f it is often best to attack, and
Ramesses, taking this view, in his first or second year plunged into the
enemy's dominions. He had the plea that Palestine and Syria, and even
Western Mesopotamia, belonged of right to Egypt, which had conquered
them by a long series of victories, and had never lost them by any
defeat or disaster. His invasion was a challenge to Saplal either to
fight for his ill-gotten gains, or to give them up. The Hittite king
accepted the challenge, and a short struggle followed with an indecisive
result. At its close peace was made, and a formal treaty of alliance
drawn out. Its terms are unknown; but it was probably engraved on a
silver plate in the languages of the two powers--the Egyptian
hieroglyphics, and the now well-known Hittite picture-writing--and set
up in duplicate at Carchemish and Thebes.

A brief pause followed the conclusion of the first act of the drama. On
the opening of the second act we find the _dramatis personae_ changed.
Saplal and Ramesses have alike descended into the grave, and their
thrones are occupied respectively by the son of the one and the grandson
of the other. In Egypt, Seti-Menephthah I., the Sethos of Manetho, has
succeeded his father, Ramesses I.; in the Hittite kingdom, Saplal has
left his sceptre to his grandson Mautenar, the son of Marasar, who had
probably died before his father. Two young and inexperienced princes
confront one the other in the two neighbour lands, each distrustful of
his rival, each covetous of glory, each hopeful of success if war should
break out. True, by treaty the two kings were friends and allies--by
treaty the two nations were bound to abstain from all aggression by the
one upon the other: but such bonds are like the "green withes" that
bound Samson, when the desire to burst them seizes those upon whom they
have been placed. Seti and Mautenar were at war before the latter had
been on the throne a year, and their swords were at one another's
throats. Seti was, apparently, the aggressor. We find him at the head of
a large army in the heart of Syria before we could have supposed that he
had had time to settle himself comfortably in his father's seat.

Mautenar was taken unawares. He had not expected so prompt an attack. He
had perhaps been weak enough to count on his adversary's good faith, or,
at any rate on his regard for appearances. But Seti, as a god upon
earth, could of course do no wrong, and did not allow himself to be
trammel