which marked the New Empire. The XVIIth Dynasty probably
began the struggle, at first as semi-independent kinglets at Thebes.
Seqenenre is here a leading name; the mummy of the third Seqenenre, the
earliest in the great find of royal mummies at Deir el Bahri, shows the
head frightfully hacked and split, perhaps in a battle with the Hyksos.

XVIIIth Dynasty.

Queen Hatshepsut.

_The New Empire._--The epithet "new" is generally attached to this
period, and "empire" instead of "kingdom" marks its wider power. The
glorious XVIIIth Dynasty seems to have been closely related to the
XVIIth. Its first task was to crush the Hyksos power in the north-east
of the Delta; this was fully accomplished by its founder Ahmosi
(dialectically Ahmasi, Amosis or Amasis I.) capturing their great
stronghold of Avaris. Amasis next attacked them in S.W. Palestine, where
he captured Sharuhen after a siege of three years. He fought also in
Syria and in Nubia, besides overcoming factious opposition in his own
land. The principal source for the history of this time is the
biographical inscription at El Kab of a namesake of the king, Ahmosi son
of Abana, a sailor and warrior whose exploits extend to the reign of
Tethmosis I. Amenophis I. (Amenhotp), succeeding Amasis, fought in Libya
and Ethiopia. Tethmosis I. (c. 1540 B.C.) was perhaps of another family,
but obtained his title to the throne through his wife Ahmosi. After some
thirty years of settled rule uninterrupted by revolt, Egypt was now
strong and rich enough to indulge to the full its new taste for war and
lust of conquest. It had become essentially a military state. The whole
of the administration was in the hands of the king with his vizier and
other court officials; no trace of the feudalism of the Middle Kingdom
survived. Tethmosis thoroughly subdued Cush, which had already been
placed under the government of a viceroy. This province of Cush extended
from Napata just below the Fourth Cataract on the south to El Kab in the
north, so that it included the first three nomes of Upper Egypt, which
agriculturally were not greatly superior to Nubia. Turning next to
Syria, Tethmosis carried his arms as far as the Euphrates. It is
possible that his predecessor had also reached this point, but no record
survives to prove it. These successful campaigns were probably not very
costly, and prisoners, plunder and tribute poured in from them to enrich
Egypt. Tethmosis I. made the first of those g