An Ethiopian victory meant only
an Assyrian reconquest, and between them Ethiopians and Assyrians had
well-nigh ruined Egypt. In the Saite period Thebes had declined greatly
in power as well as in influence, and all its traditions were anathema
to the leading people of the time, although not of course in Akhunaten's
sense.
With the Saite period we seem almost to have retraced our steps and to
have reentered the age of the Pyramid Builders. All the pomp and glory
of Thothmes, Amenhetep, and Ramses were gone. The days of imperial Egypt
were over, and the minds of men, sickened of foreign war, turned for
peace and quietness to the simpler ideals of the IVth and Vth Dynasties.
We have already seen that an archaistic revival of the styles of the
early dynasties is characteristic of this late period, and that men
were buried at Sakkara and at Thebes in tombs which recall in form and
decoration those of the courtiers of the Pyramid Builders. Everywhere
we see this fashion of archaism. A Theban noble of this period named
Aba was buried at Thebes. Long ago, nearly three thousand years before,
under the VIth Dynasty, there had lived a great noble of the same name,
who was buried in a rock-tomb at Der el-Gebrawi, in Middle Egypt. This
tomb was open and known in the days of the second Aba, who caused to be
copied and reproduced in his tomb in the Asasif at Thebes most of the
scenes from the bas-relief with which it had been decorated.
Pages:
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453