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By G. MASPERO, Honorable Doctor of Civil Laws,
and Fellow of Queen s College, Oxford ; Member of
the Institute and Professor at the College of France

Edited by A. H. SAYCE, Professor of Assyriology, Oxford

Translated by M. L. McCLURE, Member of
the Committee of the Egypt Exploration Fund

VOL. IV

Containing over Tivel-ve Hundred
Colored Plates and Illustrations

THE G R O L I E R S () C I E T Y
PUBLISHERS A A A LONDON

1 2

Printed by

WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED
LONDON

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST CHALD^EAN EMPIRE AND THE HYK8O8 IN EGYPT

PAGE

Syria : The Part Played by it in the Ancient World Babylon and the

First Chaldzean Empire The Dominion of the HyksSs : Ahmosis . 3

CHAPTER II,

SYRIA AT THE BEGINNING OK THE EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Nineveh and the First Cossaean Kings The Peoples of Syria, their

Towns, their Civilization, their Religion Phoenicia .... 159

CHAPTER III.

THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

Thutmosis I. and his Army Hatshopsitu and Thutmosis III. . . 305

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Musical Decoration in the Hall of the Harps, Tomb of the Kings, to the

East, Thebes (Byban el Molouk) .... Frontispiece

The enamelled gold necklace of Queen Ahhotpu in the Gizeh Museum . 3

The most northern source of the Jordan, the Nahr-el-Hasbany ... 14
The Lake of Genesareth . . . . . . . . . .15

One of the reaches of the Jordan, in the neighbourhood of Jericho . . 17

The Dead Sea and the mountains of Moab, seen from the heights of Engedi 18

Asiatic women from the tomb of Khnumhotpu ...... 23

Two Asiatics from the tomb of Khnumhotpu ...... 2-4

The ruins of Babylon seen from the South ...... 29

The Kasr seen from the South ......... 32

The Tell of Borsippa, the present Birs-Ximrud 33

The banks of the Euphrates at Zuleibeh ....... 36

An ancient Susian of Xegritic race ........ 46

Native of mixed Negritic race from Susiana ...... 47

The Tumulus of Susa, as it appeared towards the middle of the nineteenth

century ............ 48

An Elamite goddess, answering to the Chaldsean Ishtar .... 50

A Hyksos prisoner guiding the plough, at El-Kab ..... 80

Table of offerings bearing the name of Apopi Aqnunri .... 82

The Bagdad Lion, in the British Museum ....... 83

The broken statue of Khiani, in the Gizeh Museum ..... 84

The traditional oak of Abraham at Hebron . . . . 93

The Arrival of the Nomad 101

Xofritari, from the wooden statuette in the Turin Museum . . . 109

The head of Saqnunri III. 110

The small gold votive Barque of Pharaoh Kamosu, in the Gizeh Museum . 113
The walls of El-Kab seen from the tomb of Pihiri . . . . .116

A mummy factory ........... 118

vii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The ruins of the Pyramid of Qulah, near Mohammerieh . . . .119
The tombs of the princes of Nekhabit, ii. the hillside above El-Kab , . 122
A convoy of Turah quarrymen drawing stone ... . . 132

Coffin of Ahmosis in the Gizeh Museum .... . 135

Nofritari, the black-skinned goddess ..... 136

The jewels and weapons of Queen Ahhotpu I. in the Gizeh Museum . 137
The two coffins of Ahhotpu II. and Nofritari standing in the vestibule

of the old Bulak Museum . 141

Decorations on the wrappings of a mummy 142

Statue of Amenothes I. in the Turin Museum ... . 144

Stele of Amenothes I. in the Louvre . . . . . . . -146

The coffin and mummy of Amenothes I. in the Gizeh Museum . .147
Thutmosis I., from a statue in the Gizeh Museum ..... 150

Signs, arms, and instruments painted in the fifth tomb of the Kings to

the East, Thebes (Byban el Molouk) . . . . . . .155

The modern village of Zerin, in Galilee, seen from the south . . . 159
The fortress and bridge of Zalu ........ 177

The walled city of Dapur, in Galilee . . . . . . . .185

The Migdol of Ramses III. at Thebes, in the temple of Medynet-Abou . 187
The modern village of Beitin (ancient Bethel) seen from the south-west . 189

Vineyards in the neighbourhood of Hebron 191

Shechem in the middle of an amphitheatre of hills . . . . .192
The evergreen oaks between Joppa and Carmel . . 196

Acre and the fringe of reefs sheltering the ancient fort .... 197

The Tyrian ladder at Ras el-Abaid 203

The Tell of Jerabis in its present condition . . . . . .212

A Northern Syrian 213

The heads of three Amorite captives . . . . . . . .215

A Northern Syrian-Innuam . . . . . . . . .216

A caricature of the Syrian type . . . . . . . . .218

An Asiatic . . . . . . . . . . .219

Syrians dressed in the loin-cloth and double shawl 220

An Asiatic of the upper class ....... c 222

A young Syrian girl ........... 223

Lotanu women and children from the tomb of Rakhimiri .... 226

Astarte as a sphinx ........... 229

Qodshu and Rashuf on a stele in the Louvre . . . . . 231

Transjordian Dolmen .......... 235

A Cromlech in the neighboiirhood of Hasban, in the country of Moab . 238
A corner of the Phoenician wall of Arvad ... .... 249

Valley of the Adonis, seen from the ruins of Aphaka 256

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix

PAGE

The amphitheatre of Aphaka and the source of the Hahr-Ibrahim . . 257

The sculptured rocks of Hanaweh ........ 273

One of the Kafiti from the tomb of Rakhmiri ...... 282

Head of a gazelle forming the figure-head of an Egyptian galley . . 286

An Egyptian trading vessel of the first half of the XVIII. dynasty . . 288

Dagger of Ahmosis ........... 298

One of the daggers discovered at Mycenae, showing an imitation of Egyp
tian decoration ........... 299

The Temple of Luxor in its present condition, seen from the left bank of

the Nile 305

A platoon (troop) of Egyptian spearmen at Deir el-Bahari . . .311
A platoon of Egyptian archers at Deir el-Bahari . . . . .313

The Egyptian chariot preserved in the Florence Museum . . . .314

The king charging on his chariot . . . . . . . 315

An Egyptian learning to ride, from a bas-relief in the Bologna Museum . 318

The war-dance of the Timihu at Deir el-Bahari ... . 319

A column of troops on the march, chariots and infantry . . . 321

An Egyptian fortified camp, forced by the enemy . . . 322

Two companies of infantry on the march .... . 323

Scenes from military life in an Egyptian camp ... . 325

Encounter between Egyptian and Asiatic chariots .... 327

Counting of hands and prisoners brought before the king after a battle . 331

A city of modern Nubia The ancient gondola . . . 336

Arrival of an Ethiopian queen bringing tribute to the viceroy of Rush . 338

Typical Galla woman .... 339

Gold epergne representing scenes from Ethiopian life .... 341

Portrait of the Queen Ahmasi 344

Queen Mutnofrit in the Gizeh Museum

VEv

Queen Hatshopsitu in male costume .... 343

Bust of Queen Hatshopsitu .... 347

Painting in a Tomb of the Kings, Thebes . . . f 349
The amphitheatre at Deir el-Bahari, as it appeared before Naville s

excavations ox A

... oou

The northern colonnade of Hatshopsitu at Deir el-Bahari . . . .351

Head of the mummy of Thutmosis T . 353

Head of the mummy of Thutmosis II 354

The coffin of Thutmosis I. 355

The Royal Pavilion, Thebes 355

The statue of Sanmut .... 357

Hatshopsitu s obelisk at Karnak .... 358

An inhabitant of the land of Puauit . . 361

x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

A village on the bank of the river, with ladders of incense . . . 363

Prince Parihu and the Princess of Puanit ....... 365

The embarkation of the incense sycomores on board the Egyptian fleet . 366

Some of the incense trees brought from Puanit to Deir el-Bahari . . 369

Thutmosis III., from his statue in the Turin Museum .... 372

An Egyptian encampment before a besieged town ..... 378

Some of the plants and animals brought back from Puanit . . . 380
Part of the triumphal lists of Thutmosis III., on one of the Pylons of the

temple at Karnak ..... .... 381

Some of the objects carried in tribute to the Syrians ..... 384

THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE
AND THE HYKSOS -IN EGYPT

SYRIA : THE PART PLAYED BY IT IN THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
BABYLON AND THE FIRST CIIALD.EAN EMPIRE THE DOMINION OF THE

HYKSOS : AIIMOSIS.

Syria, owing to its geographical position, condemned to be subject to neighbour
ing powers Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, the valley of the Orontes and of the Litany,
and surrounding regions : the northern table-land, the country about Damascus,
the Mediterranean coast, the Jordan and the Dead Sea Civilization and
primitive inhabitants, Semites and Asiatics: the almost entire absence of
Egyptian influence, the predominance of that of Chaldeea.

Babylon, its ruins and its environs It extends its rule over Mesopotamia ;
its earliest dynasty and its struggle with Central ChaldseaElam, its geo
graphical position, its peoples; Kutur-NaJchunta conquers Larsam Eimsin
(Eri-Aku); Khammurabi founds the first Babylonian empire ; his victories, his
buildings, his canals The Elamites in Syria : Kudurlagamar Syria recognizes
the authority of Hammurabi and his successors.
VOL. IV.

( 2 )

TJte HyJcsos conquer Egypt at the end of the XIV th dynasty ; the founding of
Avaris Uncertainty both of ancients and moderns icith regard to the origin of
the HyJcsos: probability of their being the Khati Their kings adopt the manners
and civilization of the Egyptians : the monuments of Khiani and of Apophis I.
and II. The XV th dynasty.

Semitic incursions following the HyJcsos The migration of the Phoenicians
and the Israelites into Syria : TeraJi, Abraham and his sojourn in the land of
Canaan Isaac, Jacob, Joseph : the Israelites go down into Egypt and settle in
the land of Goshen.

Thebes revolts against the HyJcsos : popular traditions as to the origin of the
war, the romance of ApopJiis and Saqnunri The Theban princesses and the last
kings of the XVII th dynasty : Tiudqni Kamosis, Ahmosis I. The lords of El-
Kab, and the part they played during the war of independence The taking of
Avaris and the expulsion of the HyJcsos.

The reorganization of Egypt Ahmosis I. and his Nubian vmrs, the reopening
of the quarries of Tilrah Amenothes I. and his mother Nofrltari : the jewellery
of Queen Ahhotpu The wars of Amenothes I , the apotheosis of Nofritari The
accession of Thatmosis I. and the re-generation of Egypt.

a A

THE ENAMELLED GOLD NECKLACE OF QUEEN AHHOTl U IN THE GIZEH MUSEUM. 1

CHAPTER I

THE FIRST CHALD/EAN EMPIRE AND THE
HYKSOS IN EGYPT

Syria : the part played by it in the ancient world Babylon and the first
Chaldsean empire The dominion of the Hyksos : Ahmosis.

GOME countries seem destined
from their origin to become
the battle-fields of the contend
ing nations which environ them.
Into such regions, and to their
cost, neighbouring peoples come
from century to century to settle
their quarrels and bring to an

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a
photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey. The
vignette, also by Faucher-Gudin, from a
photograph by Deveria, taken in 1864,
represents the gilded mask of the coffin
of Queen Ahhotpu I.

4 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

issue the questions of supremacy which disturb their little
corner of the world. The nations around are eager
for the possession of a country thus situated; it is
seized upon bit by bit, and in the strife dismembered and
trodden underfoot : at best the only course open to its
inhabitants is to join forces with one of its invaders, and
while helping the intruder to overcome the rest, to secure
for themselves a position of permanent servitude. Should
some unlooked-for chance relieve them from the presence
of their foreign lord, they will probably be quite incapable
of profiting by the respite which fortune puts in their way,
or of making any effectual attempt to organize themselves
in view of future attacks. They tend to become split up
into numerous rival communities, of which even the
pettiest will aim at autonomy, keeping up a perpetual
frontier war for the sake of becoming possessed of or of
retaining a glorious sovereignty over a few acres of corn
in the plains, or some wooded ravines in the mountains.
Year after year there will be scenes of bloody conflict, in
which petty armies will fight petty battles on behalf of
petty interests, but so fiercely, and with such furious
animosity, that the country will suffer from the strife as
much as, or even more than, from an invasion. There
will be no truce to their struggles until they all fall under
the sway of a foreign master, and, except in the interval
between two conquests, they will have no national
existence, their history being almost entirely merged in
that of other nations.

From remote antiquity Syria was in the condition just
described, and thus destined to become subject to foreign

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SYRIA UNDER FOREIGN RULE 7

rule. Chaldzea, Egypt, Assyria, and Persia presided in
turn over its destinies, while Macedonia and the empires
of the West were only waiting their opportunity to lay
hold of it. By its position it formed a kind of meeting-
place where most of the military nations of the ancient
world were bound sooner or later to come violently into
collision. Confined between the sea and the desert, Syria
offers the only route of easy access to an army marching
northwards from Africa into Asia, and all conquerors,
whether attracted to Mesopotamia or to Egypt by the
accumulated riches on the banks of the Euphrates or the
Nile, were obliged to pass through it in order to reach
the object of their cupidity. It might, perhaps, have
escaped this fatal consequence of its position, had the
formation of the country permitted its tribes to mass
themselves together, and oppose a compact body to the
invading hosts ; but the range of mountains which forms
its backbone subdivides it into isolated districts, and by
thus restricting each tribe to a narrow existence main
tained among them a mutual antagonism. The twin
chains, the Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon, which divide
the country down the centre, are composed of the same
kind of calcareous rocks and sandstone, while the same
sort of reddish clay has been deposited on their slopes by
the glaciers of the same geological period. 1 Arid and bare

1 Drake remarked in the Lebanon several varieties of limestone, which
have been carefully catalogued by Blanche and Lartet. Above these strata,
which belong to the Jurassic formation, come reddish sandstone, then beds of
very hard yellowish limestone, and finally marl. The name Lebanon, in
Assyrian Libnana, would appear to signify "the white mountain;" the

THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

on the northern side, they sent out towards the south
featureless monotonous ridges, furrowed here and there
by short narrow valleys, hollowed out in places into basins
or funnel-shaped ravines, which are widened year by year
by the down-rush of torrents. These ridges, as they
proceed southwards, become clothed with verdure and
offer a more varied outline, the ravines being more thickly
wooded, and the summits less uniform in contour and
colouring. Lebanon becomes white and ice-crowned in
winter, but none of its peaks rises to the altitude of
perpetual snows : the highest of them, Mount Timarun,
reaches 10,526 feet, while only three others exceed 9000. l
Anti-Lebanon is, speaking generally, 1000 or 1300 feet
lower than its neighbour : it becomes higher, however,
towards the south, where the triple peak of Mount Hermon
rises to a height of 9184 feet. The Orontes and the Litany
drain the intermediate space. The Orontes rising on the
west side of the Anti-Lebanon, near the ruins of Baalbek,
rushes northwards in such a violent manner, that the
dwellers on its banks call it the rebel Nahr el-Asi. 2 About

Amorites called the Anti-Lebanon Saniru, Shenir, according to the Assyrian
texts and the Hebrew books.

1 BURTON-DRAKE, Unexplored Syria, vol. i. p. 88, attributed to it an
altitude of 9175 English feet; others estimate it at 10,539 feet. The
mountains which exceed 3000 metres are Dahr el-Kozib, 3046 metres ; Jebel-
Miskiyah, 3080 metres ; and Jebel-Makhmal or Makrnal, 3040 metres. As
a matter of fact, these heights are not yet determined with the accuracy
desirable.

2 The Egyptians knew it in early times by the name of Aunrati, or
Araunti ; it is mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions under the name of Arantu.
All are agreed in acknowledging that this name is not Semitic, and an
Aryan origin is attributed to it, but without convincing proof ; according to

THE ORONTES AND THE LITANY 9

a third of the way towards its mouth it enters a depression,
which ancient dykes help to transform into a lake ; it
flows thence, almost parallel to the sea-coast, as far as
the 36th degree of latitude. There it meets the last spurs
of the Amanos, but, failing to cut its way through them,
it turns abruptly to the west, and then to the south,
falling into the Mediterranean after having received an
increase to its volume from the waters of the Afrin. The
Litany rises a short distance from the Orontes ; it flows
at first through a wide and fertile plain, which soon con
tracts, however, and forces it into a channel between the
spurs of the Lebanon and the Galilasan hills. The water
thence makes its way between two cliffs of perpendicular
rock, the ravine being in several places so narrow that
the branches of the trees on the opposite sides interlace,
and an active man could readily leap across it. Near
Yakhmur some detached rocks appear to have been
arrested in their fall, and, leaning like flying buttresses
against the mountain face, constitute a natural bridge over
the torrent. The basins of the two rivers lie in one valley,
extending eighty leagues in length, divided by an almost
imperceptible watershed into two beds of unequal slope.
The central part of the valley is given up to marshes. It

Strabo (xvi. ii. 7, p. 750), it was originally called Typhon, and was only
styled Orontes after a certain Orontes had built the first bridge across it.
The name of Axios which it sometimes bears appears to have been given to
it by Greek colonists, in memory of a river in Macedonia. This is probably
the origin of the modern name of Asi, and the meaning, rebellious river,
which Arab tradition attaches to the latter term, probably comes from a
popular etymology which likened Axios to Asi : the identification was all
the easier since it justifies the epithet by the violence of its current.

10 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

is only towards the south that we find cornfields, vineyards,
plantations of mulberry and olive trees, spread out over
the plain, or disposed in terraces on the hillsides. Towards
the north, the alluvial deposits of the Orontes have
gradually formed a black and fertile soil, upon which grow
luxuriant crops of cereals and other produce. Coele- Syria,
after having generously nourished the Oriental empires
which had preyed upon her, became one of the granaries
of the Koinan world, under the capable rule of the
Caesars.

