out.  True, by treaty the two kings were friends and allies—­by treaty the two nations were bound to abstain from all aggression by the one upon the other:  but such bonds are like the “green withes” that bound Samson, when the desire to burst them seizes those upon whom they have been placed.  Seti and Mautenar were at war before the latter had been on the throne a year, and their swords were at one another’s throats.  Seti was, apparently, the aggressor.  We find him at the head of a large army in the heart of Syria before we could have supposed that he had had time to settle himself comfortably in his father’s seat.

Mautenar was taken unawares.  He had not expected so prompt an attack.  He had perhaps been weak enough to count on his adversary’s good faith, or, at any rate on his regard for appearances.  But Seti, as a god upon earth, could of course do no wrong, and did not allow himself to be trammelled by the moral laws that were binding upon ordinary mortals.  He boldly rushed into war at the first possible moment, crossed the frontier, and having chastised the Shasu, who had recently made an invasion of his territory, fell upon the Kharu, or Southern Syrians, and gave them a severe defeat near Jamnia in the Philistine country.  He then pressed forward into the country of the Rutennu, overcame them in several pitched battles, and, assisted by a son who fought constantly at his side, slaughtered them almost to extermination.  His victorious progress brought him, after a time, to the vicinity of Kadesh, the important city on the Orontes which, a century earlier, had been besieged and taken by the Great Thothmes.  Kadesh was at this time in possession of the Amorites, who were tributary to the Khita (Hittites) and held the great city as their subject allies.  Seti, having carefully concealed his advance, came upon the stronghold suddenly, and took its defenders by surprise.  Outside the city peaceful herdsmen were pasturing their cattle under the shade of the trees, when they were startled by the appearance of the Egyptian monarch, mounted on his war-chariot drawn by two prancing steeds.  At once all was confusion:  every one sought to save himself; the herds with their keepers fled in wild panic, while the Egyptians plied them with their arrows.  But the garrison of the town resisted bravely:  a portion sallied from the gates and met Seti in the open field, but were defeated with great slaughter; the others defended themselves behind the walls.  But all was in vain.  The disciplined troops of Egypt stormed the key of Northern Syria, and the whole Orontes valley lay open to the conqueror.