ery part of the Nile valley. She even turned her attention to the
Delta, and began the task of reorganising this part of her kingdom,
which had been much neglected by her predecessors. The wars between the
Theban princes and the lords of Avaris had lasted over a century, and
during that time no one had had either sufficient initiative or leisure
to superintend the public works, which were more needed here than in any
other part of Egypt. The canals were silted up with mud, the marshes and
the desert had encroached on the cultivated lands, the towns had become
impoverished, and there were some provinces whose population consisted
solely of shepherds and bandits. Hatshopsitu desired to remedy these
evils, if only for the purpose of providing a practicable road for her
armies marching to Zalu _en route_ for Syria.*

* This follows from the great inscription at Stabl-Antar,
which is commonly interpreted as proving that the Shepherd-
kings still held sway in Egypt in the reign of Thutmosis
III., and that they were driven out by him and his aunt. It
seems to me that the queen is simply boasting that she had
repaired the monuments which had been injured by the
Shepherds during the time they sojourned in Egypt, in the
land of Avaris. Up to the present time no trace of these
restorations has been found on the sites. The expedition to
Puanit being mentioned in lines 13, 14, they must be of
later date than the year IX. of Hatshopsitu and Thutmosis
III.

She also turned her attention to the mines of Sinai, which had not been
worked by the Egyptian kings since the end of the XIIth dynasty. In the
year XVI. an officer of the queen's household was despatched to the
Wady Magharah, the site of the ancient works, with orders to inspect the
valleys, examine the veins, and restore there the temple of the goddess
Hathor; having accomplished his mission, he returned, bringing with
him a consignment of those blue and green stones which were so highly
esteemed by the Egyptians.

Meanwhile, Thutmosis III. was approaching manhood, and his aunt, the
queen, instead of abdicating in his favour, associated him with herself
more frequently in the external acts of government.*

* The account of the youth of Thutmosis III., such as
Brugsch made it out to be from an inscription of this king,
the exile of the royal child at Buto, his long sojourn in
the marshes, his triu