f on their expeditions wholly in the dark as to the forces
which they might have to encounter, or the difficulties which were
likely to beset their march.

Thothmes probably set out on his expedition into Asia in about his sixth
or seventh year. He was accompanied by two officers, who had served his
father and his grandfather, known respectively as "Aahmes, son of
Abana," and "Aahmes Pennishem." Both of them had been engaged in the war
which he had conducted against the Petti of Nubia and their Ethiopian
allies, and both had greatly distinguished themselves. Aahmes, the son
of Abana, boasts that he seven times received the prize of valour--a
collar of gold--for his conduct in the field; and Aahmes Pennishem gives
a list of twenty-nine presents given to him as military rewards by three
kings. It does not appear that any resistance was offered to the
invading force as it passed through Palestine; but in Syria Thothmes
engaged the Rutennu, and "exacted satisfaction" from them, probably on
account of the part which they had taken in the Hyksos struggle; after
which he crossed the Euphrates and fell upon the far more powerful
nation of the Nairi. The Nairi, when first attacked by the Assyrians,
had twenty-three cities, and as many kings; they were rich in horses and
mules, and had so large a chariot force that we hear of a hundred and
twenty chariots being taken from them in a single battle. At this time
the number of the chariots was probably much smaller, for each of the
two officers named Ahmes takes great credit to himself on account of the
capture of one such vehicle. It is uncertain whether more than a single
battle was fought. All that we are told is, that "His Majesty, having
arrived in Naharina" (_i.e._ the Nairi country), "encountered the enemy,
and organized an attack. His Majesty made a great slaughter of them; an
immense number of live captives was carried off by His Majesty." These
words would apply equally to a single battle and to a series of battles.
All that can be said is, that Thothmes returned victorious from his
Asiatic expedition, having defeated the Rutennu and the Nairi, and
brought with him into Egypt a goodly booty, and a vast number of Asiatic
prisoners.

The warlike ambition of Thothmes I. was satisfied by his Nubian and
Asiatic victories. On his return to Egypt at the close of his
Mesopotamian campaign, he engaged in the peaceful work of adorning and
beautifying his capital cities. At Thebes he