some
troops, he seems to have done more harm than good in misjudging the
quarrels. At length the tone of the letters becomes one of despair, in
which flight to Egypt appears the only resource left for the adherents
of the Egyptian cause. Before the end of the reign Egyptian rule in
Syria had probably ceased altogether. Akhenaton died in or about the
seventeenth year of his reign, c. 1350 B.C. He had a family of
daughters, who appeared constantly with him in all ceremonies, but no
son. Two sons-in-law followed him with brief reigns; but the second,
Tutenkhaton, soon changed his name to Tutenkhamun, and, without
abandoning Ekhaton entirely, began to restore to Karnak its ancient
splendour, with new monuments dedicated to Ammon. Akhenaton's reform had
not reached deep amongst the masses of the population; they probably
retained all their old religious customs and superstitions, while the
priesthoods throughout the country must have been fiercely opposed to
the heretic's work, even if silenced during his lifetime by force and
bribes. One more adherent of his named Ay, a priest, ruled for a short
time, but now Aton was only one of many gods. At length a general named
Harmahib, who had served under Akhenaton, came to the throne as a
whole-hearted supporter of the old religion; soon Aton and his royal
following suffered the fate that they had imposed upon Ammon; their
monuments were destroyed and their names and figures erased, while those
of Ammon were restored. From the time of Rameses II. onwards the years
of the reigns of the heretics were counted to Harmahib, and Akhenaton
was described as "that criminal of Akhetaton." Harmahib had to bring
order as a practical man into the long-neglected administration of the
country and to suppress the extortions of the official classes by severe
measures. His laws to this end were engraved on a great stela in the
temple of Karnak, of which sufficient remains to bear witness to his
high aims, while the prosperity of the succeeding reigns shows how well
he realized the necessities of the state. He probably began also to
re-establish the prestige of Egypt by military expeditions in the
surrounding countries.

XIXth Dynasty.

Rameses II.

Harmahib appears to have legitimated his rule by marriage to a royal
princess, but it is probable that Rameses I., who succeeded as founder
of the XIXth Dynasty, was not closely related to him. Rameses in his
brief reign of two years planned an