Syria is surrounded on all sides by countries of varying
aspect and soil. That to the north, flanked by the Amanos,
is a gloomy mountainous region, with its greatest elevation
on the seaboard : it slopes gradually towards the interior,
spreading out into chalky table-lands, dotted over with bare
and rounded hills, and seamed with tortuous valleys which
open out to the Euphrates, the Orontes, or the desert.
Vast, slightly undulating plains succeed the table-lands:
the soil is dry and stony, the streams are few in number and
contain but little water. The Sajur flows into the
Euphrates, the Afrin and the Karasu when united yield
their tribute to the Orontes, while the others for the most
part pour their waters into enclosed basins. The Khalus
of the Greeks sluggishly pursues its course southward, and
after reluctantly leaving the gardens of Aleppo, finally
loses itself on the borders of the desert in a small salt lake
full of islets : about halfway between the Khalus and the
Euphrates a second salt lake receives the Nahr ed-Dahab,
the " golden river." The climate is mild, and the
temperature tolerably uniform. The sea-breeze which

THE NORTHERN TABLE-LAND 11

rises every afternoon tempers the summer heat : the cold in
winter is never piercing, except when the south wind blows
which comes from the mountains, and the snow rarely lies
on the ground for more than twenty-four hours. It seldom
rains during the autumn and winter months, but frequent
showers fall in the early days of spring. Vegetation then
awakes again, and the soil lends itself to cultivation in the
hollows of the valleys and on the table-lands wherever
irrigation is possible. The ancients dotted these now all
but desert spaces with wells and cisterns ; they intersected
them with canals, and covered them with farms and
villages, with fortresses and populous cities. Primaeval
forests clothed the slopes of the Amanos, and pinewood
from this region was famous both at Babylon and in the
towns of Lower Chaldaea. The plains produced barley and
wheat in enormous quantities, the vine throve there, the
gardens teemed with flowers and fruit, and pistachio and
olive trees grew on every slope. The desert was always
threatening to invade the plain, and gained rapidly upon
it whenever a prolonged war disturbed cultivation, or when
the negligence of the inhabitants slackened the work of
defence : beyond the lakes and salt marshes it had obtained
a secure hold. At the present time the greater part of the
country between the Orontes and the Euphrates is nothing
but a rocky table-land, ridged with low hills and dotted over
with some impoverished oases, excepting at the foot of
Anti-Lebanon, where two rivers, fed by innumerable streams,
have served to create a garden of marvellous beauty. The
Barada, dashing from cascade to cascade, flows for some
distance through gorges before emerging on the plain :

12 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

scarcely has it reached level ground than it widens out,
divides, and forms around Damascus a miniature delta, into
which a thousand interlacing channels carry refreshment
and fertility. Below the town these streams rejoin the
river, which, after having flowed merrily along for a day s
journey, is swallowed up in a kind of elongated chasm from
whence it never again emerges. At the melting of the
snows a regular lake is formed here, whose hlue waters are
surrounded by wide grassy margins "like a sapphire set
in emeralds." This lake dries up almost completely in
summer, and is converted into swampy meadows, filled with
gigantic rushes, among which the birds build their nests,
and multiply as unmolested as in the marshes of Chaldsea.
The Awaj, unfed by any tributary, fills a second deeper
though smaller basin, while to the south two other lesser
depressions receive the waters of the Anti-Lebanon and the
Hauran. Syria is protected from the encroachments of the
desert by a continuous barrier of pools and beds of reeds :
towards the east the space reclaimed resembles a verdant
promontory thrust boldly out into an ocean of sand. The
extent of the cultivated area is limited on the west by the
narrow strip of rock and clay which forms the littoral.
From the mouth of the Litany to that of the Orontes, the
coast presents a rugged, precipitous, and inhospitable
appearance. There are no ports, and merely a few ill-
protected harbours, or narrow beaches lying under formid
able headlands. One river, the Nahr el-Kebir, which
elsewhere would not attract the traveller s attention, is
here noticeable as being the only stream whose waters flow
constantly and with tolerable regularity ; the others, the

THE COUNTRY OF DAMASCUS 13

Leon, the Adonis, 1 and the Nahr el-Kelb, 2 can scarcely even
he called torrents, heing precipitated as it were in one leap
from the Lebanon to the Mediterranean. Olives, vines, and
corn cover the maritime plain, while in ancient times the
heights were clothed with impenetrable forests of oak, pine,
larch, cypress, spruce, and cedar. The mountain range drops
in altitude towards the centre of the country and becomes
merely a line of low hills, connecting Gebel Ansarieh with
the Lebanon proper ; beyond the latter it continues without
interruption, till at length, above the narrow Phosnician coast
road, it rises in the form of an almost insurmountable wall.
Near to the termination of Coele-Syria, but separated
from it by a range of hills, there opens out on the western
slopes of Hermon a valley unlike any other in the world.
At this point the surface of the earth has been rent in pre
historic times by volcanic action, leaving a chasm which
has never since closed up. A river, unique in character
the Jordan flows down this gigantic crevasse, fertilizing
the valley formed by it from end to end. 3 Its principal

1 The Adonis of classical authors is now Nahr-Ibrahim. We have as
yet no direct evidence as to the Phoenician name of this river ; it was prob
ably identical with that of the divinity worshipped on its banks. The fact
of a river bearing the name of a god is not surprising : the Belos, in the
neighbourhood of Acre, affords us a parallel case to the Adonis.

2 The present Nahr el-Kelb is the Lykos of classical authors. The Due
de Luynes thought he recognized a corruption of the Phoenician name in
that of Alcobile, which is mentioned hereabouts in the Itinerary of the
pilgrim of Bordeaux. The order of the Itinerary does not favour this
identification, and Alcobile is probably Jebail : it is none the less probable
that the original name of the Nahr el Kelb contained from earliest times
the Phoenician equivalent of the Arab word Tcelb, " dog."

3 The Jordan is mentioned in the Egyptian texts under the name of
Yorduna : the name appears to mean the descender, the down-flowing.

14 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

source is at Tell el-Qadi, where it rises out of a basaltic
mound whose summit is crowned by the ruins of Laish. 1
The water collects in an oval rocky basin hidden by
bushes, and flows down among the brushwood to join the
Nahr el-Hasbany, which brings the waters of the upper

THE MOST NORTHERS SOURCE OF THE JORDAN, THE NAHR-EL-HASBAXY. 2

torrents to swell its stream; a little lower down it mingles
with the Banias branch, and winds for some time amidst
desolate marshy meadows before disappearing in the
thick beds of rushes bordering Lake Huleh. 3 At

1 This source is mentioned by Josephus as being that of the Little

Jordan.

2 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by the Due de Luynes.

3 Lake Huleh is called the Waters of Merom, Me-Merom, in the Book of

THE MEDITERRANEAN LITTORAL

this point the Jordan reaches the level of the Mediter
ranean, but instead of maintaining it, the river makes
a sudden drop on leaving the lake, cutting for itself
a deeply grooved channel. It has a fall of some 300
feet before reaching the Lake of Genesareth, where
it is only momentarily arrested, as if to gather fresh
strength for its headlong career southwards. Here and

ONE OF THE BEACHES
OF THE JORDAN, IN THE NEIGH
BOURHOOD OF JERICHO. 1

there it makes furious assaults on its right and left banks,
as if to escape from its bed, but the rocky escarpments
which hem it in present an insurmountable barrier to it ;

Joshua, xi. 5, 7; and Lake Sammochonitis in Josephus. The name of
Ulatha, which was given to the surrounding country, shows that the modern
word Huleh is derived from an ancient form, of which unfortunately the
original has not come down to us.

Drawn by Boudier, from several photographs brought back by
Lortet.

VOL. IV.

THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

from rapid to rapid it descends with such capricious wind
ings that it covers a course of more than 62 miles hefore
reaching the Dead Sea, nearly 1300 feet below the level
of the Mediterranean. 1 Nothing could offer more striking
contrasts than the country on either bank. On the east,

THE DEAD SEA AND THE MOUNTAINS OF MOAB, SEEN FROM THE HEIGHTS

OF ENGEDI. 2

the ground rises abruptly to a height of about 3000 feet,
resembling a natural rampart flanked with towers and

1 The exact figures are : the Lake of Huleh 7 feet above the Mediter
ranean ; the Lake of Genesareth 682 5 feet, and the Dead Sea 1292-1 feet
below the sea-level ; to the south of the Dead Sea, towards the water-parting
of the Akabah, the ground is over 720 feet higher than the level of the Red
Sea.

2 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by the Due de Luynes,

THE JORDAN AND THE RED SEA 19

bastions: behind this extends an immense table-land,
slightly undulating and intersected in all directions by the
affluents of the Jordan and the Dead Sea the Yarmuk, 1
the Jabbok, 2 and the Arnon. 3 The whole of this district
forms a little world in itself, whose inhabitants, half shep
herds, half bandits, live a life of isolation, with no ambition
to take part in general history. West of the Jordan, a
confused mass of hills rises into sight, their sparsely
covered slopes affording an impoverished soil for the
cultivation of corn, vines, and olives. One ridge Mount
Carmel detached from the principal chain near the
southern end of the Lake of Genesareth, runs obliquely
to the north-west, and finally projects into the sea. North
of this range extends Galilee, abounding in refreshing
streams and fertile fields ; while to the south, the country
falls naturally into three parallel zones the littoral, com
posed alternately of dunes and marshes an expanse of
plain, a " Shephelah," * dotted about with woods and
watered by intermittent rivers, and finally the mountains.
The region of dunes is not necessarily barren, and the
towns situated in it Gaza, Jaffa, Ashdod, and Ascalon
are surrounded hy flourishing orchards and gardens. The
plain yields plentiful harvests every year, the ground
needing no manure and very little labour. The higher

The Yarmuk does not occur in the Bible, but we meet with its name
in the Talmud, and the Greeks adopted it under the form Hieromax.

1 Gen. xxxii. 22 ; Numb. xxi. 24. The name has been Grecized under
the forms lobacchos, labacchos, lambykes. It is the present Nahr Zerqa.

Numl. xxi. 13-26; Deut. ii. 24; the present Wady Mojib.
* [Shephelah == "low country," plain (Josh. xi. 16). With the article it
means the plain along the Mediterranean from Joppa to Gaza. TB.]

20 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

ground and the hill-tops are sometimes covered with
verdure, but as they advance southwards, they become
denuded and burnt by the sun. The valleys, too, are
watered only by springs, which are dried up for the most
part during the summer, and the soil, parched by the
continuous heat, can scarcely be distinguished from the
desert. In fact, till the Sinaitic Peninsula and the frontiers
of Egypt are reached, the eye merely encounters desolate
and almost uninhabited solitudes, devastated by winter
torrents, and overshadowed by the volcanic summits of
Mount Seir. The spring rains, however, cause an early
crop of vegetation to spring up, which for a few weeks
furnishes the flocks of the nomad tribes with food.

We may summarise the physical characteristics of
Syria by saying that Nature has divided the country
into five or six regions of unequal area, isolated by rivers
and mountains, each one of which, however, is admirably
suited to become the seat of a separate independent
state. In the north, we have the country of the two
rivers the Naharaim extending from the Orontes to
the Euphrates and the Balikh, or even as far as the
Khabur: 1 in the centre, between the two ranges of the
Lebanon, lie Ccele-Syria and its two unequal neighbours,
Aram of Damascus and Phoenicia; while to the south is
the varied collection of provinces bordering the valley

1 The Naharaim of the Egyptians was first identified with Mesopotamia ;
it was located between the Orontes and the Balikh or the Euphrates by
Maspero. This opinion is now adopted by the majority of Egyptologists,
with slight differences in detail. Ed. Meyer has accurately compared the
Egyptian Naharaim with the Parapotamia of the administration of the
Seleucidse.

THE PRIMITIVE RACES OF SYRIA 21

of the Jordan. It is impossible at the present day to
assert, with any approach to accuracy, what peoples
inhabited these different regions towards the fourth
millennium before our era. Wherever excavations are
made, relics are brought to light of a very ancient semi-
civilization, in which we find stone weapons and imple
ments, besides pottery, often elegant in contour, but for
the most part coarse in texture and execution. These
remains, however, are not accompanied by any monument
of definite characteristics, and they yield no information
with regard to the origin or affinities of the tribes who
fashioned them. 1 The study of the geographical nomen
clature in use about the XVI th century B.C. reveals the
existence, at all events at that period, of several peoples
and several languages. The mountains, rivers, towns,
and fortresses in Palestine and Ccele- Syria are designated
by words of Semitic origin : it is easy to detect, even
in the hieroglyphic disguise which they bear on the
Egyptian geographical lists, names familiar to us in
Hebrew or Assyrian. But once across the Orontes,
other forms present themselves which reveal no affinities
to these languages, but are apparently connected with

1 Researches with regard to the primitive inhabitants of Syria and their
remains have not as yet been prosecuted to any extent. The caves noticed
by Hedenborg at Ant-Elias, near Tripoli, and by Botta at Nahr el-Kelb,
and at Adlun by the Due de Luynes, have been successively explored by
Lartet, Tristram, Lortet, and Dawson. The grottoes of Palestine proper, at
Bethzur, at Gilgal near Jericho, and at Tibneh, have been the subject of
keen controversy ever since their discovery. The Abbe Richard desired to
identify the flints of Gilgal and Tibneh with the stone knives used by Joshua
for the circumcision of the Israelites after the passage of the Jordan (Josh.
v. 2-9), some of which might have been buried in that hero s tomb-

22 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

one or other of the dialects of Asia Minor. 1 The tenacity
with which the place-names, once given, cling to the
soil, leads us to believe that a certain number at least
of those we know in Syria were in use there long before
they were noted down by the Egyptians, and that they
must have been heirlooms from very early peoples. As
they take a Semitic or non- Semitic form according to
their geographical position, we may conclude that the
centre and south were colonized by Semites, and the
north by the immigrant tribes from beyond the Taurus.
Facts are not wanting to support this conclusion, and
they prove that it is not so entirely arbitrary as we
might be inclined to believe. The Asiatic visitors who,
under a king of the XII th dynasty, came to offer gifts
to Khnuinhotpu, the Lord of Beni-Hasan, are completely
Semitic in type, and closely resemble the Bedouins of
the present day. Their chief Abisha bears a Semitic
name, 2 as too does the Sheikh Ammianshi, with whom
Sinuhit took refuge. 3 Ammianshi himself reigned over
the province of Kadima, a word which in Semitic denotes
the East. Finally, the only one of their gods known to

1 The non-Semitic origin of the names of a number of towns in Northern
Syria preserved in the Egyptian lists, is admitted by the majority of scholars
who have studied the question.

2 His name has been shown to be cognate with the Hebrew Abishai
(1 Sam. xxvi. 6-9 ; 2 Sam. ii. 18, 24 ; xxi. 17) and with the Chaldseo-
Assyrian Abeshukh.

3 The name Ammianshi at once recalls those of Ammisatana, Ammiza-
iugga, and perhaps Ammurabi, or Khammurabi, of one of the Babylonian
dynasties ; it contains, with the element Ammi, a final anshi. Chabas
connects it with two Hebrew words Am-nesh, which he does not
translate.

BETWEEN SINAI AND THE DEAD SEA 2S

us, Hadad, was a Semite deity, who presided over the
atmosphere, and whom we find later on ruling over the
destinies of Damascus. Peoples of Semitic speech and
religion must, indeed, have already occupied the greater
part of that region on the shores of the Mediterranean
which we find still in their possession many centuries
later, at the time of the Egyptian conquest.

For a time Egypt preferred not to meddle in their

ASIATIC WOJIEN FROM THE TOMB OF KHNUMHOTP0. 1

affairs. When, however, the "lords of the sands &gt;: grew
too insolent, the Pharaoh sent a column of light troops
against them, and inflicted on them such a severe punish
ment, that the remembrance of it kept them within bounds
for years. Offenders banished from Egypt sought refuge
with the turbulent kinglets, who were in a perpetual
state of unrest between Sinai and the Dead Sea. Egyptian
sailors used to set out to traffic along the seaboard, taking
to piracy when hard pressed; Egyptian merchants were

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. *

24 THE FIRST CHALDJEAN EMPIRE

accustomed to penetrate by easy stages into the interior.
The accounts they gave of their journeys were not re
assuring. The traveller had first to face the solitudes
which confronted him before reaching the Isthmus, and
then to avoid as best he might the attacks of the pillaging
tribes who inhabited it. Should he escape these initial
perils, the Amu an agricultural and settled people
inhabiting the fertile region would give the stranger

TWO ASIATICS FKOM THE TOMB OF KlLStjMliOPTU. 1

but a sorry reception : he would have to submit to their
demands, and the most exorbitant levies of toll did not
always preserve caravans from their attacks. 2 The country
seems to have been but thinly populated ; tracts now
denuded were then covered by large forests in which
herds of elephants still roamed, 3 and wild beasts, including

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger.

2 The merchant who sets out for foreign lands "leaves his possessions to
his children for fear of lions and Asiatics."

3 Thutmosis III. went elephant-hunting near the Syrian town of Nil.

ABSENCE OF EGYPTIAX INFLUENCE IN SYRIA 25

lions and leopards, rendered the route through them
dangerous. The notion that Syria was a sort of preserve
for both hig and small game was so strongly implanted
in the minds of the Egyptians, that their popular literature
was full of it : the hero of their romances betook himself
there for the chase, as a prelude to meeting with the
princess whom he was destined to marry, 1 or, as in the
case of Kazarati, chief of Assur, that he might encounter
there a monstrous hyena with which to engage in combat.
These merchants adventures and explorations, as they
were not followed by any military expedition, left absolutely
no mark on the industries or manners of the primitive
natives : those of them only who were close to the
frontiers of Egypt came under her subtle charm and felt
the power of her attraction, but this slight influence
never penetrated beyond the provinces lying nearest to
the Dead Sea. The remaining populations looked rather
to Chaldsea, and received, though at a distance, the
continuous impress of the kingdoms of the Euphrates.
The tradition which attributes to Sargon of Agade, and
to his son Naramsin, the subjection of the people of the
Amanos and the Orontes, probably contains but a slight
element of truth ; but if, while awaiting further informa
tion, we hesitate to believe that the armies of these
princes ever crossed the Lebanon or landed in Cyprus,
we must yet admit the very early advent of their
civilization in those western countries which are regarded

1 As, for instance, the hero in the Story of the Predestined Prince, exiled
from Egypt with his dog, pursues his way hunting till he reaches the con
fines of Naharaim, where he is to marry the prince s daughter.

26 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

as having been under their rule. More than three
thousand years before our era, the Asiatics who figure
on the tomb of Khnumhotpu clothed themselves according
to the fashions of Uru and Lagash, and affected long
robes of striped and spotted stuffs. We may well ask
if they had also borrowed the cuneiform syllabary for
the purposes of their official correspondence, 1 and if the
professional scribe with his stylus and clay tablet was to
be found in their cities. The Babylonian courtiers were,
no doubt, more familiar visitors among them than the
Memphite nobles, while the Babylonian kings sent regularly
to Syria for statuary stone, precious metals, and the timber
required in the building of their monuments : Urbau
and Gudea, as well as their successors and contemporaries,
received large convoys of materials from the Anianos,
and if the forests of Lebanon were more rarely utilised,
it was not because their existence was unknown, but
because distance rendered their approach more difficult
and transport more costly. The Mediterranean marches
were, in their language, classed as a whole under one
denomination Martu, Amurru, 2 the West but there

The most ancient cuneiform tablets of Syrian origin are not older than
the XVI th century before our era ; they contain the official correspondence
of the native princes with the Pharaohs Amenothes III. and IV. of the
XVIII th dynasty, as will be seen later on in this volume ; they were dis
covered in the ruins of one of the palaces at Tel el-Amarna in Egypt.

2 Formerly read Akharru. Martu would be the Sumerian and Akharru
the Semitic form, Akharru meaning that which is behind. The discovery of
the Tel el-Amarna tablets threw doubt on the reading of the name Akharru :
some thought that it ought to be kept in any case ; others, with more or
less certainty, think that it should be replaced by Amuru, Amurru, the
country of the Amorites. But the question has now been settled by

DIVISIONS OF THE PROVINCES 27

were distinctive names for each of the provinces into
which they were divided. Probably even at that date
they called the north Khati, 1 and Coele- Syria, Amurru,
the land of the Amorites. The scattered references in
their writings seein to indicate frequent intercourse with
these countries, and that, too, as a matter of course
which excited no surprise among their contemporaries :
a journey from Lagash to the mountains of Tidanum and
to G-ubin, or to the Lebanon and beyond it to Byblos, 2
meant to them no voyage of discovery. Armies un
doubtedly followed the routes already frequented by
caravans and flotillas of trading boats, and the time came
when kings desired to rule as sovereigns over nations
with whom their subjects had peaceably traded. It does
not appear, however, that the ancient rulers of Lagash
ever extended their dominion so far. The governors
of the northern cities, on the other hand, showed them
selves more energetic, and inaugurated that march

Babylonian contract and law tablets of the period of Khaminurabi, in which
the name is written A-mu-ur-ri (ki). Hommel originated the idea that
Martu might be an abbreviation of Amartu, that is, Amar with the
feminine termination of nouns in the Canaanitish dialect : Martu would
thus actually signify the country of the Amorites.

1 The name of the Khati, Khatti, is found in the Book of Omens, which
is supposed to contain an extract from the annals of Sargon and Naramsin ;
as, however, the text which we possess of it is merely a copy of the time of
Assurbanipal, it is possible that the word Khati is merely the translation of
a more ancient term, perhaps Martu. "VVinckler thinks it to be included in
Lesser Armenia and the Melitene of classical authors.

2 Gubin is probably the Kupuna, Kupnu, of the Egyptians, the Byblos
of Phoenicia. Amiaud had proposed a most unlikely identification with Koptos
in Egypt. In the time of Ine-Siii, King of Ur, mention is found of Simurru,
Zimyra.

