This was the final act of the long-protracted struggle in the north, but the mountaineers of Nubia were still in arms. There was sharp fighting in the south before the naval captain could record that his majesty ‘had taken possession of the land, both of the north and of the south.’ Aahmes received a gift of some acres of cultivated land in his native district. Later on we find him, as a veteran warrior, accompanying the two succeeding sovereigns on campaigns in the south, where he fought as admiral, at the head of the fleet. His final exploits were performed on a more distant field of battle—the ‘land of the two rivers’—Naharina (Mesopotamia). There he captured a chariot, with its horses and charioteers, for which deed he received for the seventh time a gift in gold. He concludes his story thus:—‘Now I have passed many days, and reached a grey old age. I too shall pass away to Amenti, and I shall rest in the tomb which I have prepared for myself.’ And there may still be seen a portrait of the old sailor and of his wife. He is a ‘bluff, resolute-looking man, not handsome; a short snub nose, and low solid brow—a short beard curling upwards from his chin.’[31] The three monarchs under whom this distinguished officer served in succession, Aahmes, Amenhotep I., and Thothmes I., were the first three kings of the eighteenth dynasty. Aahmes inherited the throne by right of his mother’s descent from Mena, but he strengthened his position further by himself marrying a princess of the royal line, Nefertari, who was greatly revered by succeeding generations, both as heiress in her own right, and as mother and ancestress of an illustrious dynasty. The first twenty-two years of the reign of Aahmes were passed in unremitting warfare. After the capture of Sherohan, he followed his foes no farther, but contented himself with erecting fortresses to protect the frontier. He would not feel his supremacy sufficiently assured over the numerous princes and chieftains who had gladly followed his victorious banner against the common foe, but would not have been quite ready when success had been achieved to resign their independent authority. At length, however, the king was able to lay aside his sword, and to turn his attention to the much needed work of restoring and renovating the temples of the gods. Again the limestone quarries were opened, and there are representations now to be seen in the sculptures of the huge blocks drawn along upon rollers by twelve or more oxen on the way to Memphis. Aahmes left an infant son as heir to the crown, and the royal mother acted as regent until he was of age to reign. Amenhotep I. died young, and did not accomplish much; we learn, however, that during his reign Ta-Khent (Nubia) was mastered—‘the land in its complete extent lay at the feet of the king.’