alrounded top; on the flat surface we have the name of AA-AB given thrice, with other symbols, thus:—

Below are 14 horizontal lines of text which show that the stele was dedicated to Ptaḥ-[Seker-Asȧr], lord of Abydos, and to Amen-Ra, lord of the thrones of the world, by Het-her-sa, a priestly official of Åmen-Ra who held the rank of

called

(var.). His father was a Usertsenusam, and his wife's name

was Ankhtenet-sutenet-ṭept-senb-sen

า

1

In the bottom left-hand corner are

figures, in relief, of the deceased and his wife, in the style of the work of the latter part of the XIIth Dynasty. The brother of the deceased and certain of his ancestors were "superintendents of the mysteries of and were "judges of

Åmen,"
Nekhen."

D

214

CHAPTER III.

EGYPT UNDER THE MIDDLE EMPIRE.-SUMMARY.

HAVING stated in the preceding pages the principal facts in connexion with the reigns of the kings of the XIth, XIIth and XIIIth Dynasties, we may now attempt to describe in brief the main characteristics of this period of Egyptian history. All the evidence now available shows that these three dynasties were closely connected, and that they must be treated together. The principal event which distinguishes this period from the preceding is the transference of the seat of government from Memphis and Herakleopolis to Thebes, i.e., from the north to the south; this event took place when the family of the Menthu-heteps, who were originally princes of Hermonthis (the modern Erment, about eight miles to the south of Thebes), and who subsequently extended their authority over the whole of the Thebaïd, obtained complete control over the whole of the Nile Valley, and assumed the double crown of the South and the North as the kings of the XIth Dynasty. The kings of the XIIth Dynasty, who were purely of Theban origin, were evidently very closely related to the kings of the XIth Dynasty, and

INSTRUCTIONS OF AMENEMHÁT 1.

109

it is probable that Âmenemḥāt I. was a blood relation of Seankhka-Ra, the last king of the XIth Dynasty, and a king famous as the sender of a mission on a large scale to Punt. Although Amenemḥāt succeeded his kinsman without any long interregnum, there is no doubt that there was some distinction between the families of the two kings, otherwise Amenemḥāt would not have been reckoned the founder of a new dynasty; and the succession of this king to the throne seems to have been disputed, if we may judge from the hints which are given us in his "Instructions" to his son Usertsen. It is, however, interesting to note that the later kings of the XIIth Dynasty built their private palaces not at Thebes, but at a place called "Het-ThetTaui," which seems to have been

situated at no great distance from the modern city of Minyeh.

Another interesting fact connected with the XIIth Dynasty is the predilection which its kings always showed for the province of the Fayyûm, of which the hieroglyphic inscriptions make no special mention until this period, when both it and its local crocodile-headed god Sebek,, assume

1 See above, p. 5.

2 Sebek is a local form of the Sun-god Rā, and is mentioned in texts of the Early Empire; he was a great favourite with the kings of the XIIth and XIIIth Dynasties, but subsequently fell into a humble position, from which, however, he again emerged in Greek times, when under the name @xos or Euxos he became one of the principal gods of Egypt.