which they never
succeeded in overcoming. When the raids of the Bedouin obliged the
Egyptian sovereign to cross the frontier into their territory, he would
retire as soon as possible, without attempting any permanent conquest.
After the expulsion of the Hyksos, Ahmosis seemed inclined to pursue a
less timorous course. He made an advance on Sharuhana and pillaged it,
and the booty he brought back ought to have encouraged him to attempt
more important expeditions; but he never returned to this region, and it
would seem that when his first enthusiasm had subsided, he was paralysed
by the same fear which had fallen on his ancestors. Nofritari may have
counselled her son not to break through the traditions which his father
had so strictly followed, for Amenothes I. confined his campaigns to
Africa, and the traditional battle-fields there. He embarked for the
land of Kush on the vessel of Ahmosi-si-Abina "for the purpose of
enlarging the frontiers of Egypt." It was, we may believe, a thoroughly
conventional campaign, conducted according to the strictest precedents
of the XIIth dynasty. The Pharaoh, as might be expected, came into
personal contact with the enemy, and slew their chief with his own
hand; the barbarian warriors sold their lives dearly, but were unable
to protect their country from pillage, the victors carrying off whatever
they could seize--men, women, and cattle. The pursuit of the enemy had
led the army some distance into the desert, as far as a halting-place
called the "Upper cistern"--_Khnumit hirit_; instead of retracing his
steps to the Nile squadron, and returning slowly by boat, Amenothes
resolved to take a short cut homewards. Ahmosi conducted him back
overland in two days, and was rewarded for his speed by the gift of
a quantity of gold, and two female slaves. An incursion into Libya
followed quickly on the Ethiopian campaign.

[Illustration: 144.jpg STATUE OF AMENOTHES I. IN THE TURIN MUSEUM]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph supplied by Flinders
Petrie.

The tribe of the Kihaka, settled between Lake Mareotis and the Oasis of
Amon, had probably attacked in an audacious manner the western provinces
of the Delta; a raid was organized against them, and the issue was
commemorated by a small wooden stele, on which we see the victor
represented as brandishing his sword over a barbarian lying prostrate at
his feet. The exploits of Amenothes appear to have ended with this raid,
for we possess