 CHAPTER II OF HISTORY OF EGYPT HISTORY OF EGYPT by F. C. H. Wendell CHAPTER II The Old Empire, from the Union of the Upper and Lower Countries, to the Close of the Sixth Dynasty, about 3200 through 2400 B.C. The Great King, who first united Upper and Lower Egypt into one country, lived not later than 3200 B.C. How many years earlier he lived we have no means of saying. He may have lived 500 or even a thousand years earlier, but, until we can assign him an accurately correct date, it is best to retain the one here given. Naturally, he occupies a high place in Egyptian tradition, being regarded as the first human king of the country. His birthplace was the small town of Teni, Greek Thys, near Abedas. This town was not, however, favorably located for the capital of a great empire, Somenna left it, and removed the seat of the government to the city of Memphis, which lay on the Nile a little to the south of the apex of the delta. This city was the home of the god Ta, who thus became the official head of the Egyptian Pantheon. The site of this city was on the left bank of the Nile, a little above the modern city of Cairo. At the modern village of Mitrahin, a few mounds of rubbish and some scattered ruins still mark the place, where once stood one of the greatest and richest cities of all antiquity. The Egyptian name of the city was Menefer, the good or beautiful abode, from which the Greek name Memphis, by which we designate the city, was derived. Every city of ancient Egypt had two names, a common or profane name, and a sacred name, derived either from the name of its god, or from some mythological event located at it. The sacred name of Menefer was Hetka Ta, the abode of the spirit of Ta. It was defended by a citadel, called Anbu Hitch, the white wall. The city itself was probably far older than the time of Mena, but in transferring the capital to it, the king naturally, greatly enlarged it, and came to be considered first its benefactor, and later on its founder. What we know of this king has come to us through the Greek historians and Menefo. All that is usually ascribed to the founders of empire is ascribed to him. The legends related of him are mostly absurd. He is said to have founded the Temple of Ta at Memphis, which was the first Egyptian temple. To have first organized the temple ritual, and to have introduced the cult of the Apis Bull, all of which stories are alike incredible. As above noted, Memphis and its cult existed long before Mena's time. He is also said to have invented the alphabet. The most absurd story is that told by Deodorus, who relates that the king had once upon a time, when pursued by his own hounds, fled into Lake Morris, and had been brought to shore by a crocodile. And in gratitude for this rescue, he had built Crocodilopolis on the lake shore, had instituted the crocodile cult, and given over the lake to these Saurians. Then he had built a pyramid here for his tomb, and had founded the celebrated Labyrinth. In reality, the lake did not yet exist in these early times. Having been built by Amin Hattep III, almost 2,000 years later, Crocodilopolis, the pyramid, and the labyrinth, were built by this same pharaoh. Footnote The word pharaoh, which was taken over into the modern languages from the Bible, is derived from the Egyptian word perea, the great house, a common designation of the king. And footnote Almost as absurd is the legend that he was an effeminate king, devoted to the pleasures of the table, and had first taught his subjects to take a reclining posture while eating. In the first place, founders of empire are not made of such stuff, and in the second place, the custom in Egypt was not to recline, but to sit at table. The king is also represented as a patron of poets. More trustworthy is what Manetho tells us of this king. He was a mighty warrior, who campaigned in Libya, and was killed by a hippopotamus. This agrees well with what we would expect of a founder of empire. He was a war-like ruler, and was killed while hunting. According to Manetho, he ruled about sixty years. Teta, whom the Greek writers called Atothis the first, succeeded Menna. According to the extract from Manetho, made by Africanus, he ruled fifty-seven years. According to that made by Eusebius, he reigned only twenty-seven. Manetho relates that he built the citadel of Memphis, and wrote a work on anatomy. This latter notice is to some extent confirmed by a passage of the medical papyrus ebbers, in which a hair-restorer is said to have been invented by Shesh, the mother of our ruler. A two-headed crane is said to have appeared in his reign, a phenomenon that presaged a long period of prosperity. Of Atet, Aetothis the second, whom Manetho called Cancanis, nothing is known beyond the fact that he ruled thirty-two years. In the reign of Atah, the ONFs of Manetho, who ruled twenty-three years, a great famine prevailed in Egypt. He is said to have erected a pyramid at Kochome, near Sakara. Hesepti, the Usofaiides of Manetho, who ruled twenty years, is quite a literary character among these kings. A remedy for leprosy, which was afterward copied in a medical papyrus preserved in Berlin and in the papyrus ebbers, is said to date from his reign. These copies of the sixty-fourth chapter of the Book of the Dead assert that this chapter was discovered in his reign, and not in that of Maeserenos, while all copies agree that the one hundred and thirtieth chapter dates from this reign. Merbapen, the Miebidos of Manetho, reigned nineteen years. He must have been quite an important ruler, for the list of kings discovered at Sakara begins with his name. Sementa, the Semipsis of Manetho, ruled eighteen years. It is related that many miracles took place in his reign, and that a great plague almost depopulated the land. Of Kebhu, the Bienches of Manetho, we know only that he ruled twenty-six years. Section II, the Second Dynasty, Nader Ba'u, the Rhett Ja'u of the list of kings found at Abidos, the Boethos of Manetho, reigned thirty-eight years. Manetho relates that during his reign an earthquake at Bubastus swallowed up many people. Kaka'u, the Caichos of Manetho, reigned twenty-nine years. According to Manetho he introduced a cult of the Apis Bull at Memphis, that of the Menevis Bull at Heliopolis, and that of the Ram at Mendez. This legend is incredible and unhistorical. These cults were all as old as the cities in which they were practiced, and antedated the Union of the Two Countries by many centuries. Ba'u and Neter, whom Manetho calls Binothris, reigned forty-seven years. He seems to have been an important law giver. If we can credit the account of Manetho it was this pharaoh who first legalized the succession in the female line. This was of great importance throughout the course of Egyptian history. For according to this law a woman could sit on the Egyptian throne, and many a dynasty based its right to the throne on the law of female succession. Of watchness the Tlaas of Manetho we know only that he reigned seventeen years. Manet, called Sethanus by Manetho, who ruled forty-one years, is said to have revised a medical treatise written in the reign of Hesepti. Parabsen, possibly the Chires of Manetho, reigned seventeen years. Nefercara, the Nefercheres of Manetho, is said to have ruled twenty-five years. Under him Manetho says the Nile ran honey for eleven days. Mospero, following Mariette, places in this dynasty some monuments which are certainly older than the times of the Fourth Dynasty. They are few in number but show certain striking peculiarities which prove that they belong together. But we cannot fully verify this very plausible hypothesis until we have more of these monuments. For the present it is certainly better not to ascribe them to any particular period but to say merely that they are older than the times of the Fourth Dynasty. The same may be said of the great sphinx of Giza, the age of which is unknown. Section 3 The Third Dynasty How the second dynasty came to an end and a third ascended the throne we do not know. In fact our knowledge of the first three dynasties is limited to the names of the rulers and the few legends. Nefercassacar was the first king of this dynasty. Manetho calls him Necherofes and ascribes to him a reign of twenty-eight years. The same historian relates that in this reign the Libyans revolted but as the battle was about to begin they became frightened at seeing the moon apparently greatly enlarged and fled from the field. Tosorthos ruled twenty-nine years. Manetho relates that he was a great builder and had perfected the system of writing. He was also a great physician and for this reason had been identified with Asclepius by the Greeks. Of the other rulers of this dynasty we know only the names. Huni, the last of these kings, the kerphoresse of Manetho, who ruled twenty-six years, was the immediate predecessor of King Snefru, the founder of the Fourth Dynasty. Question four, the Fourth Dynasty, the Pyramid Builders, about twenty-eight thirty through twenty-seven hundred B.C., Snefru, twenty-eight thirty through twenty-eight oh six B.C., the founder of the Fourth Dynasty, ascended the throne about twenty-eight thirty B.C. The change of dynasty seems to have been peaceably accomplished. Papyrus Priess, the only text that refers to it, remarks, quote, then King Huni died and King Snefru became a beneficent ruler over the entire land, end quote. He is the first king from whose reign monuments