THE CHILDREN OF THE DESERT. 19 



to have been a favourite with the artist arid the public, 

 for it again and again recurs. The Egyptians, distin- 

 guished always by their smooth faces and shaven 

 heads, are pursuing an enemy with long beards and 

 flowing robes, who are surrounded by flocks and 

 herds. The Egyptians here show no mercy, they 

 appear alive with fury and revenge. Sometimes the 

 victor is depicted with a scornful air, his foot placed 

 upon the neck of a prostrate foe ; sometimes he is 

 piercing the body through and through with a spear. 

 Certain sandals have also been discovered, in which 

 the figure of the same enemy is painted on the inner 

 sole, so that the foot trod upon the portrait when the 

 sandal was put on. 



Those bearded men had inflicted on Egypt long 

 years of dreadful disaster and disgrace. They were 

 the Bedouins of the Arabian peninsula ; a pastoral 

 race, who wandered eternally in a burning land, each 

 tribe or clan within an orbit of its own. When they 

 met they fought, the women uttering savage cries, and 

 cursing their husbands if they retreated from the foe. 

 Accustomed to struggle to the death for a handful of 

 withered grass, or for a little muddy water at the 

 bottom of a well, what a rich harvest must Egypt 

 have appeared to them ! In order to obtain it they 

 were able to suspend all feuds, to take an oath of 

 alliance, and to unite into a single horde. They de- 

 scended upon their prey and seized it at the first 

 swoop. There does not appear to have been even one 

 great battle, and this can be explained, if as is pro- 

 bable enough, the Egyptians before that invasion had 

 never seen a horse. 



The Arab horse, or rather mare, lived in her mas- 

 ter's tent, and supped from the calabash of milk, and 