28 THE FIRST CHALD^EAN EMPIRE

westwards which sooner or later brought the peoples of
the Euphrates into collision with the dwellers on the
Nile : for the first Babylonian empire without doubt
comprised part if not the whole of Syria. 1

Among the most celebrated names in ancient history,
that of Babylon is perhaps the only one which still suggests
to our minds a sense of vague magnificence and undefined
dominion. Cities in other parts of the world, it is true,
have rivalled Babylon in magnificence and power : Egypt
could boast of more than one such city, and their ruins
to this day present to our gaze more monuments worthy
of admiration than Babylon ever contained in the days
of her greatest prosperity. The pyramids of Memphis and
the colossal statues of Thebes still stand erect, while the
ziggurats and the palaces of Chaldasa are but mounds of
clay crumbling into the plain ; but the Egyptian monu
ments are visible and tangible objects ; we can calculate
to within a few inches the area they cover and the eleva
tion of their summits, and the very precision with which
we can gauge their enormous size tends to limit and lessen
their effect upon us. How is it possible to give free rein
to the imagination when the subject of it is strictly limited
by exact and determined measurements ? At Babylon, on
the contrary, there is nothing remaining to check the flight
of fancy : a single hillock, scoured by the rains of centuries,

1 It is only since the discovery of the Tel el-Amarna tablets that the
fact of the dominant influence of Chaldsea over Syria and of its conquest has
been definitely realized. It is now clear that the state of things of which the
tablets discovered in Egypt give us a picture, could only be explained by
the hypothesis of a Babylonish supremacy of long duration over the peoples
situated between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean.

THE CITY OF BABYLON

marks the spot where the temple of Bel stood erect in its
splendour ; another represents the hanging gardens, while
the ridges running to the right and left were once the
ramparts. The vestiges of a few buildings remain ahove
the mounds of ruhble, and as soon as the pickaxe is applied
to any spot, irregular layers of bricks, enamelled tiles, and

THE RUINS OF BABYLON SEEN FROM THE SOUTH. 1

inscribed tablets are brought to light in fine, all those
numberless objects which bear witness to the presence of
man and to his long sojourn on the spot. But these
vestiges are so mutilated and disfigured that the principal
outlines of the buildings cannot be determined with any
certainty, and afford us no data for guessing their
dimensions. He who would attempt to restore the ancient

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a drawing reproduced in Hoefer. It shows
the state of the ruins in the first half of our century, before the excavations
carried out at European instigation.

THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

appearance of the place would find at his disposal nothing
but vague indications, from which he might draw almost

ra^ss^-*w*i :&gt;

&gt;i4S3^C*viy -t .* * ~- x * "~ . , *-jT

arampart.,\,,X ^.^i -.,,:- -. . ...--*"

^^ ^V ^mJ^f ^C&

jjoi tjeoiLounnsy - v ^- ...
kreinamB of :~-~. ;".---
rbrick Vnildintf B *-S_

fe^/^v I :

wv\ \^ez^

\\ j. *^ j. _. -

PLAN OF THE KCTNS OF BABYLON. 1

any conclusion he pleased. Palaces and temples would

1 Prepared by Thuillier, from a plan reproduced in G. BAWLINSON,
Herodotus.

THE RUINS OF BABYLON 31

take a shape in his imagination on a plan which never
entered the architect s mind; the sacred towers as they
rose would be disposed in more numerous stages than they
actually possessed ; the enclosing walls would reach such
an elevation that they must have quickly fallen under
their own weight if they had ever been carried so high :
the whole restoration, accomplished without any certain
data, embodies the concept of something vast and super
human, well befitting the city of blood and tears, cursed
by the Hebrew prophets. Babylon was, however, at the
outset, but a poor town, situated on both banks of the
Euphrates, in a low-lying, flat district, intersected by
canals and liable at times to become marshy. The river
at this point runs almost directly north and south, between
two banks of black mud, the base of which it is perpetually
undermining. As long as the city existed, the vertical
thrust of the public buildings and houses kept the river
within bounds, and even since it was finally abandoned,
the masses of debris have almost everywhere had the effect
of resisting its encroachment ; towards the north, however,
the line of its ancient quays has given way and sunk
beneath the waters, while the stream, turning its course
westwards, has transferred to the eastern bank the gardens
and mounds originally on the opposite side. E-sagilla,
the temple of the lofty summit, the sanctuary of Merodach,
probably occupied the vacant space in the depression
between the Babil and the hill of the Kasr. 1 In early

1 The temple of Merodach, called by the Greeks the temple of Belos,
has been placed on the site called Babil by the two Rawlinsons ; and by
Oppert ; Hormuzd Ilassam and Fr. Delitzsch locate it between the hill of

THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

times it must have presented much the same appearance
as the sanctuaries of Central Chaldasa : a mound of crude
brick formed the substructure of the dwellings of the
priests and the household of the god, of the shops for
the offerings and for provisions, of the treasury, and of
the apartments for purification or for sacrifice, while the
whole was surmounted by a ziggurat. On other neighbour
ing platforms rose the royal palace and the temples of
lesser divinities, 1 elevated above the crowd of private

THE KASR SEEN FROM THE SOUTH. -

habitations. The houses of the people were closely built
around these stately piles, on either side of narrow lanes.
A massive wall surrounded the whole, shutting out the
view on all sides ; it even ran along the bank of the

Junjuma and the Kasr, and considers Babil to be a palace of Nebucha
drezzar.

1 As, for instance, the temple E-temenanki on the actual hill of Amran-
ibn-Ali, the temple of Shamash, and others, which there will be occasion to
mention later on in dealing with the second Chaldrean empire.

2 Drawn by Boudier, from the engraving by Thomas in Perrot-Chipiez.

THE TELL OF BORSIPPA

Euphrates, for fear of a surprise from that quarter, and
excluded the inhabitants from the sight of their own
river. On the right bank rose a suburb, which was
promptly fortified and enlarged, so as to become a second
Babylon, almost equalling the first in extent and popula
tion. Beyond this, on the outskirts, extended gardens
and fields, finding at length their limit at the territorial

THE TELL OF BOESIPPA, THE PRESENT BIRS-NIMRUD. 1

boundaries of two other towns, Kutha and Borsippa, whose
black outlines are visible to the east and south-west re
spectively, standing isolated above the plain. Sippara on
the north, Nippur on the south, and the mysterious Agad,
completed the circle of sovereign states which so closely
hemmed in the city of Bel. We may surmise with all
probability that the history of Babylon in early times

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after the plate published in Chesney.
VOL. IV. D

34 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

resembled in the main that of the Egyptian Thebes. It
was a small seigneury in the hands of petty princes
ceaselessly at war with petty neighbours : bloody struggles,
with alternating successes and reverses, were carried on
for centuries with no decisive results, until the day came
when some more energetic or fortunate dynasty at length
crushed its rivals, and united under one rule first all the
kingdoms of Northern and finally those of Southern
Chaldasa.

The lords of Babylon had, ordinarily, a twofold function,
religious and military, the priest at first taking precedence
of the soldier, but gradually yielding to the latter as the
town increased in power. They were merely the priestly
representatives or administrators of Babel shakannaku
Babili and their authority was not considered legitimate
until officially confirmed by the god. Each ruler was
obliged to go in state to the temple of Bel Merodach
within a year of his accession : there he had to take the
hands of the divine statue, just as a vassal would do
homage to his liege, and those only of the native sovereigns
or the foreign conquerors could legally call themselves
Kings of Babylon sharru Babili who had not only
performed this rite, but renewed it annually. 1 Sargon the
Elder had lived in Babylon, and had built himself a palace

1 The meaning of the ceremony in which the kings of Babylon " took the
hands of Bel " has been given by Winckler ; Tiele compares it very aptly
with the rite performed by the Egyptian kings at Heliopolis, for example,
when they entered alone the sanctuary of Ha, and there contemplated the
god face to face. The rite was probably repeated annually, at the time
of the Zakmuku, that is, the New Year festival.

THE EUPHRATES AND MESOPOTAMIA 35

there : heace the tradition of later times attributed to this
city the glory of having been the capital of the great
empire founded by the Akkadian dynasties. The actual
sway of Babylon, though arrested to the south by the petty
states of Lower Chaldsea, had not encountered to the north
or north-west any enemy to menace seriously its progress
in that semi-fabulous period of its history. The vast plain
extending between the Euphrates and the Tigris is as it
were a continuation of the Arabian desert, and is composed
of a grey, or in parts a whitish, soil impregnated with
selenite and common salt, and irregularly superimposed
upon a bed of gypsum, from which asphalt oozes up here
and there, forming slimy pits. Frost is of rare occurrence
in winter, and rain is infrequent at any season ; the sun
soon burns up the scanty herbage which the spring showers
have encouraged, but fleshy plants successfully resist its
heat, such as the common salsola, the salsola soda, the
pallasia, a small mimosa, and a species of very fragrant
wormwood, forming together a vari-coloured vegetation
which gives shelter to the ostrich and the wild ass, and
affords the flocks of the nomads a grateful pasturage when
the autumn has set in. The Euphrates bounds these
solitudes, but without watering them. The river flows,
as far as the eye can see, between two ranges of rock
or bare hills, at the foot of which a narrow strip of alluvial
soil supports rows of date-palms intermingled here and
there with poplars, sumachs, and willows. Wherever there
is a break in the two cliffs, or where they recede from the
river, a series of shadufs takes possession of the bank, and
every inch of the soil is brought under cultivation. The

THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

aspect of the country remains unchanged as far as the
embouchure of the Khabur ; but there a black alluvial soil
replaces the saliferous clay, and if only the water were
to remain on the land in sufficient quantity, the country
would be unrivalled in the world for the abundance and

THE J5.VXKS OF THE EUHIRATES AT ZULEIBEH. 1

variety of its crops. The fields, which are regularly sown
in the neighbourhood of the small towns, yield magnificent
harvests of wheat and barley : while in the prairie-land
beyond the cultivated ground the grass grows so high that
it comes up to the horses girths. In some places the
meadows are so covered with varieties of flowers, growing
in dense masses, that the effect produced is that of a

1 Drawn by Boudier, from the plate in Chesney.

KHARRANU, OR HARRAN 37

variegated carpet; dogs sent in among them in search
of game, emerge covered with red, blue, and yellow pollen.
This fragrant prairie-land is the delight of bees, which
produce excellent and abundant honey, while the vine and
olive find there a congenial soil. The population was
unequally distributed in this region. Some half-savage
tribes were accustomed to wander over the plain, dwelling
in tents, and supporting life by the chase and by the
rearing of cattle; but the bulk of the inhabitants were
concentrated around the affluents of the Euphrates and
Tigris, or at the foot of the northern mountains wherever
springs could be found, as in Assur, Singar, Nisibis, Tilli, 1
Kharranu, and in all the small fortified towns and nameless
townlets whose ruins are scattered over the tract of country
between the Khahur and the Balikh. Kharranu, or Harran,
stood, like an advance guard of Chaldsean civilization, near
the frontiers of Syria and Asia Minor. 2 To the north it
commanded the passes which opened on to the basins of
the Upper Euphrates and Tigris; it protected the roads
leading to the east and south-east in the direction of the
table-land of Iran and the Persian Gulf, and it was the
key to the route by which the commerce of Babylon
reached the countries lying around the Mediterranean.
We have no means of knowing what affinities as regards

Tilli, the only one of these towns mentioned with any certainty in the
inscriptions of the first Chaldsean empire, is the Tela of classical authors, and
probably the present Weranshaher, near the sources of the Balikh.

1 Kharranu was identified by the earlier Assyriologists with the Harran
of the Hebrews (Gen, v. 12), the Carrhaj of classical authors, and this
identification is still generally accepted.

38 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

origin or race connected it with Uru, but the same rnoon-
god presided over the destinies of both towns, and the
Sin of Harran enjoyed in very early times a renown nearly
equal to that of his namesake. He was worshipped under
the symbol of a conical stone, probably an aerolite, sur
mounted by a gilded crescent, and the ground-plan of the
town roughly described a crescent-shaped curve in honour
of its patron. His cult, even down to late times, was
connected with cruel practices ; generations after the
advent to power of the Abbasside caliphs, his faithful
worshippers continued to sacrifice to him human victims,
whose heads, prepared according to the ancient rite, were
accustomed to give oracular responses. 1 The government
of the surrounding country was in the hands of princes
who were merely vicegerents : 2 Chaldsean civilization before
the beginnings of history had more or less laid hold of
them, and made them willing subjects to the kings of

Babylon. 3

These sovereigns were probably at the outset some
what obscure personages, without much prestige, being
sometimes independent and sometimes subject to the

1 Without seeking to specify exactly which were the doctrines introduced
into Harranian religion subsequently to the Christian era, we may yet
affirm that the base of this system of faith was merely a very distorted form
of the ancient Chaldsean worship practised in the town.

2 Only one vicegerent of Mesopotamia is known at present, and he belongs
to the Assyrian epoch. His seal is preserved in the British Museum.

3 The importance of Harran in the development of the history of
first Chaldean empire was pointed out by Winckler ; but the theory accord-
in" to which this town was the capital of the kingdom, called by
Chaldean and Assyrian scribes " the kingdom of the world/ is justly &lt;
bated by Tiele.

THE FIRST BABYLOXIAN DYNASTY 39

rulers of neighbouring states, among others to those of
Agade. In later times, when Babylon had attained to
universal power, and it was desired to furnish her kings
with a continuous history, the names of these earlier rulers
were sought out, and added to those of such foreign princes
as had from time to time enjoyed the sovereignty over them
thus forming an interminable list which for materials
and authenticity would well compare with that of the
Thinite Pharaohs. This list has come down to us in
complete, and its remains do not permit of our determin
ing the exact order of reigns, or the status of the
individuals who composed it. We find in it, in the
period immediately subsequent to the Deluge, mention
of mythical heroes, followed by names which are still
semi-legendary, such as Sargon the Elder ; the princes
of the series were, however, for the most part real beings,
whose memories had been preserved by tradition, or whose
monuments were still existing in certain localities. To
wards the end of the XXV th century before our era,
however, a dynasty rose into power of which all the
members come within the range of history. 1 The first

1 This dynasty, which is known to us in its entirety by the two lists of
G. Smith and by Pinches, was legitimately composed of only eleven kings,
and was known as the Babylonian dynasty, although Sayce suspects it to be
of Arabian origin. It is composed as follows :

I. SuMDABlM . 15 2416-2401

II. SuMULAlLU . 35 2401-2366

III. ZABUM 14 2366-2352

VI. KHAMMURABI. 55 2304-2249
VII. SAMSU!LUNA . 35 2249-2214
VIII. ABESHUKH . 25 2214-2189
IX. AMMISATAXA . 25 2189-2164

[Jmmerw]

IV. ABILSIN . . 18 2352-2334 ! X. AMMIZADTJGGA 21 2164-2143
V. SIXMUBALLIT . 30 2334-2304 XL SAMSUSATANA . 31 2143-2112

The dates of this dynasty are not fixed with entire certainty. Hommel

40 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

of them, Sumuabim, has left us some contracts bearing
the dates of one or other of the fifteen years of his reign,
and documents of public or private interest abound in
proportion as we follow down the line of his successors.
Sumulailu, who reigned after him, was only distantly
related to his predecessor ; but from Sumulailu to Sam-
shusatana the kingly power was transmitted from father
to son without a break for nine generations, if we may
credit the testimony of the official lists. 1 Contemporary
records, however, prove that the course of affairs did not
always run so smoothly. They betray the existence of
at least one usurper Immeru who, even if he did not
assume the royal titles, enjoyed the supreme power for
several years between the reigns of Zabu and Abilsin.
The lives of these rulers closely resembled those of their
contemporaries of Southern Chaldaea. They dredged the
ancient canals, or constructed new ones; they restored
the walls of their fortresses, or built fresh strongholds on

believes that the order of the dynasties has been reversed, and that the first
upon the lists we possess was historically the second ; he thus places the
Babylonian dynasty between 2035 and 1731 B.C. His opinion has not been
generally adopted, but every Assyriologist dealing with this period proposes
a different date for the reigns in this dynasty ; to take only one characteristic
example, Khammurabi is placed by Oppert in the year 2394-2339, by
Delitzsch-Miirdter in 2287-2232, by Winckler in 2264-2210, and by Peiser
in 2139-2084, and by Carl Niebuhr in 2081-2026.

1 Simulailu, also written Samu-la-ilu, whom Mr. Pinches has found in a
contract tablet associated with Pungunila as king, was not the son of
Sumuabim, since the lists do not mention him as such ; he must, however,
have been connected with some sort of relationship, or by marriage, with his
predecessor, since both are placed in the same dynasty. A few contracts of
Sumulailu are given by Meissner. Samsuiluna calls him " my forefather
(d-gula-mu), the fifth king before me."

KINGS ANTERIOR TO KHAMMURABI 41

the frontier ; l they religiously kept the festivals of the
divinities belonging to their terrestrial domain, to whom
they annually rendered solemn homage. They repaired
the temples as a matter of course, and enriched them
according to their means ; we even know that Zabu, the
third in order of the line of sovereigns, occupied himself
in building the sanctuary Eulbar of Anunit, in Sippara.
There is evidence that they possessed the small neighbour
ing kingdoms of Kishu, Sippara, and Kuta, and that they
had consolidated them into a single state, of which Babylon
was the capital. To the south their possessions touched
upon those of the kings of Uru, but the frontier was con
stantly shifting, so that at one time an important city such
as Nippur belonged to them, while at another it fell under
the dominion of the southern provinces. Perpetual war was
waged in the narrow borderland which separated the two
rival states, resulting apparently in the balance of power
being kept tolerably equal between them under the
immediate successors of Sumuabim 2 - -the obscure Sumu-
lailu, Zabum, the usurper Immeru, Abilsin and Sinmuballit
until the reign of Khammurabi (the son of Sinmuballit),
who finally made it incline to his side. 3 The struggle in

1 Sumulailu had built six such large strongholds of brick, which were
repaired by Samsuiluna five generations later. A contract of Sinmuballit is
dated the year in which he built the great wall of a strong place, the name
of which is unfortunately illegible on the fragment which we possess.

2 None of these facts are as yet historically proved : we may, however,
conjecture with some probability what was the general state of things, when
we remember that the first kings of Babylon were contemporaries of the last
independent sovereigns of Southern Chaldsea.

3 The name of this prince has been read in several ways Hammurabi,
Khammurabi, by the earlier Assyriologists, subsequently Hamoiuragash,

42 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

which he was engaged, and which, after many vicissitudes,
he brought to a successful issue, was the more decisive,
since he had to contend against a skilful and energetic
adversary who had considerable forces at his disposal.
Kirnsin 1 was, in reality, of Elamite race, and as he held
the province of Yarnutbal in appanage, he was enabled to
muster, in addition to his Chaldaaan battalions, the army
of foreigners who had conquered the maritime regions at
the mouth of the Tigris and the Euphrates.

It was not the first time that Elam had audaciously

Khammuragash, as being of Elamite or Cosssean extraction : the reading
Khammurabi is at present the prevailing one. The bilingual list published
by Pinches makes Khammurabi an equivalent of the Semitic names Kimta-
rapashtum. Hence Halevy concluded that Khammurabi was a series of
ideograms, and that Kimtarapashtum was the true reading of the name ;
his proposal, partially admitted by Hommel, furnishes us with a mixed
reading of Khammurapaltu, Amraphel. [Hommel is now convinced of the
identity of the Amraphel of Gen. xiv. 1 with Khammurabi. TK.] Sayce,
moreover, adopts the reading Khammurabi, and assigns to him an Arabian
origin. The part played by this prince was pointed out at an early date by
Menant. Recent discoveries have shown the important share which he had
in developing the Chaldasan empii*e, and have, increased his reputation with
Assyriologists.

1 The name of this king has been the theme of heated discussions : it
was at first pronounced Aradsin, Ardusin, or Zikarsin ; it is now read in
several different ways Rimsin, or Eriaku, Riaku, Rimagu. Others have
made a distinction between the two forms, and have made out of them the
names of two different kings. They are all variants of the same name. I
have adopted the form Rimsin, which is preferred by a few Assyriologists.
[The tablets recently discovered by Mr. Pinches, referring to Kudur-lagamar
and Tudkhula, which he has published in a Paper read before the Victoria
Institute, Jan. 20, 1896, have shown that the true reading is Eri-Aku. The
Elamite name Eri-Aku, " servant of the moon-god," was changed by some
of his subjects into the Babylonian Rim-Sin, " Have mercy, O Moon-god ! "
just as Abesukh, the Hebrew Absihu a (" the father of welfare ") was trans
formed into the Babylonian Ebisum ("the actor"). ED.]

