The generals did their very utmost to appease their master’s wrath before he appeared on the scene. They told off a force to keep watch over Hermopolis while they themselves marched against the nome of Uabu; they took Oxyrrhynchos by storm, with “the fury of a water-spout,” and informed the king of this achievement; but “his heart was not softened thereby.” They crossed over to the right bank; they crushed the people of the north under the walls of Tatehni,* they forced the walls of the town with the battering-ram, and killed many of the inhabitants, amongst others a son of Tafnakhti, whose body they sent to the king; but “his heart was not softened thereby.”
They then pushed on as far as Haït Bonua** and sacked it, but still failed to regain favour. On the 9th of Thoth, Piônkhi came down to Thebes, and after hasty attendance at the services to Amon, went to rejoin the vanguard of his army under the walls of Hermopolis.
* The modern Tehneh, on the right bank of the Nile, a little
below Minieh.
** Hâit-Bonu, or Hâbonu, is the Hipponon of the Greco-Roman
geographers.
Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from an impression of the stele in
the Gizeh Museum.
“No sooner had his Majesty quitted the cabin of his ship, than the horses were harnessed and the charioteers in their places; the fear of his Majesty spread even to the Nomads of Asia, and all hearts trembled before him.” Piônkhi drove back the enemy behind their walls, pitched his tent to the south-west of the city, threw up earth-works, and built terraces so as to place his bowmen and sling-ers on a level with the battlements of its towers. At the end of three days, Namrôti, finding himself hard pressed on every side, resolved to surrender. He sent envoys to Piônkhi laden with rich presents, and despatched Queen Nsitentmahît after them, to beg for mercy from the women who had accompanied the Ethiopian, his wives, concubines, daughters, or royal sisters. Their entreaties were graciously received, and Namrôti ventured to come in person, leading a horse with his right hand and shaking in his left a sistrum of gold and lapis-lazuli; he knelt down and presented with his salutations the long train of gifts which had gone before him. Piônkhi visited the temple of Thoth, and there, amidst the acclamations of soldiers and priests, offered up the customary sacrifices.
Drawn by Boudier, from an engraving in Vivant Denon. The
portico was destroyed about 1820 by the engineers who
constructed the sugar refinery at Rodah, and now only a few
shapeless fragments of it remain.