journey the High Priest gave Wenamon a sum of money, and as
credentials he handed him a number of letters addressed to Egyptian and
Syrian princes, and intrusted to his care a particularly sacred little
image of Amon-Ra, known as Amon-of-the-Road, which had probably
accompanied other envoys to the Kingdoms of the Sea in times past, and
would be recognised as a token of the official nature of any embassy
which carried it.

Thus armed Wenamon set out from El Hibeh--probably the ancient Hetbennu,
the capital of the Eighteenth Province of Upper Egypt--on the sixteenth
day of the eleventh month of the fifth year of the reign of Rameses XII.
(1113 B.C.), and travelled down the Nile by boat to Tanis, a distance of
some 200 miles. On his arrival at this fair city of the Delta, whose
temples and palaces rose on the borders of the swamps at the edge of the
sea, Wenamon made his way to the palace of Nesubanebded, and handed to
him the letters which he had received from the High Priest. These were
caused to be read aloud; and Nesubanebded, hearing that Wenamon was
desirous of reaching the Lebanon as soon as possible, made the necessary
arrangements for his immediate despatch upon a vessel which happened
then to be lying at the quay under the command of a Syrian skipper named
Mengebet, who was about to set out for the Asiatic coast. On the first
day of the twelfth month, that is to say fourteen days after his
departure from his native town, Wenamon set sail from Tanis, crossing
the swamps and heading out into "the Great Syrian Sea."

The voyage over the blue rippling Mediterranean was calm and prosperous
as the good ship sailed along the barren shores of the land of the
Shasu, along the more mountainous coast of Edom, and thence northwards
past the cities of Askalon and Ashdod. To Wenamon, however, the journey
was fraught with anxiety. He was full of fears as to his reception in
Syria, for the first of his misfortunes had befallen him. Although he
had with him both money and the image of Amon-of-the-Road, in the
excitement and hurry of his departure he had entirely forgotten to
obtain again the bundle of letters of introduction which he had given
Nesubanebded to read; and thus there were grave reasons for supposing
that his mission might prove a complete failure. Mengebet was evidently
a stern old salt who cared not a snap of the fingers for Amon or his
envoy, and whose one desire was to reach his destination as rapidly as
wind an