THE CLIMATE AND RIVERS OF ELAM 43

interfered in the affairs of her neighbours. In fabulous
times, one of her mythical kings Khumbaba the Ferocious
had oppressed Uruk, and Gilgames with all his valour
was barely able to deliver the town. Sargon the Elder
is credited with having subdued Elam ; the kings and
vicegerents of Lagash, as well as those of Uru and Larsam,
had measured forces with Anshan, but with no decisive
issue. From time to time they obtained an advantage,
and we find recorded in the annals victories gained by
Gudea, Ine-sin, or Bursin, but to be followed only by
fresh reverses ; at the close of such campaigns, and in
order to seal the ensuing peace, a princess of Susa would
be sent as a bride to one of the Chaldean cities, or a
Chaldean lady of royal birth would enter the harem of
a king of Anshan. Elam was protected along the course
of the Tigris and on the shores of the Nar-Marratum by
a wide marshy region, impassable except at a few fixed
and easily defended places. The alluvial plain extending
behind the marshes was as rich and fertile as that of
Chaldaea. Wheat and barley ordinarily yielded an hundred
and at times two hundredfold ; the towns were surrounded
by a shadeless belt of palms ; the almond, fig, acacia,
poplar, and willow extended in narrow belts along the
rivers edge. The climate closely resembles that of
Chaldsea : if the midday heat in summer is more pitiless,
it is at least tempered by more frequent east winds. The
ground, however, soon begins to rise, ascending gradually
towards the north-east. The distant and uniform line of
mountain-peaks grows loftier on the approach of the
traveller, and the hills begin to appear one behind another,

44 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

clothed halfway up with thick forests, but bare on their
summits, or scantily covered with meagre vegetation.
They comprise, in fact, six or seven parallel ranges,
resembling natural ramparts piled up between the country
of the Tigris and the table-land of Iran. The intervening
valleys were formerly lakes, having had for the most
part no communication with each other and no outlet
into the sea. In the course of centuries they had dried
up, leaving a thick deposit of mud in the hollows of their
ancient beds, from which sprang luxurious and abundant
harvests. The rivers the Uknu, 1 the Ididi, 2 and the
Ulai 3 which water this region are, on reaching more
level ground, connected by canals, and are constantly
shifting their beds in. the light soil of the Susian plain :
they soon attain a width equal to that of the Euphrates,
but after a short time lose half their volume in swamps,
and empty themselves at the present day into the Shatt-
el-Arab. They flowed formerly into that part of the
Persian Gulf which extended as far as Kornah, and "the
sea thus formed the southern frontier of the kingdom.

From earliest times this country was inhabited by
three distinct peoples, whose descendants may still be

1 The Uknu is the Kerkhah of the present day, the Choaspes of the
Greeks.

2 The Ididi was at first identified with the ancient Pasitigris, which
.scholars then desired to distinguish from the Eulseos : it is now known to be
the arm of the Karun which runs to Dizful, the Koprates of classical times,
which has sometimes been confounded with the Eulaeos.

3 The Ulai, mentioned in the Hebrew texts (Dan. viii. 2, 16), the Eulseos
of classical writers, also called Pasitigris. It is the Karun of the present
day, until its confluence with the Shaur, and subsequently the Shaur itself,
which waters the foot of the Susian hills.

MAP OF CHALD^A AXD ELAM

distinguished at the present day, and although they have
dwindled in numbers and become mixed with elements of
more recent origin, the resemblance to their forefathers is

CHALDJtA, ELAM,
ASSYRIA.

MAP OF CHALDJEA AN D ELAM.

still very remarkable. There were, in the first place, the
short and robust people of well-knit figure, with brown

THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

skins, black hair and eyes, who belonged to that negritic
race which inhabited a considerable part of Asia in pre
historic times. 1 These prevailed in the lowlands and the

valleys, where the warm,

AX ANCIENT SUSIAN OF NEGRITIC RACE. 3

damp climate favoured
their development ; but
they also spread into the
mountain region, and
had pushed their out
posts as far as the first
slopes of the Iranian
table-land. They there
came into contact with
a white-skinned people
of medium height, who
were probably allied to
the nations of Northern
and Central Asia to
the Scythians, for in
stance, if it is permissi
ble to use a vague
term employed by the
Ancients. 2 Semites of

1 The connection of the negroid type of Susians with the negritic races
of India and Oceania, has been proved, in the course of M. Dieulafoy s
expedition to the Susian plains and the ancient provinces of Elam.

2 This last-mentioned people is, by some authors, for reasons which, so
far, can hardly be considered conclusive, connected with the so-called
Sumerian race, which we find settled in Chaldaea. They are said to have
been the first to employ horses and chariots in warfare.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief of Sargon II. in the Louvre.

THE PEOPLES AND THE CITIES OF ELAM

the same stock as those of Chaldaea pushed forward as far as
the east bank of the Tigris, and settling mainly among the
marshes led a precarious life by
fishing and pillaging. 1 The
country of the plain was called
Anzan, or Ansh&n, 2 and the
mountain region Num-
ma, or Ilamma, " the
high lands : these
two names were sub
sequently used to de
note the whole country,

S t

1 From the earliest times we
meet beyond the Tigris with

vi iU C T&gt; -l c NATIVE OF MIXED NEGUITIC RACE FROM

names like that of Durilu, a fact

,, . , , SUSIANA. 3

which proves the existence or races

speaking a Semitic dialect in the countries under the suzerainty of the King of
Elam : in the last days of the Chaldaean empire they had assumed such impor
tance that the Hebrews made out Elam to be one of the sons of Shem(6?en.x.22).

2 Anzan, Anshan, and, by assimilation of the nasal with the sibilant,
Ashsban. This name has already been mentioned in the inscriptions of the
kings and vicegerents of Lagash and in the Book of Prophecies of the ancient
Chaldsean astronomers ; it also occurs in the royal preamble of Cyrus and
his ancestors, who like him were styled " kings of Anshan." It had been
applied to the whole country of Elam, and afterwards to Persia. Some are
of opinion that it was the name of a part of Elam, viz. that inhabited by
the Turanian Medes who spoke the second language of the Achaemenian
inscriptions, the eastern half, bounded by the Tigris and the Persian Gulf,
consisting of a flat and swampy land. These differences of opinion gave rise
to a heated controversy ; it is now, however, pretty generally admitted that
Anzan- Anshan was really the plain of Elam, from the mountains to the sea,
and one set of authorities affirms that the word Anzan may have meant
" plain" in the language of the country, while others hesitate as yet to pro
nounce definitely on this point.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph furnished by Marcel
Dieulafoy.

48 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

and Ilamma has survived in the Hebrew word Elam. 1
Susa, the most important and flourishing town in the
kingdom, was situated between the Ulal and the Ididi,
some twenty-five or thirty miles from the nearest of the
mountain ranges. Its fortress and palace were raised

THE TUMULUS OF SUSA, AS IT APPEARED TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF THE

XIX th CENTURY. 2

upon the slopes of a mound which overlooked the surround
ing country : 3 at its base, to the eastward, stretched the

1 The meaning of " Numma," "Ilamma," " Ilamtu," in the group of
words used to indicate Elam, had been recognised even by the earliest
Assyriologists ; the name originally referred to the hilly country on the
north and east of Susa. To the Hebrews, Elam was one of the sons of Shem
(Gen. x. 22). The Greek form of the name is Elymais, and some of the
classical geographers were well enough acquainted with the meaning of the
word to be able to distinguish the region to which it referred from Susiana
proper.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after a plate in Chesney.

3 Susa, in the language of the country, was called Shushun ; this name
was transliterated into Chaldseo- Assyrian, by Shushan, Shushi.

THE LANGUAGE AND THE GODS OF EL AM 49

town, with its houses of sun-dried bricks. 1 Further up the
course of the Uknu, lay the following cities : Madaktu,
the Badaca of classical authors, 2 rivalling Susa in strength
and importance; Naditu,* Til-Khumba, 4 Dur-Undash, 5
Khaidalu. 6 all large walled towns, most of which assumed
the title of royal cities. Elam in reality constituted a
kind of feudal empire, composed of several tribes the
Habardip, the Khushshi, the Umliyash, the people of
Yanmtbal and of Yatbur 7 all independent of each other,
but often united under the authority of one sovereign, who
as a rule chose Susa as the seat of government. The

1 Strabo tells us, on the authority of Polycletus, that the town had no
walls in the time of Alexander, and extended over a space two hundred
stadia in length ; in the VII th century B c. it was enclosed by walls with
bastions, which are shown on a bas-relief of Assurbanipal, but it was sur
rounded by unfortified suburbs.

2 Madaktu, Mataktu, the Badaka of Diodorus, situated on the Eulseos,
between Susa and Ecbatana, has been placed by Rawlinson near the
bifurcation of the Kerkhah, either at Paipul or near Aiwan-i-Kherkah, where
there are some rather important and ancient ruins ; Eillerbeck prefers to
put it at the mouth of the valley of Zal-fer, on the site at present occupied
by the citadel of Kala-i-Riza.

3 Naditu is identified by Finzi with the village of Natanzah, near Ispa
han ; it ought rather to be looked for in the neighbourhood of Sarna.

4 Til-Khumba, the Mound of Khumba, so named after one of the principal
Elamite gods, was, perhaps, situated among the ruins of Budbar, towards
the confluence of the Ab-i-Kirind and Kerkhah, or possibly higher up in the
mountain, in the vicinity of Asmanabad.

5 Dur-Undash, Dur-Undasi, has been identified, without absolutely
conclusive reason, with the fortress of Kala-i-Dis on the Disful-Rud.

6 Khaidalu, Khidalu, is perhaps the present fortress of Dis-Malkan.

7 The countries of Yatbur and Yamutbal extended into the plain between
the marshes of the Tigris and the mountain ; the town of Durilu was near
the Yamutbal region, if not in that country itself. Umliyash lay between
the Uknu and the Tigris.

VOL. IV. E

THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

language is not represented by any idioms now spoken, and
its affinities with the Sumerian which some writers have

attempted to establish, are too
uncertain to make it safe to base
any theory upon them. 1 The little
that we know of Elamite religion
reveals to us a mysterious world,
full of strange names and vague
forms. Over their hierarchy there
presided a deity who was called
Shushinak (the
Susian), Dimesh or
Samesh, Dagbag, As-
siga, Adaene, and
possibly Khumba and
Umman, whom the
Chaldaeans identified

1 A great part of the
Husian inscriptions have
been collected by Fr.
Lenormant. An attempt
has been made to identify
the language in which

AN ELAMITE GODDESS, ANSWERING TO THE
CHALDEAN ISI1TAK. 3

they are written with the Sumero-accadian, and authorities now generally
agree in considering the Archsemenian inscriptions of the second type as
representative of its modern form. Hommel connects it with Georgian, and
includes it in a great linguistic family, which comprises, besides these two
idioms, the Hittite, the Cappadocian, the Armenian of the Van inscriptions,
and the Cossjean. Oppert claims to have discovered on a tablet in the
British Museum a list of words belonging to one of the idioms (probably
Semitic) of Susiana, which differs alike from the Suso-Medic and the
Assyrian.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief in Layard.

THE ELAMITE RELIGIOX 51

with their god Ninip ; his statue was concealed in a
sanctuary inaccessible to the profane, but it was dragged
from thence by Assurbanipal of Nineveh in the VII th
century B.C. 1 This deity was associated with six others of
the first rank, who were divided into two triads Shumudu,
Lagamaru, Partikira ; Ammankasibar, Uduran, and Sapak :
of these names, the least repellent, Ammankasibar, may
possibly be the Memnon of the Greeks. The dwelling of
these divinities was near Susa, in the depths of a sacred
forest to which the priests and kings alone had access :
their images were brought out on certain days to receive
solemn homage, and were afterwards carried back to their
shrine accompanied by a devout and reverent multitude.
These deities received a tenth of the spoil after any
successful campaign the offerings comprising statues of
the enemies gods, valuable vases, ingots of gold and silver,
furniture, and stuffs. The Elamite armies were .well
organized, and under a skilful general became irresistible.
In other respects the Elamites closely resembled the
Chaldaeans, pursuing the same industries and having the
same agricultural and commercial instincts. In the absence
of any bas-reliefs and inscriptions peculiar to this people,
we may glean from the monuments of Lagash and

1 ShnshinaJc is an adjective derived from the name of the town of Susa.
The real name of the god was probably kept secret and rarely uttered. The
names which appear by the side of Shushinak in the text published by H.
Rawlinson, as equivalents of the Babylonian Ninip, perhaps represent different
deities ; we may well ask whether the deity may not be the Khumba,
Umma, Umman, who recurs so frequently in the names of men and places,
and who has hitherto never been met with alone in any formula or dedica
tory tablet.

52 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

Babylon a fair idea of the extent of their civilization in its
earliest stages.

The cities of the Euphrates, therefore, could have been
sensible of but little change, when the chances of war
transferred them from the rule of their native princes to
that of an Elamite. The struggle once over, and the
resulting evils repaired as far as practicable, the people of
these towns resumed their usual ways, hardly conscious
of the presence of their foreign ruler. The victors, for
their part, became assimilated so rapidly with the vanquished,
that at the close of a generation or so the conquering
dynasty was regarded as a legitimate and national one,
loyally attached to the traditions and religion of its adopted
country. In the year 2285 B.C., towards the close of the
reign of Nurramman, or in the earlier part of that of
Siniddinam, a King of Elam, by name Kudur-nakhunta,
triumphantly marched through Chaldasa from end to end,
devastating the country and sparing neither town nor
temple : Uruk lost its statue of Nana, which was carried
off as a trophy and placed in the sanctuary of Susa. The
inhabitants long mourned the detention of their goddess,
and a hymn of lamentation, probably composed for the
occasion by one of their priests, kept the remembrance of
the disaster fresh in their memories. " Until when, oh
lady, shall the impious enemy ravage the country! In
thy queen-city, Uruk, the destruction is accomplished,
in Eulbar, the temple of thy oracle, blood has flowed like
water, upon the whole of thy lands has he poured out
flame, and it is spread abroad like smoke. Oh, lady, verily
it is hard for me to bend under the yoke of misfortune !-

KUDUBrNAKHUNTA TRIUMPHANT 53

Oh, lady, thou hast wrapped me about, thou hast plunged
ine, in sorrow ! The impious mighty one has broken me
in pieces like a reed, and I know not what to resolve,
I trust not in myself, like a bed of reeds I sigh day and
night ! I, thy servant, I bow myself before thee ! It
would appear that the whole of Chaldaea, including Babylon
itself, was forced to acknowledge the supremacy of the
invader ; 1 a Susian empire thus absorbed Chaldaea, reducing
its states to feudal provinces, and its princes to humble
vassals. Kudur-nakhunta having departed, the people of
Larsa exerted themselves to the utmost to repair the harm
that he had done, and they succeeded but too well, since
their very prosperity was the cause only a short time after
of the outburst of another storm. Siniddinam, perhaps,
desired to shake off the Elamite yoke. Simtishilkhak, one
of the successors of Kudur-nakhunta, had conceded the
principality of Yamutbal as a fief to Kudur-mabug, one of
his sons. Kudur-mabug appears to have been a conqueror
of no mean ability, for he claims, in his inscriptions, the
possession of the whole of Syria. 2 He obtained a victory

1 The submission of Babylon is evident from the title Adda Martu,
" sovereign of the West," assumed by several of the Elamite princes (cf. p.
65 of the present work) : in order to extend his authority beyond the
Euphrates, it was necessary for the King of Elam to be Urst of all master of
Babylon. In the early days of Assyriology it was supposed that this period
of Elamite supremacy coincided with the Median dynasty of Berosus.

2 His preamble contains the titles adda Martu, " prince of Syria ; " addct
lamutbal, "prince of Yamutbal." The word adda seems properly to mean
"father," and the literal translation of the full title would probably be
"father of Syria," "father of Yamutbal," whence the secondary meanings
" master, lord, prince," which have been provisionally accepted by most
Assyriologists. Tiele, and Winckler after him, have suggested that Martu

54 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

over Siniddinam, and having dethroned him, placed the
administration of the kingdom in the hands of his own
son Eimsin. This prince, who was at first a feudatory,
afterwards associated in the government with his father,
and finally sole monarch after the latter s death, married
a princess of Chaldsean blood, and by this means legiti
matized his usurpation in the eyes of his subjects. His
domain, which lay on both sides of the Tigris and of the
Euphrates, comprised, besides the principality of Yamutbal,
all the towns dependent on Sumer and Accad Uru, Larsa,
Uruk, and Nippur, He acquitted himself as a good
sovereign in the sight of gods and men : he repaired the
brickwork in the temple of Nannar at Uru ; he embellished
the temple of Shamash at Larsa, and caused two statues
of copper to be cast in honour of the god ; he also rebuilt
Lagash and Girsu. The city of Uruk had been left a heap
of ruins after the withdrawal of Kudur-nakhunta : he set
about the work of restoration, constructed a sanctuary to
Papsukal, raised the ziggurat of Nana, and consecrated
to the goddess an entire set of temple furniture to replace
that carried off by the Elamites. He won the adhesion of
the priests by piously augmenting their revenues, and
throughout his reign displayed remarkable energy. Docu
ments exist which attribute to him the reduction of Durilu,
on the borders of Elam and the Chaldcean states ; others
contain discreet allusions to a perverse enemy who dis
turbed his peace in the north, and whom he successfully

is here equivalent to Yamutbal, and that it was merely used to indicate the
western part of Elam ; Winckler afterwards rejected this hypothesis, and
has come round to the general opinion.

RIMSIN AND KHAMMURABI 55

repulsed. He drove Sinrnuballit out of Ishin, and this
victory so forcibly impressed his contemporaries, that they
made it the starting-point of a new semi-official era ;
twenty-eight years after the event, private contracts still
continued to be dated by reference to the taking of Ishin.
Sinmuballit s son, Khammurabi, was more fortunate. Eim-
sin vainly appealed for help against him to his relative and
suzerain Kudur-lagamar, who had succeeded Simtishilkhak
at Susa. Rimsin was defeated, and disappeared from the
scene of action, leaving no trace behind him, though we
may infer that he took refuge in his fief of Yamutbal.
The conquest by Khammurabi was by no means achieved
at one blow, the enemy offering an obstinate resistance.
He was forced to destroy several fortresses, the inhabitants
of which had either risen against him or had refused to do
him homage, among them being those of Melr 1 and Malgu.
When the last revolt had been put down, all the countries
speaking the language of Chaldsa and sharing its civiliza
tion were finally united into a single kingdom, of which
Khammurabi proclaimed himself the head. Other princes
who had preceded him had enjoyed the same opportunities,
but their efforts had never been successful in establishing
an empire of any duration ; the various elements had been
bound together for a moment, merely to be dispersed again
after a short interval. The work of Khammurabi, on the
contrary, was placed on a solid foundation, and remained

1 Mairu, Meir, has been identified with Shurippak but it is, rather, the
town of Mar, now Tell-Id. A and Lagamal, the Elamite Lagainar, were
worshipped tbere. It was the seat of a linen manufacture, and possessed
large shipping.

56 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

unimpaired under his successors. Not only did he hold
sway without a rival in the south as in the north, but the
titles indicating the rights he had acquired over Sumer and
Accad were inserted in his Protocol after those denoting
his hereditary possessions, the city of Bel and the four
houses of the world. Khammurabi s victory marks the
close of those long centuries of gradual evolution during
which the peoples of the Lower Euphrates passed from
division to unity. Before his reign there had been as
many states as cities, and as many dynasties as there were
states ; after him there was but one kingdom under one
line of kings.

