One state alone appeared to regret the revival of the Imperial power; this was the kingdom of Libya.  It had continued to increase in size since the days of Minephtah, and its population had been swelled by the annexation of several strange tribes inhabiting the vast area of the Sahara.  One of these, the Mashauasha, acquired the ascendency among these desert races owing to their numbers and valour, and together with the other tribes—­the Sabati, the Kaiakasha, the Shaiu, the Hasa, the Bikana, and the Qahaka*—­formed a confederacy, which now threatened Egypt on the west.  This federation was conducted by Didi, Mashaknu, and Maraiu, all children of that Maraiu who had led the first Libyan invasion, and also by Zamaru and Zautmaru, two princes of less important tribes.** Their combined forces had attacked Egypt for the second time during the years of anarchy, and had gained possession one after another of all the towns in the west of the Delta, from the neighbourhood of Memphis to the town of Qarbina:  the Canopic branch of the Nile now formed the limit of their dominion, and they often crossed it to devastate the central provinces.***

* This enumeration is furnished by the summary of the campaigns of Ramses III. in The Great Harris Papyrus.  The Sabati of this text are probably identical with the people of the Sapudiu or Spudi (Asbytse), mentioned on one of the pylons of Medinet-Habu.

     ** The relationship is nowhere stated, but it is thought to
     be probable from the names of Didi and Maraiu, repeated in
     both series of inscriptions.

*** The town of Qarbina has been identified with the Canopus of the Greeks, and also with the modern Korbani; and the district of Gautu, which adjoined it, with the territory of the modern town of Edko.  Spiegel-berg throws doubt on the identification of Qarbu or Qarbina, with Canopus.  Revillout prefers to connect Qarbina with Heracleopolis Parva in Lower Egypt.

Nakhtusiti had been unable to drive them out, and Ramses had not ventured on the task immediately after his accession.  The military institutions of the country had become totally disorganised after the death of Minephtah, and that part of the community responsible for furnishing the army with recruits had been so weakened by the late troubles, that they were in a worse condition than before the first Libyan invasion.  The losses they had suffered since Egypt began its foreign conquests had not been repaired by the introduction of fresh elements, and the hope of spoil was now insufficient to induce members of the upper classes to enter the army.  There was no difficulty in filling the ranks from the fellahin, but the middle class and the aristocracy, accustomed to ease and wealth, no longer came forward in large numbers, and disdained the military profession.  It was the fashion in the schools to contrast the calling of a scribe with that of a foot-soldier or