The only quarter in which Amenhotep warred was towards Ethiopia.  He conducted in person several expeditions up the valley of the Nile, against the negro tribes of the Soudan.  But these attacks were not so much wars as raids, or razzias.  They were not made with the object of advancing the Egyptian frontier, or even of extending Egyptian influence, but partly for the glorification of the monarch, who thus obtained at a cheap rate the credit of military successes, and partly—­probably mainly—­for the material gain which resulted from them through the capture of highly valuable slaves.  The black races have always been especially sought for this purpose, and were in great demand in the Egyptian slave-market:  ladies of rank were pleased to have for their attendants negro boys, whom they dressed in a fanciful manner; and the court probably indulged in a similar taste.  Amenhotep’s aim was certainly rather to capture than to kill.  In one of his most successful raids the slain were only three hundred and twelve, while the captives consisted of two hundred and five men, two hundred and fifty women, and two hundred and eighty-five children, or a total of seven hundred and forty; and the proportion in the others was similar.  The trade of slave hunting was so lucrative that even a Great King could not resist the temptation of having a share in its profits.

When Amenhotep was not engaged in hunting men his favourite recreation was to indulge in the chase of the lion.  On one of his scarabaei he states that between his first and his tenth year he slew with his own hand one hundred and ten of these ferocious beasts.  Later on in his reign he presented to the priests who had the charge of the ancient temple of Karnak a number of live lions, which he had probably caught in traps.  The lion was an emblem both of Horus and of Turn, and may, when tamed, have been assigned a part in religious processions.  It is uncertain what was Amenhotep’s hunting-ground; but the large number of his victims makes it probable that the scene of his exploits was Mesopotamia rather than any tract bordering on Egypt:  since lions have always been scarce animals in North-Eastern Africa, but abounded in Mesopotamia even much later than the time of Amenhotep, and are “not uncommon” there even at the present day.  We may suppose that he had a hunting pavilion at Arban, where one of his scarabs has been found, and from that centre beat the reed-beds and jungles of the Khabour.

[Illustration:  BUST OF AMENHOTEP III.]

In person, Amenhotep III. was not remarkable.  His features were good, except that his nose was somewhat too much rounded at the end; his expression was pensive, but resolute; his forehead high, his upper lip short, his chin a little too prominent.  He left behind him a character for affectionateness, kindliness, and generosity.  Some historians have reproached him with being too much under female influence; and certainly in the earlier portion of his reign he deferred