The Labû might very well have gained the mastery over the other inhabitants of the desert at this period, who had become enfeebled by the frequent defeats which they had sustained at the hands of the Egyptians. At the moment when Mînephtah ascended the throne, their king, Mâraîû, son of Didi, ruled over the immense territory lying between the Fayûm and the two Syrtes: the Timihu, the Kahaka, and the Mashaûasha rendered him the same obedience as his own people. A revolution had thus occurred in Africa similar to that which had taken place a century previously in Naharaim, when Sapalulu founded the Hittite empire. A great kingdom rose into being where no state capable of disturbing Egyptian control had existed before. The danger was serious. The Hittites, separated from the Nile by the whole breadth of Kharu, could not directly threaten any of the Egyptian cities; but the Libyans, lords of the desert, were in contact with the Delta, and could in a few days fall upon any point in the valley they chose. Mînephtah, therefore, hastened to resist the assault of the westerns, as his father had formerly done that of the easterns, and, strange as it may seem, he found among the troops of his new enemies some of the adversaries with whom the Egyptians had fought under the walls of Qodshû sixty years before. The Shardana, Lycians, and others, having left the coasts of the Delta and the Phoenician seaports owing to the vigilant watch kept by the Egyptians over their waters, had betaken themselves to the Libyan littoral, where they met with a favourable reception. Whether they had settled in some places, and formed there those colonies of which a Greek tradition of a recent age speaks, we cannot say. They certainly followed the occupation of mercenary soldiers, and many of them hired out their services to the native princes, while others were enrolled among the troops of the King of the Khâti or of the Pharaoh himself. Mâraîû brought with him Achæans, Shardana, Tûrsha, Shagalasha,* and Lycians in considerable numbers when he resolved to begin the strife.** This was not one of those conventional little wars which aimed at nothing further than the imposition of the payment of a tribute upon the conquered, or the conquest of one of their provinces. Mâraîû had nothing less in view than the transport of his whole people into the Nile valley, to settle permanently there as the Hyksôs had done before him.
* The Shakalasha, Shagalasha, identified with the Sicilians
by E. de Rougé, were a people of Asia Minor whose position
there is approximately indicated by the site of the town
Sagalassos, named after them.
** The Inscription of Mînephtah distinguishes the Libyans
of Mâraîû from “the people of the Sea.”
He set out on his march towards the end of the IVth year of the Pharaoh’s reign, or the beginning of his Vth, surrounded by the elite of his troops, “the first choice from among all the soldiers and all the heroes in each land.” The announcement of their approach spread terror among the Egyptians. The peace which they had enjoyed for fifty years had cooled their warlike ardour, and the machinery of their military organisation had become somewhat rusty. The standing army had almost melted away; the regiments of archers and charioteers were no longer effective, and the neglected fortresses were not strong enough to protect the frontier. As a consequence, the oases of Farafrah and of the Natron lakes fell into the hands of the enemy at the first attack, and the eastern provinces of the Delta became the possession of the invader before any steps could be taken for their defence. Memphis, which realised the imminent danger, broke out into open murmurs against the negligent rulers who had given no heed to the country’s ramparts, and had allowed the garrisons of its fortresses to dwindle away. Fortunately Syria remained quiet. The Khâti, in return for the aid afforded them by Mînephtah during the famine, observed a friendly attitude, and the Pharaoh was thus enabled to withdraw the troops from his Asiatic provinces. He could with perfect security take the necessary measures for ensuring “Heliopolis, the city of Tûmû,” against surprise, “for arming Memphis, the citadel of Phtah-Tonen, and for restoring all things which were in disorder: he fortified Pibalîsît, in the neighbourhood of the Shakana canal, on a branch of that of Heliopolis,” and he rapidly concentrated his forces behind these quickly organised lines.*
* Chabas would identify Pibalîsît with Bubastis; I agree
with Brugsch in placing it at Belbeîs.