have come down to us. He and his successors built for their tombs great pyramids, forming a line miles in length from Giza on the north to Medaum on the south. King Snefru, in all probability, is buried in the Pyramid of Medaum, about which lie the tombs of many of his courtiers. The Egyptian name of the pyramid was Che. Its builder was Henca. Of historical events of this reign we know but little. A legendary papyrus, preserved in St. Petersburg, tells of an incursion of the Asiatic Bedouins, known as Amu. To guard against these inroads, a line of forts was established stretching across the Egyptian part of the Isthmus of Suez. This string of forts is frequently mentioned in the texts, and its official name, Anbu Heku, Wall of the Princes, gave rise to the mistaken impression that the Egyptians had built a wall across their eastern frontier. One of these forts, named after King Snefru, Ea Snefru, is mentioned in the memoirs of a noble who lived over a thousand years later. But King Snefru was not content with repelling the inroads of the Asiatics. He was bent on enlarging his empire. On the Sinai Peninsula there were located rich copper and malachite mines, which the Egyptians worked in very early times. Where Snefru was the first king who opened these mines, or whether they had been opened to the Egyptians by some previous king, we do not undertake to say. But it is a fact that he is the first king of whom monuments have been found on the peninsula. Inscriptions at both of the great mining camps at Sarbut El Kadim and Wadi Maghara tell of the king's campaigns against the Bedouins of the region, who were called Mentiyu Satet, and who seemed to have seriously resented the encroachment of the Egyptians. They were, of course, beaten, but could never be wholly subdued, and gave much trouble in later reigns. Snefru died after a prosperous reign of twenty-four years. Shufu, 2806 through 2782 B.C. When Snefru died, he left to his oldest son and successor, a great and flourishing kingdom. This king is the Cheops of Herodotus. He is the builder of the largest of the three great pyramids of Giza, the measurements of which are side of square base, originally 764 feet, at present 746 feet, perpendicular height, originally 480 feet, now 450 feet, and height of slope, originally 611 feet, at present 568 feet. Inside of this great mass of solid masonry, there is the chamber in which the sarcophagus of the king was deposited. This chamber is approached by a series of narrow passages, which were, after the sarcophagus was in place, blocked up in a very ingenious manner. The Egyptian name of this pyramid was Chut. I may here mention some general facts which hold good for all the pyramids of Giza. Each one had connected with it a funerale temple dedicated to the memory of the king buried in the pyramid. All of the pyramids were built as planned, a fact that the recent measurements of W. Flinders Petrie have demonstrated beyond a doubt. Thus the old theory that every king, when he ascended the throne, began a pyramid of moderate proportions, and gradually enlarged it as he found he had the time, is exploded. The reader will find a full expose of these facts in Mr. Petrie's admirable book, The Pyramids and Temples of Giza. About each pyramid lay a number of smaller pyramids, probably the tombs of the members of the royal families, as well as the tombs of the nobles that had lived at the court. This king was a great builder. The temple of the Lady of the Pyramids, Isis, and the foundation of the temple of Hathor at Dendurah, are attributed to him. Two cities, Menet Chufu, the modern Minya, north of Hermopolis, and Chufu Kebet, bear his name. Like his predecessor, he was compelled to make a campaign against the Mentiu Satet on the Sinai Peninsula, who it seems had again begun to molest the Egyptian miners. The classical accounts of this king are all unreliable. Herodotus gives him a reign of fifty years, and Manethos says he reigned sixty-three, while we know, from the Turin Papyrus, that he ruled only twenty-four years. The classical historians would also have him appear as a great tyrant who closed the temples in order that the Egyptians might all labor continuously at his pyramid, and who, when money failed him, prostituted his own daughter in order to raise funds. The chief responsibility for these stories rests on Herodotus. Although attempts to reconcile history and legend, by relating that the king, whom he calls Sophus, had repented in his old age, and had written a book that was regarded as sacred. Radhidev, twenty-seven eighty-two through twenty-seven fifty-nine B.C. The son and successor of Chufu, who ruled twenty-three years, did not build the pyramid. Why he departed from the custom begun by his two predecessors, we cannot say. Perhaps the forces and resources of the kingdom were otherwise employed. We know, however, absolutely nothing of this comparatively long reign. Chafra, twenty-seven fifty-eight through twenty-seven fifty B.C. The chephron of Herodotus is the builder of the second great pyramid of Yiza, the Egyptian name of which is O'er, the Great One. This pyramid is somewhat smaller than that of Chafra's father, Chufu, but it is still a respectable size. Its dimensions are length of side of square base, originally seven hundred seven feet, now six hundred ninety feet, perpendicular height, originally four hundred fifty-four and one quarters feet, now four hundred forty-seven feet, inclined height, originally five hundred seventy-two feet, at present five hundred sixty-three feet. Like all the other pyramids of Yiza, this one is built of blocks of limestone, taken from the quarries of Tura, Egyptian name Roeyu, and the hills on the east bank of the Nile, opposite Memphis. All the pyramids were built so that their sides resembled the great steps, and then these steps were filled in with granite blocks, so placed that they formed a smooth, continuous, inclined surface. Part of this coating of granite is still left on the upper part of this pyramid. Before this pyramid, a little to the south of the Great Sphinx, there stands a large temple built of granite and alabaster, which was most probably erected at Chafra's order. The fact that it stands in front of his pyramid proves conclusively that it was built after that structure. In a well in the interior of this temple were found the fragments of nine exquisitely wrought diorite statues of the king. Seven of these are at present in the Museum of Bulak, one of them being almost unharmed. How these statues got in the well, we do not know. The temple itself is also a mystery. It may have been Chafra's Funeral Temple, but it may just as well have been erected to the Sphinx. The image of Rehar Machas, or to any other deity. Of him also, the classical historians relate that he was a great tyrant, who systematically oppressed his subjects in order to be able to complete his Great Pyramid, but there is absolutely no foundation for these stories. He died after a reign of only eight years. Menkaure, 2749-2724 B.C. The Mysorinos of Herodotus Succeeded Chafra. Herodotus tells us this pharaoh was celebrated for his great piety and righteousness, and the Egyptian monuments bear this out. They tell us that he sent out his son, Hordeath, to inspect the temples of the land, and that while on this tour of inspection the prince had discovered the sixty-fourth chapter of the Book of the Dead at Hermopolis, Chamunu. Some copies of the thirtieth chapter of the same compilation state that it also was found in this reign. Several later texts mention this prince. The celebrated minstrel's song quotes one of his sayings, and a letter written in the time of Ramses II speaks of the difficulty of understanding his writings. The story, related by some Greek authors, that the Oracle of Buto had predicted to him that he would die young, and that he had consequently spent day and night in dissipation in order to double his life is utterly untrustworthy. His tomb is the third and smallest of the pyramids of Giza. Its dimensions are side of square base, three hundred fifty-four and a half feet, perpendicular height, originally two hundred eighteen feet, now two hundred three feet. Height of incline, originally two hundred seventy-eight feet, now two hundred sixty-one feet. The order to erect this structure and the account of the work are given in an unfortunately extremely mutilated inscription in one of the tombs of Giza. The name of the pyramid was Harry. Although a systematic attempt to destroy this pyramid was made in eleven ninety-six A.D., it is the best preserved of all the pyramids of Giza. In the chamber, vise found the stone sarcophagus and fragments of the wooden mummy case of this king. The former was lost in a shipwreck. The latter are preserved in the British Museum. How long this pharaoh ruled we cannot say, as the Turin Papyrus has a break at his name. We must therefore, for the present, take the years given by the most trustworthy of the classical writers, Manetho, who states the king ruled twenty-five years. Shepseskof, twenty-seven twenty-three, through twenty-seven oh one B.C. Of this king we know very little. An interesting description was found in the tomb of his favorite, Ta Shepses. This man was born in the reign of Menkaure, and was educated together with the royal princes. His career as an official falls almost entirely within Shepseskof's reign. This king gave his favorite, his daughter