We may perhaps attribute to the influence of Nofritari the lack of zest evinced by Amenothes for expeditions into Syria. Even the most energetic kings had always shrunk from penetrating much beyond the isthmus. Those who ventured so far as to work the mines of Sinai had nevertheless felt a secret fear of invading Asia proper--a dread which they never succeeded in overcoming. When the raids of the Bedouin obliged the Egyptian sovereign to cross the frontier into their territory, he would retire as soon as possible, without attempting any permanent conquest. After the expulsion of the Hyksos, Ahmosis seemed inclined to pursue a less timorous course. He made an advance on Sharuhana and pillaged it, and the booty he brought back ought to have encouraged him to attempt more important expeditions; but he never returned to this region, and it would seem that when his first enthusiasm had subsided, he was paralysed by the same fear which had fallen on his ancestors. Nofritari may have counselled her son not to break through the traditions which his father had so strictly followed, for Amenothes I. confined his campaigns to Africa, and the traditional battle-fields there. He embarked for the land of Kush on the vessel of Ahmosi-si-Abina "for the purpose of enlarging the frontiers of Egypt." It was, we may believe, a thoroughly conventional campaign, conducted according to the strictest precedents of the XIIth dynasty. The Pharaoh, as might be expected, came into personal contact with the enemy, and slew their chief with his own hand; the barbarian warriors sold their lives dearly, but were unable to protect their country from pillage, the victors carrying off whatever they could seize--men, women, and cattle. The pursuit of the enemy had led the army some distance into the desert, as far as a halting-place called the "Upper cistern"--_Khnumit hirit_; instead of retracing his steps to the Nile squadron, and returning slowly by boat, Amenothes resolved to take a short cut homewards. Ahmosi conducted him back overland in two days, and was rewarded for his speed by the gift of a quantity of gold, and two female slaves. An incursion into Libya followed quickly on the Ethiopian campaign. [Illustration: 144.jpg STATUE OF AMENOTHES I. IN THE TURIN MUSEUM] Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph supplied by Flinders Petrie.