Some rays of light are thrown upon the times of Pepi and Merienra by an inscription that was found at Abydos, in the tomb of one Una, who was Governor of the South. In the reign of Teta, first king of the sixth dynasty, Una, then a young man, had been already intrusted with important offices. He was crown-bearer, superintendent of the storehouse, and registrar of the docks. Under Pepi he rose to yet higher dignity and influence. ‘His Majesty gave me the rank of “King’s friend;” I was royal scribe and chief over the treasury, and priest of the royal pyramid. No secret was withheld from me; he allowed me to hear all that was said. By his orders I brought a white stone sarcophagus from the land of Ruau. It was embarked safely and brought, together with the doors, cover, and pedestal, in a great boat belonging to the palace.
‘But now His Majesty was summoned to drive back the Amu and the Herusha,[14] who were threatening the land. He levied soldiers from beyond the southern frontier, and recruited negroes from very many places. He placed me at the head of these troops. I summoned captains and rulers from every part that they might train and drill the negro forces. I was the representative of the king; everything fell upon me alone, for there was no man above me but Pharaoh himself. To the utmost of my power I laboured; I wore out my sandals in going hither and thither. Never was any army better officered or disciplined. It marched without let or hindrance until it arrived at the land of the Herusha. It laid waste the country, burning the villages, and cutting down vine and fig-trees; many thousands of the foe were taken prisoners.
‘Five times was I sent to subdue revolts among the Herusha until the land was completely conquered. King Merienra made me Governor of the South, and bestowed high dignity upon me in his household.
‘I was charged to bring the sarcophagus and statue for the pyramid of Merienra, and I transported them in boats. I also quarried a great slab of alabaster for the king in seventeen days. I constructed a boat of 100 feet in length, and 50 in breadth. But there was not water enough to tow it in safety. Therefore I excavated four docks in the land of the south, and next year at the time of the inundation I disembarked in safety both the alabaster slab and all the granite required for the pyramid Kha-nefer[15] of Merienra. Then for those docks I erected a building in which the spirits of the king might be invoked, even of the king Merienra, by whose command all had been done that was done.
‘The beloved of his father, the praised of his mother, the delight of his brethren, the chief, the Governor of the South, the truly devoted to Osiris—Una.’
[CHAPTER III.]
The Pyramid Builders—Continued.
The warlike expeditions described by Una, the Governor of the South, form the exception rather than the rule in this early history. Fearing no rivals at home, and almost entirely free from enemies abroad, these powerful monarchs devoted their thoughts and care to the building of temples and of those gigantic funeral piles that have immortalised their names.