_The development of Egyptian feudalism, and the advent of the sixth dynasty: Ati, Imhotpâ, Teti--Papi I. and his minister Uni: the affair of Queen Amitsi; the wars against the Hirû-Shâîtû and the country of Tiba--Metesûphis I. and the second Papi: progress of the Egyptian power in Nubia--the lords of Elephantine; Hirkhûf, Papinakhîti: the way for conquest prepared by their explorations, the occupation of the Oases--The pyramids of Saqqâra: Metesûphis the Second--Nitokris and the legend concerning her--Preponderance of the feudal lords, and fall of the Memphite dynasty._ [Illustration: 151.jpg PAGE IMAGE] CHAPTER II--THE MEMPHITE EMPIRE _The royal pyramid builders: Kheops, Khephren, Mykerinos--Memphite literature and art--Extension of Egypt towards the South, and the conquest of Nubia by the Pharaohs._ At that time “the Majesty of King Huni died, and the Majesty of King Snofrûi arose to be a sovereign benefactor over this whole earth.” All that we know of him is contained in one sentence: he fought against the nomads of Sinai, constructed fortresses to protect the eastern frontier of the Delta, and made for himself a tomb in the form of a pyramid. The almost uninhabited country which connects Africa with Asia is flanked towards the south by two chains of hills which unite at right angles, and together form the so-called Gebel et-Tîh. This country is a tableland, gently inclined from south to north, bare, sombre, covered with flint-shingle, and siliceous rocks, and breaking out at frequent intervals into long low chalky hills, seamed with wadys, the largest of which--that of El-Arish--having drained all the others into itself, opens into the Mediterranean halfway between Pelusiam and Gaza. Torrents of rain are not infrequent in winter and spring, but the small quantity of water which they furnish is quickly evaporated, and barely keeps alive the meagre vegetation in the bottom of the valleys. Sometimes, after months of absolute drought, a tempest breaks over the more elevated parts of the desert.* * In chap. viii. of the _Account of the Survey_, pp. 226- 228, Mr. Holland describes a sudden rainstorm or “sell” on December 3, 1867, which drowned thirty persons, destroyed droves of camels and asses, flocks of sheep and goats, and swept away, in the Wady Feîrân, a thousand palm trees and a grove of tamarisks, two miles in length. Towards 4.30 in the afternoon, a few drops of rain began to fall, but the storm did not break till 5 p.m. At 5.15 it was at its height, and it was not over till 9.30. The torrent, which at 8 p.m. was 10 feet deep, and was about 1000 feet in width, was, at 6 a.m. the next day, reduced to a small streamlet.