We learn from the great papyrus of Rameses III that after the downfall of the XIXth dynasty the land of Egypt fell into a state of anarchy, every man acting according to his own judgment, and no one holding supreme authority for many years. The country was in the hands of the nobles and the governors of the cities who fought against each other. This continued for some years, and then “years of want” succeeded, and a certain Syrian called =Ȧrsu= 𓇋𓀀𓁹𓐰𓂋𓇓𓏲𓌙𓀀, rose to power. Gathering his followers about him, he levied tribute and seized the goods of the people. As he paid no honour to the gods of Egypt and did nothing for their temples, they in due course set him aside and placed on the throne =Set-nekht=, who brought the country into order, and re-established the worship of the gods, and provided the temples with offerings. His reign was short, and he was succeeded by =Rameses III=, the chief event of whose reign of 31 years was the victory of the Egyptians over a confederation of peoples from Philistia, Cyprus, Crete, and the northern shores of the Mediterranean, who attacked Egypt by land and sea. Rameses III collected an army and a fleet, and in the battle which followed on the coast of Southern Palestine, his forces were victorious. Multitudes of the enemy were slain on land, and those who succeeded in reaching their ships could not escape, for the fleet of the Egyptians hemmed them in, and a great slaughter ensued. Rameses then marched through Syria, and having collected much spoil, returned to Egypt. Soon afterwards the Libyans attacked Egypt on the west, but they were quickly defeated and spoiled. Rameses appears to have kept one fleet in the Mediterranean and one in the Red Sea, for trading purposes, and this “sea-power” was probably the source of the great material prosperity of Egypt under his reign. The peace and security of the country were such that he could boast: “I made it possible for an Egyptian woman to walk with a bold and free step whithersoever she pleased, and no man or woman among the people of the land would molest her.” Rameses built the so-called “Pavilion” and the great Temple of Madînat Habû at Thebes, and a small palace at Tell al-Yahûdîyyah (see the glazed tiles, etc., from it in the Fourth Egyptian Room), and he richly endowed the temples of Heliopolis, Memphis, and Thebes, and gave them gifts of an almost incredible amount.[38] Lists of all his benefactions and a valuable summary of his reign are preserved in the great =Papyrus of Rameses III=, the longest Egyptian papyrus in the world (see page 74). Among the monuments and small objects bearing his name may be mentioned: The base of a pillar from a =shrine of Rameses III= (Bay 18, No. =716=); a slab from one of his buildings at Ṣaḳḳârah (Central Saloon, No. =717=); and the royal =ushabtiu= figures (Wall-case 85, Second Egyptian Room, Nos. 12, 13).