ready prepared, we cannot say, but he claimed and retained for himself
the payment for all that the Pharaoh deigned to order of him.**

* Letter of Burnaburiash to Amenôthes IV.

** Letter from the King of Alasia to Amenôthes III., where,
whilst pretending to have nothing else in view than making a
present to his royal brother, he proposes to make an
exchange of some bronze for the products of Egypt,
especially for gold.

From such instances we can well understand the jealous, watch which
these sovereigns exercised, lest any individual connected with
corporations of workmen should leave the kingdom and establish himself
in another country without special permission. Any emigrant who opened
a workshop and initiated his new compatriots in the technique or
professional secrets of his craft, was regarded by the authorities as
the most dangerous of all evil-doers. By thus introducing his trade into
a rival state, he deprived his own people of a good customer, and thus
rendered himself liable to the penalties inflicted on those who were
guilty of treason. His savings were confiscated, his house razed to the
ground, and his whole family--parents, wives, and children--treated
as partakers in his crime. As for himself, if justice succeeded in
overtaking him, he was punished with death, or at least with mutilation,
such as the loss of eyes and ears, or amputation of the feet. This
severity did not prevent the frequent occurrence of such cases, and
it was found necessary to deal with them by the insertion of a special
extradition clause in treaties of peace and other alliances. The two
contracting parties decided against conceding the right of habitation
to skilled workmen who should take refuge with either party on the