an wars.

To Menes of Thinis tradition ascribes the honour of fusing the two
Egypts into one empire, and of inaugurating the reign of the human
dynasties. But all we know of this first of the Pharaohs, beyond his
existence, is practically nothing, and the stories related of him are
mere legends. The real history of the early centuries eludes our
researches. The history as we have it is divided into three periods: 1.
The Memphite period, which is usually called the "Ancient Empire," from
the First to the Tenth dynasty: kings of Memphite origin were rulers
over the whole of Egypt during the greater part of this epoch. 2. The
Theban period, from the Eleventh to the Twentieth dynasty. It is divided
into two parts by the invasion of the Shepherds (Sixteenth dynasty). 3.
Saite period, from the Twenty-first to the Thirtieth dynasty, divided
again into two parts by the Persian Conquest, the first Saite period,
from the Twenty-first to the Twenty-sixth dynasty; the second Saite
Period, from the Twenty-eighth to the Thirtieth dynasty.

_IV.--Political Constitution of Egypt_

Between the Fayum and the apex of the Delta, the Libyan range expands
and forms a vast and slightly undulating table-land, which runs parallel
to the Nile for nearly thirty leagues. The great Sphinx Harmakhis has
mounted guard over its northern extremity ever since the time of the
followers of Horus. In later times, a chapel of alabaster and rose
granite was erected alongside the god; temples were built here and there
in the more accessible places, and round these were grouped the tombs of
the whole country. The bodies of the common people, usually naked and
uncoffined, were thrust into the sand at a depth of barely three feet
from the surface. Those of the better class rested in mean rectangular
chambers, hastily built of yellow bricks, without ornaments or
treasures; a few vessels, however, of coarse pottery contained the
provisions left to nourish the departed during the period of his
existence. Some of the wealthy class had their tombs cut out of the
mountain-side; but the great majority preferred an isolated tomb, a
"mastaba," comprised of a chapel above ground, a shaft, and some
subterranean vaults.

During the course of centuries, the ever-increasing number of tombs
formed an almost uninterrupted chain, are rich in inscriptions, statues,
and in painted or sculptured scenes, and from the womb, as it were, of
these cemeteries, the Egypt of the Me