Brugsch, Heinrich: Egypt under the pharaohs: a history derived entirely from the monuments (London, 1891)

196 INSCRIPTION IN TEMPLE OF AMADA ch. ix.

which was intended to recall to memory these vic-
tories, and to serve as a warning to the inhabitants of
the South. It also informs us in detail as to the fate of
the kings taken captive in Western Asia.

The actual inscription begins with the date—year 3,.
month Epiphi, day 15, and the names of Pharaoh—and
is as follows :—

'At that time' (in the year and on the clay of the month
which we have mentioned) 'the king .beautified the temple [which
had been executed by] his father, King Tehuti-mes III., in memory
of all his forefathers and the gods. It was built of stone, as a
lasting work, with a protecting wall of brick around : the doors
were of the best acacia wood, from the ridge of the Table Mountain,.
the gates of durable stone, all done with the intention of per-
petuating in this temple the great name of his father, the son of the-
Sun, Tehuti-mes III. The king Amen-hotep II. celebrated the
festival of the laying of the foundation-stone in honour of all his-
forefathers, dedicating to him (sic) a massive gate-tower (propylon)
of hard stone, in front of the protecting wall of this splendid dwell-
ing of the god ; a corridor, with columns of hard stone, as a lasting
work ; many sacrificial vessels, and utensils of silver and iron,
stands, altars, an iron kettle, fire-holders, dishes, and censers (?)..
After that, the king had this memorial stone set up and placed in
the temple, at the place where the statue of the king stands, and
engraved upon it in writing the great name of King Amen-hotep II.
in the house of his forefathers and of the gods, after he had re-
turned from the land of Upper Ruthen, where he had conquered all
his opponents, in order to extend the boundaries of Egypt in his-
first campaign.

' The king returned home with his heart full of gratitude
towards his father Amen. He had with his own hand struck
down seven kings with his battle-axe, who were in the territory of
the land of Thakhis. They lay there hound on the forepart of the
royal ship, the name of which was " Ship of Amen-hotep II., the
upholder of the land." Six of these enemies were hung up outside
on the walls of Thebes, their hands likewise. Then the other enemy
was carried up the river to Nubia, and was hung up on the wall of
the city of Napata, to make evident for all time the victories of the
king among all the peoples of the land of the negroes ; since he had
taken possession of the nations of the South, and had made captive^
the nations of the North as far as the ends of the whole extent of
the earth on which the sun rises [and sets] without finding any op-