ged
exclusively to the Pharaoh and the Theban high priest. The honours which
he bestowed upon his dead ancestors were of a remarkable character, and
included the institution of a liturgical office in connection with his
father Namaroti, a work which resembles in its sentiments the devotions
of Bamses II. to the memory of Seti. He succeeded in arranging a
marriage between his son Osorkon and a princess of the royal line, the
daughter of Psiukhannit II., by which alliance he secured the Tanite
succession; he obtained as a wife for his second son Auputi, the
priestess of Amon, and thus obtained an indirect influence over the Said
and Nubia.*

* The date of the death of Painotmu II. is fixed at the
XVIth year of his reign, according to the inscriptions in
the pit at Deir el-Bahari. This would be the date of the
accession of Auputi', if Auputi succeeded him directly, as I
am inclined to believe; but if Psiukhannit was his immediate
successor, and if Nsbindidi succeeded Manakhpirri, we must
place the accession of Auputi some years later.

[Illustration: 413.jpg NSITANIBASHIRU]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by E. Brugsch-Bey.

This priestess was probably a daughter or niece of Painotmu II., but
we are unacquainted with her name. The princesses continued to play a
preponderating part in the transmission of power, and we may assume
that the lady in question was one of those whose names have come down to
us--Nsikhonsu, Nsitani-bashiru, or Isimkhobiu II., who brought with her
as a dowry the Bubastite fief. We are at a loss whether to place Auputi
immediately after Painotmu, or between the ephemeral pontificates of
a certain Psiukhannit and a certain Nsbindidi. His succession imposed
a very onerous duty upon him. Thebes was going through the agonies of
famine and misery, and no police supervision in the world could secure
the treasures stored up in the tombs of a more prosperous age from the
attacks of a famished people. Arrests, trials, and punishments were
ineffectual against the violation of the sepulchres, and even the
royal mummies--including those placed in the chapel of Amenothes I. by
previous high priests--were not exempt from outrage. The remains of the
most glorious of the Pharaohs were reclining in this chapel, forming a
sort of solemn parliament: here was Saqnunri Tiuaqni, the last member
of the XVIIth dynasty; here also were the first of the XVIIIth--Ahmosis,
Amenoth