youth high military capacity; and it would seem that there was a party at the Court which pressed on Amenemhat his own abdication in favour of a successor of such merit. But the aged monarch was unwilling to erase himself altogether, and saw no necessity for so extreme an act of self-abasement. Association had probably been practised from ancient times by the Egyptian kings; and it seemed to Amenemhat that by having recourse to this plan of action he might reconcile the demands of the discontented with his own personal inclinations. Accordingly, without descending from the throne, he allowed Usurtasen to assume the royal dignity; and henceforth, for the space of ten years, the father and son reigned conjointly. Finally, before descending into the tomb, Amenemhat resolved to leave to his son a legacy of political wisdom in the shape of Instructions,' by the observance of which he might reign prosperously, and guide his life to a happy termination. Representing himself as speaking from the Lower World, he enjoined upon Usurtasen the practice of justice and virtue, the admission of all classes of his subjects to his presence and his affections, the avoidance of pride and exclusiveness, together with care in the selection of his intimate friends and counsellors. Briefly recapitulating the chief events of his own life, and the principles which had actuated him, he recommended to his successor persistence in 1 Records of the Past, vol. ii. p. 13, § 8. 2 This fact is glanced at, without being distinctly stated, in the Instructions,' §§ 4, 8. It is seen very clearly in the Story of Saneha,' where the royal dignity of both father and son and their joint participation in governmental acts are | apparent. (Records of the Past, vol. vi. pp. 137-42.) So Brugsch (History of Egypt, vol. i. p. 127, 1st ed.). Dr. Birch makes the joint reign one of seven years only (Ancient Egypt, p. 60). The Instructions' have been translated and published in the Records of the Past, vol. ii pp. 11–16. CH. XVII.] INSTRUCTIONS OF AMENEMHAT. 147 the same course-the protection of the weak and humble, the relief of the afflicted, the punishment of the rebellious, the exercise of continual watchfulness and care against possible calamities, the defence of the frontier, the encouragement of agriculture, and the chastisement of foreign enemies; urging him to act even better than any of his predecessors, and reminding him that he too would have ere long to enter the boat of Ra,' and make the dread passage across the 'Great Pool' into the presence of Osiris. Perhaps we may attribute in some measure to this document the satisfactory and in certain respects brilliant reign which followed, and of which we have now to give an account. Usurtasen,, who assumed the prænomen of Khepr-ka-ra, • LJ, upon his association,” after reigning ten years conjointly with his father in perfect amity and agreement, entered upon his sole reign when Amenemhat died, and continued to exercise the royal authority from that date for thirty-five years. He is remarkable at once for his constructions and for his conquests. Thebes, Abydos, Heliopolis or On, the Fayoum, and the Delta, were equally the scenes of his constructive activity; and traces have been found at all these various sites, indicative of his religious zeal and architectural eminence. Of these various works the best known, though by no means the most interesting, is the obelisk of pink granite which still stands upon the site of Heliopolis, lifting itself above the verdure of the cornfields into the soft sleepy air, and point 1 The text of § 15 of the 'Instructions' is both mutilated and corrupt, so that its meaning is obscure; but to me it seems to have had the intention expressed above. 2 The name, Khepr-ka-ra, is assigned to him by the author of the Story of Sancha,' while Amenemhat is still living. (Records of the Tast, vol. vi. p. 142.) ing with silent finger to heaven. Obelisks were not previously quite unknown. We meet with the hieroglyphic form as early as the times of the fifth dynasty; and a small obelisk, erected by one of the Antefs of the eleventh, has been discovered by M. Mariette at Drah-abou'l-neggah." But the erection of Usurtasen I. is the earliest monument of the kind, possessing any considerable grandeur, which is known to us; and it has the rare advantage of still remaining on the spot where it was originally set up, and where it has witnessed the events of at least thirty-seven centuries. It rises to a height of sixty-six feet above the surrounding plain, is formed of the hardest and most beautiful rose-coloured granite, and contains a deeply-cut hieroglyphical legend, exactly repeated on each of its four faces. The inscription runs as follows: 'The Horus-Sun, the life of those who are born, the king of the Upper and the Lower lands, Khepr-ka-ra ; the lord of the double crown, the life of those who are born, the son of the Sun-God Ra, Usurtasen; the friend of the spirits in On, the ever-living golden Horus, the life of those who are born, the good god, Khepr-ka-ra, has executed this work in the beginning of the thirty years' cycle, he the dispenser of life for evermore.'5 Originally, it was beyond all doubt one of a pair placed in front of the great entrance to the Temple of the Sun, the Jachin and Boaz '7 of the Egyptian sanctuary. 1 De Rougé, Recherches, p. 78. 2 Mariette, Monuments Divers, pl. 50 a. 3 The height of the obelisk of Antef is no more than 3 mètres, or less than eleven feet. Description de l'Egypte, 'Antiquités,' vol. i. p. 229. For a good representation of this obelisk and its inscriptions, see • See above, vol. i. p. 235. |