before his birth, and he hath worn his crowns since he was born.  He hath multiplied births, and he it is whom God hath made to be the joy of this land, which he hath ruled, and the boundaries of which he hath enlarged.  He hath conquered the Lands of the South, shall he not conquer the Lands of the North?  He hath been created to smite the hunters of the desert, and to crush the tribes that roam the sandy waste....”  Then the Shekh of Upper Thennu said unto me, “Assuredly Egypt is a happy country in that it knoweth his vigour.  Verily, as long as thou tarriest with me I will do good unto thee.”

And he set me before his children, and he gave me his eldest daughter to wife, and he made me to choose for myself a very fine territory which belonged to him, and which lay on the border of a neighbouring country, and this beautiful region was called Aa.  In it there are figs, and wine is more abundant than water.  Honey is plentiful, oil existeth in large quantities, and fruits of every kind are on the trees thereof.  Wheat, barley, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats are there in untold numbers.  And the Shekh showed me very great favour, and his affection for me was so great that he made me Shekh of one of the best tribes in his country.  Bread-cakes were made for me each day, and each day wine was brought to me with roasted flesh and wild fowl, and the wild creatures of the plain that were caught were laid before me, in addition to the game which my hunting dogs brought in.  Food of all kinds was made for me, and milk was prepared for me in various ways.  I passed many years in this manner, and my children grew up into fine strong men, and each one of them ruled his tribe.  Every ambassador on his journey to and from Egypt visited me.  I was kind to people of every class.  I gave water to the thirsty man.  I suppressed the highway robber.  I directed the operations of the bowmen of the desert, who marched long distances to suppress the hostile Shekhs, and to reduce their power, for the Shekh of Thennu had appointed me General of his soldiers many years before this.  Every country against which I marched I terrified into submission.  I seized the crops by the wells, I looted the flocks and herds, I carried away the people and their slaves who ate their bread, I slew the men there.  Through my sword and bow, and through my well-organised campaigns, I was highly esteemed in the mind of the Shekh, and he loved me, for he knew my bravery, and he set me before his children when he saw the bravery of my arms.

Then a certain mighty man of valour of Thennu came and reviled me in my tent; he was greatly renowned as a man of war, and he was unequalled in the whole country, which he had conquered.  He challenged me to combat, being urged to fight by the men of his tribe, and he believed that he could conquer me, and he determined to take my flocks and herds as spoil.  And the Shekh took counsel with me about the challenge, and I said, “I am not an acquaintance of his,