Séthos' tomb is the first and appears the newest to be built. Four priests, robed in linen, are sitting on four stones placed at the four corners of the tomb. The left-hand side is occupied by the façade of the palace of Memphis. At the far edge of the mountain rises the Great Temple of Osiris (or the Sun), of which only the doors are visible. This temple occupies only part of the background so that in the gap between it and the caves we can see in the distance some of the fertile fields which border the Nile, and one of the pyramids, whose top is lost on the horizon. An avenue of colossal sphinxes leads from the temple to the palace portico. The space remaining between the sphinxes and the caves is planted with cypress trees. Day has not yet broken and the theatre seems illuminated only by the light from the funeral lamps." "Nephté" was first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opéra) on 15 December 1789. The young soprano Madame Maillard took the title role, replacing Lemoyne's protegée Antoinette Saint-Huberty. According to some sources, the premiere was so successful, Lemoyne was called onto the stage after the final curtain, the first time this had happened in the history of the Opéra. "Nephté" ran for 39 performances, the last given on 18 March 1792. Hoffman angrily claimed that the withdrawal of the work was to prevent him receiving the pension which would have been his due had it reached 40 performances. In support of Hoffman's argumemnt is the fact that the season did not end until 27 March, allowing time for another staging. Hoffman had also dedicated the libretto to Antoinette Saint-Huberty, who was disliked by the Opéra management, and had refused to add dance "divertissements" to "Nephté" on artistic grounds, against the recommendations of the Opéra board. On the other hand, ticket receipts had recently been falling off as the opera was losing popularity in spite of the good press it enjoyed. Reviews were generally favourable, with praise for the music, the scenery and the singing of Maillard and Lainez. The "Correspondence littéraire" was more guarded, liking some aspects, but finding the work too static and emotionally uniform. It suggested this might have been remedied had Nephté's motivation been changed: instead of guessing Pharès' guilt almost from the beginning, she might have only slowly come to realise the truth, possibly after being infatuated with the usurper.