this south of Egypt." The honour of fetching the hard stone blocks
intended for the king's pyramid fell to him by right: he proceeded to
the quarries of Abhait, opposite Sehel, to select the granite for
the royal sarcophagus and its cover, and to those of Hatnubu for the
alabaster for the table of offerings. The transport of the table was a
matter of considerable difficulty, for the Nile was low, and the stone
of colossal size: Uni constructed on the spot a raft to carry it, and
brought it promptly to Saqqara in spite of the sandbanks which obstruct
navigation when the river is low.*

* Prof. Petrie has tried to prove from the passage which
relates to the transport, that the date of the reign of Papi
I. must have been within sixty years of 3240 B.C.; this date
I believe to be at least four centuries too late. It is,
perhaps, to this voyage of Uni that the inscription of the
Vth year of Metesouphis I. refers, given by Blackden-Frazer
in A Collection of Hieratic Graffiti from the Alabaster
Quarry of Rat-nub, pl. xv. 2.

This was not the limit of his enterprise: the Pharaohs had not as yet a
fleet in Nubia, and even if they had had, the condition of the channel
was such as to prevent it from making the passage of the cataract.
He demanded acacia-wood from the tribes of the desert, the peoples
of Iritit and Uauait, and from the Mazaiu, laid down his ships on the
stocks, built three galleys and two large lighters in a single year;
during this time the river-side labourers had cleared five channels
through which the flotilla passed and made its way to Memphis with
its ballast of granite. This was Uni's last exploit; he died shortly
afterwards, and was buried in the cemetery at Abydos, in the sarcophagus
which had been given him by Papi I.

[Illustration: 265.jpg THE ISLAND OF ELEPHANTINE]

Plan drawn up by Thuillier, from the Map of the _Commission
d'Egypte._

Was it solely to obtain materials for building the pyramid that he
had re-established communication by water between Egypt and Nubia? The
Egyptians were gaining ground in the south every day, and under their
rule the town of Elephantine was fast becoming a depot for trade with
the Soudan.*

* The growing importance of Elephantine is shown by the
dimensions of the tombs which its princes had built for
themselves, as well as by the number of graffiti
commemorating the visits of princes and fun