THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN From the above extracts from the inscription of Tombos it will be seen that the text has little historical value, and that it tells us few things which we did not know from other sources. We may notice in it the claim which is made for Thothmes I. of sovereignty over Syria and Western Asia so far as the Euphrates, but as the inscription is dated in the second year of his reign, it is clear that the expeditions to Nubia and Syria were neither difficult nor protracted, and that they were undertaken rather for the purpose of collecting tribute than conquest. In the reign of Thothmes I. the Sudan was divided into districts like Egypt, and every portion of it except the deserts, which were occupied by the nomad tribes which successfully evaded every attempt to force upon them a settled government and civilization, was administered by a properly appointed official.

Thothmes I. was succeeded by Thothmes II., his son by a wife called Mut-nefert ; his reign was short and unimportant, but his officials made the usual expeditions into Nubia and Southern Syria, and compelled the natives to acknowledge the supremacy of their lord. On the death of Thothmes I. the desert tribes of the Siidan revolted, and they invaded the lands of those who lived under the protection of Egypt, and raided their cattle. Thothmes II. despatched his forces to Nubia without delay, and his commander-in-chief declared that he would not leave a single man alive in the country. The Egyptian troops marched through the country, killing men, burning crops and villages, and raiding the cattle, and finally they captured alive a son of the " chief of Kash," whom they bound and carried into the king's presence and set under his feet. The Nubians, seeing that their revolt had failed, brought in gifts as usual until the Egyptian officials were satisfied, or knew that the natives had nothing else left to bring, and having bowed their backs in homage, and " smelled the earth " at the feet of the king's representative, they proclaimed the glory and power of Thothmes II., and retired to their deserts to await the next opportunity for a revolt. These details are supplied by Amasis Pen-Nekheb, who played a prominent part in the Nubian expedition, and was rewarded by the king with rich gifts for his prowess. In the reign of Thothmes II. the block of buildings belonging to the XVIIIth 570 I