Poole, Reginald S.: The cities of Egypt (London, 1882)

52

CITIES OF EGYPT.

capital of Egypt, Amen-ra was sometimes placed at the
head of the Pantheon. He became both a solar divinity
and the king of the gods. During the Empire, when the
Theban line was supreme, it was to him that the kings
prayed, to his temple that they brought the spoils of
many wars and the tributes of many nations. It may be
that at this time Amen became the god of the oases, and
the famous oracle had its origin which carried his fame
and worship, under the name of Amnion, to Greece her-
self, long before Alexander made his pilgrimage to the
Oasis of Jupiter Amnion, and was saluted by the priest
as the son of the divinity of the temple.

Such was the site and such the religion of Thebes.
Her history cannot be told here, for it is the history of
Egypt, almost the political history of the ancient world,
for centuries. Yet the rise, the bloom, and the decay of
the great city must be sketched. The first line that ruled
there was succeeded by the Twelfth Dynasty, which
lasted a little over two centuries, the happiest age of
Egyptian history. The wise practical rulers of that time
devoted their energy and their revenues to developing
the vast agricultural wealth of the country : they watched
the rising of the Nile and marked its annual level far