vigorous and
enterprising; and when the Memphite kings passed away, these princes
succeeded their former masters and sat "upon the throne of Horus."

The founder of the IXth dynasty was perhaps Khiti I., Miribri, the
Akhthoes of the Greeks. He ruled over all Egypt, and his name has been
found on rocks at the first cataract. A story dating from the time of
the Ramessides mentions his wars against the Bedouin of the regions east
of the Delta; and what Manetho relates of his death is merely a romance,
in which the author, having painted him as a sacrilegious tyrant like
Kheops and Khephren, states that he was dragged down under the water and
there devoured by a crocodile or hippopotamus, the appointed avengers of
the offended gods. His successors seem to have reigned ingloriously
for more than a century. Their deeds are unknown to history, but it
was under the reign of one of them--Nibkauri--that a travelling fellah,
having been robbed of his earnings by an artisan, is said to have
journeyed to Heracleopolis to demand justice from the governor, or
to charm him by the eloquence of his pleadings and the variety of his
metaphors. It would, of course, be idle to look for the record of any
historic event in this story; the common people, moreover, do not long
remember the names of unimportant princes, and the tenacity with
which the Egyptians treasured the memories of several kings of the
Heracleopolitan line amply proves that, whether by their good or evil
qualities, they had at least made a lasting impression upon the popular
imagination.

[Illustration: 300.jpg PART OF THE WALLS OF EL-KAB ON THE NORTHERN SIDE]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Grebaut. The
illustration shows a breach where the gate stood, and the
curves of the brickwork courses can clearly be traced both
to the right and the left of the opening.

The history of this period, as far as we can discern it through the
mists of the past, appears to be one confused struggle: from north to
south war raged without intermission; the Pharaohs fought against their
rebel vassals, the nobles fought among themselves, and--what scarcely
amounted to warfare--there were the raids on all sides of pillaging
bands, who, although too feeble to constitute any serious danger to
large cities, were strong enough either in numbers or discipline to
render the country districts uninhabitable, and to destroy national
prosperity. The banks of the Nile already