ABSTRACT
PHARAOH had quitted his Theban palace long before the funeral of Psarou. He had reviewecl the troops collected at Zalu, and had sent them slowly on towards Syria, through the desert and by the coasts of the Mediterranean, from Zalu to l\fagdilu, from Magdilu to Raphia and Gaza. Since' Thothmes I. Gaza has become an Egyptian city. Rameses spends several days there, waiting for the rest of his army, receiving the reports of his officers and governors, consulting with his generals. All the southern part of the country is quiet to beyond Megiddo; the Sidonian Phrenicia has not stirred, and no movement has been reported from the side of the Orontes. It might be supposed that the peace was lmiver8al, and that the forces of the Khita have vanished without leaving any trace of their presence. The king is puzzled to know what this apparent inertia can mean. His eldest son, Amenhikhopshouf, states his opinion that the vile chief of the Khita, despairing of a successful struggle in the open country against the
Egyptian veterans, had scattered his soldiers amongst the fortresses, and was preparing for a defensive war. It would be necessary to take all the citadels of southern Syria one after the other (Fig. 94): Kadesh, Hamath, Khilibu, Nii, and Karchemish. The strongest armies become worn out in these thankless duties, and years pass by before the enemy is beaten. Rameses.
