Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/86

65 in its antiquity throughout that region, where he was worshipped as a guardian deity, together with the goddess Hathor, protectress of the district.

One warlike expedition was undertaken during this reign, for the purpose of fixing the boundary to the south and of bringing back gold from Nubia. The command was intrusted to one Ameni, who has left a brief record of the expedition. The king's eldest son accompanied him, and his success was certainly remarkable, if his statement is true, that of the 400 men he took with him not one was missing when he returned with the golden spoil. This Ameni was the head of that illustrious family, whose tombs at Beni-Hassan have proved such an invaluable storehouse for the investigator. They were hereditary governors of the district, or nome, and their power was very great. Under the firm controlling hand of the sovereigns of this great dynasty, the power and ambition of the prince-governors, which had once split up and half ruined Egypt, were turned into nobler channels, and sought after more peaceful honours. The Maxims of