46 Outlines of European History The Empire (1580-1150 B.C.) warfare on a scale unknown before. The Pharaohs are now great generals, who lead their armies into Asia and establish ^^^^^j^_ an empire which extends from the /Z^" -; Euphrates in Asia to the Fourth Cata- ract of the Nile in Africa. This world-power of the Pharaohs lasted from the early sixteenth century to the twelfth century B.C., something over four hundred years. The great- est of the conquerors during all this period was Thutmose III, who ruled for ovei- fifty years, beginning about 1500 B.C. We may call him the Napo- leon of Egypt, for he was the first great general in history, and he carried on wars in Asia for nearly twenty years, during which he led no less than seventeen campaigns there. His em- pire was slowly lost under the less powerful rule of Ramses II and his successors. The wealth w^hich the Pharaohs cap- tured in Asia and Nubia during the Empire enabled them to live in such power and magnificence as the world had never seen before. The battle scenes we have just found (Fig. 26) are carved on the walls of a hall of the temple of Karnak — a hall so large that you could put into it the whole cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. The columns of the central aisle are sixty-nine feet high. The vast capital forming the summit of each column is large enough to contain a group of a hundred men standing upon it at the same time. A „ J1 Fig. 27. Portrait of THE Napoleon of Ancient Egypt, Thut- mose III (Fifteenth Century b.c.) Carved in granite and showing the great con- queror (p. 46) wearing the tall crown of Upper Egypt, with the sacred asp forming a serpent- crest above his forehead (see also Fig. 130). Such portraits in the Empire can be compared with the actual faces of these Egyptian - emperors as we have them in their mummies (Fig. 32), and they are thus shown to be good likenesses
