The expedition of Shishak, king of Egypt, against Rehoboam, is ascertained, from both Egyptian and Hebrew sources, to have been not earlier than 971 B.C., and within twenty-five years of that date. The nineteenth Egyptian dynasty began about the year 1350 B.C. The Middle Empire is thought by some to have commenced as early as 2200 B.C.; by others as late as 1720 B.C. When we go backward into the Old Empire, the sources of uncertainty are multiplied. The main difficulty is to determine whether the lists of dynasties are _consecutive_ throughout, or in part _contemporary_. One class of scholars place the date of the first historic king, _Menes_, two or three thousand years earlier than the point assigned by the other class! The date of Menes given by _Böckh_ is 5702 B.C.; by _Lenormant_, 5004 B.C.; by _Brugsch_, 4455 B.C.; by _Lepsius_, 3852 B.C.; by _Bunsen_, 3623 or 3059 B.C.; _E. Meyer_ makes 3180 B.C. the lowest possible date for Menes; 3233 B.C. is the date assigned by _Duncker_. On the contrary, _R. S. Poole_ gives 2717 B.C.; _Wilkinson_, 2691 B.C.; and _G. Rawlinson_, between 2450 and 2250 B.C. There are no means of fully determining the controversy, as Rawlinson has shown (_History of Ancient Egypt_, vol. ii., p. 19). It appears to be well ascertained that Egyptian civilization was in being at least as far back as about 4000 B.C. THE POLITICAL SYSTEM.--The bulk of the people were farmers and shepherds, indisposed to war. The land was owned in large estates by the nobles, who were possessed of multitudes of serfs and of cattle. They had in their service, also, artisans, oarsmen, and traffickers. The centers of industry were the numerous cities. Here the nobles had their mansions, and the gods their temples with retinues of priests. But the Nomes had each its particular jurisdiction. The traces of two original communities are preserved in the mythological legends and in the titles of the kings. The oldest inscriptions discover to us a systematic organization of the state. The king is supreme: under him are the rulers of the two halves of the kingdom. He creates the army, and appoints its generals. The whole strength of the kingdom is given to him for the erection of the temples which he raises to the gods, or of the stupendous pyramid which is to form his sepulcher. The nobility make up his court; from them he selects his chief officers of state,--his secretary, his treasurer, his inspector of quarries, etc. The princes and princesses are educated in connection with the children of the highest nobles. A body-guard protects the monarch: he shows himself to the people only in stately processions. All who approach him prostrate themselves at his feet. He is the descendant of the gods. The Pharaohs are even looked upon as gods incarnate. They are clothed with all power on earth. When they die, they go to the gods; and rites of worship are instituted for them.