B.C. 1200— B.C. 800.

223 to a considerable extent the Egyptian civilization, worshipped Egyptian gods in Egyptian shrines, and set up inscriptions in the hieroglyphic character and in the Egyptian, as well as the Nubian, tongue. Napata and the Nile valley both below it and above it, was already half Egyptianised when, on the establishment of the Sheshonk Libyan (Twentysecond) Dynasty in Egypt (b.c. 966), the descendants of Herhor of Thebes resolved to quit their native country and remove themselves into Ethiopia, where they had reason to expect a welcome. They were probably already connected by marriage with some of the leading chiefs of Napata, and their sacerdotal character gave them a great hold on a peculiarly superstitious people. Eetaining their priestly office, they became at once Ethiopian monarchs, and High Priests of the Temple of Ammon, which Amenhotep III had erected at Napata. Napata, under their government, flourished greatly, and acquired a considerable architectural magnificence. Fresh temples were built, in which the worship of Egyptian was combined with that of Ethiopian deities ; avenues of sphinxes adorned the approaches to these new n.c. i)66.

COLOSSAL BAM OF AMKNHOTBP III. FROM JEBEL BARKAL, ORIQINALLY AT AMENHOTBP's TEMPI-E AT SOLIB — Berlin MllSeum..

shrines ; the practice of burying the members of the royal houses in pyramids was reverted to, and the necropolis of Napata recalled the glories of the old necropolis of Memphis.

Napata was also a place of much wealth. The kingdom whereof it was capital reached southward as far as the modern Khartoum, and south-eastwards stretched up to the Abyssinian highlands, including the valleys of the Atbara and its tributaries, together with most of the tract between the Atbara and the Blue Nile. This was a region of reputed great natural wealth, containing many mines of gold, iron, copper, and salt, abundant woods of date palm, almond trees, and ilex, some excellent pasture ground, and much rich meadow land suitable for the growth of dura and other sorts of grain. Fish of many kinds and excellent turtle abounded in the Atbara and the other streams, while the geographical position was favourable for commerce with the tribes of the interior, who were able to furnish an almost inexhaustible supply of ivory, skins, and ostrich feathers.

In course of time the Napata kingdom extended its sway to Aswan, and even to Thebes. The kings of the Twenty-S.C. 96-800,