even to the quantity of oil and incense, which he had taken care to
store up for them: his prudence was always justified by the issue, for
"during the many years in which the famine recurred, he distributed
grain in the city to all those who hungered."

Babai, the first of the lords of El-Kab whose name has come down to
us, was a captain in the service of Saqnunri Tiuaqni.* His son Ahmosi,
having approached the end of his career, cut a tomb for himself in the
hill which overlooks the northern side of the town. He relates on
the walls of his sepulchre, for the benefit of posterity, the most
praiseworthy actions of his long life. He had scarcely emerged from
childhood when he was called upon to act for his father, and before his
marriage he was appointed to the command of the barque _The Calf._ From
thence he was promoted to the ship _The North_, and on account of his
activity he was chosen to escort his namesake the king on foot, whenever
he drove in his chariot. He repaired to his post at the moment when the
decisive war against the Hyksos broke out.

* There are still some doubts as to the descent of this
Ahmosi. Some authorities hold that Babai was the name of his
father and Abina that of his grandfather; others think that
Babai was his father and Abina his mother; others, again,
make out Babai and Abina to be variants of the same name,
probably a Semitic one, borne by the father of Ahmosi; the
majority of modern Egyptologists (including myself) regard
this last hypothesis as being the most probable one.

The tradition current in the time of the Ptolemies reckoned the number
of men under the command of King Ahmosis when he encamped before
Avaris at 480,000. This immense multitude failed to bring matters to a
successful issue, and the siege dragged on indefinitely. The king afc
length preferred to treat with the Shepherds, and gave them permission
to retreat into Syria safe and sound, together with their wives, their
children, and all their goods. This account, however, in no way agrees
with the all too brief narration of events furnished by the inscription
in the tomb. The army to which Egypt really owed its deliverance was
not the undisciplined rabble of later tradition, but, on the contrary,
consisted of troops similar to those which subsequently invaded Syria,
some 15,000 to 20,000 in number, fully equipped and ably officered,
supported, moreover, by a fleet ready to transf