ve been restored
had not the Habiri proceeded to seize certain strongholds, which they used
as centres for further expeditions, thus involving the settled inhabitants
in wider quarrels. What with the help of the Bedawin, and the universal
unrest any ambitious vassal of Egypt must at length have seen a tempting
prospect of establishing an independent kingdom, if only he could deceive
the Egyptian Government long enough as to his intentions, and delay or
thwart any measures that might be taken against him.

Certainly the government of Pharaoh did not lack for watchfulness and was
well, if not too well, served in the matter of information. But in the
face of perpetual complaints and counter-complaints, entreaties for help
and what were for the most part incredible assurances of everlasting
fidelity, there was no course for the king and his councillors to take but
either to order a military expedition on a large scale, or to turn a
sceptical ear to all alike and confine their attention simply to the
tribute. Pride and weakness combined led them to take the dangerous middle
course and send inadequate bodies of men singly into the disturbed
districts. A certain amount of success attended the policy; the king's
Nubian "Pidati" were dreaded from of old, and his mercenaries, the
Shirtani, were looked upon as invincible. When it was a mere question of
hundreds in the field against hundreds, the appearance of a company, or of
a few troops, restored peace for a time, but serious and aggravated
hostilities between masses of rebels could not always be checked by such
small numbers, and it was a severe blow to the prestige of the Shirtani
when they were defeated at Gebal by the Sutu.

The knowledge that Egypt was far away, and that the Son of the Sun was
highly exalted, led the chiefs and officials in Syria and Canaan to deeds
of open defiance of their suzerain. Ambassadors from foreign states were
robbed in passing on their journey to Egypt, caravans were plundered, and
gifts sent to Pharaoh were intercepted. All this notwithstanding, still
the stream of rhetorical devotion flowed on in the letters.

III. LETTERS FROM ASIATIC KINGS.

Akhenaten had taken with him to the new capital part of the archives of
his father. With few exceptions, it is not from the letters of vassals
that we learn this, for these, as a rule, are addressed simply "To the
King." The foreign sovereigns, however, almost always addressed the
Pharaoh by