Page:The Pharaohs and their people; scenes of old Egyptian life and history (IA pharaohstheirpeo00berkiala).pdf/91

 is the southern boundary, fixed in the eighth year of King Usertesen No negro shall be permitted to pass it except for the purpose of bringing vessels laden with their asses, camels, and goats, or of trading by barter in Ta-Khent. To such negroes, on the contrary, every favour shall be shown.'

If Usertesen secured one new province for Egypt by the ruthless force of war, his successor, Amenemhat, won another by gentler means.

Egypt is, no doubt, what Herodotus called it, the 'gift' of the Nile. But for the Nile the burning wastes of Sahara would stretch eastwards without interruption to the Red Sea. By means of the great river and its yearly inundation, the long narrow valley between the Libyan and the Arabian mountains is watered and richly fertilised for the space of several miles; where the inundation ceases the desert sand begins. This long strip of fertile country, together with the Delta into which it expands, constituted Egypt; Khemi (the black country),