hy troops proceed against the enemy." So the pious king, in
obedience to this convenient vision, remained secure behind the walls of
Memphis, and sent his forces, native and mercenary, into the nome of
Prosopis against the Libyans. The two armies joined battle on the 3rd of
Epiphi (May 18), and a desperate engagement took place, in which, after
six hours of hard fighting, the Egyptians were victorious, and the
confederates suffered a severe defeat. Menephthah charges the Libyan
chief with cowardice, but only because, after the battle was lost, he
precipitately quitted the field, leaving behind him, not only his
camp-equipage, but his throne, the ornaments of his wives, his bow, his
quiver, and his sandals. The reproaches uttered recoil upon himself.
Whose conduct is the more cowardly, that of the man who fights at the
head of his troops for six hours against an enemy, probably more
numerous, certainly better armed and better disciplined, and only quits
the field when his forces are utterly overthrown and put to flight; or
that of one who avoids exposing himself to danger, and lurks behind the
walls of a fortress while his soldiers are affronting wounds and death
in the battlefield? There is no evidence that Marmaiu, son of Deid, in
the battle of Prosopis, conducted himself otherwise than as became a
prince and a general; there is abundant evidence that Menephthah, son of
Ramesses, who declined to be present at the engagement, showed the white
feather.

The defeat of Prosopis was decisive. Marmaiu lost in slain between eight
thousand and nine thousand of his troops, or, according to another
estimate, between twelve thousand and thirteen thousand. Above nine
thousand were made prisoners. The tents, camp-equipage, and cattle, fell
into the hands of the enemy. The expedition at once broke up and
dispersed. Marmaiu returned into his own land with a shattered remnant
of his grand army, and devoted himself to peaceful pursuits, or at any
rate abstained from any further collision with the Egyptians. The
mercenaries, whatever the races to which they in reality belonged,
learned by experience the wisdom of leaving the Libyans to fight their
own battles, and are not again found in alliance with them. The Akaiusha
and Luku appear in Egyptian history no more. The Tursha and Sheklusha do
not wholly disappear, but receive occasional mention among the races
hostile to Egypt As for the Shartana or Shardana, they were struck with
so much