Mayache in marriage, and heaped honors upon him. It is a characteristic fact that neither in this biography nor in any other inscription of this time do we meet with any mention of war-like expeditions. The monuments, however, make frequent mention of the king's trips through the country, of festivals, and of buildings erected by the pharaoh. Herodotus tells us that the successor of Mysorinos, whom he calls Asichus, built a pyramid of brick, and enlarged the southern Peristyle of the Ta Temple of Memphis. Deodorus, who calls him Sassichus, mentions him as one of the five great law-givers of Egypt. One of his alleged laws is mentioned by Herodotus, allowing a debtor to pawn his father's mummy. In case the mummy were not redeemed, he would lose for himself and family the right of burial. Deodorus also states that this pharaoh regulated the ritual and invented the geometry and the art of observing the stars. Of these stories it is safe to accept only what relates to the building operations of the king. According to Manetho, he ruled twenty-two years. Two kings, Cebercheras and Tampthys, are mentioned by Manetho as belonging to this dynasty, but their names have not yet been found on the monuments. Section 5 The Fifth Dynasty, 2700-2560 B.C. The change of dynasty seems to have impeacably accomplished, for we find that men who had held office under the preceding dynasty were retained by the kings of the new house. Possibly, the direct male line had died out, and the new line came to the throne by the right of female succession. Usurkov, 2700-2693 B.C. The first king of this dynasty was the immediate successor of Shepseskov, as is proved by the inscription of Sechem Kare, who held official positions under kings Chafra, Minkare, Shepseskov, Usurkov and Sahure. All we know of this pharaoh is that he ruled seven years and was buried in a pyramid called Abbasu. Sahure, 2692-2680 B.C. Had to repel inroads of the Men to use Satet, who had again begun to molest the Egyptian miners on the Sinai Peninsula. He founded the city of Persahure, north of Ezne, and built a temple to the goddess Sochet, the wife of Ta, in Memphis. This pyramid, Cheba, lies north of Abbasir. Sahure ruled twelve years. Neferar Kare, 2679-2672 B.C. The successor of Sahure is called Kaka in the list of Abadus. He died after a reign of seven years and was buried in a pyramid called Ba. Of Shepseskare, 2761-2759 B.C., we know only that he reigned twelve years. Of Ahtes, we know nothing. Neferbare reigned probably ten years. Aka'uhor is another ruler of whom we know absolutely nothing. An, whose pronomon was Usurenre, was the first king to adopt a throne name. Hitherto the kings had kept the names they had borne as princes, but now the kings took a new name on ascending the throne. This name was always compounded with the name of the God Ra, and was the official name of the ruler, by which he was designated in all state documents. The name of Ra was chosen in all probability because this God was considered as the first divine king of Egypt. The king, however, retained his old name, placing before it the title Sa Ra, son of Ra. Thus, An's name now was King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usurenre, the son of Ra, An. Not content with these two names, the pharaohs took three other names on ascending the throne, answering to the three titles, Horus, Lord of both lands, and Horus Nubti, that is, Horus the conqueror of set. In olden times the kings used one and the same name with these three titles. Thus, the full name of Amenemhot the first was, the Horus Nem Mesut, Renewer of births, Lord of both lands. Nem Mesut, Horus Nubti, Nem Mesut, King of Upper and Lower Egypt. Sehotep Abra, the son of Ra, Amenemhot. In later times, the pharaohs took a separate name with each title. Thus, the full name of Ramses II was, Horus, the strong steer, beloved of Mat, Lord of both lands, he that protected Egypt and subdued the barbarians. Horus Nubti, rich in years, great in victories, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra, Usur, Mat, Setep, and Ra, that is, Ra, strong in truth, chosen of Ra, the son of Ra, Ramesu, Mary, Amon, Ramses, beloved of Amon. Frequently, other titles are added and the titulature becomes a hymn on the king. An, warred on the Sinai Peninsula with the Mentiu Satet, he died after a reign of ten years. Mankauhor ruled eight years. All we know of him is that he too worked the copper and malachite mines of the Sinai. Dedkara Asa ruled twenty-eight years. In the fourth year of his reign, he sent an expedition to Wadi Maghara on the Sinai. He is the first pharaoh whose name we meet with in the quarries of the Wadi Hamamat, although undoubtedly, already, King Chafra worked them. Unas was the last king of this dynasty. With his name, the Turin Papyrus concludes a division and sums up the number of years since Mena in all six hundred and fifty. It thus would seem that his death marked an epic in Egyptian history. But our information about this period is so meager that we cannot say what great event can have taken place at this time. Unas had been appointed co-regent by his father, Asa. He does not seem to have undertaken any war-like expeditions. He was, however, a great builder, erecting a temple to the goddess Hathor near Memphis. In the Faya Um there was a city called Unas after him, and probably founded by him. The diorite he needed for these works he quarried in Hamamat. After a reign of thirty years, the king died. Teta was the founder of the new dynasty, and seems to have been the immediate successor of Unas. It would seem, however, that the new dynasty did not gain the throne without a struggle. Two kings are mentioned who belong about in this time, Ati and Imhotep, both of whom quarried stone in the Wadi Hamamat. They were most probably pretenders to the crown. Teta triumphed over all his rivals and ascended the throne about twenty-five sixty B.C. Whoever struggle there was seems to have been short-lived, and is not mentioned in the inscriptions. These inscriptions are chiefly those of nobles, and though they are, despite their brevity, accurate biographies, recounting the possessions and offices of the nobles they treat of, they touch on matters of state only incidentally. Of the history of this king, we know absolutely nothing. Manetho has preserved a legend that he was murdered by one of his bodyguard. According to the same historian, he ruled thirty years. This pharaoh was buried in a pyramid near Sakara, which was opened in 1881. The Egyptian name of the structure was Deidasu. The opening of this pyramid was of the greatest importance for religious history, but of none whatever for secular history, the walls being covered with long, religious texts containing not the slightest historical illusion. After Teta, the list of Abedos mentions a king, Osir Kara, of whom we know nothing. Perhaps this was the king's throne name and was put here by mistake. Mary Ra Pepe, 2530-2510 BC, who ascended the throne about 2530 BC, is the greatest monarch of this dynasty. Pepe was the immediate successor of Teta, but we do not know whether he was related to his predecessor or not. Pepe's empire embraced all of Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula. In the eighteenth year of his reign, he sent an expedition to the Wadi Maghara and was compelled to punish Dementiou, who had again become troublesome. During the same year, he also sent an expedition to Rohanu, Wadi Hamamat, to quarry stones for some temples he was erecting. His name also appears in the sandstone quarries of Gebel Silsila, and he is the first king of whose operations here we have any tidings, though assuredly the quarries had been worked by many of his predecessors. We know that he built in Tannis, and an inscription on the walls of the temple of Dendara relates that he had found the old plan of this building prepared in King Chufu's time. He also founded a city, the governor of which Beba is buried at Shech Said. The greater part of what we know of his reign is gleaned from the inscription of a noble named Una. This noble began his career under King Teta in minor offices. Under Pepe he rapidly gained distinction, rising to high offices. Early in Pepe's reign, he was made judge and acquitted himself so well in a very delicate case that he was given the exalted title of Only Friend to the Pharaoh, and was appointed governor of the Nubian district. He now conducted, in conjunction with a justice of lower rank, a case brought by the king against Queen Amset. The case was a very delicate one, and conducted with the utmost secrecy. We do not hear the cause of action, or the outcome of the case. The king was highly pleased with Una's conduct of this case, and heaped new honors upon him. The Amu Heryusha, as the Egyptians called the Syrian Bedouins, at this time began to make inroads on Egyptian territory, and it was determined to punish them. A vast army was collected from all parts of Egypt and Nubia, drilled and disciplined under the direction of Una. With this army he marched against the enemy, and in five successive campaigns completely routed them. Their strongholds were taken and destroyed, their crops were burned, their cattle driven off. Most numbers of prisoners were taken, and their country was left completely devastated, and almost depopulated. Pepe died soon after the close of this war, after a reign of twenty years, and was buried in his pyramid, which bore the