a, and a third at Sedinga. He left traces of himself at Semneh, in
the island of Konosso, on the rocks between Philae and Assouan, at
El-Kaab, at Toora near Memphis, at Silsilis, and at Sarabit-el-Khadim in
the Sinaitic peninsula. He was, as M. Lenormant remarks, "un prince
essentiellement batisseur." The scale and number of his works are such
as to indicate unremitting attention to sculpture and building during
the entire duration of his long reign of thirty-six years.

On the other hand, as a general he gained little distinction. He
maintained, indeed, the dominion over Syria and Western Mesopotamia,
which had been established by Thothmes III., and his cartouche has been
found at Arban on the Khabour; but there is no appearance of his having
made any additional conquests in this quarter. The subjected peoples
brought their tribute regularly, and the neighbouring nations, whether
Hittites, Assyrians, or Babylonians, gave him no trouble. The dominion
of Egypt over Western Asia had become "an accomplished fact," and was
generally recognized by the old native kingdoms. It did not extend,
however, beyond Taurus and Niphates towards the north, or beyond the
Khabour eastward or southward, but remained fixed within the limits
which it had attained under the Third Thothmes.

The only quarter in which Amenhotep warred was towards Ethiopia. He
conducted in person several expeditions up the valley of the Nile,
against the negro tribes of the Soudan. But these attacks were not so
much wars as raids, or razzias. They were not made with the object of
advancing the Egyptian frontier, or even of extending Egyptian
influence, but partly for the glorification of the monarch, who thus
obtained at a cheap rate the credit of military successes, and
partly--probably mainly--for the material gain which resulted from them
through the capture of highly valuable slaves. The black races have
always been especially sought for this purpose, and were in great demand
in the Egyptian slave-market: ladies of rank were pleased to have for
their attendants negro boys, whom they dressed in a fanciful manner; and
the court probably indulged in a similar taste. Amenhotep's aim was
certainly rather to capture than to kill. In one of his most successful
raids the slain were only three hundred and twelve, while the captives
consisted of two hundred and five men, two hundred and fifty women, and
two hundred and eighty-five children, or a total of seven hundred