caused by commissions from Pharaoh, his lord, which he has started to execute in the land of the South. As soon as this letter of Pharaoh, thy lord, reaches thee, do thou act in the fullest accord with him, for he is to execute the commissions of Pharaoh, his lord, on account of which he has departed from hence.

'Thou art to look up the hand-barrows of the great goddess, to load them and put them on board the ship. Thou art to have them brought into his presence, where the statue is appointed to stand.

'Thou art to have the precious stones (here follows a list of unknown sorts of stones)-brought together to the same place where the statue stands, to deliver them into the hands of the artists. Let no delay be interposed in the execution of this commission, or else I should degrade thee. Behold! I expect thy best attention to this message. Such is the message which is

made known to thee.'

The conclusion of the letter is clear and explicit, evidently on the assumption that the viceroy of Ethiopia might prove a negligent servant.

LIST OF VALUES AND PRICES, ABOUT B.C. 1000.

1 Ten-10 Ket.

1 Ket

1 Ten-90.959

Preliminary Note.2

9.0959 grammes=154 grains nearly (or oz. Troy). =1537 grains (above lb. Troy).

Table of the Estimated Value of Ancient Egyptian uncoined Silver and Copper Money. Ratio of silver to copper, 1: 80.

By the help of this Table the reader will find it easy to form a correct idea of the values and prices in the following List.

I have further to observe, that the Ket of Silver corresponds to the Greek Didrachmon or Stater, and the Ket of Copper to the Chalcus (=th of the Obolus). Accordingly the Copts translate the Greek didrachmon by Kiti or Kite.

2 In the table of Egyptian Measures and Weights, given in the Records of the Past (vol. ii. p. 164), the Kat (Ket) is estimated at 140 grains, and the Ten at 1,400 grains. The Ten is roughly called a Pound, and the Kat or Ket an Ounce or Didrachm; but these terms by no means correspond to their actual values. The equivalents of the measures of capacity named in the following list are unknown.-ED.

LIST OF VALUES AND PRICES, ABOUT B.C. 1000.

1 Slave cost 3 Ten, 1 Ket, silver.

1 Ox

99

1 Ket, silver (=8 Ten, copper).

1 Goat cost 2 Ten, copper.

1 Pair of Fowls (Geese?) cost Ten, copper.

500 Fish, of a particular kind, cost 1 Ket, silver (=8 Ten,

copper).

800 Fish, of another kind, cost 1 Ket, silver.

1 Tena of Corn of Upper Egypt cost 5-7 Ten, copper.

1 Hotep of Wheat cost 2 Ten, copper.

(Hence 1 Hin of Honey cost 8 Ket, copper.)

365 Hin of Honey cost 3 Ten, silver.

(Hence 1 Hin of Honey cost

Ket, silver.)

11 Hin of Oil cost 17 Ten, copper.

50 Acres (Set) of arable land cost 5 Ten, silver.

1 Garden land cost 2 Ten, silver.

1 Knife cost 3 Ten, copper.

1 Metal Vessel, weighing 20 Ten, cost 40 Ten, copper.

1 Razor

1 99

1 Apron of fine stuff cost 3 Ten, copper.

The month's wages of an ordinary workman amounted to 5

Ten of copper.

The above values are derived from inscriptions, and there can be no doubt as to the accuracy of their interpretation.

'THE king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the chief priest of Amon, SI-AMON (SON OF AMON) HIRHOR:'-—

Thus did the ambitious priest of Amon, the head of the Theban clergy, style himself officially, when he took possession of the throne of Egypt, or, to speak more correctly, of that of the Thebaid in particular. His lord, Ramessu XIII., had before his own fall honoured the first servant of the god Amon in a distinguished manner, inasmuch as he had entrusted him with the highest and most important offices of the government. Hirhor calls himself, in the representations of his person by the side of the king, an ‘hereditary prince, the fan-bearer on the right of the king, King's son of Kush, chief architect of the king, chief general of the army in Upper and Lower Egypt, administrator of the granaries,' as Joseph was of old at the court of Pharaoh. Such high dignities, which in the course of time were held by one and the same

person, either together or in succession, must have essentially facilitated his project, when once formed, to overthrow the sovereign. His position and inviolability as the chief priest of Amon secured to the proud Hirhor, on the other hand, no inconsiderable following among the most powerful of all the priestly societies in the whole country, which gave a steady support to his secret plans. As in Upper Egypt it was the inhabitants of the Theban nome and the priests of Amon who took part with the new king, so, on the other hand, in Lower Egypt he had won over a moderate but not to be despised number of the priestly societies of the holy fathers of the Ramsescity of Zoan-Tanis, who stood in close connection with the imperial city of Thebes owing to their common worship of Amon. The letters and documents of the Ramessids which have come down to us leave not the slightest doubt upon this point. And yet the plans of Hirhor were not destined to attain complete While Ramessu XIII. and his successors, according to all probability, ate the bread of banishment in the Great Oasis, they had raised up in silence an enemy to the priest-kings, whose power and importance might be brought in to aid their cause.

success.

On the east, in the vast plains of Mesopotamia, the great empire of the Khita had been succeeded by a new race of rulers, known to us in history under the name of the Assyrian Empire. The Egyptian monuments of the time give to the successors of the Khita the short name which, with the assistance of the cuneiform inscriptions, we understand as Mat,