Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/153

 plenty and riches shall be thine, the best from the interior of the land, and rich tributes from all nations. Long years shall be granted thee: my heart clings to thee.

'"The sand of this region in which I dwell has covered me up. Promise me that thou wilt do that which my heart desireth; then shall I know whether thou indeed art my helper." The prince awoke and repeated these words, and understood their meaning; and he laid them up in his heart, saying to himself—"I see how the people of this city honour the god with sacrificial gifts without ever thinking of freeing from sand the noble image of Hormakhu."'

The tablet here breaks off, but no doubt it recorded the fulfilment by Thothmes of the god's request.

Amenhotep, successor of Thothmes , maintained with vigour the supremacy of Egypt both in the north and in the south. He must have been no ordinary sportsman if he speared, as he is said to have done, 102 lions with his own hand in the forest lands of Mesopotamia. His conquests were principally achieved in the south; for the sake of gold quite as much as