Khammurabi s long reign of fifty-five years has hitherto
yielded us but a small number of monuments seals, heads
of sceptres, alabaster vases, and pompous inscriptions,
scarcely any of them being of historical interest. He was
famous for the number of his campaigns, no details of
which, however, have come to light, but the dedication of
one of his statues celebrates his good fortune on the battle
field. " Bel has lent thee sovereign majesty : thou, what
awaitest thou? Sin has lent thee royalty: thou, what
awaitest thou ? Ninip has lent thee his supreme weapon :
thou, what awaitest thou? The goddess of light, Ishtar,
has lent thee the shock of arms and the fray : thou, what
awaitest thou ? Shamash and Eamman are thy vaiiets :
thou, what awaitest thou ? It is Khammurabi, the king,
the powerful chieftain who cuts the enemies in pieces, -
the whirlwind of battle who overthrows the country of
the rebels who stays combats, who crushes rebellions,
who destroys the stubborn like images of clay, who

THE CONSTRUCTIONS OF KHAMMURABI

overcomes the obstacles of inaccessible mountains." The
majority of these expeditions were, no doubt, consequent
on the victory which destroyed the power of Eimsin. It
would not have sufficed merely to drive back the Elamites
beyond the Tigris ; it was necessary to strike a blow within
their own territory to avoid a recurrence of hostilities,
which might have endangered the still recent work of
conquest. Here, again, Khammurabi seerns to have met
with his habitual success. Ashnunak was a border district,
and shared the fate of all the
provinces on the eastern bank
of the Tigris, being held
sometimes by Elam and
sometimes by ChaldaBa ;
properly speaking, it was
a country of Semitic speech,
and was governed by viceroys
owning allegiance, now to Baby
lon, now to Susa. 1 Khammurabi
seized this province, and per
manently secured its frontier

by building along the river a line of fortresses sur
rounded by earthworks. Following the example of his
predecessors, he set himself to restore and enrich the
f

1 Pognon discovered inscriptions of four of the vicegerents of Ashnunak,
which he assigns, with some hesitation, to the time of Khammurabi, rather
than to that of the kings of Telloh. Three of these names are Semitic,
the fourth Sumerian ; the language of the inscriptions bears a resemblance
to the Semitic dialect of Chaldaea.

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a rapid sketch made at the British
Museum.

HEAD OF A SCEPTRE IN T COPPER,
HEARING THE NAME OF KHAM
MURABI. 2

58 THE FIRST CHALD^EAX EMPIRE

temples. The house of Zamama and Niuni, at Kish, was
out of repair, and the ziggurat threatened to fall ; he pulled
it down and rebuilt it, carrying it to such a height that
its summit " reached the heavens." Merodach had
delegated to him the government of the faithful, and
had raised him to the rank of supreme ruler over the
whole of Chaldaea. At Babylon, close to the great lake
which served as a reservoir for the overflow of the
Euphrates, the king restored the sanctuary of Esagilla,
the dimensions of which did not appear to him to be
proportionate to the growing importance of the city. He
completed this divine dwelling with great joy and delight,
he raised the summit to the firmament," and then en
throned Merodach and his spouse, Zarpanit, within it,
amid great festivities. He provided for the ever-recurring
requirements of the national religion by frequent gifts;
the tradition has come down to us of the granary for
wheat which he built at Babylon, the sight of which
alone rejoiced the heart of the god. While surrounding
Sippar with a great wall and a fosse, to protect its earthly
inhabitants, he did not forget Shamash and Malkatu, the
celestial patrons of the town. He enlarged in their honour
the mysterious Ebarra, the sacred seat of their worship,
and "that which no king from the earliest times had
known how to build for his divine master, that did he
generously for Shamash his master. He restored Ezida,
the eternal dwelling of Merodach, at Borsippa; Eturka-
lamma, the temple of Anu, Ninni, and Nana, the suzerains
of Kish ; and also Ezikalamma, the house of the goddess
Ninna, in the village of Zarilab. In the southern

THE SYSTEM OF CANALIZATION 59

provinces, but recently added to the crown, at Larsa,
Uruk, and Uru, lie displayed similar activity. He had,
doubtless, a political as well as a religious motive in all
he did ; for if he succeeded in winning the allegiance of
the priests by the prodigality of his pious gifts, he could
count on their gratitude in securing
for him the people s obedience,
and thus prevent the outbreak
of a revolt. He had, indeed,
before him a difficult task in
attempting to allay the ills which
had been growing during centuries
of civil discord and foreign conquest.
The irrigation of the country de
manded constant attention, and from
earliest times its sovereigns had di
rected the work with real solicitude
but owing to the breaking up of the country
into small states, their respective resources
could not be combined in such general FRAGMENT OF A

CLAY SEAL OF

operations as were needed for controlling the KimmuKAm. 1
inundations and effectually remedying the
excess or the scarcity of water. Khammurabi witnessed
the damage done to the whole province of Umliyash by
one of those terrible floods which still sometimes ravage
the regions of the Lower Tigris, 2 and possibly it may have

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph published by Hilprecht.
2 Contracts dated the year of an inundation which laid waste Umliyash ;
cf. in our own time, the inundation of April 10, 1831, which in a single night
destroyed half the city of Bagdad, and in which fifteen thousand persons lost
their lives either by drowning or by the collapse of their houses.

60 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

been to prevent the recurrence of such a disaster that he
undertook the work of canalization. He was the first that
we know of who attempted to organize and reduce to a
single system the complicated network of ditches and
channels which intersected the territory belonging to the
great cities between Babylon and the sea. Already, more
than half a century previously, Siniddinam had enlarged
the canal on which Larsa was situated, while Kimsin
had provided an outlet for the " Eiver of the Gods into
the Persian Gulf : l by the junction of the two a navigable
channel was formed between the Euphrates and the
marshes, and an outlet was thus made for the surplus
waters of the inundation. Khammurabi informs us how
Anu and Bel, having confided to him the government of
Sumer and Accad, and having placed in his hands the
reins of power, he dug the Nar-Khammurabi, the source
of wealth to the people, which brings abundance of water
to the country of Sumir and Accad. "I turned both
its banks into cultivated ground, I heaped up mounds of
grain and I furnished perpetual water for the people of
Sumir and Accad. The country of Sumer and Accad,
I gathered together its nations who were scattered, I
gave them pasture and drink, I ruled over them in riches
and abundance, I caused them to inhabit a peaceful
dwelling-place. Then it was that Khammurabi, the
powerful king, the favourite of the great gods, I myself,
according to the prodigious strength with which Merodach

1 Contract dated " the year the Tigris, river of the gods, was canalized
down to the sea" ; i.e. as far as the point to which the sea then penetrated
in the environs of Kornah.

THE SYSTEM OF CANALIZATION 61

had endued me, I constructed a high fortress, upon mounds
of earth ; its summit rises to the height of the mountains,
at the head of the Nar-Khammurabi, the source of wealth
to the people. This fortress I called Dur-Sinmuballit-abim-
ualidiya, the Fortress of Sinmuballit, the father who begat
me, so that the name of Sinmuballit, the father who begat
me, may endure in the habitations of the world." This
canal of Khammurabi ran from a little south of Babylon,
joining those of Siniddinam and Kimsin, and probably
cutting the alluvial plain in its entire length. 1 It drained
the stagnant marshes on either side along its course, and
by its fertilising effects, the dwellers on its banks were
enabled to reap full harvests from the lands which pre
viously had been useless for purposes of cultivation. A
ditch of minor importance pierced the isthmus which
separates the Tigris and the Euphrates in the neighbour
hood of Sippar. 2 Khammurabi did not rest contented with
these ; a system of secondary canals doubtless completed
the whole scheme of irrigation which he had planned after
the achievement of his conquest, and his successors had
merely to keep up his work in order to ensure an unrivalled
prosperity to the empire.

1 Delattre is of opinion that the canal dug by Khammurabi is the
Arakhtu of later epochs which began at Babylon and extended as far as the
Larsa canal. It must therefore be approximately identified with the Shatt-
en-Nil of the present day, which joins Shatt-el-Kaher, the canal of Sinid
dinam.

2 The canal which Khammurabi caused to be dug or dredged may be the
Nar-Malka, or " royal canal," which ran from the Tigris to the Euphrates,
passing Sippar on the way. The digging of this canal is mentioned in a
contract.

62 THE FIEST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

Their efforts in this direction were not unsuccessful.
Samsuiluna, the son of Khammurabi, added to the existing
system two or three fresh canals, one at least of which still
bore his name nearly fifteen centuries later ; it is mentioned
in the documents of the second Assyrian empire in the
time of Assurbanipal, and it is possible that traces of it
may still be found at the present day. Abieshukh, 1
Ammisatana, 2 Ammizadugga, 3 and Samsusatana, 4 all either
continued to elaborate the network planned by their
ancestors, or applied themselves to the better distribution
of the overflow in those districts where cultivation was
still open to improvement. We should know nothing of
these kings had not the scribes of those times been in the
habit of dating the contracts of private individuals by
reference to important national events. They appear
to have chosen by preference incidents in the religious life
of the country; as, for instance, the restoration of a

1 Abishukh (the Hebrew Abishua) is the form of the name which we
find in contemporary contracts. The official lists contain the variant Ebishu,
Ebishum.

2 Ammiditana is only a possible reading : others prefer Ammisatana.
The Nar- Ammisatana is mentioned in a Sippar contract. Another contract
is dated " the year in which Ammisatana, the king, repaired the canal of
Samsuiluna."

3 This was, at first, read Ammididugga. Ammizadugga is mentioned in
the date of a contract as having executed certain works of what nature it
is not easy to say on the banks of the Tigris ; another contract is dated
" the year in which Ammizadugga, the king, by supreme command of Sha-
mash, his master, [dug] the Ndr-Ammizadugga-nuMus-nisJii (canal of Ammiza
dugga), prosperity of men." In the Minsean inscriptions of Southern Arabia
the name is found under the form of Ammi-Zaduq.

4 Sometimes erroneously read Samdiusatana ; but, as a matter of fact,
we have contracts of that time, in which a royal name is plainly written as
Samsusatana.

LAST KIXGS OP THE BABYLOXIAX DYXASTY 03

temple, the annual enthronisation of one of the great
divinities, such as Shamash, Merodach, Ishtar, or Nana, as
the eponymous god of the current year, the celebration
of a solemn festival, or the consecration of a statue ; while
a few scattered allusions to works of fortification show that
meanwhile the defence of the country was jealously
watched over. 1 These sovereigns appear to have enjoyed
long reigns, the shortest extending over a period of five
and twenty years ; and when at length the death of any
king occurred, he was immediately replaced by his son, the
notaries acts and the judicial documents which have come
down to us betraying no confusion or abnormal delay in
the course of affairs. We may, therefore, conclude that
the last century and a half of the dynasty was a period
of peace and of material prosperity. Chaldsea was thus
enabled to fully reap the advantage of being united under
the rule of one individual. It is quite possible that those
cities Uru, Larsa, Ishin, Uruk, and Nippur which had
played so important a part in the preceding centuries,
suffered from the loss of their prestige, and from the blow
dealt to their traditional pretensions. Up to this time
they had claimed the privilege of controlling the
history of their country, and they had bravely striven
among themselves for the supremacy over the southern

1 Samsuiluna repaired the five fortresses which his ancestor Sumulailu
had built. Contract dated " the year in which Ammisatana, the king, built
Dur-Ammisatana, near the Sin river," and " the year in which Ammisatana,
the king, gave its name to Dur-Iskunsin, near the canal of Ammisatana."
Contract dated " the year in which the King Ammisatana repaired Dur-
Iskunsin." Contract dated the year in which Samsuiluna caused "the wall
of Uru and Uruk " to be built.

64 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

states ; but the revolutions which, had raised each in
turn to the zenith of power, had never exalted any
one of them to such an eminence as to deprive its
rivals of all hope of supplanting it and of enjoying the
highest place. The rise of Babylon destroyed the last
chance which any of them had of ever becoming the
capital; the new city was so favourably situated, and
possessed so much wealth and so many soldiers, while its
kings displayed such tenacious energy, that its neighbours
were forced to bow before it and resign themselves to the
subordinate position of leading provincial towns. They
gave a loyal obedience to the officers sent them from the
north, and sank gradually into obscurity, the loss of their
political supremacy being somewhat compensated for by
the religious respect in which they were always held. Their
ancient divinities Nana, Sin, Anu, and Ea were adopted,
if we may use the term, by the Babylonians, who claimed
the protection of these gods as fully as they did that of
Merodach or of Nebo, and prided themselves on amply
supplying all their needs. As the inhabitants of Babylon
had considerable resources at their disposal, their appeal
to these deities might be regarded as productive of more
substantial results than the appeal of a merely local
kinglet. The increase of the national wealth and the
concentration, under one head, of armies hitherto owning
several chiefs, enabled the rulers, not of Babylon or Larsa
alone, but of the whole of Chaldsea, to offer an invincible
resistance to foreign enemies, and to establish their
dominion in countries where their ancestors had enjoyed
merely a precarious sovereignty. Hostilities never

THE ELAMITES IX SYRIA 65

completely ceased between Elam and Babylon; if
arrested for a time, tbey broke out again in some frontier
disturbance, at times speedily suppressed, but at others
entailing violent consequences and ending in a regular war.
No document furnishes us with any detailed account of these
outbreaks, but it would appear that the balance of power
was maintained on the whole with tolerable regularity,
both kingdoms at the close of each generation finding
themselves in much the same position as they had occupied
at its commencement. The two empires were separated
from south to north by the sea and the Tigris, the frontier
leaving the river near the present village of Arnara and
running in the direction of the mountains. Durilu
probably fell ordinarily under Chaldean jurisdiction.
Umliyash was included in the original domain of Kham-
murabi, and there is no reason to believe that it was
evacuated by his descendants. There is every probability
that they possessed the plain east of the Tigris, comprising
Nineveh and Arbela, and that the majority of the civilized
peoples scattered over the lower slopes of the Kurdish
mountains rendered them homage. They kept the Meso-
potamian table-land under their suzerainty, and we may
affirm, without exaggeration, that their power extended
northwards as far as Mount Masios, and westwards to the
middle course of the Euphrates.

At what period the Chaldaaans first crossed that river
is as yet unknown. Many of their rulers in their inscrip
tions claim the title of suzerains over Syria, and we have
no evidence for denying their pretensions. Kudur-mabug
proclaims himself "adda" of Martu, Lord of the countries

VOL. IV F

66 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

of the West, and we are in the possession of several facts
which suggest the idea of a great Elamite empire, with
a dominion extending for some period over Western Asia,
the existence of which was vaguely hinted at by the
Greeks, who attributed its glory to the fabulous Memnon. 1
Contemporary records are still wanting which might show
whether Kudur-mabug inherited these distant possessions
from one of his predecessors such as Kudur-nakhunta, for
instance or whether he won them himself at the point of
the sword ; but a fragment of an old chronicle, inserted in
the Hebrew Scriptures, speaks distinctly of another Elamite,
who made war in person almost up to the Egyptian
frontier. 2 This is the Kudur-lagamar (Chedorlaomer)

1 We know that to Herodotus (v. 55) Susa was the city of Memnon, and
that Strabo attributes its foundation to Tithonus, father of Memnon
According to Oppert, the word Memnon is the equivalent of the Susian
Umman-anin, "the house of the king t " Weissbach declares that " anin " does
not mean king, and contradicts Oppert s view, though he does not venture
to suggest a new explanation of the name.

2 Gen. xiv. From the outset Assyriologists have never doubted the
historical accuracy of this chapter, and they have connected the facts which
it contains with those which seem to be revealed by the Assyrian monuments.
The two Rawlinsons intercalate Kudur-lagamar between Kudur-nakhunta
and Kudur-mabug, and Oppert places him about the same period. Fr.
Lenormant regards him as one of the successors of Kudur-mabug, possibly
his immediate successor. G. Smith does not hesitate to declare positively
that the Kudur-mabug and Kudur-nakhunta of the inscriptions are one and
the same with the Kudur-lagamar (Chedor-laomer) of the Bible. Finally,
Schrader, while he repudiates Smith s view, agrees in the main fact with the
other Assyriologists. On the other hand, the majority of modern Biblical
critics have absolutely refused to credit the story in Genesis. Sayce thinks
that the Bible story rests on an historic basis, and his view is strongly con
firmed by Pinches discovery of a Chaldasan document which mentions Kudur-
lagamar and two of his allies. The Hebrew historiographer reproduced an
authentic fact from the chronicles of Babylon, and connected it with ono of

KUDUR-LAGAMAR 67

who helped Eiinsiu against Khammurabi, but was
unable to prevent his overthrow. In the thirteenth year
of his reign over the East, the cities of the Dead Sea-
Sodom, Gomorrah, Adamah, Zeboim, and Bela revolted
against him : he immediately convoked his great vassals,
Amraphel of Chaldaaa, Arioch of Ellasar, 1 Tida lo the Guti,
and marched with them to the confines of his dominions.
Tradition has invested many of the tribes then inhabiting
Southern Syria with semi-mythical names and attributes.
They are represented as being giants Rephaim ; men of
prodigious strength Zuzim ; as having a buzzing and
indistinct manner of speech Zamzummim ; as formidable
monsters 2 Emim or Anakini, before whom other nations
appeared as grasshoppers ; 3 as the Horirn who were
encamped on the confines of the Sinaitic desert, and as
the Amalekites who ranged over the mountains to the
west of the Dead Sea. Kudur-lagamar defeated them one

the events in the life of Abraham. The very late date generally assigned to
Gen. xiv. in no way diminishes the intrinsic probability of the facts narrated
by the Chaldsean document which is preserved to us in the pages of the
Hebrew book.

1 Ellasar has been identified with Larsa since the researches of Rawlin-
son and Norris ; the Goim, over whom Tidal was king, with the Guti.

2 Sayce considers Zuzim and Zamzummim to be two readings of the
same word Zamzum, written in cuneiform characters on the original docu
ment. The sounds represented, in the Hebrew alphabet, by the letters HI
and w, are expressed in the Chaldeean syllabary by the same character, and
a Hebrew or Babylonian scribe, who had no other means of telling the true
pronunciation of a race-name mentioned in the story of this campaign, would
have been quite as much at a loss as any modern scholar to say whether he
ought to transcribe the word as Z-m-z-m or as Z-w-z-w ; some scribes read it
Zuzim, others preferred Zamzummim.

3 Numb. xiii. 33.

08 THE FIRST CHALD^EAX EMPIRE

after another the Rephaini near to Ashtaroth-Karnaini,
the Zuzim near Ham, 1 the Einim at Shaveh-Kiriathaim,
and the Horim on the spurs of Mount Seir as far as El-
Paran ; then retracing his footsteps, he entered the
country of the Amalekites by way of En-mishpat, and
pillaged the Amorites of Hazazon-Tamar. In the mean
time, the kings of the five towns had concentrated their
troops in the vale of Siddim, and were there resolutely
awaiting Kudur-lagamar. They were, however, completely
routed, some of the fugitives being swallowed up in the
pits of bitumen with which the soil abounded, while others
with difficulty reached the mountains. Kudur-lagamar
sacked Sodom and Gomorrah, re-established his dominion
on all sides, and returned laden with booty, Hebrew tradi
tion adding that he was overtaken near the sources of the
Jordan by the patriarch Abraham. 2

1 In Deut. ii. 20 it is stated that the Zamzummim lived in the country
of Ammon. Sayce points out that we often find the variant Am for the
character usually read Ham or Kham the name Khammurabi, for instance,
is often found written Ammurabi ; the Ham in the narrative of Genesis
would, therefore, be identical with the land of Ammon in Deuteronomy,
and the difference between the spelling of the two would be due to the fact
that the document reproduced in the XIV th chapter of Genesis had been
originally copied from a cuneiform tablet in which the name of the place was
expressed by the sign Ham-Am.

2 An attempt has been made to identify the three vassals of Kudur-
lagamar with kings mentioned on the Chaldsean monuments. Tidcal, or, if
we adopt the Septuagint variant, Thorgal, has been considered by some as
the bearer of a Sumerian name, Turgal = "great chief," "great son," while
others put him on one side as not having been a Babylonian ; Pinches,
Sayce, and Hommel identify him with Tudkhula, an ally of Kudur-lagamar
against Khammurabi. Schrader was the first to suggest that Amraphel was
really Khammurabi, and emended the Amraphel of the biblical text into
Amraphi or Amrabi, in order to support this identification. Halevy, while

KHAMMURABI AND HIS SUCCESSORS 69

After his victory over Kudur-lagamar, Khammurabi
assumed the title of King of Martu, 1 which we find still
home by Ammisatana sixty years later. 2 We see repeated
here almost exactly what took place in Ethiopia at the
time of its conquest by Egypt : merchants had prepared
the way for military occupation, and the civilization of
Babylon had taken hold on the people long before its
kings had become sufficiently powerful to claim them as
vassals. The empire may be said to have been virtually
established from the day when the states of the Middle
and Lower Euphrates formed, but one kingdom in the
hands of a single ruler. We must not, however, imagine
it to have been a compact territory, divided into provinces
under military occupation, ruled by a uniform code of laws
and statutes, and administered throughout by functionaries
of various grades, who received their orders from Babylon
or Stisa, according as the chances of war favoured the
ascendency of Chaldsea or Elam. It was in reality a
motley assemblage of tribes and principalities, whose sole
bond of union was subjection to a common yoke. They
were under obligation to pay tribute, and furnish military
contingents and show other external marks of obedience,

on the whole accepting this theory, derives the name from the pronunciation
Kimtarapashtum or Kimtarapaltum, which he attributes to the name
generally read Khammurabi, and in this he is partly supported by Hommel,
who reads " Khammurapaltu."