name of Menaphor, the same as that of Memphis. This pyramid, which lies near Sakara, was opened in 1881. Its walls are covered with long religious inscriptions. Meren Ra Horem Saf, 2509-2502 B.C. On Pepe's death his son Meren Ra ascended the throne. Of him we know little outside of what Una tells us. This noble was made a prince by the new ruler, an appointed governor of the South. In this capacity he highly distinguished himself. He made two enumerations of the South, that is, twice took the census of his province, a thing that had never been done before, and that gained him great praise from the king. He was then ordered to bring a granite sarcophagus and fittings for the king's pyramid from the quarries at Elephantine. The fact that only one man of war was needed to escort six transports and six other vessels is a significant proof of the extent of the Egyptian power in these early times. We have already seen that Pepe I conscripted troops from the Nubian districts bordering on Egypt. In an expedition undertaken somewhat later, Una pressed Nubian tribes into his service to cut timber and build boats. Most probably these tribes had been subdued already by King Chufu when he opened the granite quarries on the first cataract. These tribes most probably stood in a relation of semi-dependence to Egypt. They certainly retained their tribal relations and their autonomy, but were compelled to serve in the Egyptian army in case of war, and to assist the expeditions that were sent to Aswan. Despite of this, we know of this reign only that the king made a tour of inspection on which he visited the quarries of Aswan, and that he sent an expedition to the Wadi Hamamat. According to Manetho he ruled only seven years. He was entombed in his pyramid, which was named Chanofer. This pyramid was opened in 1881, and it was found that the walls were covered with inscriptions analogous to those found in the pyramid of his father. In the sarcophagus chamber was found the carefully embalmed and well-preserved mummy of the king, which was brought to Bulak. The body is that of a young man, which well accords with the short reign ascribed to him by Manetho. Nefrikare, Pepe II, 2501-2411 B.C. On Marenra's death, his brother, Nefrikare, ascended the throne. He corresponds to Manetho's king Phaeops, who ruled 100 years, as the Turin Papyrus gives Pepe II over 90 years. All that we know of him is that he sent an expedition to the copper mines of Wadi Maghara on the Sinai. This king was buried in a pyramid near Sakara, the Egyptian name of which was Men'anche. It was opened in 1881, and contained the same texts as the others. The close of this dynasty is shrouded in darkness. We know a few of the names belonging here, but if not one of the kings after Pepe II, do we know the history? Thus we hear of a king Ment Emsaf, a king Nefrus, and a king Ab. Neetakar, the Neetakris of the classical authors, belongs in this dynasty, though we cannot give her her exact place. Her name is mentioned on none of the monuments, but many a legend is related of her. Herodotus tells us that after a reign of scarce one year, king Menthisophus was murdered, and his sister and wife, the beautiful one with the rosy cheeks, succeeded him. She resolved to avenge her husband and brother. To this end she had a great hall built underground, which was connected with the waters of the Nile. The river was prevented from entering by mighty flood-gates. To this hall she invited all who were implicated in the murder of her husband to a banquet. When this was at its height, she herself opened the flood-gates, and the waters of the Nile streaming in, all the guests perished. Then to avoid the vengeance of the murderer's friends, she threw herself into a large chamber filled with glowing coal, and was burned up. The same historian further relates that in her reign of seven years she had enlarged the pyramid of Mycerinos, and had coated its apex with granite. There is as little foundation for one of these tales as for the other. The latter's story is disproved by the fact that the third pyramid shows no traces of having been rebuilt or enlarged. An Arabic legend is also connected with Nitochris, or rather with the third pyramid. To the present day, the Arabs dwelling about the pyramids believe that the ghost of the southern pyramid hovers about it in the shape of a beautiful naked woman, whom she sets eyes on, her smile infatuates, but she is a great coquette, alternately attracting and repelling her victim until he becomes insane and wanders aimless through the land. Many and many a one, say they, has seen her, especially at noon and sunset, hovering about her pyramid. End of Chapter 2 Chapter 3 of History of Egypt. History of Egypt by F. C. H. Wendell. Chapter 3 From the seventh dynasty to the close of the twelfth, the transition period and the Middle Empire, about 2,400 through 1930 B.C. Chapter 1 The transition period, dynasties, seven through eleven. This was a period of frequent revolutions, king after king ascended the throne, but it was a long time before a king arose who succeeded in securing a firm hold on the reigns of state. It is next to impossible to give even a chronological list of the kings who ruled in this period, which must have covered some two hundred years, and perhaps more. It is owing to this gap, and one that we shall meet with later, that the chronology of the earlier periods of Egypt is so very uncertain. From conditions existing in the times of the twelfth dynasty, it would seem that the great hereditary princes of the realm, the Nomarchoi, succeeded in winning some considerable independence during this period. It is but natural that in a time when the kings felt anything but secure on the throne, they should seek to enlist the support of the nobility, and be ready to purchase that support by according them greater privileges than they had hitherto enjoyed. These nobles were very shrewd lot, and no doubt made the best of the bargain by selling their support to the highest bidder. It was in all probability, this inordinate strengthening of the nobility that finally led to the rise of the Theban princes, and to their accession to the throne under the founder of the eleventh dynasty. This was significant for the entire future of Egypt, as Thebes controlled the destinies of the kingdom for over a thousand years. Hanetho gives only a list of dynasties for this period as follows. SEVENTH DYNASTY MEMPHITIC SEVENTY KINGS IN SEVENTY DAYS ACCORDING TO USEBIUS FIVE KINGS IN SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS EIGHTH DYNASTY MEMPHITIC TWENTY-SEVEN KINGS IN ONE HUNDRED FOURTY-SIX YEARS Ninth dynasty, from Heracliopolis, twenty-seven kings in four hundred nine years, Cincellus, four kings in one hundred years, tenth dynasty, from Heracliopolis, seventeen kings in one hundred eighty-five years. Of the names, Menetho gives only that of King Akthos, the founder of the Ninth dynasty, of whom he relates that he was the most barbarous and inhuman king that had hitherto ruled in Egypt. He committed many crimes and was finally stricken with insanity and killed by a crocodile. It is a probable conjecture that Menetho wishes to convey the impression that this king was a foreign invader. In all probability, the Amu Heriusa, whom Una had so effectually crushed, had been left alone by Mary Ra's immediate successors, and had again gathered sufficient strength to renew their attacks on Egypt. If this is so, the attack must not have come until after Nefrika Ra's long reign. It seems that this time the barbarians had it all their own way and had finally succeeded in conquering the country. This hypothesis receives some confirmation, however slight, from the fact that a semi-legendary papyrus mentions combats with the Heriusa under kings Charuti and Ameno. Judging from the names, Ameno was probably one of the kings of the Eleventh dynasty, and these battles were then fought in delivering Egypt from the foreign invader. The Eleventh dynasty. With the founder of this dynasty, the Theban princes ascended the throne of Egypt. These kings seem to have delivered Egypt from the yoke of the foreign invader, the war possibly being begun by Charuti and Ameno, though we nowhere find any mention of this fact. The first of these princes mentioned in the lists of kings is the Arpeit, that is Hereditary Prince Anteph. The three succeeding kings are designated as Hore, and the fourth successor of Anteph is the first one to bear the full titulature of Egyptian kings. From this fact the conclusion has been drawn that the first Anteph was merely prince of Thebes, that his next successors had gradually enlarged their sway until they ruled over all of Upper Egypt and had assumed the title Hore, signifying ruler of Upper Egypt, and that finally the fourth successor of Anteph had succeeded in conquering all of Egypt and had consequently assumed the full titulature of the Egyptian kings. This conjecture is entirely unwarranted. It is probable that these rulers delivered Egypt from the yoke of the foreign invader, but any attempt to read the history of the war from the titles of these kings is futile. The founder of the dynasty, Prince Anteph, in all probability, was the man with whom the national movement began, though he possibly died before other princes had recognized his authority, and owes his place in the list of kings to the fact that his dynasty based their claim to the throne on him. To