This is the structure of which Diodorus gives the following account, though he had not seen the work himself. "The entrance to the monument of the king whom they call Osymandyas--such is the account in Diodorus--was formed by a gateway covered with sculptures, 200 feet broad, and forty-five cubits in height; through this you passed into a rectangular court surrounded by pillars, measuring 400 feet on each side, but in the place of pillars are statues sixteen cubits high, each hewn in the antique style out of a single block. The roof of the portico is two fathoms in width; it also is built of monoliths painted with stars upon a blue ground. Behind this court there is a second gateway similar to the first, but adorned with still richer sculptures. At the entrance stand three monolithic statues. The middle one is the seated image of Osymandyas, the largest in all Egypt, for the feet are more than seven cubits in length; the two others, on the right and left, which represent the wife and daughter of the king, are inferior in height. This statue is not only remarkable for the size, but also for the excellence of the art and the nature of the stone. In spite of the enormous size, a chip or split is not to be found in it. There, too, is the statue of the mother of Osymandyas, twenty cubits high, and also a monolith. Behind this gateway is a second court, more marvellous even than the first, in which various sculptures represent the war against the Bactrians. This nation had revolted from the king, but with 400,000 foot and 20,000 horse he marched out against them, divided his army into four parts, and put each under the command of one of his four sons. On the first wall we see the king fighting at the head of his army against a fortress surrounded by a river; a lion is seen at his side assisting him (as a fact in the picture of the great battle against the Cheta on the gateway a lion is found beside the chariot of the king.) On the second wall the prisoners are brought forward: they are without their hands and members, in order to indicate that they fought without spirit. The third wall contains reliefs of various kinds and sketches representing the king's sacrifice of bulls, and his triumphant return. In the middle of the court stands an altar of marvellous size and workmanship. Before the fourth wall are two seated colossi 27 cubits high, and beside these three entrances lead into a colonnade, of which the sides measure 200 feet. In this hall are a number of statues of wood representing men in expectation of the decision of their law-suits, and looking towards the judges. These, thirty in number, are engraved on one of the walls; in their midst is the chief judge, on whose neck hangs a picture of truth with closed eyes; beside him lie a great quantity of books. Then you pass into a space intended for walking, where are represented many of the most delicate kinds of food. Here also the image of the king is engraved, and brightly coloured, showing how he offered to the god the gold and silver which came to him year by year from the mines of Egypt, and the total is written down close by; estimated in silver, it amounted to 320,000 minæ. Then follows the sacred library, and after this the images of all the gods of Egypt, and of the king, who offers to each god the appropriate gifts, in order as it were to show to Osiris and his assessors in the under world that the king had lived a life just towards men and pious towards the gods. On the walls of the library abuts another building, in which are twenty couches, the images of Zeus and Hera, and the images of the king. In this chamber the king appears to be buried. In a circle round this chamber are yet many other rooms containing very beautiful pictures of all the animals worshipped in Egypt. Through these chambers we reach the top of the sepulchre, a golden circle 365 cubits in circumference, and one cubit thick. On this circle are marked divisions for every day in the year, and in each is noted the rising and setting of the stars, and the influence which the Egyptian astrologers attributed to these constellations."[240]