Mâraîû, however, continued to advance; in the early months of the summer he had crossed the Canopic branch of the Nile, and was now about to encamp not far from the town of Pirici. When the king heard of this “he became furious against them as a lion that fascinates its victim; he called his officers together and addressed them: ‘I am about to make you hear the words of your master, and to teach you this: I am the sovereign shepherd who feeds you; I pass my days in seeking out that which is useful for you: I am your father; is there among you a father like me who makes his children live? You are trembling like geese, you do not know what is good to do: no one gives an answer to the enemy, and our desolated land is abandoned to the incursions of all nations. The barbarians harass the frontier, rebels violate it every day, every one robs it, enemies devastate our seaports, they penetrate into the fields of Egypt; if there is an arm of a river they halt there, they stay for days, for months; they come as numerous as reptiles, and no one is able to sweep them back, these wretches who love death and hate life, whose hearts meditate the consummation of our ruin. Behold, they arrive with their chief; they pass their time on the land which they attack in filling their stomachs every day; this is the reason why they come to the land of Egypt, to seek their sustenance, and their intention is to install themselves there; mine is to catch them like fish upon their bellies. Their chief is a dog, a poor devil, a madman; he shall never sit down again in his place.’” He then announced that on the 14th of Epiphi he would himself conduct the troops against the enemy.
These were brave words, but we may fancy the figure that this king of more than sixty years of age would have presented in a chariot in the middle of the fray, and his competence to lead an effective charge against the enemy. On the other hand, his absence in such a critical position of affairs would have endangered the morale of his soldiers and possibly compromised the issue of the battle. A dream settled the whole question.*
* Ed. Meyer sees in this nothing but a customary rhetorical
expression, and thinks that the god spoke in order to
encourage the king to defend himself vigorously.
While Mînephtah was asleep one night, he saw a gigantic figure of Phtah standing before him, and forbidding him to advance. “‘Stay,’ cried the god to him, while handing him the curved khopesh: ‘put away discouragement from thee!’ His Majesty said to him: ‘But what am I to do then?’ And Phtah answered him: ‘Despatch thy infantry, and send before it numerous chariots to the confines of the territory of Piriû.’”**
* This name was read Pa-ari by E. de Rougé, Pa-ali by Lauth,
and was transcribed Pa-ari-shop by Brugsch, who identified
with Prosopitis. The orthography of the text at Athribis
shows that we ought to read Piri, Pirû, Piriû; possibly the
name is identical with that of larû which is mentioned in
the Pyramid-texts.
The Pharaoh obeyed the command, and did not stir from his position. Mâraîû had, in the mean time, arranged his attack for the 1st of Epiphi, at the rising of the sun: it did not take place, however, until the 3rd. “The archers of His Majesty made havoc of the barbarians for six hours; they were cut off by the edge of the sword.” When Mâraîû saw the carnage, “he was afraid, his heart failed him; he betook himself to flight as fast as his feet could bear him to save his life, so successfully that his bow and arrows remained behind him in his precipitation, as well as everything else he had upon him.” His treasure, his arms, his wife, together with the cattle which he had brought with him for his use, became the prey of the conqueror; “he tore out the feathers from his head-dress, and took flight with such of those wretched Libyans as escaped the massacre, but the officers who had the care of His Majesty’s team of horses followed in their steps” and put most of them to the sword. Mâraîû succeeded, however, in escaping in the darkness, and regained his own country without water or provisions, and almost without escort. The conquering troops returned to the camp laden with booty, and driving before them asses carrying, as bloody tokens of victory, quantities of hands and phalli cut from the dead bodies of the slain. The bodies of six generals and of 6359 Libyan soldiers were found upon the field of battle, together with 222 Shagalasha, 724 Tursha, and some hundreds of Shardana and Achæans: several thousands of prisoners passed in procession before the Pharaoh, and were distributed among such of his soldiers as had distinguished themselves. These numbers show the gravity of the danger from which Egypt had escaped: the announcement of the victory filled the country with enthusiasm, all the more sincere because of the reality of the panic which had preceded it. The fellahîn, intoxicated with joy, addressed each other: “‘Come, and let us go a long distance on the road, for there is now no fear in the hearts of men.‘The fortified posts may at last be left; the citadels are now open; messengers stand at the foot of the walls and wait in the shade for the guard to awake after their siesta, to give them entrance. The military police sleep on their accustomed rounds, and the people of the marshes once more drive their herds to pasture without fear of raids, for there are no longer marauders near at hand to cross the river; the cry of the sentinels is heard no more in the night: ‘Halt, thou that comest, thou that comest under a name which is not thine own—sheer off!’ and men no longer exclaim on the following morning: ‘Such or such a thing has been stolen;’ but the towns fall once more into their usual daily routine, and he who works in the hope of the harvest, will nourish himself upon that which he shall have reaped.” The return from Memphis to Thebes was a triumphal march.