h the movements of the African
races with the same vigilance as his predecessors had exercised before
Egyptian armies had made their way as far as the banks of the Euphrates.
Thutmosis placed the control of the countries south of Assuan in the
hands of a viceroy, who, invested with the august title of "Royal Son of
Kush," must have been regarded as having the blood of Ra himself running
in his veins.*

* The meaning of this title was at first misunderstood.
Champollion and Rosellini took it literally, and thought it
referred to Ethiopian princes, who were vassals or enemies
of Egypt. Birch persists in regarding them as Ethiopians
driven out by their subjects, restored by the Pharaohs as
viceroys, while admitting that they may have belonged to the
solar family.

Sura, the first of these viceroys whose name has reached us, was in
office at the beginning of the campaign of the year III.* He belonged,
it would seem, to a Theban family, and for several centuries afterwards
his successors are mentioned among the nobles who were in the habit
of attending the court. Their powers were considerable: they commanded
armies, built or restored temples, administered justice, and received
the homage of loyal sheikhs or the submission of rebellious ones.** The
period for which they were appointed was not fixed by law, and they held
office simply at the king's pleasure. During the XIXth dynasty it was
usual to confer this office, the highest in the state, on a son of the
sovereign, preferably the heir-apparent. Occasionally his appointment
was purely formal, and he continued in attendance on his father, while
a trusty substitute ruled in his place: often, however, he took the
government on himself, and in the regions of the Upper Nile served an
apprenticeship to the art of ruling.

* He is mentioned in the Sehel inscriptions as "the royal
son Sura." Nahi, who had been regarded as the first holder of
the office, and who was still in office under Thutmosis
III., had been appointed by Thutmosis I., but after Sura.

** Under Thutmosis III., the viceroy Nahi restored the
temple at Semneh; under Tutankhamon, the viceroy Hui
received tribute from the Ethiopian princes, and presented
them to the sovereign.

[Illustration: 336.jpg A CITY OF MODERN NUBIA--THE ANCIENT DONGOLA]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken by Insinger.

This district was in a