Ramses II. was, in his youth, the handsomest man of his time, and old
age and death did not succeed in marring his face sufficiently to
disfigure it, as may be seen in his mummy to-day. Ramses the Great, who
was thus the glory of the XIXth Dynasty, reigned sixty-eight years, and
lived to the age of 100, when he passed away peacefully at Thebes. Under
his successors, Minephtah, Seti II., Amenemis and Siphtah, the nation
became decadent, though there were transient gleams of prosperity, as
when Minephtah won a great victory over the Libyans. But after the death
of Siphtah, there were many claimants for the Crown, and anarchy
prevailed from one end of the Nile valley to the other.


_V.--The Rise of the Assyrian Empire_


Ramses III., a descendant of Ramses II., was the founder of the last
dynasty which was able to retain the supremacy of Egypt over the
Oriental world. He took for his hero Ramses the Great, and endeavoured
to rival him in everything, and for a period the imperial power revived.
In the fifth year of his reign he was able to repulse the confederated
Libyans with complete success. Victories over other enemies followed,
and also peace and prosperity.

The cessation of Egyptian authority over those countries in which it had
so long prevailed did not at once do away with the deep impression it
had made on their constitution and customs. Syria and Phoenicia had
become, as it were, covered with an African veneer, both religion and
language being affected by Egyptian influence. But the Phoenicians
became absorbed in commercial pursuits, and failed to aspire to the