necessitated the practical destruction of the body.

In the Middle Empire, which is the period under discussion, the
process of mummification had reached a middle stage, and, while
we are unable to explain exactly the causal relationship, it is
clear that this advance in the treatment of the body accompanied
a spread of the belief in the Osirian immortality.




VII. THE NEW EMPIRE


The New Empire (1600-1200 B.C.) was the great period of foreign
conquest. The Hyksos, Asiatic invaders, had held Egypt for a
century or more. The Theban princes who drove them out became
kings of Egypt, and followed them into Asia. With an army trained
in war by the long struggle with the Hyksos, the Egyptian kings,
having tasted the sweetness of the spoils of war, entered on the
conquest of western Asia and the Sudan. The plunder of both these
regions poured into Egypt. Under Thothmes III an annual campaign
was conducted into Syria to bring back the spoils and the
tribute. Foreign slaves and the products of foreign handicraft
were for sale in every market-place. The treasury was filled to
overflowing. A large share was assigned to Amon, the god of the
Theban family. Temples were built for him; estates established
for the maintenance of his rites; thousands of priests enrolled
for the service of his properties. The god became, in a material
sense, the greatest god of Egypt, the national god; and his