1 It is, indeed, the sole title which he attributes to himself on a stone
tablet now in the British Museum,

: In an inscription by this prince, copied probably about the time of
Xabonidus by the scribe Belushallim, he is called " king of the vast land of
Martu."

70 THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE

but their particular constitution, customs, and religion
were alike respected : they had to purchase, at the cost
of a periodical ransom, the right to live in their own
country after their own fashion, and the head of the
empire forbore all interference in their affairs, except in
cases where the internecine quarrels and dissensions
threatened the security of his suzerainty. Their sub
ordination lasted as best it could, sometimes for a year
or for ten years, at the end of which period they would
neglect the obligations of their vassalage, or openly refuse
to fulfil them : a revolt would then break out at one point
or another, and it was necessary to suppress it without
delay to prevent the bad example from spreading far and
wide. The empire was maintained by perpetual re-con
quests, and its extent varied with the energy shown by
its chiefs, or with the resources which were for the moment
available.

Separated from the confines of the empire by only a
narrow isthmus, Egypt loomed on the horizon, and
appeared to beckon to her rival. Her natural fertility,
the industry of her inhabitants, the stores of gold and
perfumes which she received from the heart of Ethiopia,
were well known by the passage to and fro of her caravans,
and the recollection of her treasures must have frequently
provoked the envy of Asiatic courts. Egypt had, however,
strangely declined from her former greatness, and the
line of princes who governed her had little in common
with the Pharaohs who had rendered her name so formid
able under the XII tb dynasty. She was now under the
rule of the Xoites, whose influence was probably confined

LIBRARY rl

THE HYKSOS INVASION 71

to the Delta, and extended merely in name over the Said
and Nubia. The feudal lords, ever ready to reassert their
independence as soon as the central power waned, shared
between them the possession of the Nile valley below
Memphis : the princes of Thebes, who were probably
descendants of Usirtasen, owned the largest fiefdom, and
though some slight scruple may have prevented them
from donning the pschent or placing their names within
a cartouche, they assumed notwithstanding the plenitude
of royal power. A favourable opportunity was therefore
offered to an invader, and the Chaldeans might have
attacked with impunity a people thus divided among them
selves. 1 They stopped short, however, at the southern
frontier of Syria, or if they pushed further forward, it was
without any important result : distance from head-quarters,
or possibly reiterated attacks of the Elamites, prevented
them from placing in the field an adequate force for such
a momentous undertaking. What they had not dared to
venture, others more audacious were to accomplish. At
this juncture, so runs the Egyptian record, " there came
to us a king named Timaios. "Under this king, then, I
know not wherefore, the god caused to blow upon us a
baleful wind, and in the face of all probability bands from
the East, people of ignoble race, came upon us unawares,
attacked the country, and subdued it easily and without
fighting." It is possible that they owed this rapid victory
to the presence in their armies of a factor hitherto

1 The theory that the divisions of Egypt, under the XIV th dynasty,
and the discords between its feudatory princes, were one of the main causes
of the success of the Shepherds, is now admitted to be correct.

72 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

unknown to the African the war- chariot and before the
horse and his driver the Egyptians gave way in a body. 1
The invaders appeared as a cloud of locusts on the banks
of the Nile. Towns and temples were alike pillaged, burnt,
and ruined; they massacred all they could of the male
population, reduced to slavery those of the women and
children whose lives they spared, and then proclaimed as
king Salatis, one of their chiefs. 2 He established a
semblance of regular government, chose Memphis as his
capital, and imposed a tax upon the vanquished. Two
perils, however, immediately threatened the security of
his triumph : in the south the Theban lords, taking matters
into their own hands after the downfall of the Xoites,
refused the oath of allegiance to Salatis, and organized an
obstinate resistance ; 3 in the north he had to take measures

1 The horse was unknown, or at any rate had not been employed in
Egypt prior to the invasion ; we find it, however, in general use immediately
after the expulsion of the Shepherds, see the tomb of Pihiri. Moreover, all
historians agree in admitting that it was introduced into the country under
the rule of the Shepherds. The use of the war-chariot in Chaldsea at an
epoch prior to the Hyksos invasion, is proved by a fragment of the Vulture
Stele ; it is therefore, natural to suppose that the Hyksos used the chariot
in war, and that the rapidity of their conquest was due to it.

2 The name Salatis (var. Saites) seems to be derived from a Semitic
word, SHALtT = " the chief," " the governor ; " this was the title which Joseph
received when Pharaoh gave him authority over the whole of Egypt (Gen.
xli. 43). Salatis may not, therefore, have been the real name of the first
Hyksos king, but his title, which the Egyptians misunderstood, and from
which they evolved a proper name : Uhlemann has, indeed, deduced from
this that Manetho, being familiar with the passage referring to Joseph, had
forged the name of Salatis. Ebers imagined that he could decipher the
Egyptian form of this prince s name on the Colossus of Tell-Mokdam, where
Naville has since read with certainty the name of a Pharaoh of the XIII th
and XIV th dynasties, Nahsiri.

3 The text of Manetho speaks of taxes which he imposed on the high

THE ENTRENCHED CAMP AT AVARIS

to protect himself against an attack of the Chaldaeans or
of the Elamites who were oppressing Chald^a. 1 From the
natives of the Delta, who were temporarily paralysed hy
their reverses, he had, for the moment, little to fear :
restricting himself, therefore, to establishing forts at the
strategic points in the Nile valley in order to keep the
Thebans in check, he led the main body of his troops to
the frontier on the isthmus. Pacific immigrations had
already introduced Asiatic settlers into the Delta, and
thus prepared the way for securing the supremacy of the
new rulers; in the midst of these strangers, and on the
ruins of the ancient town of Hawarit-Avaris, in the
Sethroite nome a place connected by tradition with the
myth of Osiris and Typhon Salatis constructed an
immense entrenched camp, capable of sheltering two
hundred and forty thousand men. He visited it yearly
to witness the military manoeuvres, to pay his soldiers,
and to preside over the distribution of rations. This

and low lands, which would seem to include the Thebaid in the kingdom ; it
is, however, stated in the next few pages that the successors of Salatis waged
an incessant war against the Egyptians, which can only refer to hostilities
against the Thebans. We are forced, therefore, to admit, either that
Manetho took the title of lord of the high and low lands which belonged to
Salatis, literally, or that the Thebans, after submitting at first, subsequently
refused to pay tribute, thus provoking a war.

1 Manetho here speaks of Assyrians ; this is an error which is to be
explained by the imperfect state of historical knowledge in Greece at the
time of the Macedonian supremacy. We need not for this reason be led to
cast doubt upon the historic value of the narrative : we must remember the
suzerainty which the kings of Babylon exercised over Syria, and read
Chaldscans where Manetho has written Assyrians. In Herodotus " Assyria "
is the regular term for " Babylonia," and Babylonia is called " the land of
the Assyrians."

74 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

permanent garrison protected him from a Chaldaean in
vasion, a not unlikely event as long as Syria remained
under the supremacy of the Babylonian kings ; it furnished
his successors also with an inexhaustible supply of trained
soldiers, thus enabling them to complete the conquest
of Lower Egypt. Years elapsed before the princes of the
south would declare themselves vanquished, and five kings
-Bnon, Apachnas, Apophis L, lannas, and Asses passed
their lifetime " in a perpetual warfare, desirous of tearing
up Egypt to the very root." These Theban kings, who
were continually under arms against the barbarians, were
subsequently classed in a dynasty by themselves, the
XV th of Manetho, but they at last succumbed to the
invader, and Asses became master of the entire country.
His successors in their turn formed a dynasty, the XVI th ,
the few remaining monuments of which are found scattered
over the length and breadth of the valley from the shores
of the Mediterranean to the rocks of the first cataract.
The Egyptians who witnessed the advent of this Asiatic

people called them by the general term Amud, Asiatics,
or Monatiu, the men of the desert. 1 They had already
given the Bedouin the opprobrious epithet of Shafisu
pillagers or robbers which aptly described them ; 2 and

1 The meaning of the term Moniti was discovered by E. de Rouge, who
translated it Shepherd, and applied it to the Hyksos ; from thence it passed
into the works of all the Egyptologists who concerned themselves with this
question, but Shepherd has not been universally accepted as the meaning
of the word. It is generally agreed that it was a generic term, indicating
the races with which their conquerors were supposed to be connected, and
not the particular term of which Manetho s word IIoi/Aeves would be the
literal translation.

2 The name seems, in fact, to be derived from a word which meant " to

THEIR UNCERTAIN ORIGIN 75

they subsequently applied the same name to the intruders
Hiq Shausu from which the Greeks derived their word
Hyksos, or Hykoussos, for this people. 1 But we are without
any clue as to their real name, language, or origin. The

rob," "to pillage." The name Shausu, Shosu, was not used by the
Egyptians to indicate a particular race. It was used of all Bedouins, and
in general of all the marauding tribes who infested the desert or the
mountains. The Shausu most frequently referred to on the monuments are
those from the desert between Egypt and Syria, but there is a reference, in
the time of Ramses II., to those from the Lebanon and the valley of Orontes.
Krall finds an allusion to them in a word (Slwsim) in Judges ii. 14, which is
generally translated by a generic expression, " the spoilers."

1 Manetho declares that the people were called Hyksos, from HyTc, which
means "king" in the sacred language, and sijs, which means " shepherd " in
the popular language. As a matter of fact, the word Hyku means " prince "
in the classical language of Egypt, or, as Manetho styles it, the sacred
language, i.e. in the idiom of the old religious, historical, and literary texts,
which in later ages the populace no longer understood. Sh6s, on the contrary,
belongs to the spoken language of the later time, and does not occur in the
ancient inscriptions, so that Manetho s explanation is valueless ; there is but
one material fact to be retained from his evidence, and that is the name
Hylc-Shos or Hyku-Shos given by its inventors to the alien kings. Cham-
pollion and Rosellini were the first to identify these Shos with the Shausu
whom they found represented on the monuments, and their opinion, adopted
by some, seems to me an extremely plausible one : the Egyptians, at a given
moment, bestowed the generic name of Shausu on these strangers, just as
they had given those of Amuu and Manatiu. The texts or writers from
whom Manetho drew his information evidently mentioned certain kings
/t^w-Shausu; other passages, or, the same passages wrongly interpreted,
were applied to the race, and were rendered Jnjku-Shausu = "the prisoners
taken from the Shausu," a substantive derived from the root luika = " to
take" being substituted for the noun hyqu = "prince." Josephus declares,
on the authority of Manetho, that some manuscripts actually suggested this
derivation a fact which is easily explained by the custom of the Egyptian
record offices. I may mention, in passing, that Mariette recognised in the
element " Sos " an Egyptian word shos = " soldiers," and in the name of
King Mirmashau, which he read Mirshosu, an equivalent of the title Hyq-
Sh6su.

76 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

writers of classical times were unable to come to an agree
ment on these questions : some confounded the Hyksos
with the Pho3nicians, others regarded them as Arabs. 1
Modern scholars have put forward at least a dozen contra
dictory hypotheses on the matter. The Hyksos have been
asserted to have been Canaanites, Elamites, Hifctites,
Accadians, Scythians. The last opinion found great favour
with the learned, as long as they could believe that the
sphinxes discovered by Mariette represented Apophis or one
of his predecessors. As a matter of fact, these monuments
present all the characteristics of the Mongoloid type of
countenance the small and slightly oblique eyes, the
arched but somewhat flattened nose, the pronounced cheek
bones and well-covered jaw, the salient chin and full lips
slightly depressed at the corners. 2 These peculiarities are
also observed in the three heads found at Damanhur, in the
colossal torso dug up at Mit-Fares in the Fayum, in the
twin figures of the Nile removed to the Bulaq Museum from

1 Manetho takes them to be Phoenicians, but he adds that certain writers
thought them to be Arabs : Brugsch favours this latter view, but the Arab
legend of a conquest of Egypt by Sheddad and the Adites is of recent origin,
and was inspired by traditions in regard to the Hyksos current during the
Byzantine epoch ; we cannot, therefore, allow it to influence us. We
must wait before expressing a definite opinion in regard to the facts which
Glaser believes he has obtained from the Minaean inscriptions which date
from the time of the Hyksos.

2 Mariette, who was the first to describe these curious monuments, re
cognised in them all the incontestable characteristics of a Semitic type, and
the correctness of his view was, at first, universally admitted. Later on
Hamy imagined that he could distinguish traces of Mongolian influences, and
Fr. Lenormant, and then Mariette himself came round to this view ; it has
recently been supported in England by Flower, and in Germany by
Virchow,

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OP THE HYKSOS 77

Tanis, aud upon the remains of a statue in the collection at
the Villa Ludovisi in Koine. The same foreign type of face
is also found to exist among the present inhabitants of the
villages scattered over the eastern part of the Delta,
particularly on the shores of Lake Menzaleh, and the
conclusion was drawn that these people were the direct
descendants of the Hyksos. This theory was abandoned,
however, when it was ascertained that the sphinxes of San
had been carved, many centuries before the invasion, for
Amenemhait III., a king of the XII th dynasty. In spite of
the facts we possess, the problem therefore still remains
unsolved, and the origin of the Hyksos is as mysterious as
ever. We gather, however, that the third millennium
before our era was repeatedly disturbed by considerable
migratory movements. The expeditions far afield of
Elamite and Chaldaean princes could not have taken place
without seriously perturbing the regions over which they
passed. They must have encountered by the way many
nomadic or unsettled tribes whom a slight shock would
easily displace. An impulse once given, it needed but
little to accelerate or increase the movement : a collision
with one horde reacted on its neighbours, who either
displaced or carried others with them, and the whole
multitude, gathering momentum as they went, were pre
cipitated in the direction first given. 1

A tradition, picked up by Herodotus on his travels,
relates that the Phoenicians had originally peopled the

1 The Hyksos invasion has been regarded as a natural result of the
Elamite conquest.

78 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

eastern and southern shores of the Persian Gulf ; 1 it
was also said that Indathyrses, a Scythian king, had
victoriously scoured the whole of Asia, and had pene
trated as far as Egypt. 2 Either of these invasions may
have been the cause of the Syrian migration. In com
parison with the meagre information which has come down
to us under the form of legends, it is provoking to think
how much actual fact has been lost, a tithe of which
would explain the cause of the movement and the mode of
its execution. The least improbable hypothesis is that
which attributes the appearance of the Shepherds about the
XXIII rd century B.C., to the arrival in Naharaim of those
Khati who subsequently fought so obstinately against the
armies both of the Pharaohs and the Ninevite kings. They
descended from the mountain region in which the Halys
and the Euphrates take their rise, and if the bulk of them
proceeded no further than the valleys of the Taurus and the
Amanos, some at least must have pushed forward as far as
the provinces on the western shores of the Dead Sea. The
most adventurous among them, reinforced by the
Canaanites and other tribes who had joined them on their
southward course, crossed the isthmus of Suez, and finding
a people weakened by discord, experienced no difficulty in
replacing the native dynasties by their own barbarian

1 It was to the exodus of this race, in the last analysis, that the
invasion of the shepherds may be attributed.

2 A certain number of commentators are of opinion that the wars
attributed to Indathyrses have been confounded with what Herodotus tells
of the exploits of Maclyes, and are nothing more than a distorted remem
brance of the great Scythian invasion which took place in the latter half of
the VII th century B.C.

PROBABLE IDENTIFICATION WITH THE KHATI 79

chiefs. 1 Both their name and origin were doubtless well
known to the Egyptians, but the latter nevertheless dis
dained to apply to them any term but that of " she-
mau," 2 strangers, and in referring to them used
the same vague appellations which they applied to
the Bedouin of the Sinaitic peninsula, Monatiu,
the shepherds, or Satiu, the archers. They suc
ceeded in hiding the original name of their con
querors so thoroughly, that in the end they them
selves forgot it, and kept the secret of it from
posterity.

The remembrance of the cruelties with which
the invaders sullied their conquest lived long after
them ; it still stirred the anger of Manetho after a
lapse of twenty centuries. 3 The victors were known
as the "Plagues 1 or "Pests," 5 and every possible

1 At the present time, those scholars who admit the Turanian
origin of the Hyksos are of opinion that only the nucleus of the
race, the royal tribe, was composed of Mongols, while the main
body consisted of elements of all kinds Canaanitish, or, more
generally, Semitic.

2 The term shamamu, variant of shemati, is applied to them by 1)VLETTE OF
Queen Hatshopsitu : the same term is employed shortly afterwards A HYKSOS
by Thutmosis III., to indicate the enemies whom he had defeated SCRIBE. 4
at Megiddo.

3 He speaks of them in contemptuous terms as uten of ignoble race.

4 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by M. de Mertens. It
is the palette of a scribe, now in the Berlin Museum, and given by King
Apopi II. Ausirri to a scribe named Atu.

5 The epithet Aiti, laiti, laditi, was applied to the Nubians by the writer
of the inscription of Ahmosi-si-Abina, and to the Shepherds of the Delta by
the author of the Sallier Papyrus. Brugsch explained it as " the rebels," or
" disturbers," and Goodwin translated it " invaders " ; Chabas rendered it
by " plague -stricken," an interpretation which was in closer conformity with

THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

crime and impiety was attributed to them. But the brutali
ties attending the invasion once past, the invaders soon lost
their barbarity and became rapidly civilized. Those of them
stationed in the encampment at Avaris retained the military
qualities and characteristic energy of their race ; the re
mainder became assimilated to their new compatriots, and
were soon recognisable merely by their long hair, thick
beard, and marked features. Their sovereigns seemed to

A HYKSOS riUSOXEK GUIDING THE PLOUGH, AT EL-KAB. 1

have realised from the first that it was more to their interest
to exploit the country than to pillage it ; as, however, none
of them was competent to understand the intricacies of the
treasury, they were forced to retain the services of the ma
jority of the scribes, who had managed the public accounts
under the native kings. 2 Once schooled to the new state of

its etymological meaning, and Groff pointed out that the malady called Ait,
or Adit in Egyptian, is the malignant fever still frequently to be met with
at the present day in the marshy cantons of the Delta, and furnished the
proper rendering, which is "The Fever-stricken.

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger.

2 The same thing took place on every occasion when Egypt was conquered

THEIR ASSIMILATION TO THE EGYPTIANS 81

affairs, they readily adopted the refinements of civilized life.
The court of the Pharaohs, with its pomp and its .usual
assemblage of officials, both great and small, was revived
around the person of the new sovereign ; l the titles of the
Amenemhaits and the Usirtasens, adapted to these " princes
of foreign lands," 2 legitimatised them as descendants of
Horus and sons of the Sun. 3 They respected the local
religions, and went so far as to favour those of the gods
whose attributes appeared to connect them with some of
their own barbarous divinities. The chief deity of their
worship was Baal, the lord of all, 4 a cruel and savage
warrior ; his resemblance to Sit, the brother and enemy of
Osiris, w r as so marked, that he w r as identified with the

by an alien race : the Persian Achaemenians and Greeks made use of the
native employes, as did the Romans after them; and lastly, the Mussulmans,
Arabs, and Turks.

1 The narrative of the Sallicr Papyrus, No. 1, shows us the civil and
military chiefs collected round the Shepherd-king Apopi, and escorting him
iu the solemn processions in honour of the gods. They are followed by the
scribes and magicians, who give him advice on important occasions.

2 Hiqu Situ : this is the title of Abisha at Beni-Hassan, which is also
assumed by Khiani on several small monuments ; Steindorff has attempted
to connect it with the name of the Hyksos.

