indeed be historical facts
underlying the Legend. The text states that the king of Egypt,
Usermaatra-setepenra Rameses-meri-Amen, _i.e._ Rameses II, a king of the
nineteenth dynasty about 1300 B.C., was in the country of Nehern, or
Mesopotamia, according to his yearly custom, and that the chiefs of the
country, even those of the remotest districts from Egypt, came to do
homage to him, and to bring him gifts, _i.e._ to pay tribute. Their
gifts consisted of gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, and costly woods from
the land of the god,[1] and each chief tried to outdo his neighbour in
the magnificence of his gifts. Among these tributary chiefs was the
Prince of Bekhten, who, in addition to his usual gift, presented to the
king his eldest daughter, and he spake words of praise to the king, and
prayed for his life. His daughter was beautiful, and the king thought
her the most beautiful maiden in the world, and he gave her the name of
Neferu-Ra and the rank of "chief royal wife," _i.e._ the chief wife of
Pharaoh. When His Majesty brought her to Egypt she was treated as the
Queen of Egypt.

[Footnote: 1: _i.e._ Southern Arabia and a portion of the east coast of
Africa near Somaliland.]

One day in the late summer, in the fifteenth year of his reign, his
Majesty was in Thebes celebrating a festival in honour of Father Amen,
the King of the gods, in the temple now known as the Temple of Luxor,
when an official came and informed the king that "an ambassador of the
Prince of Bekhten had arrived bearing many gifts for the Royal Wife."
The ambassador was brought into the presence with his gifts, and having
addressed the king in suitable words of honour, and smelt the ground
before His Majesty, he told him that he had come to present a petition
to him on behalf of the Queen's sister, who was called Bentresht (_i.e._
daughter of joy). The princess had been attacked by a disease, and the
Prince of Bekhten asked His Majesty to send a skilled physician to see
her. Straightway the king ordered his magicians (or medicine men) to
appear before him, and also his nobles, and when they came he told them
that he had sent for them to come and hear the ambassador's request.
And, he added, choose one of your number who is both wise and skilful;
their choice fell upon the royal scribe Tehuti-em-heb, and the king
ordered him to depart to Bekhten to heal the princess. When the magician
arrived in Bekhten he found that Princess Bentresht was under the
i