translate the title of Hore as ruler of Upper Egypt, or as duke, is not admissible. Hore was one of the titles of the Egyptian kings. The word signifies Horus, and this title was given the king, because he was looked upon as the Horus on earth. The order of succession of these kings is not certain, and we therefore deem it advisable to group them according to their names. This will give us two groups, one of kings whose names were all the same, Anteph, and another of kings whose names were all the same, Mentuhotep. Any other arrangement would be equally arbitrary, while lacking the clearness of this. The Anteph kings, Anteph Aya, that is the great, with the throne name Ra Sechem Upmat, is the only king of this line, of whose family relations we have any knowledge. A note on his sarcophagus informs us that his younger brother and successor, Ananteph Ra Sechem Her Hermat, had the sarcophagus made. This sarcophagus is in the Museum of the Louvre. It is of gilt wood, and is ornamented with wings folded protectingly about the deceased. An inscription found in Abedas mentions buildings erected by him in this city. A Pyramideon, mentioning the name of his wife, Mentuhotep, was discovered at Kourna. The record of a criminal procedure against Theban tomb robbers informs us that he was buried in an acropolis of Thebes. The gilt wood sarcophagus of Ananteph is in the British Museum. His silver gilt diadem is in the Museum of Leiden. Nub Chepur Ra Ananteph is mentioned on a statue as the conqueror of Asiatics and Nubians, but the texts do not give any detailed accounts of his campaigns. His tomb at Dra Abul Negah, opposite Thebes, was discovered by Mariette in 1860 to 1861. The Stel, found in the Funeral Chapel, dates from his fiftieth year, so that we know he reigned fifty years, and consequently must have lived at a time when the country was tranquil. At the same place fragments of two obelisks erected by this pharaoh were found. Anaya, the great, is one of the kings whose tombs are mentioned in the criminal procedure above alluded to. One of the hieratic copies of the Book of the Dead alleges that the one hundred and thirtieth chapter was discovered in his reign. The Mentu Hohtep kings belong to the same family with the Anteph kings. Neb Hohtep, Mentu Hohtep, is known only from a Stel found at Canasso, on which he is depicted as adoring the local divinities of that region, who throw all peoples under his feet, that is, give him power over them. From this we must infer that Neb Hohtep carried on wars in Nubia. Of Ra Nebtaui, Mentu Hohtep, we know only that he sent an expedition to the quarries of the Wadi Hamamat to quarry a sarcophagus for him. On this occasion he caused a great reservoir to be cut in the rock so that the men might not die of thirst. Ra Neb Chepru, Mentu Hohtep, reigned over forty-six years, as is proved by the tombstone of a certain Meru who died in the forty-sixth year of this reign. We know of him only that he quarried stone in Aswan. This pharaoh must have been a ruler of some consequence, for his name is mentioned in all of the lists of kings, and in several lists his is the only name of a king ruling before the Hiksos invasion that is mentioned. Se'ach Karah was the last king of this dynasty. A very interesting inscription, Graven on the Rock in the Wadi Hamamat, relates the story of one of his expeditions. In the eighth year of his reign, three thousand men, under command of Henu, started from Kebti at the mouth of the valley. The expedition had a two-fold object, first to quarry stone for the monarch's tomb, and sarcophagus, and second to visit the shores of Powent, that is, the southwest coast of Arabia and the Somali coast on the African side of the Red Sea, on a trading expedition. Henu accomplished both objects successfully. To facilitate the provisioning of so large a detachment, a number of stations was established, and wells sunk along the line of march. Arrived at the quarries, one detachment of the expedition settled down to work, while the other continued its march to the sea, which it reached at about the place where Kosser now stands. From here Henu sent out a fleet, no mention is made of the building of ships, to the shores of Powent, awaiting their return at Kosser. The fleet brought back all the products of this country, consisting of incense, precious stones, and other valuables. Meanwhile, the stonecutters had done their work, and the expedition returned to Egypt. This expedition is memorable, in that it proves that this pharaoh was firmly determined to establish a regular trade with Powent. The undertaking was in a certain sense a pioneer expedition, the duty of which was to survey the road from Kebti to the Red Sea, and by the establishment of watering stations to make it practicable. The first king, of whom we know that he followed in Sayanch Karaz footsteps, was Amenemhat II. The Twelfth Dynasty 2130-1930 B.C. The Eleventh Dynasty had been a period of strife. In it Egypt had been delivered from the domination of the foreign invader, the kingdom had been reunified, and the work of reorganizing the government had been begun. So well had the last rulers of this dynasty done their work, that Sayanch Karaz could undertake the work of opening a road through the Wadi Hamamat from Kebti to the Red Sea, and of laying the first foundations of a direct commercial intercourse with the coast of southwestern Arabia and the Somali coast. To what extent the work of reorganization was completed, when Amenemhat I ascended the throne, we do not know, as but few monuments of the kings immediately preceding him have come down to us. Of the times embraced by the Twelfth Dynasty we have, however, a fair knowledge. Though the buildings erected by the kings of this dynasty have disappeared, yet the numerous inscriptions that have been preserved in all parts of Egypt contain records of their doings. Much of our knowledge of this period we owe to the tombs discovered at Benihassan and Bershah. But even here it is not yet possible to give details, or to fully understand all the conditions that led to the rise and the fall of this house. Sehotep Abra, Amenemhat, 2130-2100 B.C. A map of Ethiopia is shown. And note. About the year 2130 King Amenemhat I ascended the throne of Egypt. What claim he had to the crown, we are not told. But in all probability he was related to the last king of the preceding dynasty. The change of dynasty was not accomplished without severe internal dissensions. Several inscriptions allude to these disturbances, but give no details. The new Pharaoh was equal to the occasion. He defeated the rebels, and then set to work to reorganize his kingdom. One of his first measures was to curb the power of the nobles who had become semi-independent. The principle of heredity he dared not abolish, but he regulated the succession. When an old Nomarchos died, the king chose his successor from his heirs at law, and thus bound the new prince to his person. He also personally superintended a new survey of the whole country. It would seem that, during the periods of anarchy, foreign domination and restoration, following on the decline of the old empire, the Egyptian kings had not possessed the leisure or the power to adjust disputes concerning boundaries which had arisen among the nobles. The stronger had preyed upon the weaker, and many a prince had seized the occasion of enlarging his domain. Amenemhot made a tour of inspection through the country, personally hearing complaints and readjusting the boundaries. He thus succeeded in reorganizing his kingdom in a very short time. And when order was once restored, he was the man to keep it with an iron hand. This policy enabled him early in his reign to turn his attention to foreign affairs. He marched against the Libyan tribe of the Matiu and conquered them. He also warred on the Asiatic frontier against the Bedouins of the Syrian desert. In the 29th year of his reign he led his forces into Nubia, and entirely subdued the O'ahu'a, a tribe that had begun to give trouble. Like all of the Pharaohs, he was a great builder. The relics of his work have been found at Tannis, Abedas, Memphis, and Karnak. The relics of his work found at Karnak are of great importance, as they prove that the great Temple of Ammon was founded by this ruler. The stone needed for these buildings was quarried in the limestone quarries of Tura. O'ahu, opposite Memphis, in the diorite quarries of the Wadi Hamamat, and in the granite quarries of Asuan. In the 16th, Upper Egyptian Nome, he built a city called Hat Sehotep Abra, as also a fort called Amenam Hat Dead Tawi. This Pharaoh had in later times the reputation of being a great sage. A papyrus, written about one thousand years after his time, said to be a series of precepts addressed to his son, Usur-Tessan I, tells the story of his accession to the throne, and relates some other events of his reign. This interesting papyrus, which is said to have been composed by the king himself, is preserved in the British Museum. In the twenty-first year of his reign, Amenam Hat, in all probability, with the purpose of avoiding a civil war over the succession, appointed his son, Usur-Tessan, co-regent. This practice was imitated by most of his successors. The Pharaoh died in the thirtieth year of his reign, and the events related and allusions made in the memoirs of a prince of this time force on us the suspicion that he was murdered. When Usur-Tessan I ascended the throne, about 2099 BC, he succeeded to a mighty empire, firmly united in its various parts, and presenting a bold front to its hostile neighbors. Already, as co-regent, Usur-Tessan had distinguished himself in the field, and his warlike ardor did not abate when he sat on the throne as sole ruler. He was compelled to take the field against the Libyan Bedouins, whom he subdued. In the forty-third year of his reign, he invaded Nubia, and penetrated as far as the second cataract. Here he set up a stelle, on which he enumerates the names of eleven conquered Nubian tribes. Of these names, nine are preserved. 