Thus we see that the year 334 of the Hegira (a. d. 946) was full of important events, to which was soon added the death of Muhammed el-Ikshid.  He died at Damascus, in the last month of the year (Dhu’l-Kada), aged sixty, and had reigned eleven years, three months, and two days.  He was buried at Jerusalem.  Muhammed el-Ikshid was a man possessing many excellent talents, and chiefly renowned as an admirable soldier.  Brave, without being rash, quick to calculate his chances, he was able always to seize the advantage.  On the other hand, however, he was so distrustful and timid in the privacy of his palace that he organised a guard of eight thousand armed slaves, one thousand of whom kept constant watch.  He never spent the entire night in the same apartment or tent, and no one was ever permitted to know the place where he slept.

We are told that this prince could muster four hundred thousand men; although historians do not definitely specify the boundaries of his empire, which, of course, varied from time to time, we may nevertheless believe that his kingdom, as that of his predecessors, the Tulunites, extended over Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia, as far as the Euphrates, and even included a large portion of Arabia.  The Christians of the East charge him with supporting his immense army at their expense, and persecuting and taxing them to such an extent that they were forced to sell many possessions belonging to their Church before they could pay the required sums.

But, if we may credit a contemporary historian more worthy of belief, these expenses were covered by the treasure Muhammed el-Ikshid himself discovered.  In fact, el-Massudi, who died at Cairo in the year 346 of the Hegira, relates that el-Ikshid, knowing much treasure to be buried there, was greatly interested in the excavation of the subterraneous tombs of the ancient Egyptian kings.  “The prince” he adds, “was fortunate enough to come across a portion of those tombs, consisting of vast rooms magnificently decorated.  There he found marvellously wrought figures of old and young men, women, and children, having eyes of precious stones and faces of gold and silver.”

Muhammed el-Ikshid was succeeded by his son, Abu’l Kasim Muhammed, surnamed Ungur.  The prince being only an infant, Kafur, the favourite minister of the late caliph, was appointed regent.  This Kafur was a black slave purchased by el-Ikshid for the trifling sum of twenty pieces of gold.  He was intelligent, zealous, and faithful, and soon won the confidence of his master.  Nobility of race in the East appertains only to the descendants of the Prophet, but merit, which may be found in prince and subject alike, often secures the highest positions, and even the throne itself for those of the humblest origin.  Such was the fate of Kafur.  He showed taste for the sciences, and encouraged scholars; he loaded the poets with benefits, and they sang his praises without measure so long as he continued his favours, but satirised