si-Abina--who belonged to the
family of the lords of Nekhabit, has left us an account, in one of the
inscriptions in his tomb, of the numerous exploits in which he took part
side by side with his royal master, and thus, thanks to this fortunate
record of his vanity, we are not left in complete ignorance of the
events which took place during this crucial struggle between the Asiatic
settlers and their former subjects. Nekhabit had enjoyed considerable
prosperity in the earlier ages of Egyptian history, marking as it
did the extreme southern limit of the kingdom, and forming an outpost
against the barbarous tribes of Nubia. As soon as the progress of
conquest had pushed the frontier as far south as the first cataract,
it declined in importance, and the remembrance of its former greatness
found an echo only in proverbial expressions or in titles used at the
Pharaonic court.* The nomes situated to the south of Thebes, unlike
those of Middle Egypt, did not comprise any extensive fertile or
well-watered territory calculated to enrich its possessors or to afford
sufficient support for a large population: they consisted of long strips
of alluvial soil, shut in between the river and the mountain range,
but above the level of the inundation, and consequently difficult to
irrigate.

* This is evident from passage in the biography of Ahmosi-
si-Abina, where it is stated that, after the taking of
Avaris, the king passed into Asia in the year VI. The first
few lines of the _Great Inscription of El-Kab_ seem to refer
to four successive campaigns, i.e. four years of warfare up
to the taking of Avaris, and to a fifth year spent in
pursuing the Shepherds into Syria.

** The vulture of Nekhabit is used to indicate the south,
while the urseus of Buto denotes the extreme north; the
title Ra-Nekhnit, "Chief of Nekhnit," which is,
hypothetically, supposed to refer to a judicial function, is
none the less associated with the expression, "Nekhabit-
Tekhnit," as an indication of the south, and, therefore,
can be traced to the prehistoric epoch when Nekhabit was the
primary designation of the south.

[Illustration: 116.jpg THE WALLS OF EL-KAB SEEN FROM THE TOMB OF PIHIRI]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.

[Illustration: 116a.jpg COLLECTION OF VASES] MODELLED AND PAINTED IN THE
GRAND TEMPLE. PHILAE ISLAND.

These nomes were cult