vernment of the country lay in the hands of two
great nobles: in Upper Egypt, Herhor, High Priest of Amon-Ra, was
undisputed master; and in Lower Egypt, Nesubanebded, a prince of the
city of Tanis (the Zoan of the Bible), virtually ruled as king of the
Delta. Both these persons ultimately ascended the throne of the
Pharaohs; but at the time of Wenamon's adventures the High Priest was
the more powerful of the two, and could command the obedience of the
northern ruler, at any rate in all sacerdotal matters. The priesthood of
Amon-Ra was the greatest political factor in Egyptian life. That god's
name was respected even in the courts of Syria, and though his power was
now on the wane, fifty years previously the great religious body which
bowed the knee to him was feared throughout all the countries
neighbouring to Egypt. The main cause of Wenamon's troubles was the lack
of appreciation of this fact that the god's influence in Syria was not
as great as it had been in the past; and this report would certainly not
have been worth recording here if he had realised that prestige is, of
all factors in international relations, the least reliable.

In the year 1113 B.C. the High Priest undertook the construction of a
ceremonial barge in which the image of the god might be floated upon the
sacred waters of the Nile during the great religious festivals at
Thebes; and for this purpose he found himself in need of a large amount
of cedar-wood of the best quality. He therefore sent for Wenamon, who
held the sacerdotal title of "Eldest of the Hall of the Temple of Amon,"
and instructed him to proceed to the Lebanon to procure the timber. It
is evident that Wenamon was no traveller, and we may perhaps be
permitted to picture him as a rather portly gentleman of middle age, not
wanting either in energy or pluck, but given, like some of his
countrymen, to a fluctuation of the emotions which would jump him from
smiles to tears, from hope to despair, in a manner amazing to any but an
Egyptian. To us he often appears as an overgrown baby, and his
misfortunes have a farcical nature which makes its appeal as much
through the medium of one's love of the ludicrous as through that of
one's interest in the romance of adventure. Those who are acquainted
with Egypt will see in him one of the types of naif, delightful children
of the Nile, whose decorous introduction into the parlour of the nations
of to-day is requiring such careful rehearsal.

For his