It was thus that wooden statuettes of Thoth, Horus, and Nefertum were gilded, from the time of Khufu.

The temple of Isis, the "Lady of the Pyramid," contained a dozen such images; and this temple was not one of the largest in the Memphite necropolis.

There would seem to have been hundreds of gilded statues in the Theban temples, at all events in the time of the victorious dynasties of the new empire; and as regards wealth, the Ptolemaic sanctuaries were in no wise inferior to those of the Theban period.
Bronze and gilded wood were not always good enough for the gods of Egypt.
They exacted pure gold, and their worshippers gave them as much of it as possible.

Entire statues of the precious metals were dedicated by the kings of the ancient and middle empires; and the Pharaohs of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, who drew at will upon the treasures of Asia, transcended all that had been done by their predecessors.

Even in times of decadence, the feudal lords kept up the traditions of the past, and, like Prince Mentuemhat, replaced the images of gold and silver which had been carried off from Karnak by the generals of Sardanapalus at the time of the Assyrian invasions.