the fact that Egypt had been in danger of dissolution at the time
when the Hebrews left the banks of the Nile, but they were ignorant
of the details, of the precise date and of the name of the reigning
Pharaoh. A certain similarity in sound suggested to them the idea
of assimilating the prince whom the Chroniclers called Menepthes or
Amenepthes with Amen-othes, i.e. Amenophis III.; and they gave to the
Pharaoh of the XIXth dynasty the minister who had served under a king of
the XVIIIth: they metamorphosed at the same time the Hebrews into lepers
allied with the Shepherds. From this strange combination there resulted
a narrative which at once fell in with the tastes of the lovers of the
marvellous, and was a sufficient substitute for the truth which had
long since been forgotten. As in the case of the Egyptians of the Greek
period, we can see only through a fog what took place after the deaths
of Minephtah and Seti II. We know only for certain that the chiefs of
the nomes were in perpetual strife with each other, and that a foreign
power was dominant in the country as in the time of Apophis. The days of
the empire would have Harmhabi himself belonged to the XVIIIth dynasty,
for he modelled the form of his cartouches on those of the Ahmesside
Pharaohs: the XIXth dynasty began only, in all probability, with Ramses
I., but the course of the history has compelled me to separate Harmhabi
from his predecessors. Not knowing the length of the reigns, we cannot
determine the total duration of the dynasty: we shall not, however, be
far wrong in assigning to it a length of 130 years or thereabouts, i.e.
from 1350 to somewhere near 1220 B.C. been numbered if a deliverer had
not promptly made his appearance. The direct line of Ramses II. was
extinct, but his innumerable sons by innumerable concubines had left a
posterity out of which some at least might have the requisite ability
and zeal, if not to save the empire, at least to lengthen its duration,
and once more give to Thebes days of glorious prosperity. Egypt had set
out some five centuries before this for the conquest of the world, and
fortune had at first smiled upon her enterprise. Thutmosis I., Thutmosis
III., and the several Pharaohs bearing the name of Amenothes had marched
with their armies from the upper waters of the Nile to the banks of the
Euphrates, and no power had been able to withstand them. New nations,
however, soon rose up to oppose her, and the Hittites in Asia an