1. Who? 2. Kos? 3. Destroyed? 4. Shamik? 5. Chasah? 6. Sheyat? 7. Asherkin? 8. Owa-Owa? 9. Chammer? 10. Destroyed? 11. Amau? It is very unfortunate that we have no details on the names of the tribes. It is very unfortunate that we have no detailed accounts of these wars. We know only where the king wore and read the names of the conquered nations. But here our knowledge ends. This pharaoh opened the copper and malachite mines of the Set Mefkat, malachite land as the Egyptians called the Sinai Peninsula. He also quarried stone in the Wadi Hamamat. The most important of the buildings erected by this pharaoh were, of course, at Thebes. He built the priest's quarters at Karnak, which were restored in the reign of Ramses IX, and had his statue placed in the temple-yard. A very fine colossal statue of this king, which was found at Tannis, is now in the museum of Berlin. In the third year of his reign, according to the text, written on a roll of leather preserved in the same museum, the pharaoh began work on the temple of Ra at Heliopolis, as his father was then still living, and he was merely co-regent. Amenemhot I appears as the directing spirit, while Ussertesen seems to have exercised executive functions. The temple was called Het Cha Se Ho Te Pab Ra, that is, the shining temple of Amenemhot I, while a portion of it was named after Ussertesen. The only trace left of this temple are two obelisks erected by Ussertesen, one of which is still standing, while the other is fallen and in fragments. A peculiarly shaped obelisk rounded at the apex and showing undoubted traces of the fact that it was once capped with metal, was found, broken in two, at Begig in the Fayun. Owing to the fact that the fela heen of the region look upon it as sacred, it could not be removed. The king also built in Abidas. In his forty-second year Ussertesen appointed his son Amenemhot co-regent. Two years after he died, having ruled in all forty-four years, of which he shared ten with his father, and two with his son, and ruled thirty-two alone, Nubka Ra Amenemhot, twenty sixty-four through twenty thirty-one B.C., ascended the throne as sole king about twenty sixty-four B.C. He was a ruler of no special prominence, but he was well able to keep together the great kingdom left him by his father. In the twenty-eighth year of his reign this king sent an expedition under command of Chent Cha'or to Arabia, and the Somali coast, Pehwent. The expedition was a success. This is the first time, since the reign of Sayyaj Karah, that we hear of a government expedition sent to this country. Like his father, he worked at the Sinai copper mines, and built at Sarbut El Chadem, a temple to Hathor, who was the tutular deity of this region. He also operated the quarries of the Wadi Hamemhot. In the thirty-second year of his reign, he appointed his son Ussertesan co-regent, and died three years later, having ruled in all thirty-five years, two years as co-regent of his father, thirty years alone, and three years together with his son. Cha'chepper Ra, Ussertesan, twenty-thirty through twenty-fourteen B.C. Of Ussertesan II, who came to the throne about twenty-thirty B.C., we know but little. Almost all our knowledge of his reign is confined to what the great inscriptions in the tombs at Bani Hassan and Bursha tell us of the social conditions of the time. In the first year of his reign, he sent an expedition to the Wadi Gasus, a branch of the Wadi Hamemhot, which runs in a slanting northeast direction to the Red Sea. This expedition most probably went to Powent. In the fifth year of his reign, he sent an expedition under Mentu Hootep to Asuon, and it would seem from his inscription that the tribes dwelling about the quarries had given trouble and had been subdued. This pharaoh built at Memphis and Tannis, at which latter place a statue of his wife, Nefert, was found. In the times of the Twelfth Dynasty, it was a customary thing for Syrian Bedouins to cross the Egyptian border and seek permission to pasture their herds on Egyptian soil. A migration of this character, which took place in the sixth year of this reign, is represented on a celebrated painting found in the tomb of Kenem Hootep, the Nomarchos of the sixteenth Upper Egyptian Nome. This painting represents the arrival of thirty-seven Asiatics who came before that noble, bearing costly presence, among which was a specially valuable Isav, seeking his protection and asking permission to settle on his territory. The painting has become widely known through the attempted identification of the people here depicted with Abraham and his party. This attempt, however, is futile. The Bible relates that Abraham came to Egypt on a similar errant and that his stay in this country was advantageous to him. The account of the Bible shows a good knowledge of the conditions under which such migrations were made, and is certainly based on old recollections of the race, some parts of which, no doubt, did dwell in Egypt under these conditions, while they were yet in the nomadic state. Manetho calls this king Sesostris and attributes to him the conquest of the world, but as yet no monuments have been discovered that bear out this statement. This Sesostris is the usual designation of Ramses II with the classical writers. It is, however, just possible that the copyists of Manetho got things slightly mixed. The king died after a reign of nineteen years, three of which he shared with his father, Chakkarah Usartesan. 2013-1987 B.C., who succeeded his father about 2013 B.C., is one of the greatest figures of Egyptian history. He it was that finally subdued Ethiopia. The victories of Usartesan I had placed the southern boundary of the realm at the second cataract. Usartesan III immediately proceeded to strengthen this frontier and make it the basis of his operations. Having defeated the hostile tribes of the region, he built two forts on opposite sides of the Nile, one at Semna and one at Khamna. On this cataract, and in the eighth year of his reign, erected a boundary stone, warning all Negroes from coming down the river on their boats, unless they were bringing cattle or merchandise to market at He, Semna, or Aachen, Khamna. In the sixteenth year of his reign, the Pharaoh set out on his second campaign against the Nubians. He completely devastated the country, destroyed the crops, drove off the cattle, and took numerous prisoners. Despite this great victory, the Nubians were not yet completely subdued. In the nineteenth year of his reign, the king was again compelled to take the field against them, and again he completely defeated them. After this, the tribes seemed to have submitted and remained tranquil, for during the rest of this epic we hear of no new outbreaks. The king was an active builder. We have already mentioned two of his great works. He also built in Thebes, in Heracliopolis, Magna, in Abidus, in Tannis, and in Amada. He was, moreover, the first founder of the temples on the island of Elephantine, where he erected a temple to Satet and Anukhet, two of the local deities of the region. Near the island he founded a new city, which he called Herucha-Kara. It is interesting to note how posterity honored this great monarch. Almost six hundred years after the king's death, Tutmosis III erected a temple to him at Semna, and seems to have attempted to make him a local divinity of this region. He also appears as a god in the temple of Khamna, and that of Dosha, and at other places in Nubia. Ussertesan died after a reign of twenty-six years. Mat-en-ra, Amenem-hat, 1986 through 1942 B.C. About 1986 B.C., Amenem-hat III, one of Egypt's greatest pharaohs, ascended the throne. This king was not a great warrior and conqueror, but he was the projector and builder of an important work that was of far greater value to Egypt than would have been the conquest of a dozen or more of the border tribes. His fame rests on the immense reservoir he built in the western part of the 21st Upper Egyptian Gnome. This reservoir, according to all appearances, was built and not dug. A vast dam was erected, enclosing a large area in this part of the country. The exact extent of the reservoir we have no means of ascertaining, nor do we know exactly what part of the district known today as the Fayum was enclosed in its dams, some remains of which have been discovered. The object of this vast reservoir was to regulate the inundation of the Nile. It received and stored up for future use vast quantities of water. Just how this was accomplished, or where the floodgates were, or what canals led to and from the reservoir, we do not know. The great work is now in ruins and we have no description of it as it was in the days of its builder. As stated on a previous page, this work gave to the district in which it was erected, the name of Ta-she, Lakeland, the modern name