f Osiris," he told Amuba. "I know that my father does not
think that he is clever, but it is not necessary to be very clever to
serve in the temple. I thought that, of course, I too should come to
high rank in the priesthood; for, as you know, almost all posts are
hereditary, and though my brother as the elder would be high priest, I
should be one of the chief priests also. But I have not much taste
that way, and rejoiced much when one day saying so to my father, he
replied at once that he should not urge me to devote my life to the
priesthood, for that there were many other offices of state which
would be open to me, and in which I could serve my country and be
useful to the people. Almost all the posts in the service of the state
are, indeed, held by the members of priestly families; they furnish
governors to the provinces, and not infrequently generals to the army.

"'Some,' he said, 'are by disposition fitted to spend their lives in
ministering in the temples, and it is doubtless a high honor and
happiness to do so; but for others a more active life and a wider
field of usefulness is more suitable. Engineers are wanted for the
canal and irrigation works, judges are required to make the law
respected and obeyed, diplomatists to deal with foreign nations,
governors for the many peoples over whom we rule; therefore, my son,
if you do not feel a longing to spend your life in the service of the
temple, by all means turn your mind to study which will fit you to be
an officer of the state. Be assured that I can obtain for you from the
king a post in which you will be able to make your first essay, and
so, if deserving, rise to high advancement.'"

There were few priests during the reign of Thotmes III. who stood
higher in the opinion of the Egyptian people than Ameres. His piety
and learning rendered him distinguished among his fellows. He was high
priest in the temple of Osiris, and was one of the most trusted of the
councilors of the king. He had by heart all the laws of the sacred
books; he was an adept in the inmost mysteries of the religion. His
wealth was large, and he used it nobly; he lived in a certain pomp and
state which were necessary for his position, but he spent but a tithe
of his revenues, and the rest he distributed among the needy.

If the Nile rose to a higher level than usual and spread ruin and
destruction among the cultivators, Ameres was ready to assist the
distressed. If the rise of the river was