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

312

IERUPTION OF THE LIBYANS

CH. XIII.

and turned them into heaps of rubbish ; that the cowards had sub-
mitted to his will; that he had overstepped the boundaries of his
country, that he had gained the upper hand.

(5) [Then the king caused the towns to be fortified, and measures
to be taken] in all directions for the protection of the breath of life-
He gave it back to the inhabitants who were without it, sitting still
in (their) hiding-places. Powerful was his might to (6) [attain his
end. He had entrenchments drawn] to protect the city of On, the
city of the sun-god Tmu, and to protect the great fortress of Tanen
(i.e. Memphis), and to extend [the works for the protection of other
cities] in great numbers.

(7) [For the foreign peoples had long since made inroads also
from the East, and had pitched] their tents before the town of Pa-
Bailos (Byblus, Bilbeis) ; they found themselves (already) on the
canal Shakana, to the north of the canal Ao (of Heliopolis), (8) [so
that the adjoining land] was not cultivated, but was left as pasture
for the cattle on account of the foreigners.1 It lay waste there from
the times of our forefathers. All the kings of Upper Egypt sat in
their entrenchments (9) [and were occupied in building themselves
memorials], and the kings of Lower Egypt found themselves in the
midst of their city, surrounded with earthworks, cut off from
everything by warriors, for they had no mercenaries to oppose to
them.

Thus had it been (10) [until the day when King Meneptah]
ascended the throne of Horus. He was crowned to preserve life
to mortals. He was brought in as king to protect men. There
was the strength in him to do this, because he was the likeness of
the [beautiful] faced (11) [god (Ptah). And the king sent mes-
sengers to the land of Ma ?]-bair. The choicest of his mercenaries
were equipped ; his chariots were assembled from all directions ;
and his spies [betook them to the road to keep him informed. Thus
had he] prepared [everything] for his equipment in (12) [a short
time. And thus was he armed for the approaching struggle. For
he is a hero] : he takes no count of hundreds of thousands (of
enemies) on the day of the turmoil of battle. His life-guards
marched forward ; there came on the most powerful warriors ; and
beautiful was the sight at the entrance of the mercenaries for all
the inhabitants [of Egypt].

(13) [And they came to announce to the king: 'In .... ]
month of the summer has it happened, that the miserable king of
the hostile land of Libu, Mar-ajui, a son of Did, has made an
irruption into the land of the Thuhennu (the Marmaridre) with his
foreign mercenaries, (14) [the catalogue of whom is as follows :

1 See p. 98.