a priestess who died aged ninety-seven years (Bay 27, No. 996) ; and Berenice (?) who died aged sixty-four years, eight months, and twenty-six days (Bay 29, No. 998).

Of all the stelae of this period the most interesting is that of the lady That-I-em-hetep, who belonged to a family that reckoned among its members several princes of Memphis and high priests of Ptah (Bay 29, No. 1027). She was born in the ninth year of the reign of Ptolemy XIII, about B.C. 71, and when fourteen years old she was married to her half-brother, the priest P-shere-en-Ptaḥ (see his stele in Bay 27, No. 1026). During the first twelve years of her married life she gave birth to three daughters, but no son, which caused her husband great grief. She and her husband prayed to the god I-em-hetep, the son of Ptah, for a son, and the god, appearing to P-shere-en-Ptah in a dream, promised to grant his prayer if he carried out certain works in connexion with the temple. When the priest awoke he caused the works to be taken in hand, and soon after they were completed his wife gave birth to a son who was named I-em-hetep, and surnamed Peța-Bast (see his stele in Bay 27, No. 1030). Four years afterwards That-I-em-hetep died, and was buried with due ceremony by her husband, whom she addresses thus: "O my brother, my husband, my friend, "the Ur-kherp-hem (ie., high priest of Memphis), cease not to drink, to eat, to be drunken, and to marry wives, and to enjoy "thyself, and to follow the desire of thy heart by day and "by night; and let not sorrow or sadness find a place in thy heart during all the years which thou shalt live "upon earth. Amenti (ie., the land of the dead) is the land "of stupor and darkness, and a place of oppression for those "who are therein. The august ones sleep in their mummied "forms; they cannot awake to see their brethren, they cannot "look upon their fathers and mothers, and they are unmindful "of wives and children. The living water which the earth "hath for its dwellers is stagnant water for me..... I no "longer know where I am, now that I have arrived in this "valley [of the dead]. Would that I had water to drink from a running stream, and one to say to me, 'Remove not thy pitcher from the stream'! O that my face were turned towards the north wind on the river bank that the coolness "thereof might quiet the anguish which is in my heart!

"He whose name is Universal Death calleth everyone to "him; and they come unto him with quaking hearts, and they "are terrified through their fear of him. With him is no "distinction made between gods and men, and the great are even as the little in his sight. He showeth no favour to those

"who long for him; for he carrieth away the babe from his mother, as well as the aged man. As he goeth about on "his way, all men fear him, and, though all make supplication before him, he turneth not his face towards them. Entreaty "reacheth not unto him, for he will not hearken unto him that "maketh supplication, and him who presenteth unto him "offerings and funerary, he will not regard."

The ideas expressed in the above extract have their origin in the materialism which found its way into Egypt under the rule of the Ptolemies.

THE ROMAN PERIOD.

Egypt, having become a province of the Roman Empire on the death of Cleopatra, B.C. 30, was forthwith placed under the rule of a Prefect, and administered like any other Roman Province. Under the strict but just rule of her new masters Egypt prospered, for trade flourished, and life and property were, on the whole, well protected by the laws of Rome. Reference has already been made (see page 255) to the Nubian kingdom founded by Piankhi, who made Napata his capital; it must also be noted that at the same period, between B.C. 500 and the end of the Ptolemaïc rule, a second Nubian kingdom was founded by some unknown Sûdânî chief on the Island of Meroë, with a capital at Meroë, on the Nile, about 50 miles south of its junction with the Atbara. When the Romans began to rule over Egypt the Meroïtic Kingdom was in a flourishing state, and the authority of its sovereign, who appears to have been Queen Amenṭārit1 (having also the title Candace, which was common to all the Queens of Meroë), probably extended northwards as far as the First Cataract. In B.C. 29 Candace made a treaty with Cornelius Gallus, the first prefect of Egypt; but, five years later, when Ælius Gallus was prefect, she invaded Egyptian territory and slew the Roman garrisons of Philae and Syene. In revenge the Romans invaded Nubia and marched to

ably, the title Candace is derived. Her tomb is at Meroë (Northern Group of Pyramids, No. 1).

Napata, which they sacked and burned; and Candace was forced to submit. From that time onward little is heard of the Kingdom of Meroë; but the pyramids which still stand near Meroë prove that the Nubians observed the old Egyptian customs in connexion with the burial of their dead in chambers under the ground. They offered sacrifices to Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, Anubis, and other gods of the cycle of Osiris, and recited the ancient formulas, which are also written in hieroglyphics on the walls of the funerary chapels; and in some instances they reproduced on the walls whole scenes, e.g., the Weighing of the Heart, and the Pylons of the Other World,

Roman Period.

from Ptolemaïc copies of the Book of the Dead, as for example, on the sandstone relief from a pyramid chapel at Meroë which is exhibited in Bay 31, No. 1049. On the right Queen Candace is seated, her consort by her side, holding symbols of sovereignty, her feet resting on representatives of conquered tribes. Immediately in front of the large figure of the queen we see her pouring out libations to Osiris, and round about her are vases of wine, beer, unguents, bulls for sacrifice, etc., for the funerary feast. In her company are priests, officials, relatives, and others, who bear offerings, palm branches, etc. This relief was originally coloured red. Also may be mentioned