kingdoms had its own natural advantages and its system of government, which gave to it a particular character, and stamped it, as it were, with a distinct personality down to its latest days. The kingdom of Upper Egypt was more powerful, richer, better populated, and was governed apparently by more active and enterprising rulers. It is to one of the latter, Mini or Menes of Thinis, that tradition ascribes the honour of having fused the two Egypts into a single empire, and of having inaugurated the reign of the human dynasties. Thinis figured in the historic period as one of the least of Egyptian cities. It barely maintained an existence on the left bank of the Nile, if not on the exact spot now occupied by Girgeh, at least only a short distance from it.[*] * The site of Thinis is not yet satisfactorily identified. It is neither at Kom-es-Sultan, as Mariette thought, nor, according to the hypothesis of A. Schmidt, at El-Kherbeh. Brugsch has proposed to fix the site at the village of Tineh, near Berdis, and is followed in this by Dumichen. The present tendency is to identify it either with Girgeh itself, or with one of the small neighbouring towns--for example, Birbeh--where there are some ancient ruins; this was also the opinion of Champollion and of Nester L'hote. I may mention that, in a frequently quoted passage of Hellanicos, Zoega corrects the reading [Greek phrase], which would once more give us the name of Thinis: the mention of this town as being "situated on the river," would be a fresh reason for its identification with Girgeh. [Illustration: 332.jpg PLAN OF THE RUINS OF ABYDOS, MADE BY MARIETTE IN 1865 AND 1875.]