Thy two sisters,[4] I have set them as protection behind thee, The arms of my majesty are above, warding off evil. I have caused thee to reign, my beloved son, Horus, Mighty Bull, Shining in Thebes, whom I have begotten in uprightness of heart. Thutmose, living forever, who hast done for me all that my ka desired; Thou hast erected my dwelling as an everlasting work, Enlarging and extending it more than the past which has been. Thou hast fêted the beauty of Amon-Re, Thy monuments are greater than those of any king who has been. When I commanded thee to do it, I was satisfied therewith; I established thee upon the Horus-throne of millions of years. Thutmose III. left his individuality strongly stamped upon the empire his military skill had welded together. Tribute poured into his coffers from all the petty nations throughout western Asia, from the tribes of the Sahara, and lands south of Egypt. He was probably without question the greatest military leader the country ever produced, and he was a tireless builder. The great temple of Amon in the city of Thebes was his pride and many other temples were built and restored by him. He was succeeded by his son, but no very important event claims our attention until the accession of his great grandson, Amenhotep IV. The beautiful Queen Tiy was the mother of this monarch. There is no foundation for the oft repeated assertion that she was of foreign, probably Asiatic, origin. Maspero's belief that she was of Egyptian (perhaps obscure) origin is most probable. We may well believe that she exercised considerable power over her son, but we have no evidence for asserting that it was from her that he received the new religion which he attempted to force upon the country, as a result of which the whole land was thrown into a tumult. We have already seen that Egypt was originally composed of many little states, each independent of the rest and each having its own religious system and customs. As the many states were assimilated into one, a state religion resulted, into which the main elements of each local cult were combined. Although the people throughout the land worshipped the state god, the local gods were always more particularly endeared to the masses. Now had Amenhotep IV. desired to change the state god, the official deity, the people would have accepted the change readily, but when he attempted to sweep away the entire religious system of his realm and substitute an utterly new system, the masses could not understand such a radical change. They were enraged at what they considered an indignity put upon their gods and the gods of their fathers.