o the vigilant watch kept by
the Egyptians over their waters, had betaken themselves to the Libyan
littoral, where they met with a favourable reception. Whether they had
settled in some places, and formed there those colonies of which a Greek
tradition of a recent age speaks, we cannot say. They certainly followed
the occupation of mercenary soldiers, and many of them hired out their
services to the native princes, while others were enrolled among the
troops of the King of the Khati or of the Pharaoh himself. Maraiu
brought with him Achaeans, Shardana, Tursha, Shagalasha,* and Lycians
in considerable numbers when he resolved to begin the strife.** This was
not one of those conventional little wars which aimed at nothing further
than the imposition of the payment of a tribute upon the conquered, or
the conquest of one of their provinces. Maraiu had nothing less in view
than the transport of his whole people into the Nile valley, to settle
permanently there as the Hyksos had done before him.

* The Shakalasha, Shagalasha, identified with the Sicilians
by E. de Rouge, were a people of Asia Minor whose position
there is approximately indicated by the site of the town
Sagalassos, named after them.

** The _Inscription of Minephtah_ distinguishes the Libyans
of Maraiu from "the people of the Sea."

He set out on his march towards the end of the IVth year of the
Pharaoh's reign, or the beginning of his Vth, surrounded by the elite
of his troops, "the first choice from among all the soldiers and all the
heroes in each land." The announcement of their approach spread terror
among the Egyptians. The peace which they had enjoyed for fifty years
had cooled their warlike ardour, and the machinery of their military
organisation had become somewhat rusty. The standing army had almost
melted away; the regiments of archers and charioteers were no longer
effective, and the neglected fortresses were not strong enough to
protect the frontier. As a consequence, the oases of Farafrah and of the
Natron lakes fell into the hands of the enemy at the first attack, and
the eastern provinces of the Delta became the possession of the invader
before any steps could be taken for their defence. Memphis, which
realised the imminent danger, broke out into open murmurs against the
negligent rulers who had given no heed to the country's ramparts, and
had allowed the garrisons of its fortresses to dwindle away. Fortunately