Such were the king's household, the people about his person, and those
attached to the service of his family. His capital sheltered a still
greater number of officials and functionaries who were charged with
the administration of his fortune--that is to say, what he possessed
in Egypt.** In theory it was always supposed that the whole of the
soil belonged to him, but that he and his predecessors had diverted and
parcelled off such an amount of it for the benefit of their favourites,
or for the hereditary lords, that only half of the actual territory
remained under his immediate control. He governed most of the nomes of
the Delta in person:*** beyond the Fayum, he merely retained isolated
lands, enclosed in the middle of feudal principalities and often at
considerable distance from each other.

* We know the reputation, extending even to the classical
writers of antiquity, of the Pharaohs Nechepso and Nectanebo
for their skill in magic. Arab writers have, moreover,
collected a number of traditions concerning the marvels
which the sorcerers of Egypt were in the habit of
performing; as an instance, I may quote the description
given by Makrîzî of one of their meetings, which is probably
taken from some earlier writer.

** They were frequently distinguished from their provincial
or manorial colleagues by the addition of the word _khonû_
to their titles, a term which indicates, in a general
manner, the royal residence. They formed what we should
nowadays call the departmental staff of the public officers,
and might be deputed to act, at least temporarily, in the
provinces, or in the service of one of the feudal princes,
without thereby losing their status as functionaries of the