Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/87

Rh Amenemhat I. seem to awaken a response and to find an echo in the memorials left by some of the powerful governors, who were now serving loyally under the crown. Ameni, who gives an account of his warlike doings in the south, also tells us that he was a 'kind master and gentle of heart, a governor who loved his city.' He ruled for many years in his district of Mah, and he says: 'I kept back nothing for myself; no little child was vexed through me; no widow was afflicted. I never interfered with the fisherman or troubled the shepherd. There was neither famine nor hunger in my days. I diligently cultivated every field in my district, from the north to the south, to its utmost extent, so that there was food enough for all. I gave to the widow as to the married woman, and I never showed favour to the great above the lowly.'

King and noble may alike have fallen short of their ideal, but at any rate their standard was high, and their words recall those of the departed spirit, who had to declare before Osiris in the judgment-hall of Truth—'I have not oppressed the miserable; I have not