_The XIIth dynasty: Amenemdidît I., his accession, his wars; he shares his throne with his son Usirtasen I., and the practice of a coregnancy prevails among his immediate successors--The relations of Egypt with Asia: the Amû in Egypt and the Egyptians among the Bedouin; the Adventures of Sinûhît--The mining settlements in the Sinaitic peninsula: Sarbût-el-Khddim and its chapel to Hâthor._ _Egyptian policy in the Nile Valley--Nubia becomes part of Egypt: works of the Pharaohs, the gold-mines and citadel of Kubân--Defensive measures at the second cataract: the two fortresses and the Nilometer of Semnêh--The vile Kush and its inhabitants: the wars against Kûsh and their consequences; the gold-mines--Expeditions to Pûanît, and navigation along the coasts of the Bed Sea: the Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor._ _Public works and new buildings--The restoration of the temples of the Delta: Tanis and the sphinxes of Amenemhâît III., Bubastis, Heliopolis, and the temple of Usirtasen I.--The increasing importance of Thebes and Abydos--Heracleopolis and the Fayûm: the monuments of Begig and of Biahmil, the fields and water-system of the Fayûm; preference shown by the Pharaohs for this province--The royal pyramids of Dashdr, Lisht, Ulahûn, and Haiodra._ _The part played by the feudal lords under the XIIth dynasty--History of the princes of Mondît-Khûfûi: Khnûmhotpil, Khîti, Amoni-Amenemhâît--The lords of Thébes, and the accession of the XIIIth dynasty: the Sovkhotpûs and the Nfirhotpûs--Completion of the conquest of Nubia; the XIVth dynasty_. [Illustration: 295.jpg PAGE IMAGE] CHAPTER III--THE FIRST THEBAN EMPIRE _The two Heracleopolitan dynasties and the XIIth dynasty--The conquest of Ethiopia, and the making of Greater Egypt by the Theban kings._