DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32079#0111
but the features of the statues found at Bubastis and
elsewhere in the Delta distinctly recall an Assyrian,
and sometimes a Mongolian type. We do not
know how far beyond the Delta the power of these
kings extended, but we know that in the XVII
dynasty a great uprising of the nation overwhelmed
them and drove them from the country. This up-
rising was evidently led by the house of Thebes,
princes with a genius for war and government.
Under them the second Theban empire rose and
welded together the crowns of Upper and Lower
Egypt, never again to be dissevered. The Theban
sovereignty culminated in the reigns of Seti and
Rameses II of the XIX dynasty. It was main-
tained with vigor to the XXI dynasty. After this
the seat of empire seems to have been transferred
to Sais in the Delta, and from this time begins
the decadence of the native dynasties, a decadence
due partly to internal weakness and partly to the
growing and threatening power of Persia. Cam-
byses finally overthrew Amasis, the last king of the
XXVI dynasty, and thenceforth no sovereign of
native origin ever again ruled over the whole of
Egypt; though there are instances of independent
sovereignty in Southern Egypt, under kings re-
corded as of the XXVI, XXVIII, and XXIX
dynasties. The Persian conqueror, whose passage
in Egypt is marked only by destruction, transmitted
his rule to his successors, the last of whom yielded
the land to the victorious arms of Alexander.
It is evident that after the first rush of Persian
invaders was over, the national life and institutions
of Egypt had still vitality enough left to maintain
themselves even under a foreign rule. At the divi-
sion of Alexander’s empire, Egypt again became an
independent sovereignty. The Ptoiemies, at their
accession to the throne of the Pharaohs, identified
themselves with the people of Egypt, their religion
and their nationality. But when, three hundred
years later, the Romans took possession of the
country, Egypt had become disintegrated under the
57
elsewhere in the Delta distinctly recall an Assyrian,
and sometimes a Mongolian type. We do not
know how far beyond the Delta the power of these
kings extended, but we know that in the XVII
dynasty a great uprising of the nation overwhelmed
them and drove them from the country. This up-
rising was evidently led by the house of Thebes,
princes with a genius for war and government.
Under them the second Theban empire rose and
welded together the crowns of Upper and Lower
Egypt, never again to be dissevered. The Theban
sovereignty culminated in the reigns of Seti and
Rameses II of the XIX dynasty. It was main-
tained with vigor to the XXI dynasty. After this
the seat of empire seems to have been transferred
to Sais in the Delta, and from this time begins
the decadence of the native dynasties, a decadence
due partly to internal weakness and partly to the
growing and threatening power of Persia. Cam-
byses finally overthrew Amasis, the last king of the
XXVI dynasty, and thenceforth no sovereign of
native origin ever again ruled over the whole of
Egypt; though there are instances of independent
sovereignty in Southern Egypt, under kings re-
corded as of the XXVI, XXVIII, and XXIX
dynasties. The Persian conqueror, whose passage
in Egypt is marked only by destruction, transmitted
his rule to his successors, the last of whom yielded
the land to the victorious arms of Alexander.
It is evident that after the first rush of Persian
invaders was over, the national life and institutions
of Egypt had still vitality enough left to maintain
themselves even under a foreign rule. At the divi-
sion of Alexander’s empire, Egypt again became an
independent sovereignty. The Ptoiemies, at their
accession to the throne of the Pharaohs, identified
themselves with the people of Egypt, their religion
and their nationality. But when, three hundred
years later, the Romans took possession of the
country, Egypt had become disintegrated under the
57