perations. Auaris was not only defended by broad
moats connected with the waters of the Nile, but also bordered upon a
lake, or perhaps rather a lagoon, of considerable dimensions. Hence it
was necessary that it should be attacked not only by land, but also by
water. Aahmes seems to have commanded the land forces in person, riding
in a war-chariot, the first of which we have distinct mention. A
favourite officer, who bore the same name as his master, accompanied
him, sometimes marching at his side as he rode in his chariot, sometimes
taking his place in one of the war-vessels, and directing the movements
of the fleet. After a time formal siege was laid to Auaris; the fleet
was ordered to attack the walls on the side of the lagoon, while the
land force was engaged in battering the defences elsewhere. Assaults
were made day after day with only partial success; but at last the
defenders were wearied out--a panic seized them, and, hastily evacuating
the place, they retired towards Syria, the quarter from which they had
originally come. Aahmes may have been willing that they should escape:
since, if they had been completely blocked in and driven to bay, they
might have made a desperate resistance, and caused the Egyptians an
enormous loss. He followed, however, upon their footsteps, to make sure
that they did not settle anywhere in his neighbourhood, and was not
content till they had crossed the desert and entered the hill country of
Palestine. Even then he still hung upon their rear, harassing them and
cutting off their stragglers; finally, when they made a stand at
Sharuhen in Southern Palestine, he laid siege to the town, took it, and
made a great slaughter of the hapless defenders.

The war did not terminate until the fifth year of Aahmes' reign. Its
result was the complete defeat of the invading hordes which had held
Lower and Middle Egypt for so long, and their expulsion from Egypt with
such ignominy and loss that they made no effort to retaliate or to
recover themselves. Vast numbers must have been slain in the battles, or
have perished amid the hardships of the retreat; and many thousands
were, no doubt, made prisoners and carried back into Egypt as slaves. It
is thought that these captives were so numerous as to become an
important element in the population of the eastern Delta, and even to
modify the character of the Egyptian race in that quarter. The lively
imagination of M. Francois Lenormant sees their descendant