Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/88

68 work beyond his power on any officer; I have allowed no master to maltreat his slave; I have caused none to weep or to perish with hunger. I have neither blasphemed the king nor my father, nor have I mocked or despised God in my heart. I have given bread to the hungry, water to him that was athirst, clothes to the naked, and shelter to the wanderer.' There is a beautiful eulogy somewhere recorded on an Egyptian tomb—'His love was the food of the poor, the blessing of the weak, the riches of him who had nothing.'

Egypt was probably never more prosperous, nor her people happier, than during the centuries in which the Amenemhats and Usertesens ruled the land. The only reign in which serious warfare occurred was that of Usertesen III. He determined to acquire for Egypt the disputed territory in the south—Ta-Khent (Nubia)—and, with it, its golden treasures. But he did not succeed in finally conquering and driving back the dark-hued tribes until after a very fierce and protracted struggle. He erected fortresses on the southern frontier, and an inscription on the rock proclaimed: 'This