of the region Fayum, being derived through the Coptic Fayum from the ancient word Pa-yum, the sea. In this reservoir, Amenemhot erected two pyramids. At Ilahun, on the northern outlet of the reservoir, a city in all probability founded by the Pharaoh, he built a pyramid in which he was buried. On the northeastern bank he erected the great building known as the labyrinth, about which the Greeks tell so many stories, and which was originally a temple dedicated either entire or in part to the crocodile-headed god Sebaq, the head of the local pantheon of this region. The city of Crocodilopolis, the Egyptian name of which seems to have been Shadet, lying on the west bank of the reservoir, was the capital of Ta-she, and was no doubt also founded by this ruler. The Greek name of the work, Lake Mauris, was most probably derived from the Egyptian word Mary, Lake. Despite the fact that the building of the reservoir and the cities lying about it must have taken up a great part of his time, Amenemhot still was able to erect buildings elsewhere. He certainly did not forget Thebes, and we hear that he built in Abedas and Memphis. Several expeditions, one of which the king led in person, were sent to the diorite quarries of the Wadi Hamamat. He also continued the working of the copper and malachite mines of the Sinai, and had a grotto cut into the rock at Sarbut El Chadem. Of interest are the notes regarding the rise of the Nile, found on the rocks at Semna and Cumna, which prove that the Nile rose twenty-seven feet, three inches higher at these places, during this time than it rises today. Toward the close of his reign of forty-four years, he appointed his son Amenemhot, co-regent, Ra Ma Cheru Amenemhot, 1941 through 1932 B.C. This pharaoh, the fourth of his name, who ascended the throne about 1941 B.C., was apparently a weak king. All we know of him is that he worked the copper mines of the Sinai, and had, like all kings of his line, the rise of the Nile carefully recorded at Semna and Cumna. He married his sister, Sebak Nefru Ra, whom he appointed co-regent. Together they ruled about nine years. The close of the dynasty is shrouded in darkness. Chapter 4 The Decline of the Egyptian Kingdom and the Hixoth Domination. This period is one of the darkest in the history of Egypt. Very few monuments have come down to us from this epoch, and almost all we know of the entire four hundred years or more is the names of the kings, and in some cases the length of the various reigns. Of some of these rulers we know from the monuments found how far their power extended, but here our knowledge ends. We know further that in this period the Egyptian kings were dethroned by foreign invaders coming from Asia and known to us as the Hixos, and that these foreigners held Egypt in subjugation for many years. Who they were and how long they remained in the country we have no means of knowing. The only review of this period that any ancient writer has given us is that copied from Manifoh. Thirteenth dynasty from Thebes, sixty kings in 453 years. Fourteenth dynasty from Coas in the delta, seventy-six kings in 484 years. Fifteenth dynasty, Hixos, six kings in 260 years. Sixteenth dynasty, Hixos, unknown kings in 251 years. Seventeenth dynasty from Thebes, unknown kings in 251 in unknown years. The number of hypotheses concerning this epoch is legion, but not one is supported by facts and monuments. The times of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties seem to have been troublesome. The kings of the former ruled, according to Manifoh, only about seven and a half years on an average, while those of the latter only about six years, while the members of the first Hixos dynasty ruled on an average forty-three and one-third years. The entire period is evidently set down as too long by Manifoh's copious, who give over one hundred and forty-two kings in over fourteen hundred and forty-eight years. The monuments do not permit us to assume so great a gap in the history as five hundred and eleven years between the close of the fourteenth dynasty and the beginning of the new empire, about fifteen-thirty B.C. There have come down to us from the genealogies of nobles who lived early in the eighteenth dynasty, that after a few generations give names which certainly belong to contemporaries of the thirteenth and fourteenth dynasties. It is very probable, if not certain, that the last kings of the fourteenth dynasty were contemporary with the earliest Hixos kings, and we know that all of the kings of the seventeenth dynasty were contemporaries of the last Hixos kings. If we must state the duration of this period in years, we would say that it cannot have exceeded four hundred years, of which one hundred and fifty years would give about the duration of dynasties thirteen and fourteen, and two hundred and fifty years the duration of the Hixos domination. Section one, the thirteenth dynasty. The new dynasty, which was founded by King Rahutawi, seems to have been closely connected with the twelfth. Already at the close of the preceding dynasty, we find the crocodile god of the Fayum, Sebak, in ascendancy, owing to the extensive works erected by the last kings of that dynasty in the Fayum. Names containing that of Sebak as a component part begin to appear about the same time, witness that of Queen Sebak Nofru Rah. This custom has become prevalent in the new dynasty. It is further significant that two kings of this line adopted the throne name of Aminem Haat I, Sehotep Abra. A long list of kings of this house has been preserved, but of scarce a single one do we know more than the name. As above remarked, the times seem to have been troublesome and rife with insurrections and usurpations. Of Se'angh Abra, Amino, we know that he built at Karnak, two altars dedicated by him to Amun Ra having been found here. Section 2, the 14th dynasty. Ranshanib, the 11th or 12th successor of Rahutawi, the founder of dynasty 13, founded a new dynasty. The greater part of his successors have left us monuments, and the fact that these monuments have been found in all parts of Egypt, from Tannis to Semne, and even far to the south of his place, proves that these pharaohs had control of the entire country, though at times they must have found it quite a difficult task to hold their own. Accordingly we must not picture them to ourselves as exceedingly mighty monarchs. They were nothing of the kind. They merely succeeded in holding together the mighty kingdom of the 12th dynasty. They have left us only short inscriptions and statues that are, it is true, sometimes of colossal proportions and of superior workmanship, but that could easily have been executed in a short period. Manifoh states that this dynasty came originally from the town of Cois in the Delta, but where he got this information is a mystery to us. Se'chem Khutawirah, Sebak Hotep III, has left us several records of the rise of the Nile at Semne and Cumne. The sixth king of this line, Semeng Khkara Mermenfitu, is generally supposed to have been a usurper, but this supposition is based merely on the fact that his name Mermenfitu means general and is very doubtful. Of him there are extant two colossal statues that once adorned the temple of Pta at Tannis. Both of these were later on usurped by the Hixos king Apepi, and still later Ramses II put his cartouches on one of them. At the same time, a third statue of this ruler was found. Se'chem Huach Tawirah, Sebak Hotep IV, was the son of a private citizen named Mentu Hotep and the princess Fuhenen Abu, the daughter of Queen Nenna. It would thus seem that Sebak Hotep IV based his claim to the crown on his mother. Khasishehra Nefer Hotep, the son of a private citizen named Ha'anghef and his wife Kimat, was one of the mightiest of these kings, retaining the crown eleven years. The temple of Abidus was specially favoured by this ruler. A long inscription found at this place relates the following story. One day King Nefer Hotep was seized with a desire to see the books of the God Atum, a solar deity. Receiving permission he entered the temple library and studied them. Hereupon he resolved to restore the entire temple. A good resolution this, and one he carried out. One of the most interesting monuments of his reign is an inscription on the rocks of Aswan, representing him and his entire family, consisting of his parents, Prince Sahathor, Prince Sebak Hotep and a relative named Neb Hotep. A sandstone block found at Karnak, which by the by proves that he built here, is of great interest, as it bears on the one side the name of Nefer Hotep, and on the other, that of Sebak Hotep, his son and second successor. It would seem from this that Sebak Hotep had been appointed co-regent by his father in order that his succession might be assured. A small granite statue of the king was found at Tannis. After the short reign of Sahathor, who seems to have died soon after his accession, Sebak Hotep V ascended the throne. He was a powerful monarch, who ruled over the entire land, a colossal statue of rose-colored granite representing this king, on which Ramses II, afterward cut his cartouches, was found at Tannis. A second statue was found at Bubastus, and a third on the island of Argo, far south of the second cataract. His name is frequently found on the walls of the Temple of Karnak. According to the classical authors who call him Kenefries, he died of elephantiasis. Kha Ang Khra, Sebak Hotep VI, is mentioned