[Illustration: 116.jpg THE WALLS OF EL-KAB SEEN FROM THE TOMB OF PIHIRI]
Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.
[Illustration: 116a.jpg COLLECTION OF VASES] MODELLED AND PAINTED IN THE GRAND TEMPLE. PHILAE ISLAND.
These nomes were cultivated, moreover, by a poor and sparse population. It needed a fortuitous combination of circumstances to relieve them from their poverty-stricken condition--either a war, which would bring into prominence their strategic positions; or the establishment of markets, such as those of Syênê and Elephantine, where the commerce of neighbouring regions would naturally centre; or the erection, as at Ombos or Adfû, of a temple which would periodically attract a crowd of pilgrims. The principality of the Two Feathers comprised, besides Nekhabît, ât least two such towns--Anît, on its northern boundary, and Nekhnît almost facing Nekhabît on the left bank of the river.* These three towns sometimes formed separate estates for as many independent lords:** even when united they constituted a fiefdom of but restricted area and of slender revenues, its chiefs ranking below those of the great feudal princes of Middle Egypt. The rulers of this fiefdom led an obscure existence during the whole period of the Memphite empire, and when at length Thebes gained the ascendency, they rallied to the latter and acknowledged her suzerainty. One of them, Sovkûnakhîti, gained the favour of Sovkhotpû III. Sakhemûaztaûirî, who granted him lands which made the fortune of his house; another of them, Aï, married Khonsu, one of the daughters of Sovkûmsaûf I. and his Queen Nûbkhâs, and it is possible that the misshapen pyramid of Qûlah, the most southern in Egypt proper, was built for one of these royally connected personages.
* Nekhnît is the Hieracônpolis of Greek and Roman times, Hâît-Baûkû, the modern name of which is Kom-el-Ahmar.
** Pihiri was, therefore, prince of Nekhabît and of Anît at one and the same time, whereas the town of Nekhnît had its own special rulers, several of whom are known to us from the tombs at Kom-el-Ahmar.
The descendants of Aï attached themselves faithfully to the Pharaohs of the XVIIth dynasty, and helped them to the utmost in their struggle against the invaders. Their capital, Nekhabît, was situated between the Nile and the Arabian chain, at the entrance to a valley which penetrates some distance into the desert, and leads to the gold-mines on the Red Sea. The town profited considerably from the precious metals brought into it by the caravans, and also from the extraction of natron, which from prehistoric times was largely employed in embalming. It had been a fortified place from the outset, and its walls, carefully repaired by successive ages, were still intact at the beginning of this century. They described at this time a rough quadrilateral, the two longer sides of which measured some 1900 feet in length, the two shorter being about one-fourth less. The southern face was constructed in a fashion common in brick buildings in Egypt, being divided into alternate panels of horizontally laid courses, and those in which the courses were concave; on the north and west façades the bricks were so laid as to present an undulating arrangement running uninterruptedly from one end to the other. The walls are 33 feet thick, and their average height 27 feet; broad and easy steps lead to the foot-walk on the top. The gates are unsymmetrically placed, there being one on the north, east, and west sides respectively; while the southern side is left without an opening. These walls afforded protection to a dense but unequally distributed population, the bulk of which was housed towards the north and west sides, where the remains of an immense number of dwellings may still be seen. The temples were crowded together in a small square enclosure, concentric with the walls of the enceinte, and the principal sanctuary was dedicated to Nekhabît, the vulture goddess, who gave her name to the city.* This enclosure formed a kind of citadel, where the garrison could hold out when the outer part had fallen into the enemys hands. The times were troublous; the open country was repeatedly wasted by war, and the peasantry had more than once to seek shelter behind the protecting ramparts of the town, leaving their lands to lie fallow.