There was at Bubastis, towards the middle or end of the XXth dynasty, a Tihonû named Buîuwa-buîuwa. He was undoubtedly a soldier of fortune, without either office or rank, but his descendants prospered and rose to important positions among the Mashadasha chiefs: the fourth among these, Sheshonq by name, married Mîhtinuôskhît, a princess of the royal line. His son, Namarôti, managed to combine with his function of chief of the Mashauasha several religious offices, and his grandson, also called Sheshonq, had a still more brilliant career. We learn from the monuments of the latter that, even before he had ascended the throne, he was recognised as king and prince of princes, and had conferred on him the command of all the Libyan troops. Officially he was the chief person in the state after the sovereign, and had the privilege of holding personal intercourse with the gods, Amonrâ included--a right which belonged exclusively to the Pharaoh and the Theban high priest. The honours which he bestowed upon his dead ancestors were of a remarkable character, and included the institution of a liturgical office in connection with his father Namarôti, a work which resembles in its sentiments the devotions of Bamses II. to the memory of Seti. He succeeded in arranging a marriage between his son Osorkon and a princess of the royal line, the daughter of Psiûkhânnît II., by which alliance he secured the Tanite succession; he obtained as a wife for his second son Aûpûti, the priestess of Amon, and thus obtained an indirect influence over the Said and Nubia.* * The date of the death of Paînotmû II. is fixed at the XVIth year of his reign, according to the inscriptions in the pit at Deîr el-Baharî. This would be the date of the accession of Aûpûti’, if Aûpûti succeeded him directly, as I am inclined to believe; but if Psiûkhânnît was his immediate successor, and if Nsbindîdî succeeded Manakhpirri, we must place the accession of Aûpûti some years later. [Illustration: 413.jpg NSITANIBASHIRU] Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by E. Brugsch-Bey.