THE EUPHRATES. 47 



good cause to be alarmed ; the Phil-Hellenes were 

 playing at a dangerous game. Times had changed 

 since Sesostris overran Asia. A great power had arisen 

 on the banks of the Tigris; a greater power still on the 

 banks of the Euphrates. They had narrowly escaped 

 Sennacherib when Nineveh was in its glory : and now 

 Babylon had arisen, and Nebuchadnezzar had drawn 

 the sword. For a long time Chaldsea and Egypt 

 fought over Syria, their battle-ground and their prey. 

 At last came the decisive day of Carchemish. The 

 Phoenicians, the Syrians, and the Jews obtained new 

 masters ; the Egyptians were driven out of Asia. 



Yet even then the kings were not cured of their 

 taste for war. An expedition was sent against Cyrene, 

 a Greek kingdom on the northern coast of Africa. It 

 was unsuccessful ; and the sullen disaffection which had 

 so long smouldered burst forth into a flame. The king 

 was killed, and Amasis, a man of the people, was placed 

 upon the throne. 



This monarch did not go to war, and he contrived 

 to favour the Greeks without offending the prejudices 

 bf his fellow-countrymen. He was, however, a true 

 Phil-Hellene ; he encircled himself with a body-guard 

 of Greeks ; he married a princess of Cyrene ; he gave 

 a handsome subscription to the fund for rebuilding the 

 temple at Delphi ; he extended the commerce of Egypt 

 and improved its manufactures. The liberal policy in 

 trade which he pursued had the most satisfactory 

 results. Never had Egypt been so rich as she was 

 then. But she was defenceless ; she had lost her 

 arms. It is probable that under Amasis she was a 

 vassal of Babylon, paying tribute every year ; and now 

 a time was coming when gold could no longer purchase 

 repose, when the horrified people would see their 



