A HISTORY OF THE PHARAOHS. By Arthur Weigall. Vol. II.
(Thornton Butterworth. 21s.)—The second volume of Mr. Weigall's learned history of ancient Egypt deals with the Middle Kingdom from the Twelfth Dynasty, of Sesostris and others, to the Eighteenth Dynasty with its three great rulers : Thutmose I, Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. The seven centuries covered include the obscure period of the alien " Shepherd Kings " as well as some of the most stirring episodes in Egyptian history. Mr. Weigall is intensely interested in the chronological problem and devotes much space to explaining and defending his own solution. He would, for instance, place the death of Thutmosc III in 1440, and not in 1447 a.c. Readers who do not share this passion for dates will, however, be rewarded by the very numerous quotations from inscriptions and records which the author gives to enliven his chronicle. He does not fail to repeat the famous story of Sinuhc and his exile in Syria during the reign of Sesostris, at the end of the third millennium before Christ. This courtly, arrogant and evasive old gentleman has many descendants to-day.
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