vity, little by little,
towards the north of the country. From the time of the XXIst dynasty,
Thebes ceased to hold the position of capital: Tanis, Bubastis, Mendes,
Sebennytos, and above all, Sais, disputed the supremacy with each other,
and political life was concentrated in the maritime provinces. Those
of the interior, ruined by Ethiopian and Assyrian invasions, lost their
influence and gradually dwindled away. Thebes became impoverished and
depopulated; it fell into ruins, and soon was nothing more than a resort
for devotees or travellers. The history of Egypt is, therefore, divided
into three periods, each corresponding to the suzerainty of a town or a
principality:--

I.--Memphite Period, usually called the "Ancient Empire," from the Ist
to the Xth dynasty: kings of Memphite origin ruled over the whole of
Egypt during the greater part of this epoch.

II.--Theban Period, from the XIth to the XXth dynasty. It is divided
into two parts by the invasion of the Shepherds (XVIth dynasty):

a. The first Theban Empire (Middle Empire), from the XIth to the XIVth
dynasty.

b. The new Theban Empire, from the XVIIth to the XXth dynasty.

III.--Saite Period, from the XXIst to the XXXth dynasty, divided into
two unequal parts by the Persian Conquest:

a. The first Saite period, from the XXIst to the XXVIth dynasty.

b. The second Saite period, from the XXVIIIth to the XXXth dynasty.

The Memphites had created the monarchy. The Thebans extended the rule of
Egypt far and wide, and made of her a conquering state: for nearly six
centuries she ruled over the Upper Nile and over Western Asia. Under
the Saites she retired gradually within her natural frontiers, and
from having been aggressive became assailed, and suffered herself to be
crushed in turn by all the nations she had once oppressed.[*]

* The division into Ancient, Middle, and New Empire,
proposed by Lepsius, has the disadvantage of not taking into
account the influence which the removal of the seat of the
dynasties exercised on the history of the country. The
arrangement which I have here adopted was first put forward
in the _Revue critique_, 1873, vol. i. pp. 82, 83.

The monuments have as yet yielded no account of the events which tended
to unite the country under the rule of one man; we can only surmise that
the feudal principalities had gradually been drawn together into two
groups, each of which formed a separate kingdom. Helio