Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/581

 APPENDIX III. 477 The somewhat legendary Queen Nitocris is supposed to have flourished in this obHC'ure pericKl, of which no moniunents are known to exist, and with which the AxciEXT Kmtikk is brought to a close. The first civil troubles begin during the sixth dynasty, when the usurper Akhthoc's raises the sttuidunl of revolt at HcrakleojMjlis in the I)elta, and fonns a scpamtH state by detuching several provinces from the empire. Quetm Nitocris, whose beauty and wisdom are praised by Manetho and Herodotus, endeavours in vain to stem the torrent of revolt which now spreads to the capital itseli. S1h> perislies in the attempt, and after her death Eg>'pt remains for upwards of three centuries divided into two kingdoms, one comprising the wliole of the Delta, the other the Nile Valley thence to Ethiopia. Accord- ing to some authorities the ninth and tenth dynasties ruled in the north, the eighth simultaneously in the south. The usurpation of Aklitho^'S was attended by a sudden and hitherto une.xplained eclipse in Egj'ptian culture, and for three centuries there is a complete blank in the native records and monuments. Egypt herself seems to have disappeared as an independent monarchy, and when she awakens again from this long sleep civilisation appears to resume its course almost without any traditions of the past. MIDI LE EMPIRE. XI. Dynmty : Tiiedax. M. 3064. ExEXTEF, MEXTrnoTEP, names apparently borne by several kings of this dynasty alter- nately. During their rule the seat of empire was removed from Lower to Upper Eg:y])t, where was now founded the great city of Thebes, capital of so many subsequent dynasties. Sakkuara, the first king who sent an expedition to the land of Ophir and Punt (either Somaliland or South Arabia), as recorded on an inscription in the Wady Hamniamat, on the route between Coptos and the Red Sea coast. B. 2400. The six kings of tliis dynasty, all of whom reigned at Thebes, had to struggle against the URur|)er8 in the Delta, and apparently against foreign conquerors. They seem t4j have succeeded in reducing the whole country; but for a long time their authority was restrictetl to the Thebais. They broke comjiletely with the traditions of the past, and began again to build up the fabric of Egj'ptian ctilture almost from its very foundations. Hence their monument^) are rude, primitive, sometimes even coarse. The effect they produce on the obser>-er is that of a country reverting to the low state of rude civilisation from which it had already emerged under the first three dynasties. XII. Dynasty : TiiEBAX. M. 3064, B. 2466. Ajienemiiat I., under whose rule Egypt again rose to a high degree of prosperity. M. 3064. B. 2466. OsoRTASEN I., by whom was erected the obelisk stiU standing at Heliojwlis. B. 2433.