Peopled by Theban settlers, and governed by the civil and religious code of Thebes, the provinces which lay between the cataract of Hannek and the confluence of the two Mies soon became a second Thebaid, more barren and less wealthy than the first, but no less tied to the traditions of the past.  Napata, its capital, lay in the plain at the foot of a sandstone cliff, which rose perpendicularly to a height of nearly two hundred feet, its summit, when viewed from the southwest, presenting an accidental resemblance to a human profile.* This was the Du-uabu, or Sacred Mount, in the heart of which the god was supposed to have his dwelling; the ruins of several temples can still be seen near the western extremity of the hill, the finest of them being dedicated to a local Amon-Ra.

     * The natives believe this profile to have been cut by human
     hands—­an error which has been shared by more than one
     modern traveller.

[Illustration:  256.jpg GEBEL-BARKAL, THE SACRED MOUNTAIN OF NAPATA]

     Reproduced by Faucher-Gudin, from a lithograph in Cailliaud.

This Amon was a replica of the Theban Amon on a smaller scale, and was associated with the same companions as his prototype, Maut, his consort, and Khonsu, his son.  He owed his origin to the same religious concepts, and was the central figure of a similar myth, the only difference being that he was represented in composite shape, with a ram’s head; perhaps a survival from some earlier indigenous deity, such as Didun, for instance, who had been previously worshipped in those parts; his priests lived in accordance with the rules of the Theban hierarchy.

[Illustration:  257.jpg RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF AMON AT NAPATA]

     Reproduced by Faucher-Gudin, from a lithograph published by
     Cailliaud.

We can readily believe that when Hrihor extorted the title of “Royal Son of Kaushu” from the weaklings who occupied the throne at the close of the Ramesside dynasty, he took care to install one of the members of his family as high priest at Napata, and from henceforward had the whole country at his bidding.  Subsequently, when Painotmu II. was succeeded by Auputi at Thebes, it seems that the Ethiopian priests refused to ratify his election.  Whether they conferred the supreme power on one of their own number, or whether some son of Painotmu, flying from the Bubastite kings, arrived at the right moment to provide them with a master, is not quite clear.

[Illustration:  258.jpg PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF AMON AT NAPATA]

     Reproduced by Faucher-Gudin, from the plan drawn up and
     published by Cailliaud.