temple, and in his
presence I will purge myself, and swear an oath of allegiance to thee by
the God." And Piankhi sent to him General Puarma and General
Petamennebnesttaui, and Tafnekht loaded them with gold, and silver, and
raiment, and precious stones, and he went into the temple and took an
oath by the God that he would never again disobey the king, or make war
on a neighbour, or invade his territory without Piankhi's knowledge. So
Piankhi was satisfied and forgave him. After this the town of
Crocodilopolis tendered its submission, and Piankhi was master of all
Egypt. Then two Governors of the South and two Governors of the North
came and smelt the ground before Piankhi, and these were followed by all
the kings and princes of the North, "and their legs were [weak] like
those of women." As they were uncircumcised and were eaters of fish they
could not enter the king's palace; only one, Nemart, who was
ceremonially pure, entered the palace. Piankhi was now tired of
conquests, and he had all the loot which he had collected loaded on his
barges, together with goods from Syria and the Land of the God, and he
sailed up the river towards Nubia. The people on both banks rejoiced at
the sight of His Majesty, and they sang hymns of praise to him as he
journeyed southwards, and acclaimed him as the Conqueror of Egypt. They
also invoked blessings on his father and mother, and wished him long
life. When he returned to Gebel Barkal (Napata) he had the account of
his invasion and conquest of Egypt cut upon a large grey granite stele
about 6 feet high and 4 feet 8 inches wide, and set up in his temple,
among the ruins of which it was discovered accidentally by an Egyptian
officer who was serving in the Egyptian Sudan in 1862.

[Footnote 1: The war-god of Ombos in Upper Egypt.]

[Footnote 2: The war-god of Hermonthis in Upper Epypt.]

[Footnote 3: The chief goddess of Sais, the city of Tafnekht.]

CHAPTER IX

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL LITERATURE

Attention has already been called to the very great importance of the
autobiographies of the military and administrative officials of the
Pharaohs, and a selection of them must now be given. They are, in many
cases, the only sources of information which we possess about certain
wars and about the social conditions of the periods during which they
were composed, and they often describe events about which official
Egyptian history is