of whom was
Namroti, son of Osorkon II., and high priest of Thebes; a
member of the same family, named Pefzaabastit, had taken
cartouches under Osorkon III. of the XXIIIrd dynasty.

Thebes alone had managed to exclude these representatives of the ruling
dynasty, and its princes, guided in this particular by the popular
prejudice, persistently refused to admit into their bodyguard any but
the long-tried Mazaiu. Moreover, Thebes lost no opportunity of proving
itself to be still the most turbulent of the baronies. Its territory
had suffered no diminution since the time of Hrihor, and half of Upper
Egypt, from Elephantine to Siut, acknowledged its sway.1

* It is evident that this was so from the first steps taken
by Pionkhi-Miamun's generals: they meet the army and fleet
of Tafnakhti and the princes of the north right under the
walls of Hormopolis, but say nothing of any feudal princes
of the south. Their silence is explained if we assume that
Thebes, being a dependency of Ethiopia, retained at that
date, i.e. in the time of the XXIInd dynasty, the same or
nearly the same boundaries which it had won for itself under
the XXIst.

Through all the changes of dynasty its political constitution had
remained unaltered; Amon still ruled there supreme as ever, and nothing
was done until he had been formally consulted in accordance with ancient
usage. Anputi, in spite of his being a son of Sheshonq, was compelled
to adopt the title of high priest in order to rule in peace, and had
married some daughter or niece of the last of the Painotmu. After his
death, good care was taken to prevent the pontificate from passing to
one of his children, as this would have re-established a Theban dynasty
which might have soon proved hostile to that of Bubastis. To avoid this,
Osorkon I. made over the office and fief to his own son Sheshonq. The
latter, after a time, thought he was sufficiently powerful to follow the
example of Painotmu and adopt the royal cartouches; but, with all his
ambition, he too failed to secure the succession to the male line of
his descendants, for Osorkon II. appointed his own son Namroti, already
prince of Khninsu, to succeed him. The amalgamation of these two posts
invested the person on whom they were conferred with almost regal power;
Khninsu was, indeed, as we know, the natural rampart of Memphis and
Lower Egypt against invasion from the south, and its po