on the walls of the Temple of Karnak, and on several smaller monuments. Kha Hotep Ra, Sebak Hotep VII, ruled according to the Turin papyrus four years, eight months, and 29 days. Wah Abra, Ah Ab, reigned ten years, eight months, and eighteen days. And Mer Nefer Ra, I, reigned thirteen years, eight months, and eighteen days, as far as we know, longer than any other king of this dynasty. Mer Khra, Sebak Hotep VIII, has left us a statue. Several important tombs at Siwat state from this time. Of the remaining kings of this dynasty, we know nothing. Little by little, we lose grasp of the historical connection, and all that has left us is a mere list of names, with here and there the statement that a certain king ruled so and so many years. The tombs of Siwat that date from this time all show that the nobles here buried were rich and powerful. They have the same value for this period as those of Benny Hassan have for the twelfth dynasty, but are not nearly so well preserved and contain but few historical allusions. Section III, the Hyksos Domination, about 1780-1530 BC. The 15th Dynasty. The 14th Dynasty succumbed to an invasion of Asiatic Bedouins who gradually succeeded in driving the Egyptian king's south. It is highly probable, however, that the pharaohs yielded only after a long and bitter struggle. The only account we have of the Hyksos invasion is that copied from Manifoh's book by Josephus. This account is as follows, quote, At the time when King Timaeus ruled in Egypt, God for unknown reasons became incensed at the Egyptians. A people coming from the east suddenly attacked the land and easily conquered it. The ruling class were taken prisoners. The cities were burnt down, and the temples devastated. All the inhabitants were treated in the most hostile and barbarous manner. Some were slain, and the wives and children of others were sold into slavery. At last these barbarians elected one of their own number, named Salatis, king. He made Memphis his capital, levied taxes in Upper and Lower Egypt, and garrisoned a number of towns. The strongest garrisons were laid in the eastern forts, as he feared the Assyrians, who were at that time very powerful, might attack Egypt. Finding in the Seidic, mistaken for a Sethroitic gnome, a city favourably located east of the bubastic branch of the Nile, which, owing to an old legend, was called Avaris, he built a great wall around it and put in a garrison of 240,000 men. To this city he came in the summer, partly to direct the distribution of food and pay, and partly to frighten the enemy by constantly drilling his men. After a reign of nineteen years he died, and the following were his successors, Belon, who ruled forty-four years, Apaknes, who ruled thirty-six years and seven months, according to Africanus, sixty-one years, Apophis, also called Apophis, sixty-one years, Annas, fifty years and one month, and Asseth, forty-nine years and two months. These six kings were the first rulers of the people that lived in constant strife with the Egyptians and sought to exterminate them. The whole people had the name of Hyksos, i.e. Shepard kings, for Hyk signifies in the Old Language King, and Sos Shepard, and still has this meaning in the Demotic. Some say they were Arabs. In another copy of Manitho, however, there is the note that the syllable Hyk does not signify king, but that the entire word means prisoners of war. This latter explanation seems to me, as Josephus, the more plausible and better in accord with ancient history. The last note, given by Josephus, was certainly not found in the original work of Manitho, but was added by some later copyist, provided it be not an invention of Josephus himself. This writer's object, in quoting this passage from Manitho and his history of the Jews, was to prove that the Hyksos and the Jews were one and the same people, and thus to demonstrate the great antiquity and nobility of the Jewish race. Now, there was one thing that bothered him. The Hyksos entered the land as conquerors, while the Jews, according to the Old Testament, entered it peacefully. Josephus, therefore, thought himself of this not-over-ingenious compromise. On the other hand, Manitho's etymology is correct. Hyk does mean prince, and Hyk may well be corrupted from this word. And Sos, certainly, is a corruption of Shasu, or Shas, which was the name commonly applied in this period to the nomads on the Asiatic frontier. I must, in this connection, remind the reader of the fact that the Greeks had no K and no Sh, and were compelled to render the former as K, and the latter as S. The only difficulty lay in the fact that Hyk represented the singular Hek, while the plural Heku would have been the proper form. But it has been demonstrated that the form Hyksos is a mistake for Hykosos. While Manitho is right here, he has made some terrible slips in other parts of his narrative. His most glaring mistake is that he speaks of a powerful Assyrian empire in about 1780 BC, at a time when Asor was a small and unimportant town that could scarcely hold its own against its near-neighbours. Even 300 years later, Assyria was so weak that when Thutmosis III had defeated the Assyrian kings, it sent him tribute. Another bad slip is the story about Averus. Assuredly, the Hyksos did not conquer Egypt in order to be able to garrison a town on the borders of the desert. Only the bare facts of Manitho's narrative are available for historical purposes, and these are that a vast horde of Asianic Bedouins, this is the best rendering of Shasu, invaded Egypt and after a long struggle succeeded in conquering the country. What race these Bedouins belong to we cannot say, nor have we any idea of their appearance. The monuments at Tannis and formerly attributed to them have long since been proved to belong to another epoch of Egyptian history. Their religion was of course different from that of the Egyptians. An Egyptian text treating of the expulsion of the Hyksos states that they worshipped the god Sutech. This is the name applied by the Egyptians to the god of the foreigners, and is often a translation of the Semitic Baal. Thus the Baalim of the various Kheta towns are designated as Sutechu, plural of Sutech. As god of the foreign enemies of Egypt, Sutech is identified with Set, the enemy of Horus and principle of Evo, and it is but natural that this god should be looked upon as the tutelor deity of the hostile foreigners. In later times when the power of the new empire declined, Sutech, as the powerful god of the mighty enemies, was considered a very potent divinity and found many worshipers in Egypt. The names of most of the Hyksos kings are compounds of the name of the god Set, but some are compounds of the name Ra, showing that the Hyksos were to some extent influenced by Egyptian religious thought. The 16th dynasty. The Hyksos did not always remain uncultured barbarians, but with time began to adopt the civilization of Egypt. Egyptian officials were put in charge of the various departments. Egyptian literature, science, and art were encouraged. Under King Ah Wester Ra, Apepe I, was compiled a mathematical treatise of which a copy written in the twenty-third year of his reign has come down to us. Ah Penen Ra, Apepe II, is known from several monuments. The reign or rather death of King Ah Pehtiset, Nubti, is used as an era in an inscription of the time of Ramses II, which is dated four hundred years after King Nubti. This would place Nubti in the 17th century, somewhere between 1700 and 1630 BC, as the inscription unfortunately does not give the year of Ramses reign. Of the other Hyksos kings, we know the names only. Section 4, the 17th dynasty, beginning of the struggle for independence. Toward the close of the Hyksos domination, there ruled in Thebes a line of kings who were in all probability descended from the last kings of the 14th or perhaps of the 13th dynasty. They are the rulers of the 17th dynasty, who began the combat with the Hyksos. A legend preserved on a papyrus belonging to the British Museum, Salie I, relates the story of the outbreak. King Ah Pepe II, the Hyksos ruler who was an ardent worshiper of Sotek, sent messengers to the Egyptian king of Thebes, Ra Saqenin Ta'a, bearing certain propositions regarding religious matters which Ra Saqenin rejected. There had also arisen misunderstandings regarding a well lying on or near the border, in regard to which no agreement could be reached. This brought on the war. Ra Saqenin is called throughout the story, Prince of the Southern City, i.e. Thebes, and it would seem from this that the Hyksos had either never reached that city or the country had been reconquered so far north as Thebes. At all events, the Theban kings were independent rulers and resented the Hyksos king's attempt to assert any claim of sovereignty over them, and they boldly took up the cause of Egyptian liberty. Long years the war lasted, and the Hyksos were slowly driven north. The kings who distinguished themselves in this war were Ra Saqenin Ta'a I, Ta'a II, the Great, Ta'a III, the Brave, and Qames, the husband of Queen Ah Hotepe, and father of Ahmes I, the final liberator of Egypt. In 1881 the mummy of King Ra Saqenin was found in a shaft at Der El-Bahadi. An ugly gash on the head of the mummy proves that the king died of violent death. In all probability he was killed in his struggle for the liberty of his country. End of Chapter 4, Recording by Owen Cook in Potawatomi Seated Land