yptian throne, were the Rutennu
in Syria, and the Nahari or Nairi in Upper Mesopotamia. The two
monarchies of the south, Elam and Babylon were not in a flourishing
condition, and exercised no suzerainty beyond their own natural limits.
They were, in fact, a check upon each other, constantly engaged in feuds
and quarrels, which prevented either from maintaining an extended sway
for more than a few years, Assyria had not yet acquired any great
distinction, though it was probably independent, and ruled by monarchs
who dwelt at Asshur (Kileh-Sherghat). The Hittites, about B.C. 1900, had
received a severe check from the Babylonian monarch, Sargon, and had
withdrawn themselves into their northern fortresses. Thus the
circumstances of the time were, on the whole, favourable to the
enterprize of Thothmes. No great organized monarchy was likely to take
the field against him, or to regard itself as concerned to interfere
with the execution of his projects, unless they assumed extraordinary
dimensions. So long as he did not proceed further north than Taurus, or
further east than the western Khabour, the great affluent of the
Euphrates, he would come into contact with none of the "great powers" of
the time; he would have, at the worst, to contend with loose
confederacies of tribes, distrustful of each other, unaccustomed to act
together, and, though brave, possessing no discipline or settled
military organization. At the same time, his adversaries must not be
regarded as altogether contemptible. The Philistines and Canaanites in
Palestine, the Arabs of the Sinaitic and Syrian deserts, the Rutennu of
the Lebanon and of Upper Syria, the Nairi of the western Mesopotamian
region, were individually brave men, were inured to warfare, had a
strong love of independence, and were likely to resist with energy any
attempt to bring them under subjection. They were also, most of them,
well acquainted with the value of the horse for military service, and
could bring into the field a number of war-chariots, with riders well
accustomed to their management Egypt had only recently added the horse
to the list of its domesticated animals, and followed the example of the
Asiatics by organizing a chariot force. It was open to doubt whether
this new and almost untried corps would be able to cope with the
experienced chariot-troops of Asia.

The country also in which military operations were to be carried on was
a difficult one. It consisted mainly of alt