3 The preamble of the two or three Shepherd-kings of whom we know
anything, contains the two cartouches, the special titles, and the names of
Horus, which formed part of the title of the kings of pure Egyptian race ;
thus Apophis II. is proclaimed to be the living Horus, icho joins the two earths
in peace, the good god, Aqnunrl, son of the Sun, Apopi, wlio lives for ever, on the
statues of Mirmashau, which he had appropriated, and on the pink granite
table of offerings in the Gizeh Museum.

4 The name of Baal, transcribed Baalu, is found on that of a certain
Petebaalu, "the Gift of Baal," who must have flourished in the time of the
last shepherd-kings, or rather under the Theban kings of the XVII th dynasty,
who were their contemporaiies, whose conclusions have been adopted by
Brugsch.

VOL. IV. G

THE HYKSOS IX EGYPT

Egyptian deity, with the emphatic additional title of Sutkhu,
the Great Sit. 1 He was usually represented as a fully
armed warrior, wearing a helmet of circular form,
ornamented with two plumes ; but he also borrowed the
emblematic animal of Sit, the fennec, and the winged
griffin which haunted the deserts of the Thebaid. His
temples were erected in the cities of the Delta, side by side
with the sanctuaries of the feudal gods, both at Bubastis

and at Tanis. Tanis,
now made the capital,
reopened its palaces,
and acquired a fresh
impetus from the royal
presence within its

walls. Apophis Aq-
nunri, one of its kings,
dedicated several

tables of offerings in
that city, and en
graved his cartouches upon the sphinxes and standing
colossi of the Pharaohs of the XII th and XIII th dynasties.

1 Sutikhu, Sutkhu, are lengthened forms of Sutu, or Situ ; and. Chabas,
who had at first denied the existence of the final JcM, afterwards himself
supplied the philological arguments which proved the correctness of the
reading : he rightly refused, however, to recognise in Sutikhu or Sutkhu
the name of the conquerors god a transliteration of the Phoenician Sydyk,
and would only see in it that of the nearest Egyptian deity. This view is
now accepted as the right one, and Sutkhu is regarded as the indigenous
equivalent of the great Asiatic god, elsewhere called Baal, or supreme lord.
[Professor Petrie found a scarab bearing the cartouche of " Sutekh " Apepi I.
at Koptos. TR.]

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by E. Brugsch.

TABLE OF OFFERINGS BEARING THE NAME OF
APOFI AQNUNRI. 2

THE MONUMENTS OF KHIANI

He was, however, honest enough to leave the inscriptions
of his predecessors intact, and not to appropriate
to himself the credit of works belonging to the
Amenemhaits or to Mirmashau. Khiani, who is possibly
the lannas of Manetho, was not, however, so easily
satisfied. 1 The statue bearing his inscription, of which the
lower part was discovered by Naville at Bubastis, appears to
have been really carved for himself or for one of his con
temporaries. It is a work possess
ing no originality, though of very
commendable execution
such as would render
it acceptable to any
museum ; the artist
who conceived it took " ^^; ^

. if- .,. , _ -

his inspiration with
considerable clever
ness from the best

examples turned out by the schools of the Delta under
the Sovkhotpus and the Nofirhotpus. But a small grey

1 Naville, who reads the name Rayan or Yanra, thinks that this prince
must be the Annas or lannas mentioned by Manetho as being one of the
six shepherd-kings of the XV th dynasty. Mr. Petrie proposed to read Khian,
Khiani, and the fragment discovered at Gebelein confirms this reading, as
well as a certain number of cylinders and scarabs. Mr. Petrie prefers to
place this Pharaoh in the VIII th dynasty, and makes him one of the leaders
in the foreign occupation to which he supposes Egypt to have submitted
at that time ; but it is almost certain that he ought to be placed among the
Hyksos of the XVI th dynasty. The name Khiani, more correctly Khiyani
or Kheyani, is connected by Tomkins, and Hilprecht with that of a certain
Khayanu or Khayan, son of Gabbar, who reigned in Amanos in the time of
Halmanasar II., King of Assyria.

Drawn by Boudier, from a sketch made in the British Museum.

THE BAGDAD LIOX, IX THE BRITISH MUSEUM. -

THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

granite lion, also of the reign of Khiani, which by a strange
fate had found its way to Bagdad, does not raise our estima
tion of the modelling of animals in the Hyksos period. It

THE BROKEN STATUE OF KIIIAXI, IX THE GIZEH MUSEUM. 1

is heavy in form, and the muzzle in no way recalls the fine
profile of the lions executed by the sculptors of earlier
times. The pursuit of science and the culture of learning

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Naville.

THE APPEARANCE AXD CHARACTER 85

appear to have been more successfully perpetuated than the
fine arts ; a treatise on mathematics, of which a copy has
come down to us, would seem to have been recopied, if not
remodelled, in the twenty-second year of Apophis II.
Ausirri. If we only possessed more monuments or
documents treating of this period, we should doubtless
perceive that their sojourn on the banks of the Nile was
instrumental in causing a speedy change in the appearance
and character of the Hyksos. The strangers retained to a
certain extent their coarse countenances and rude manners :
they showed no aptitude for tilling the soil or sowing grain,
but delighted in the marshy expanses of the Delta, where
they gave themselves up to a semi-savage life of hunting and
of tending cattle. The nobles among them, clothed and
schooled after the Egyptian fashion, and holding fiefs, or
positions at court, differed but little from the native feudal
chiefs. We see here a case of what generally happens when
a horde of barharians settles down in a highly organised
country which by a stroke of fortune they may have
conquered ; as soon as the Hyksos had taken complete
possession of Egypt, Egypt in her turn took possession of
them, and those who survived the enervating effect of her
civilization were all but transformed into Egyptians.

If, in the time of the native Pharaohs, Asiatic tribes
had been drawn towards Egypt, where they were treated
as subjects or almost as slaves, the attraction which she
possessed for them must have increased in intensity under
the shepherds. They would now find the country in the
hands of men of the same races as themselves Egyptianised,
it is true, but not to such an extent as to have completely

86 THE HYKSOS IX EGYPT

lost their own language and the knowledge of their own
extraction. Such immigrants were the more readily
welcomed, since there lurked a feeling among the Hyksos
that it was necessary to strengthen themselves against the
slumbering hostility of the indigenous population. The
royal palace must have more than once opened its gates
to Asiatic counsellors and favourites. Canaanites and
Bedouin must often have been enlisted for the camp at
Avaris. Invasions, famines, civil wars, all seem to have
conspired to drive into Egypt not only isolated individuals,
but whole families and tribes. That of the Bern-Israel,
or Israelites, who entered the country about this time,
has since acquired a unique position in the world s history.
They belonged to that family of Semitic extraction which
we know by the monuments and tradition to have been
scattered in ancient times along the western shores of
the Persian Gulf and on the banks of the Euphrates.
Those situated nearest to Chaldasa and to the sea probably
led a settled existence ; they cultivated the soil, they
employed themselves in commerce and industries, their
vessels from Dilmun, from Magan, and from Milukhkha-
coasted from one place to another, and made their way
to the cities of Sumer and Accad. They had been civilized
from very early times, and some of their towns were
situated on islands, so as to be protected from sudden
incursions. Other tribes of the same family occupied the
interior of the continent ; they lived in tents, and delighted
in the unsettled life of nomads. There appeared to be in
this distant corner of Arabia an inexhaustible reserve of
population, which periodically overflowed its borders and

PHOENICIAN IMMIGRATION INTO SYRIA 87

spread over the world. It was from this very region that
we see the Kashdim, the true Chaldaeans, issuing ready
armed for cornhat, a people whose name was subsequently
used to denote several tribes settled between the lower
waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates. It was there,
among the marshes on either side of these rivers, that
the Aramaeans established their first settlements after
quitting the desert. There also the oldest legends of
the race placed the cradle of the Phoenicians ; it was
even believed, about the time of Alexander, that the
earliest ruins attributable to this people had been dis
covered on the Bahrein Islands, the largest of which,
Tylos and Arados, bore names resembling the two great
ports of Tyre and Arvad. We are indebted to tradition
for the cause of their emigration and the route by which
they reached the Mediterranean. The occurrence of
violent earthquakes forced them to leave their home ;
they travelled as far as the Lake of Syria, where they
halted for some time ; then resuming their march, did
not rest till they had reached the sea, where they founded
Sidon. The question arises as to the position of the
Lake of Syria on whose shores they rested, some believing
it to be the Bahr-i-Nedjif and the environs of Babylon ;
others, the Lake of Bambykes near the Euphrates, the
emigrants doubtless having followed up the course of
that river, and having approached the country of their
destination on its north-eastern frontier. Another theory
would seek to identify the lake with the waters of Merom,
the Lake of Galilee, or the Dead Sea ; in this case the
horde must have crossed the neck of the Arabian peninsula,

88 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

from the Euphrates to the Jordan, through one of those
long valleys, sprinkled with oases, which afforded an
occasional route for caravans. 1 Several writers assure us
that the Phoenician tradition of this exodus was misunder
stood by Herodotus, and that the sea which they re
membered on reaching Tyre was not the Persian Gulf,
but the Dead Sea. If this had been the case, they
need not have hesitated to assign their departure to
causes mentioned in other documents. The Bible tells
us that, soon after the invasion of Kudur-lagamar, the
anger of God being kindled by the wickedness of Sodom
and Gomorrah, He resolved to destroy the five cities
situated in the valley of Siddim. A cloud of burning
brimstone broke over them and consumed them ; when
the fumes and smoke, as "of a furnace," had passed
away, the very site of the towns had disappeared. 2
Previous to their destruction, the lake into which the
Jordan empties itself had had but a restricted area : the
subsidence of the southern plain, which had been occupied
by the impious cities, doubled the size of the lake, and
enlarged it to its present dimensions. The earthquake
which caused the Phoenicians to leave their ancestral
home may have been the result of this cataclysm, and
the sea on whose shores they sojourned would thus be

1 They would thus have arrived at the shores of Lake Merora, or at the
shores either of the Dead Sea or of the Lake of Gennesareth ; the Arab
traditions speak of an itinerary which would have led the emigrants across
the desert, but they possess no historic value is so far as these early epochs
are concerned.

2 Gen. xix. 24-29 ; the whole of this episode belongs to the Jehovistic
narrative.

ORIGIN OF THE PHCEXICIANS 89

our Dead Sea. One fact, however, appears to be certain
in the midst of many hypotheses, and that is that the
Phoenicians had their origin in the regions bordering on
the Persian Gulf. It is useless to attempt, with the inade
quate materials as yet in our possession, to determine by
what route they reached the Syrian coast, though we
may perhaps conjecture the period of their arrival.
Herodotus asserts that the Tyrians placed the date of
the foundation of their principal temple two thousand
three hundred years before the time of his visit, and
the erection of a sanctuary for their national deity would
probably take place very soon after their settlement at
Tyre : this would bring their arrival there to about the
XXVIII th century before our era. The Elamite and
Babylonian conquests would therefore have found the
Phoenicians already established in the country, and w r ould
have had appreciable effect upon them.

The question now arises whether the Bern-Israel
belonged to the group of tribes which included the
Phoenicians, or whether they were of Chaldaean race.
Their national traditions leave no doubt upon that point.
They are regarded as belonging to an important race,
which we find dispersed over the country of Padan-Aram,
in Northern Mesopotamia, near the base of Mount Masios,
and extending on both sides of the Euphrates. 1 Their

1 The country of Padan-Aram is situated between the Euphrates and
the upper reaches of the Khabur, on both sides of the Balikh, and is usually
explained as the " plain " or " table-land" of Aram, though the etymology
is not certain ; the word seems to be preserved in that of Tell-Faddun, near
Harran.

90 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

earliest chiefs bore the names of towns or of peoples,
Nakhor, Peleg, and Serug : l all were descendants of
Arphaxad, 2 and it was related that Terakh, the direct
ancestor of the Israelites, had dwelt in Ur-Kashdim, the
Ur or Uru of the Chaldseans. 3 He is said to have had
three sons Abraham, Nakhor, and Haran. Haran begat
Lot, but died before his father in Ur-Kashdim, his own
country ; Abraham and Nakhor both took wives, but
Abraham s wife remained a long time barren. Then
Terakh, with his son Abraham, his grandson Lot, the son
of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarah, 4 went forth from

has been associated with the ancient village of Khaura, or
with the ancient village of Haditha-en-Naura, to the south of Anah ; Peleg
probably corresponds with Phalga or Phaliga, which was situated at the
mouth of the Khabur ; Serug with the present Sarudj in the neighbourhood
of Edessa, and the other names in the genealogy were probably borrowed
from as many different localities.

! The site of Arphaxad is doubtful, as is also its meaning : its second
element is undoubtedly the name of the Chaldjeans, but the first is inter
preted in several ways "frontier of the Chaldseans," "domain of the
Chaldseans." The similarity of sound was the cause of its being for a long
time associated with the Arrapakhitis of classical times ; the tendency is
now to recognise in it the country nearest to the ancient domain of the
Chaldseans, i.e. Babylonia proper.

3 Ur-Kashdim has long been, sought for in the north, either at Orfa, in
accordance with the tradition of the Syrian Churches still existing in the
East, or in a certain Ur of Mesopotamia, placed by Ammianus Marcellinus
between Nisibis and the Tigris ; at the present day Halevy still looks for it
on the Syrian bank of the Euphrates, to the south-east of Thapsacus. Rawlin-
son s proposal to identify it with the town of Uru has been successively accepted
by nearly all Assyriologists. Sayce remarks that the worship of Sin, which
was common to both towns, established a natural link between them, and
that an inhabitant of Uru would have felt more at home in Harran than in
any other town.

4 The names of Sarah and Abraham, or rather the earlier form, Abram,

THE MIGRATION OF THE ISRAELITES 91

Ur-Kaslidim (Ui of the Chaldees) to go into the land of
Canaan; and they came unto Kharan, and dwelt there,
and Terakh died in Kharan. 1 It is a question whether
Kharan is to be identified with Harran in Mesopotamia, the
city of the god Sin ; or, which is more prohable, with the
Syrian town of Ilauran, in the neighbourhood of Damascus.
The tribes who crossed the Euphrates became subsequently
a somewhat important people. They called themselves,
or were known by others, as the Ibrim, or Hebrews, the
people from beyond the river ; 2 and this appellation, which
we are accustomed to apply to the children of Israel only,
embraced also, at the time when the term was most
extended, the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Ishmaelites,
Midianites, and many other tribes settled on the borders
of the desert to the east and south of the Dead Sea. These
peoples all traced their descent from Abraham, the son of
Terakh, but the children of Israel claimed the privilege of
being the only legitimate issue of his marriage with Sarah,

have been found, the latter under the form Abiramu, in the contracts of the
first Chaldsean empire.

1 Gen. xi. 27-32. In the opinion of most critics, verses 27, 31 32 form
part of the document which was the basis of the various narratives still
traceable in the Bible ; it is thought that the remaining verses bear the
marks of a later redaction, or that they may be additions of a later date.
The most important part of the text, that relating the migration from
Ur-Kashclim to Kharan, belongs, therefore, to the very oldest part of the
national tradition, and may be regarded as expressing the knowledge which
the Hebrews of the times of the Kings possessed concerning the origin of
their race.

2 The most ancient interpretation identified this nameless river with the
Euphrates ; an identification still admitted by most critics ; others prefer to
recognise it as being the Jordan. Halevy prefers to identify it with one of
the rivers of Damascus, probably the Abana.

92 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

giving naive or derogatory accounts of the relations which
connected the others with their common ancestor ; Arnmon
and Moab were, for instance, the issue of the incestuous
union of Lot and his daughters. Midian and his sons were
descended from Keturah, who was merely a concubine,
Ishmael was the son of an Egyptian slave, while the
"hairy" Esau had sold his birthright and the primacy
of the Edomites to his brother Jacob, and consequently
to the Israelites, for a dish of lentils. Abraham left Kharan
at the command of Jahveh, his God, receiving from Him
a promise that his posterity should be blessed above all
others. Abraham pursued his way into the heart of
Canaan till he reached Shechem, and there, under the oaks
of Moreh, Jahveh, appearing to him a second time,
announced to him that He would give the whole land to
his posterity as an inheritance. Abraham virtually took
possession of it, and wandered over it with his flocks,
building altars at Shechem, Bethel, and Mamre, the places
where God had revealed Himself to him, treating as his
equals the native chiefs, Abimelech of Gerar and
Melchizedek of Jerusalem, 1 and granting the valley of the

1 Cf. the meeting with Melchizedek after the victory over the Elamites
(Gen. xiv. 18-20) and the agreement with Abimelech about the well (Gen.
xxi. 22-34). The mention of the covenant of Abraham with Abimelech
belongs to the oldest part of the national tradition, and is given to us in the
Jehovistic narrative. Many critics have questioned the historical existence
of Melchizedek, and believed that the passage in which he is mentioned is
merely a kind of parable intended to show the head of the race paying tithe
of the spoil to the priest of the supreme God residing at Jerusalem ; the
information, however, furnished by the Tel-el-Amarna tablets about the
ancient city of Jerusalem and the character of its early kings have deter
mined Sayce to pronounce Melchizedek to be an historical personage.

ABRAHAM S OAK AT HEBRON

Jordan as a place of pasturage to his nephew Lot, whose
flocks had increased immensely. 1 His nomadic instinct
having led him into Egypt, he was here robbed of his wife
by Pharaoh. 2 On his return he purchased the field of

THE TRADITIONAL OAK OF ABRAHAM AT HEBRON. 3

Ephron, near Kirjath-Arba, and the cave of Machpelah, of
which he made a burying-place for his family. 4 Kirjath-

1 Gen. xiii. 1-13. Lot has been sometimes connected of late with the
people called on the Egyptian monuments Rotanu, or Lotanu, whom we
shall have occasion to mention frequently further on : he is supposed to have
been their eponymous hero. Lotan, which is the name of an Edomite clan,
(Gen. xxxvi. 20, 29), is a racial adjective, derived from L6t.

2 Gen. xii. 9-20, xiii. 1. Abraham s visit to Egypt reproduces the
principal events of that of Jacob.

3 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph brought home by Lortet.

4 Gen. xiii. 18, xxiii. (Elohistic narrative). The tombs of the patriarchs
are believed by the Mohammedans to exist to the present day in the cave
which is situated within the enclosure of the mosque at Hebron, and the
tradition on which this belief is based goes back to early Christian times.

94 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

Arba, the Hebron of subsequent times, became from hence
forward his favourite dwelling-place, and he was residing
there when the Elamites invaded the valley of Siddim,
and carried off Lot among their prisoners. Abraham set
out in pursuit of them, and succeeded in delivering his
nephew. 1 God (Jahveh) not only favoured him on every
occasion, but expressed His will to extend over Abraham s
descendants His sheltering protection. He made a
covenant with him, enjoining the use on the occasion of
the mysterious rites employed among the nations when
effecting a treaty of peace. Abraham offered up as victims
a heifer, a goat, and a three-year-old ram, together with
a turtle-dove and a young pigeon ; he cut the animals into
pieces, and piling them in two heaps, waited till the
evening. "And when the sun was going down, a deep
sleep fell upon Abraham ; and lo, an horror of great dark
ness fell upon him," and a voice from on high said to him :
"Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a
land that is not theirs, and shall serve them ; and they
shall afflict them four hundred years ; and also that nation,
whom they shall serve, will I judge : and afterward shall
they come out with great substance. . . . And it came to
pass, that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold
a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between
those pieces." Jahveh sealed the covenant by consuming
the offering. 2

Two less important figures fill the interval between the
Divine prediction of servitude and its accomplishment.
The birth of one of them, Isaac, was ascribed to the

1 Gen. xiv. 12-24. 2 Gen. xv., Jehovistic narrative.

ABRAHAM IX THE LAND OF CANAAN 95

Divine intervention at a period when Sarah had given up
all hope of becoming a mother. Abraham was sitting at
his tent door in the heat of the day, when three men
presented themselves before him, whom he invited to
repose under the oak while he prepared to offer them
hospitality. After their meal, he who seemed to be the
chief of the three promised to return within a year, when
Sarah should be blessed with the possession of a son. The
announcement came from Jahveh, but Sarah was ignorant
of the fact, and laughed to herself within the tent on
hearing this amazing prediction ; for she said, " After I am
waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also ? !
The child was born, however, and was called Isaac, " the
laugher," in remembrance of Sarah s mocking laugh. 1
There is a remarkable resemblance between his life and
that of his father. 2 Like Abraham he dwelt near Hebron, 3
and departing thence wandered with his household round
the wells of Beersheba. Like him he was threatened with
the loss of his wife ; like him, also, he renewed relations

1 Gen. xviii. 1-16, according to the Jehovistic narrative. Gen. xvii.
15-22 gives another account, in which the Elohistic writer predicts the birth
of Isaac in a different way. The name of Isaac, " the laugher," possibly
abridged from Isaak-el, "he on whom God smiles," is explained in three
different ways : first, by the laugh of Abraham (ch. xvii. 17); secondly, by
that of Sarah (xviii. 12) when her son s birth was foretold to her; and
lastly, by the laughter of those who made sport of the delayed maternity of
Sarah (xxi. 6).

