[CHAPTER IX.]
The Eighteenth Dynasty—continued.
(Circa 1600-1400 b.c.)
Of the reign of Thothmes iv. there is very little record left excepting the curious story of his own youth, which was written on a tablet suspended by his order upon the breast of the Sphinx at Ghizeh—to the following effect:—‘Thothmes had been practising spear-throwing in the neighbourhood of Memphis, where he also slung brazen bolts at a target and hunted lions in the “valley of the gazelles.”[40] The prince rode in his two-horsed chariot, and his horses were swifter than the wind. With him were two of his servants. No man knew them. The hour came when he gave his servants rest. Thothmes went alone to the little sanctuary between the outstretched paws of the great image of Horus in the city of the dead, to present an offering of the seeds of flowers upon the heights, and to pray to the “great mother Isis” and to other deities. A great enchantment rested on this place since the beginning of time even as far as the district of Babylon,[41] the sacred road of the gods to the western horizon. To the spot where the prince was standing the inhabitants of Memphis and the surrounding country were wont to come, to raise their hands in prayer and offer oblations. It so chanced that on one of these feast days the prince arrived at this spot about the hour of mid-day, and he laid himself down to rest in the shade of this great god until sleep overtook him. The sun was in the zenith when he dreamed, and lo! this great god spoke to him with his own mouth as a father speaks to his son. “Behold me, look at me, my son Thothmes! I am thy father Hormakhu-Ra. The kingdom shall be given thee; thou shalt wear the white crown and the red crown on the throne of the earth god Seb. The world shall be thine in its length and its breadth; plenty and riches shall be thine, the best from the interior of the land, and rich tributes from all nations. Long years shall be granted thee: my heart clings to thee.
The sand of this region in which I dwell has covered me up. Promise me that thou wilt do that which my heart desireth; then shall I know whether thou indeed art my helper.” The prince awoke and repeated these words, and understood their meaning; and he laid them up in his heart, saying to himself—“I see how the people of this city honour the god with sacrificial gifts without ever thinking of freeing from sand the noble image of Hormakhu.”
The tablet here breaks off, but no doubt it recorded the fulfilment by Thothmes of the god’s request.
Amenhotep iii., successor of Thothmes iv., maintained with vigour the supremacy of Egypt both in the north and in the south. He must have been no ordinary sportsman if he speared, as he is said to have done, 102 lions with his own hand in the forest lands of Mesopotamia. His conquests were principally achieved in the south; for the sake of gold quite as much as for increase of territory he carried his arms into the Soudan, and subdued the negro peoples who dwelt beneath its burning sun. But the chief glory of Amenhotep iii. was not won by spearing lions in Asia or conquering negroes in Africa; his name is remembered chiefly through his architectural achievements at Thebes. He erected a splendid gate-tower before the great temple at Karnak, and planned the avenue of sphinxes which connected it with another temple which he began at Luxor. To the north and south of the great temple he also built two smaller ones. On the western bank he constructed another and a magnificent temple.
AMENHOTEP III.
FROM A SCULPTURE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.