rshipped Egyptian gods in Egyptian shrines, and set up
inscriptions in the hieroglyphic character and in the Egyptian tongue.
Napata, and the Nile valley both below it and above it, was already half
Egyptianized, when, on the establishment of the Sheshonk dynasty in
Egypt, the descendants of Herhor resolved to quit their native country,
and remove themselves into Ethiopia, where they had reason to expect a
welcome. They were probably already connected by marriage with some of
the leading chiefs of Napata, and their sacerdotal character gave them
a great hold on a peculiarly superstitious people. The "princes of Noph"
received them with the greatest favour, and assigned them the highest
position in the state. Retaining their priestly office, they became at
once Ethiopian monarchs, and High-Priests of the Temple of Ammon which
Amenhotep III. had erected at Napata. Napata, under their government,
flourished greatly, and acquired a considerable architectural
magnificence. Fresh temples were built, in which the worship of Egyptian
was combined with that of Ethiopian deities; avenues of sphinxes adorned
the approaches to these new shrines; the practice of burying the members
of the royal house in pyramids was reverted to; and the necropolis of
Napata recalled the glories of the old necropolis of Memphis.

Napata was also a place of much wealth. The kingdom, whereof it was the
capital, reached southward as far as the modern Khartoum, and eastward
stretched up to the Abyssinian highlands, including the valleys of the
Atbara and its tributaries, together with most of the tract between the
Atbara and the Blue Nile. This was a region of great natural wealth,
containing many mines of gold, iron, copper, and salt, abundant woods of
date-palm, almond-trees, and ilex, some excellent pasture-ground, and
much rich meadow-land suitable for the growth of _doora_ and other sorts
of grain. Fish of many kinds, and excellent turtle, abounded in the
Atbara and the other streams; while the geographical position was
favourable for commerce with the tribes of the interior, who were able
to furnish an almost inexhaustible supply of ivory, skins, and ostrich
feathers.

The first monarch of Napata, whose name has come down to us, is a
certain Piankhi, who called himself Mi-Ammon, or Meri-Ammon--that is to
say, "beloved of Ammon." He is thought to have been a descendant of
Herhor, and to have begun to reign about B.C. 755. At this time Egypt
had rea