During the times of the Judges there had been no national unity amongst the Israelites—no central controlling power; they were still in the tribal state. The Philistines, a small but strong and warlike nationality, settled in the southern towns of the sea-coast, almost expelled them from the land. Disarmed and helpless, they were furtively hiding in the caves of the limestone hills, when, under the energetic leadership of Saul, they arose to repel the foe. The Philistines were defeated, but the strife continued, and in the end the monarchy of Saul was overthrown. It was reserved for David to subdue these inveterate foes, to capture Jerusalem from the Canaanites, and make it the centre of a kingdom which he enlarged by continual wars with the neighbouring states, until he bequeathed to Solomon an Israelitish empire—peaceful, wealthy, and magnificent whilst it lasted, but destined scarcely to outlast the generation that had seen its foundation. Between the sovereign of this new empire and the ancient monarchy of Egypt there was close friendship and alliance, and a ‘daughter of Pharaoh’[80] became Queen of Israel. Close commercial intercourse was also kept up. Hitherto, the Israelites had been content to employ asses and mules, and their troops had consisted of infantry only, but Solomon introduced horses and chariots in great numbers from the land of Egypt, both for domestic use and for military service. It may be possible to trace Egyptian influence in the Israelitish court. It may have kindled the love of Solomon for natural history, or have suggested his first expedition to the land of spices; it may have moulded certain parts of the architecture of temple and of palace, or have left its traces on the literature of the time. All this is possible, though little more than guesswork. Nor did the alliance last long; it was sundered even before luxury and despotism had undermined and overthrown the empire of Solomon. Sheshenk I., the founder of the twenty-second dynasty, was on the Egyptian throne when the fugitive Jeroboam arrived in Egypt—his heart full of his ambitious schemes, and on the death of Solomon it was not with his son, but with his rebellious servant Jeroboam that the Egyptian monarchy was in alliance. Shishak marched into Judah, entered Jerusalem, and carried off thence the treasures both of the temple and palace of King Solomon. The Levites, throughout the land, had remained faithful to the house of David and the service of the temple, and Shishak, it appears, captured and despoiled many of their cities, even those that lay in the kingdom of Israel. The names of all the towns subdued by him in this campaign are recorded on the walls of the temple at Karnak.