APPENDIX III. 477 



The somewhat legendary Queen Nitocris is supposed to have flourished 

 in this obscure period, of which no monuments are known to exist, and with 

 which the Ancient Empire is brought to a close. The first civil troubles 

 begin during the sixth dynasty, when the usurper Akhthoes raises the 

 standard of revolt at Herakleopolis in the Delta, and forms a separate state 

 by detaching several provinces from the empire. Queen Nitocris, whose 

 beauty and wisdom are praised by Manetho and Herodotus, endeavours in 

 vain to stem the torrent of revolt which now spreads to the capital itself. 

 She perishes in the attempt, and after her death Egypt remains for 

 upwards of three centuries divided into two kingdoms, one comprising the 

 whole of the Delta, the other the Nile Valley thence to Ethiopia. Accord- 

 ing to some authorities the ninth and tenth dynasties ruled in the north, 

 the eighth simultaneously in the south. The usurpation of Akhthoes was 

 attended by a sudden and hitherto unexplained eclipse in Egyptian culture, 

 and for three centuries there is a complete blank in the native records and 

 monuments. Egypt herself seems to have disappeared as an independent 

 monarchy, and when she awakens again from this long sleep civilisation 

 appears to resume its course almost without any traditions of the past. 



MIDDLE EMPIRE. 



XI. Dynasty : Theban. 



M. 3064. 



Enentef, Mentuhotep, names apparently borne by several kings of this dynasty alter- 

 nately. During their rule the seat of empire was removed from Lower to 

 Upper Egypt, where was now founded the great city of Thebes, capital of 

 so many subsequent dynasties. 



Sankhara, the first king who sent an expedition to the land of Ophir and Punt (either 

 Somaliland or South Arabia), as recorded on an inscription in the Wady 

 Hammamat, on the route between Coptos and the Red Sea coast. B. 2400. 

 The six kings of this dynasty, all of whom reigned at Thebes, had to 

 struggle against the usurpers in the Delta, and apparently against foreign 

 conquerors. They seem to have succeeded in reducing the whole country ; 

 but for a long time their authority was restricted to the Thebais. They 

 broke completely with the traditions of the past, and began again to build 

 up the fabric of Egyptian culture almost from its very foundations. 

 Hence their monuments are rude, primitive, sometimes even coarse. The 

 effect they produce on the observer is that of a coimtry reverting to the 

 low state of rude civilisation from which it had already emerged under the 

 first three dynasties. 



XII. Dynasty : Theban. 



M. 3064, B. 2466. 



Amenemhat I., under whose rule Egypt again rose to a high degree of prosperity. 

 M. 3064, B. 2466. 



Osortasen I., by whom was erected the obelisk stiU standing at Heliopolis. B. 2433. 



