year; as, for example, the historical record in the temple in the desert of Redesieh, which was built in the ninth year of the reign of Seti, and which cites the following names of the peoples which had then been conquered 1. Sangar, i.e. Singara; 2. Kadeshu; 3. Makita, i.e. Megiddo; 4. Ha . . ; 5. the Shasu Arabs of Edom; 6. Asal or Asar, a name which we can hardly venture to identify with Assur.

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Seti carried on his wars not only in the east but in the west, and in particular against the Libyan peoples, who now accordingly appear for the first time on the Egyptian monuments. The double plume on the crown of the head and the side locks of hair mark in the most striking manner these races, which the inscriptions designate by the name of Thuhi, Thuhen, or Thuhenithat is, the light or fair' people; and they likewise denote by the same name the later Greeks, for the expression Marmaridæ, inhabitants of the country of Marmarica, always means these people. In this campaign Seti took his son and heir, Ramessu, among the company of his followers. The kings of the Marmarida were thoroughly beaten. In the battle itself Seti appears on a chariot, whose pair of horses bore the name, 'Victorious is Amon.' The campaign reached a mountainous country, full of caverns; as, at least, the contents of the appended inscription lead us to conclude:

'He (the king) utterly destroyed them, when he stood on the field of battle. They could not hold their bows, and remained hidden in their caves like foxes, through fear of the king.'

It may be well supposed that, after these extensive

campaigns, which brought such a copious booty to Egypt, besides captives, Amon, the god of the empire, and his much venerated temple in Ape, would be the first to be remembered; and the memorial wall of the temple decisively confirms this supposition. The booty as well as the prisoners were solemnly dedicated to the god and to his wife Mut, and to the young son of Amon, Khonsu. In confirmation of this I may bring to the reader's knowledge, in an exact translation, a few of the inscriptions :

"The king presents the booty to his father Amon, on his return from the miserable land of Ruthen, consisting of silver, gold, blue, green, red, and other precious stones, and of the kings of the peoples, whom he holds bound in his hand, to fill therewith the store-house of his father Amon, on account of the victory which he has granted to the king.

The following is added with regard to the priso

ners:

The kings of the peoples, which had not known Egypt, are brought by the Pharaoh in consequence of his victory over the miserable land of Ruthen. They speak thus to glorify his holiness and to praise his great deeds:

"Hail to thee! mighty is thy name, glorious thy renown. The people may well rejoice which is subjected to thy will; but he appears in fetters who oversteps thy boundaries. By thy name! We did not know Egypt; our fathers had not entered it. Grant us freedom out of thy hand!"'

Gold, silver, and precious stones, in purses, golden vessels, even to drinking horns with wonderful handles in the shape of heads of animals and other ornaments full of taste, display to the spectator the generosity of the king towards the temple, and confirm afresh the remarks we made on the artistic excellence and skill of

the Western Asiatic world. The inscriptions contribute their part to the explanation. Among others is the following:

The prisoners are presented by the divine benefactor to his father Amon, from the hostile kings of the nations, which had not known Egypt their gifts rest on their shoulders-to fill therewith all the store-houses, as men-servants and maid-servants, in consequence of the victories which the god has given the king over all lands!'

The following inscription is remarkable, in relation to the connection between Ruthen and Khita:

'The great kings of the miserable land of Ruthen are brought by the king in consequence of his victory over the people of the Khita, to fill with them the store-house of his noble father, AmonRa, the lord of Thebes, because he has given him the victory over the southern world and the subjection of the northern world.

"The kings of the nations speak thus, to praise Pharaoh and to exalt his glory:

"Hail to thee! king of Kemi, sun of the nine peoples, exalted be thou like the gods."'

In this tone the hieroglyphs describe with great fulness, as well as with the inevitable repetitions, the king's glory and his services to the temple of Amon of Thebes.

Seti I. must have proved his complete devotion to the Theban priests, or, to speak in official tone like the Egyptians, to the Theban Amon; at least, the inscriptions leave this impression. His buildings, wonderfully beautiful creations of the unknown masters of his time, bespeak the efforts of the Pharaoh to express his gratitude for the distinguished position which the priests had allowed him. His rich presents complete the proof of the regard of the king for the temple at Ape. A special reason for this lay in the peculiar position of Seti

with regard to the great question of the hereditary right to the throne.

The monuments name as the wife of the king, or rather as mother of his great son and successor Ramses II., the queen Tua or Tui, whose name at once reminds us of the family of the heretical Pharaoh, Khunaten. In genealogical succession, she was a granddaughter of that heretical king, whom the Theban priests had so bitterly excommunicated, although he belonged to the legitimate race of kings. But however hateful this connection might be to the priests, yet it was in accordance with the law of the hereditary succession. Her grandfather's blood flowed in her veins, however much she bore on the other hand, like her ancestress of the same name, the curse of a foreign descent. The remembrance of this origin must further have appeared all the more distasteful to the priests, as King Seti and his race worshipped the foreign gods in the most obtrusive manner, and at the head of them all the Canaanitish Baal-Sutekh or Set, after whose name his father, Ramses I., had christened him Seti-that is, the Setish,' or the ' follower of Set.' Thus he had to avoid an open breach, and to soothe the stubborn caste of the priests of Amon. As a conqueror Seti had done his part for Egypt, and he was bound to try to win over the priests as a benefactor and a generous king. And yet he seems to have had less success than he hoped, since at an early period he conferred the highest dignity of the empire on his infant heir, his son Ramessu, as associated king. In the great historical inscription of Abydus, Ramses II. relates the proceeding in his own words:

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'The lord of all himself nurtured me, and brought me up. I was a little boy before I attained the lordship; then he gave over to me the land. I was yet in my mother's womb, when the great ones saluted me full of veneration. I was solemnly inducted as the eldest son into the dignity of heir of the throne on the chair of the earth-god Seb. And I gave my orders as chief of the bodyguard and of the chariot-fighters. Then my father presented me publicly to the people: I was a boy on his lap, and he spake thus: "I will have him crowned as king, for I desire to behold his grandeur while I am still alive." [Then came forward] the officials of the court to place the double crown on my head (and my father spake), "Place the regal circlet on his brow." Thus he spake of me while he still remained on earth, "May he restore order to the land may he set up again [what has fallen into decay]. May he care for the inhabitants." Thus spake he with good intention in his very great love for me. Still he left me in the house of the women and of the royal concubines, after the manner of the damsels of the palace. He chose me [women] from among the [maidens], who wore a harness of leather.'

We stop here, for the above translation is quite enough to serve as a proof of our assertion. Ramses was, as a tender child, associated in the kingly office with his father, and a band of Amazons formed his

court.

In another inscription of the times of Ramses II., the early reign of the king is mentioned in like manner by the writer in the following words :—

'Thou wast a lord (Adon) of this land, and thou actedst wisely, when thou wast still in the egg. In thy childhood what thou saidst took place for the welfare of the land. When thou wast a boy, with the youth's locks of hair, no monument saw the light without thy command; no business was done without thy knowledge. Thou wast raised to be a governor (Rohir) of this land when thou wast a youth and countedst ten full years. All buildings proceeded from thy hands, and the laying of their foundationstones was performed.'