At nightfall they halted in a village, or more frequently bivouacked in an entrenched camp, marked out to suit the circumstances of the case.  This entrenchment was always rectangular, its length being twice as great as its width, and was surrounded by a ditch, the earth from which, being banked up on the inside, formed a rampart from five to six feet in height; the exterior of this was then entirely faced with shields, square below, but circular in shape at the top.  The entrance to the camp was by a single gate in one of the longer sides, and a plank served as a bridge across the trench, close to which two detachments mounted guard, armed with clubs and naked swords.

[Illustration:  321.jpg A COLUMN OF TROOPS ON THE MARCH, CHARIOTS AND INFANTRY]

     Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.

The royal quarters were situated at one end of the camp.  Here, within an enclosure, rose an immense tent, where the Pharaoh found all the luxury to which he was accustomed in his palaces, even to a portable chapel, in which each morning he could pour out water and burn incense to his father, Amon-Ra of Thebes.  The princes of the blood who formed his escort, his shield-bearers and his generals, were crowded together hard by, and beyond, in closely packed lines, were the horses and chariots, the draught bullocks, the workshops and the stores.

[Illustration:  322.jpg AN EGYPTIAN FORTIFIED CAMP, FORCED BY THE ENEMY]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato.  It represents the camp of Ramses II. before Qodshu:  the upper angle of the enclosure and part of the surrounding wall have been destroyed by the Khati, whose chariots are pouring in at the breach.  In the centre is the royal tent, surrounded by scenes of military life.  This picture has been sculptured partly over an earlier one representing one of the episodes of the battle; the latter had been covered with stucco, on which the new subject was executed.  Part of the stucco has fallen away, and the king in his chariot, with a few other figures, has reappeared, to the great detriment of the later picture.

[Illustration:  322b.jpg TWO COMPANIES ON THE MARCH]

The soldiers, accustomed from childhood to live in the open air, erected no tents or huts of boughs for themselves in these temporary encampments, but bivouacked in the open, and the sculptures on the facades of the Theban pylons give us a minute picture of the way in which they employed themselves when off duty.  Here one man, while cleaning his armour, superintends the cooking.  Another, similarly engaged, drinks from a skin of wine held up by a slave.  A third has taken his chariot to pieces, and t is replacing some portion the worse for wear.  Some are sharpening their daggers or lances; others mend their loin-cloths or sandals, or exchange blows with fists and sticks.  The baggage, linen, arms, and provisions are piled in disorder on the ground; horses, oxen, and asses are eating or chewing the cud at their ease; while here and there a donkey, relieved of his burden, rolls himself on the ground and brays with delight.*