At length in the extreme south certain king-like figures emerge of a more commanding appearance, and seen by a clearer light. The Antefs first, a family of ancient and illustrious, though not royal descent, who had set up their dominion at a town then insignificant and unknown to fame—Thebes. The burial-places of the kings of this family (who are sometimes reckoned in the eleventh dynasty) have been discovered in Western Thebes. Their tombs are plain, and but little ornamented; there are some brick pyramids of no great size, and some fragments of small broken obelisks. In one of the memorial chambers is depicted an Antef who assumed the title of the ‘Great;’ he appears to have been a sportsman, and is to be seen surrounded by his dogs, each of which is distinguished by its name. From the days of these kings a literary relic also has come down to us. The ‘festal dirge’ of the Egyptians bears the name of the _Song of the House of King Antef_. Many, many ages later, Herodotus, travelling in Egypt, told of the custom which prevailed of carrying round during an entertainment a figure representing a mummy, whilst the bearer repeated the words: ‘Cast your eyes upon this figure; after death you yourself will resemble it; eat, drink, then, and be happy;’ words plainly recalling the ‘solemn festal dirge’ which dated back to the ‘House of Antef,’ about 2000 years before his time, and which was to the following effect:— ‘All hail the good Prince, the worthy man who has passed away! Behold the end! the end of those who possess houses and of those who have them not. I have heard the sayings of the wise:—“What is prosperity? All passes as though it had not been—no man returneth thence to tell us what they say or do.” ‘Fulfil, then, thy desire, O man, whilst yet thou livest. Anoint thine head with oil, and clothe thee in fine linen adorned with gold—Make use of God’s good gifts. ‘For the day will come for thee also when voices are heard no more; he who is at rest heareth not the cry of those who mourn. No mourning may deliver him that is within the tomb. ‘Feast, then, in peace—for none can carry away his goods with him, nor can he who goeth hence return again.’ There are, then, a few scanty records left of the Antef family and their rule in the south. Still more distinct and commanding are the figures of another family, the brave and warlike Mentuhoteps; who eventually succeeded in restoring order over a considerable portion of the distracted and divided land. This family was of Theban origin, and the centre of their government was in that city, then so obscure, though destined to become in after days the crown of ancient cities and the wonder of the ancient world—‘hundred-gated Thebes.’