him with equal vigour as soon as his munificence diminished.  Invested with supreme authority, Kafur served the young prince with a devotion and fidelity worthy of the highest praise.  His first step was to dismiss Abu Bekr Muhammed, the receiver of the Egyptian tributes, against whom he had received well-merited complaints.  In his place he appointed a native of Mardin, also called Muhammed, of whose honesty and kindliness he was well aware.  He then took his pupil to Egypt, which country they reached in the month of Safar in the year 335 of the Hegira.

Saif ed-Dowlah, hearing of the death of Muhammed el-Ikshid, and the departure of Ungur, deemed this a favourable opportunity to despoil his brother-in-law; he therefore marched upon Damascus, which he captured; but the faithful Kafur promptly arrived upon the scene with a powerful army, and, routing Saif ed-Dowlah, who had advanced as far as Ramleh, drove him back to Rakkah, and relieved Damascus.  The remainder of the reign of Ungur passed peacefully, thanks to the watchfulness and wise government of Kafur.

In the year 345 of the Hegira, the King of Nubia invaded the Egyptian territories, advancing to Syene, which he pillaged and laid waste.  Kafur at once despatched his forces overland and along the Nile, and simultaneously ordered a detachment embarking from the Red Sea to proceed along the southern coast, attack the enemy in the rear and completely cut off their retreat.  The Nubians, thus surprised on all sides, were defeated and forced to retreat, leaving the fortress of Rym, now known as Ibrim, and situated fifty miles from Syene, in the hands of the Egyptians.  No other events of note took place during the lifetime of Ungur, who, having reigned fourteen years and ten days, died in the year 349 of the Hegira, leaving his brother Ali, surnamed Abu’l-Hasan, as his successor.

[Illustration:  371.jpg MOSQUE TOMB NEAR SYENE]

The reign of Abu’l-Hasan Ali, the second son of Muhammed el-Ikshid, lasted but five years.  His name, as that of his brother Ungur (Abu Hurr), is but little known in history.  Kafur was also regent during the reign of Abu’l-Hasan Ali.

In the year 352 of the Hegira, Egypt was stricken with a disastrous famine.  The rise of the Nile, which the previous year had been but fifteen cubits, was this year even less, and suddenly the waters fell without irrigating the country.  Egypt and the dependent provinces were thus afflicted for nine consecutive years.  During this time, whilst the people were agitated by fear for the future, a rupture took place between Abu’l-Hasan Ali and Kafur.  This internal disturbance was soon followed by war; and in the year 354 the Greeks of Constantinople, led by the Emperor Nicepherous Phocas, advanced into Syria.  They took Aleppo, then in the possession of the Hamdanites, and, encountering Saif ed-Dowlah, overthrew him also.  The governor of Damascus, Dalim el-Ukazly, and ten thousand men came to the rescue of the Hamdanites, but Phocas beat a retreat on hearing of his approach.