This magnate hurried forth to meet his sovereign before the gate, and, taking the costly sandals from his feet he knelt and assisted Ramses to alight from the chariot.
In return for this homage the pharaoh gave him his hand to kiss, and declared that thenceforth Antefa was his friend, and might enter even the throne hall in sandals.
When they were in an immense chamber of Antefa's palace the sovereign said before the whole retinue,
"I know, worthy Antefa, that as thy revered ancestors occupy the most beautiful of tombs, thou, their descendant, art foremost among nomarchs in Egypt. To thee it is known surely that in my court and army, as in my heart, the first place is held by Tutmosis, chief of the guard, and my favorite.
"According to the opinion of sages the rich man does ill who does not put his most precious jewel into the most beautiful setting. And, since thy family is most precious to me, and Tutmosis is most dear, I have conceived the idea of connecting thee with myself, as Thou wilt be, if thy daughter, the wise and beautiful Hebron, accepts Tutmosis as husband."
To this the worthy Antefa replied,
"Holiness, sovereign of the western world, and of living men! As Egypt, and all that is in it belongs to thee, so this house and all its inhabitants are thy possession. Since it is thy desire that my daughter should be the wife of thy favorite, let it be so."
Now the pharaoh declared to Antefa that Tutmosis had twenty talents of yearly salary, and considerable estates in various provinces. Thereupon the worthy Antefa declared that his daughter Hebron would have fifty talents a year, also the right to make use of the estates of her father in those provinces in which the pharaoh's court sojourned for a season. And since he had no son, his immense property, which was free of debt, would pass to Tutmosis some time, together with the office of nomarch of Thebes, in so far as that transfer might coincide with the will of the pharaoh.
After concluding the conditions Tutmosis entered the court, thanked Antefa first for giving his daughter to one so unworthy, and second, because he had reared her so beautifully.
It was arranged then that the ceremony of marriage would take place in a few days, since Tutmosis, as leader of the guard, had no time for protracted preliminaries.