y-two of their
towns fell one after another, their kings were taken captive and the
walls of their cities were razed, without any serious resistance. The
battalions of the enemy were dispersed at the first shock, and Pharaoh
"pursued them for the space of a mile, without one of them daring to
look behind him, for they thought only of escape, and fled before him
like a flock of goats." Thutmosis pushed forward as far certainly as the
Balikh, and perhaps on to the Khabur or even to the Hermus; and as he
approached the frontier, the king of Singar, a vassal of Assyria, sent
him presents of lapis-lazuli.

When this prince had retired, another chief, the lord of the Great
Kkati, whose territory had not even been threatened by the invaders,
deemed it prudent to follow the example of the petty princes of the
plain of the Euphrates, and despatched envoys to the Pharaoh bearing
presents of no great value, but testifying to his desire to live on good
terms with Egypt. Still further on, the inhabitants of Nii begged the
king's acceptance of a troop of slaves and two hundred and sixty mares;
he remained among them long enough to erect a stele commemorating his
triumph, and to indulge in one of those extensive hunts which were the
delight of Oriental monarchs. The country abounded in elephants. The
soldiers were employed as beaters, and the king and his court succeeded
in killing one hundred and twenty head of big game, whose tusks were
added to the spoils. These numbers indicate how the extinction of such
animals in these parts was brought about. Beyond these regions, again,
the sheikhs of the Lamnaniu came to meet the Pharaoh. They were a poor
people, and had but little to offer, but among their gifts were some
birds of a species unknown to the Egyptians, and two geese, with which,
however, His Majesty deigned to be satisfied.*

* The campaign of the year XXXI. It is mentioned in the
_Annals of Thulmosis III._, 11. 17-27; the reference to the
elephant-hunt occurs only in the _Inscription of
Amenemhabi_, 11. 22, 23; an allusion to the defeat of the
kings of Mitanni is found in a mutilated inscription from
the tomb of Manakhpirrisonbu. It was probably on his return
from this campaign that Thutmosis caused the great list to
be engraved which, while it includes a certain number of
names assigned to places beyond the Euphrates, ought
necessarily to contain the cities of the Mitanni.