re, before everything, priests of Nekhabit, as
appears from an examination of their tombs, which, lying in
a side valley, far away from the tomb of Pihiri, are rarely
visited.

This transfiguration of the functions of the barons, which had been
completed under the XIXth and XXth dynasties, corresponded with a
more general movement by which the Pharaohs themselves were driven to
accentuate their official position as high priests, and to assign to
their sons sacerdotal functions in relation to the principal deities.
This rekindling of religious fervour would not, doubtless, have
restrained military zeal in case of war;* but if it did not tend to
suppress entirely individual bravery, it discouraged the taste for arms
and for the bold adventures which had characterised the old feudality.

* The sons of Ramses II., Khamoisit and Maritumu, were bravo
warriors in spite of their being high priests of Phtah at
Memphis, and of Ra at Heliopolis.

The duties of sacrificing, of offering prayer, of celebrating the sacred
rites according to the prescribed forms, and rendering due homage to the
gods in the manner they demanded, were of such an exactingly scrupulous
and complex character that the Pharaohs and the lords of earlier times
had to assign them to men specially fitted for, and appointed to, the
task; now that they had assumed these absorbing functions themselves,
they were obliged to delegate to others an increasingly greater
proportion of their civil and military duties. Thus, while the king
and his great vassals were devoutly occupying themselves in matters of
worship and theology, generals by profession were relieving them of
the care of commanding their armies; and as these individuals were
frequently the chiefs of Ethiopian, Asiatic, and especially of Libyan
bands, military authority, and, with it, predominant influence in the
State were quickly passing into the hands of the barbarians. A sort of
aristocracy of veterans, notably of Shardana or Mashauasha, entirely
devoted to arms, grew up and increased gradually side by side with the
ancient noble families, now by preference devoted to the priesthood.*

* This military aristocracy was fully developed in the XXIst
and XXIInd dynasties, but it began to take shape after
Ramses III. had planted the Shardana and Qahaka in certain
towns as garrisons.

The barons, whether of ancient or modern lineage, were possessed of
imme