The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal ... - IndianCoins.org

THE ELEMENTS OF PRIMAEVAL FINANCE. 129Hetrophies of gold to hang on the walls of his palace.can no longer hunt, yet he craves for new spoils, probablythat they may remind him of his sporting days.The love of chase for acquisitions has changed intothe love of hoarded possessions.has fallen.The curse of MammonThe epitaph of Amenemhet I is cut on a rock nearKomsko at the Second Cataract. It is dated the verylast year of his reign, and says simply, " Amenemhetcame to overthrow Wawat." 19 The inscription goes nofurther.From this time onward, there are almost continuousrecords of expeditions to Nubia, either for conquest,or to exact tribute, until finally that country, with itsassured revenue in gold, became a province of Egypt.The gold, however, was the property of the king, andnot a general form of merchandise. It therefore canbe said for certain that gold only became a staple formof wealth within the borders of Egypt,as late as thetime of the Xllth dynasty, and that, out of many others,it was but one, though an important, form, primarilypassing through the hands of the. king.It must be carefully noted, that directly subsequentto the assured possession of gold as a form of wealthby the Egyptians, the conquest of the country by someforeign race took place ;and it was not till the time ofthe XVIIIth dynasty that the country was reorganizedas an independent kingdom.The fact that the precious metals were the currencyof the traders would lead us to supposeconquerors were of that calling, and belongedthat theseto some19Breasted,i. 473.VOL. XII., SERIES IV, K