the decoration of the lowest part of the walls and of the ceiling was restricted to a small number of subjects, which were always similar: the most important and varied scenes being suspended, as it were, between earth and heaven, on the sides of the chambers and the pylons.
[Illustration: Fig.

105 .-- Zodiacal circle of Denderah.] These scenes illustrate the official relations which subsisted between Egypt and the gods.

The people had no right of direct intercourse with the deities.

They needed a mediator, who, partaking of both human and divine nature, was qualified to communicate with both.