2 Many critics see in the life of Isaac a colourless copy of that of
Abraham, while others, on the contrary, consider that the primitive episodes
belonged to the former, and that the parallel portions of the two lives were
borrowed from the biography of the son to augment that of his father.

3 Gen. xxxv. 27, Elohistic narrative.

96 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

with Abimelecli of Gerar. 1 He married his relative
Rebecca, the granddaughter of Nakhor and the sister of
Laban. 2 After twenty years of barrenness, his wife gave
birth to twins, Esau and Jacob, who contended with each
other from their mother s womb, and whose descendants
kept up a perpetual feud. We know how Esau, under the
influence of his appetite, deprived himself of the privileges
of his birthright, and subsequently went forth to become
the founder of the Edomites. Jacob spent a portion of
his youth in Padan-Aram; here he served Laban for the
hands of his cousins Rachel and Leah ; then, owing to the
bad faith of his uncle, he left him secretly, after twenty
years service, taking with him his wives and innumerable
flocks. At first he wandered aimlessly along the eastern
bank of the Jordan, where Jahveh revealed Himself to him
in his troubles. Laban pursued and overtook him, and,
acknowledging his own injustice, pardoned him for having
taken flight. Jacob raised a heap of stones on the site
of their encounter, known at Mizpah to after-ages
as the " Stone of Witness "Gal-Ed (Galeed). 3 This
having been accomplished, his difficulties began with his
brother Esau, who bore him no good will. One night,

Gen. xxvi. 1-31, Jehovistic narrative. In Gen. xxv. 11 an Elohistic
interpolation makes Isaac also dwell in the south, near to the " Well of the
Living One Who seeth roe."

1 Gen. xxiv., where two narratives appear to have been amalgamated ; in
the second of these, Abraham seems to have played no part, and Eliezer
apparently conducted Rebecca direct to her husband Isaac (vers. 61-67).

! Gen. xxxi. 45-54, where the writer evidently traces the origin of the
word Gilead to Gal-Ed. We gather from the context that the narrative
was connected with the cairn at Mizpah which separated the Hebrew from
the Aramaean speaking peoples.

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 97

at the ford of the Jabbok, when he had fallen behind his
companions, there wrestled a man with him until the
breaking of the day," without prevailing against him. The
stranger endeavoured to escape before daybreak, but only
succeeded in doing so at the cost of giving Jacob his
blessing. "What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob,
but Israel : for thou hast striven with God and with men,
and hast prevailed." Jacob called the place Peniel, "for,"
said he, " I have seen G-od face to face, and my life is
preserved." The hollow of his thigh was " strained as he
wrestled with him," and he became permanently lame. 1 Im
mediately after the struggle he met Esau, and endeavoured
to appease him by his humility, building a house for him,
and providing booths for his cattle, so as to secure for his
descendants the possession of the land. From this circum
stance the place received the name of Succoth the
" Booths : -by which appellation it was henceforth known.
Another locality where Jahveh had met Jacob while he
was pitching his tents, derived from this fact the designa
tion of the "Two Hosts " Mahanalm. 2 On the other
side of the river, at Shechem, 3 at Bethel, 4 and at Hebron,

1 Gen. xxxii. 22-32. This is the account of the Jehovistic writer. The
Elohist gives a different version of the circumstances which led to the change
of name from Jacob to Israel ; he places the scene at Bethel, and suggests
no precise etymology for the name Israel (Gen. xxxv. 9-15).

1 Gen. xxxii. 2, 3, where the theophany is indicated rather than directly
stated.

J Gen. xxxiii. 18-20. Here should be placed the episode of Dinah seduced
by an Amorite prince, and the consequent massacre of the inhabitants by
Simeon and Levi (Gen. xxxiv.). The almost complete dispersion of the two
tribes of Simeon and Levi is attributed to this massacre : cf. Gen. xlix. 5-7.

1 Gen. xxxv. 1-15, where is found the Elohistic version (9-15)

VOL. IV. H

98 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

near to the burial-place of his family, traces of him are
everywhere to be found blent with those of Abraham. By
his two wives and their maids he had twelve sons. Leah
was the mother of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar,
and Zabulon; Gad and Asher were the children of his
slave Zilpah; while Joseph and Benjamin were the only
sons of Eachel Dan and Naphtali being the offspring
of her servant Bilhah. The preference which his father
showed to him caused Joseph to be hated by his brothers ;
they sold him to a caravan of Midianites on their way to
Egypt, and persuaded Jacob that a wild beast had devoured
him. Jah veh was, however, with Joseph, and " made all
that he did to prosper in his hand." He was bought by
Potiphar, a great Egyptian lord and captain of Pharaoh s
guard, who made him his overseer; his master s wife,
however, "cast her eyes upon Joseph," but finding that
he rejected her shameless advances, she accused him of
having offered violence to her person. Being cast into
prison, he astonished his companions in misfortune by
his skill in reading dreams, and was summoned to Court
to interpret to the king his dream of the seven lean kine
who had devoured the seven fat kine, which he did by
representing the latter as seven years of abundance, of
which the crops should be swallowed up by seven years
of famine. Joseph was thereupon raised by Pharaoh to
the rank of prime minister. He stored up the surplus of
the abundant harvests, and as soon as the famine broke
out, distributed the corn to the hunger-stricken people

of the circumstances which led to the change of name from Jacob to
Israel.

THE BENI-ISRAEL 99

in exchange for their silver and gold, and for their flocks
and fields. Hence it was that the whole of the Nile
valley, with the exception of the lands belonging to the
priests, gradually passed into the possession of the royal
treasury. Meanwhile his brethren, who also suffered from
the famine, came down into Egypt to buy corn. Joseph
revealed himself to them, pardoned the wrong they had
done him, and presented them to the Pharaoh. "And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do
ye ; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of
Canaan : and take your father and your household, and
come unto me : and I will give you the good of the land
of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land." Jacob
thereupon raised his camp and came to Beersheba, where
he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac ; and
Jahveh commanded him to go down into Egypt, saying,
" I will there make of thee a great nation : I will go down
with thee into Egypt : and I will also surely bring thee
up again : and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes."
The whole family were installed by Pharaoh in the province
of Goshen, as far as possible from the centres of the native
population, "for every shepherd is an abomination unto
the Egyptians."

In the midst of these stern yet touching narratives in
which the Hebrews of the times of the Kings delighted to
trace the history of their remote ancestors, one important
fact arrests our attention : the Beni-Israel quitted Southern
Syria and settled on the banks of the Nile. They had
remained for a considerable time in what was known later
as the mountains of Judah. Hebron had served as their

100 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

rallying-point ; the broad but scantily watered wadys
separating the cultivated lands from the desert, were to
them a patrimony, which they shared with the inhabitants
of the neighbouring towns. Every year, in the spring,
they led their flocks to browse on the thin herbage grow
ing in the bottoms of the valleys, removing them to
another district only when the supply of fodder was
exhausted. The women span, wove, fashioned garments,
baked bread, cooked the viands, and devoted themselves
to the care of the younger children, whom they suckled
beyond the usual period. The men lived like the Bedouin
periods of activity alternating regularly with times of
idleness, and the daily routine, with its simple duties and
casual work, often gave place to quarrels for the possession
of some rich pasturage or some never-failing well.

A comparatively ancient tradition relates that the
Hebrews arrived in Egypt during the reign of Aphobis, a
Hyksos king, doubtless one of the Ap6pi, and possibly the
monarch who restored the monuments of the Theban
Pharaohs, and engraved his name on the sphinxes of
Amenemhait III. and on the colossi of Mirmashau. 1 The
land which the Hebrews obtained is that which, down to

1 The year XVII. of Apophis has been pointed out as the date of their
arrival, and this combination, probably proposed by some learned Jew of
Alexandria, was adopted by Christian chroniclers. It is unsupported by
any fact of Egyptian history, but it rests on a series of calculations founded
on the information contained in the Bible. Starting from the assumption
that the Exodus must have taken place under Ahmosis, and that the children
of Israel had been four hundred and thirty years on the banks of the Nile,
it was found that the beginning of their sojourn fell under the reign of the
Apophis mentioned by Josephus, and, to be still more correct, in the XVII" 1
year of that prince.

The Arrival of the Nomad

From the painting by Gerome

THE LAND OF GOSHEN 101

the present day, is most frequently visited by nomads, who
find there an uncertain hospitality. The tribes of the
isthmus of Suez are now, in fact, constantly shifting from
one continent to another, and their encampments in any
place are merely temporary. The lord of the soil must,
if he desire to keep them within his borders, treat them
with the greatest prudence and tact. Should the govern
ment displease them in any way, or appear to curtail their
liberty, they pack up their tents and take flight into the
desert. The district occupied by them one day is on the
next vacated and left to desolation. Probably the same
state of things existed in ancient times, and the border
nomes on the east of the Delta were in turn inhabited or
deserted by the Bedouin of the period. The towns were
few in number, but a series of forts protected the frontier.
These were mere village-strongholds perched on the
summit of some eminence, and surrounded by a strip
of cornland. Beyond the frontier extended a region of bare
rock, or a wide plain saturated with the ill-regulated surplus
water of the inundation. The land of Goshen was bounded
by the cities of Heliopolis on the south, Bubastis on the
west, and Tanis and Mendes on the north : the garrison at
Avaris could easily keep watch over it and maintain order
within it, while they could at the same time defend it from
the incursions of the Monatiu and the Hiru-Shaitu. 1 The

1 Goshen comprised the provinces situated on the borders of the cultiv
able cornland, and watered by the infiltration of the Nile, which caused the
growth of a vegetation sufficient to support the flocks during a few weeks ;
and it may also have included the imperfectly irrigated provinces which were
covered with pools and reedy swamps after each inundation.

102 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

Beni-Israel throve in these surroundings so well adapted
to their traditional tastes. Even if their subsequent
importance as a nation has been over-estimated, they did
not at least share the fate of many foreign tribes, who,
when transplanted into Egypt, waned and died out, or, at
the end of two or three generations, became merged in the
native population. 1 In pursuing their calling as shepherds,
almost within sight of the rich cities of the Nile valley,
they never forsook the God of their fathers to bow down
before the Enneads or Triads of Egypt ; whether He was
already known to them as Jahveh, or was worshipped under
the collective name of Elohlrn, they served Him with almost
unbroken fidelity even in the presence of Ka and Osiris, of
Phtah and Sutkhu.

The Hyksos conquest had not in any way modified the
feudal system of the country. The Shepherd-kings must
have inherited the royal domain just as they found it at
the close of the XIV th dynasty, but doubtless the whole
Delta, from Avaris to Sais, and from Memphis to Buto,
was their personal appanage. Their direct authority
probably extended no further south than the pyramids,
and their supremacy over the fiefs of the Said w r as at best
precarious. The turbulent lords who shared among them
the possession of the valley had never lost their proud or
rebellious spirit, and under the foreign as under the native
Pharaohs regulated their obedience to their ruler by the

1 We are told that when the Hebrews left Ramses, they were "about
six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a
mixed multitude went up also with them ; and flocks and herds, even very
much cattle " (Exod. xii. 37, 38).

FEUDAL SYSTEM OF THE COUNTRY 103

energy lie displayed, or by their regard for the resources
at his disposal. Thebes had never completely lost the
ascendency which it obtained over them at the fall of the
Memphite dynasty. The accession of the Xoite dynasty,
and the arrival of the Shepherd-kings, in relegating Thebes
unceremoniously to a second rank, had not discouraged it,
or lowered its royal prestige in its own eyes or in those of
others : the lords of the south instinctively rallied around
it, as around their natural citadel, and their resources,
combined with its own, rendered it as formidable a power
as that of the masters of the Delta. If we had fuller
information as to the history of this period, we should
doubtless see that the various Theban princes took
occasion, as in the Heracleopolitan epoch, to pick a
quarrel with their sovereign lord, and did not allow them
selves to be discouraged by any check. 1 The period of
hegemony attributed by the chronicles to the Hyksos of the
XVI th dynasty was not probably, as far as they were
concerned, years of perfect tranquillity, or of undisputed

1 The length of time during which Egypt was subject to Asiatic rule is
not fully known. Historians are agreed in recognizing the three epochs re
ferred to in the narrative of Manetho as corresponding with (1) the conquest
and the six first Hyksos kings, including the XV th Theban dynasty ; (2) the
complete submission of Egypt to the XVI th foreign dynasty ; (3) the war of
independence during the XVII th dynasty, which consisted of two parallel
series of kings, the one Shepherds (Pharaohs), the other Thebans. There has
been considerable discussion as to the duration of the oppression. The best
solution is still that given by Erman, according to whom the XV th dynasty
lasted 284, the XVI th 234, and the XVII th 143 years, or, in all, 661 years.
The invasion must, therefore, have taken place about 2346 B.C., or about
the time when the Elamite power was at its highest. The advent of the
XVI th dynasty would fall about 2062 B.C., and the commencement of the war
of independence between 1730 and 1720 B.C.

104 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

authority. In inscribing their sole names on the lists, the
compilers denoted merely the shorter or longer period
during which their Theban vassals failed in their rebellious
efforts, and did not dare to assume openly the title or
ensigns of royality. A certain Apophis, probably the same
who took the prsenomen of Aqnunri, was reigning at Tanis
when the decisive revolt broke out, and Saqnunri Tiuaa I.,
who was the leader on the occasion, had no other title of
authority over the provinces of the south than that of hiqu,
or regent. We are unacquainted with the cause of the
outbreak or with its sequel, and the Egyptians themselves
seem to have been not much better informed on the subject
than ourselves. They gave free flight to their fancy, and
accommodated the details to their taste, not shrinking
from the introduction of daring fictions into the account.
A romance, which was very popular with the literati four
or five hundred years later, asserted that the real cause of
the war was a kind of religious quarrel. " It happened
that the land of Egypt belonged to the Fever-stricken, and,
as there was no supreme king at that time, it happened
then that King Saqnunri was regent of the city of the
south, and that the Fever-stricken of the city of Ka were
under the rule of Ba-Apopi in Avaris. The Whole Land
tribute to the latter in manufactured products, and the
north did the same in all the good things of the Delta.
Now, the King Ka-Apopi took to himself Sutkhu for lord, and
he did not serve any other god in the Whole Land except
Sutkhu, and he built a temple of excellent and everlasting
work at the gate of the King Ka-Apopi, and he arose every
morning to sacrifice the daily victims, and the chief vassals

ROMANCE OF APOPI AND OF SAQNUNRI 105

were there with garlands of flowers, as it was accustomed
to be done for the temple of Phra-Harmakhis." Having
finished the temple, he thought of imposing upon the
Thebans the cult of his god, but as he shrank from employ
ing force in such a delicate matter, he had recourse to
stratagem. He took counsel with his princes and generals,
but they were unable to propose any plan. The college
of diviners and scribes was more complaisant : { Let a
messenger go to the regent of the city of the South to tell
him : The King Ra-Apopi commands thee : That the
hippopotami which are in the pool of the town are to be
exterminated in the pool, in order that slumber may come
to me by day and by night. He will not be able to reply
good or bad, and thou shalt send him another messenger :
The King Ra-Apopi commands thee : If the chief of the
South does not reply to my message, let him serve no
longer any god but Sutkhu. But if he replies to it, and
will do that which I tell him to do, then I will impose
nothing further upon him, and I will not in future bow
before any other god of the Whole Land than Amonra,
king of the gods ! Another Pharaoh of popular
romance, Nectanebo, possessed, at a much later date,
mares which conceived at the neighing of the stallions of
Babylon, and his friend Lycerus had a cat which went
forth every night to wring the necks of the cocks of
Memphis : l the hippopotami of the Theban lake, which
troubled the rest of the King of Tanis, were evidently
of close kin to these extraordinary animals. The sequel

1 Found in a popular story, which came in later times to be associated
with the traditions connected with ./Esop.

10(5

THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

is unfortunately lost. We may assume, however, without
much risk of error, that Saqnunri came forth safe arid
sound from the ordeal ; that Apopi was taken in his own
trap, and saw himself driven to the dire extremity of giving
up Sutkhu for Amonra or of declaring war. He
was likely to adopt the latter alternative, and the
end of the manuscript would probably have related
his defeat.

Hostilities continued for a century and a half
from the time when Saqnunri Tiuaa declared him
self son of the Sun and king of the two Bgypts.
From the moment in which he surrounded his name
with a cartouche, the princes of the Said threw in
their lot with him, and the XVII th dynasty had
its beginning on the day of his proclamation.
The strife at first was undecisive and without
marked advantage to either side : at length the
Pharaoh whom the Greek copyists of Manetho call
Alisphragmouthosis, defeated the barbarians, drove
them awayfrom Memphis and from the western plains
PALETTE OF of the Delta, and shut them up in their entrenched
camp at Avaris, between the Sebennytic branch of
the Nile and the Wady Tumilat. The monuments bearing
on this period of strife and misery are few in number, and
it is a fortunate circumstance if some insignificant object
turns up which would elsewhere be passed over as un
worthy of notice. One of the officials of Tiuaa I. has
left us his writing palette, on which the cartouches of
his master are incised with a rudeness baffling description.

1 Drawn from the original by Faucher-Gudin.

THE THEBAN KINGS

We have also information of a prince of the
blood, a king s son, Tuau, who accompanied this
same Pharaoh in his expeditions ; and the Gizeh
Museum is proud of having in its possession the
wooden sabre which this individual placed on the
mummy of a certain Aqhorii, to enable him to
defend himself against the monsters of the lower
world. A second Saqnunri Tiuaa succeeded the
first, and like him was buried in a little brick pyra
mid on the border of the Theban necropolis. At
his death the series of rulers was broken, and we
meet with several names which are difficult to
classify Sakhontinibri, Sanakhtu-niri, Hotpuri,
Manhotpuri, Kahotpu. 1 As we proceed, however,
information becomes more plentiful, and the list
of reigns almost complete. The part which the
princesses of older times played in the transmission
of power had, from the XII th dynasty downward,

L Hotpuri and Manhotpuri are both mentioned in the frag
ments of a fantastic story (copied during the XX th dynasty), bits
of which are found in most European museums. In one of these
fragments, preserved in the Louvre, mention is made of Hotpuri s
tomb, certainly situated at Thebes ; we possess scarabs of this king,
and Petrie discovered at Coptos a fragment of a stele bearing his
name and titles, and describing the works which he executed in
the temples of the town. The XIV th year of Manhotpuri is
mentioned in a passage of the story as being the date of the death
of a personage born under Hotpuri. These two kings belong, as
far as we are able to judge, to the middle of the XVII th dynasty ;
I am inclined to place beside them the Pharaoh jSTubhotpuri, of
whom we possess a few rather coarse scarabs.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Guduij from a photograph taken by
Emil Brugsch-Bey.

TUAU S SABRE. 2

108 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

considerably increased in importance, and threatened to
overshadow that of the princes. The question presents
itself whether, during these centuries of perpetual warfare,
there had not been a moment when, all the males of the
family having perished, the women alone were left to
perpetuate the solar race on the earth and to keep the
succession unbroken. As soon as the veil over this
period of history begins to be lifted, we distinguish among
the personages emerging from the obscurity as many
queens as kings presiding over the destinies of Egypt.
The sons took precedence of the daughters when both
were the offspring of a brother and sister born of the
same parents, and when, consequently, they were of
equal rank ; but, on the other hand, the sons forfeited
this equality when there was any inferiority in origin on
the maternal side, and their prospect of succession to
the throne diminished in proportion to their mother s
remoteness from the line of Ra. In the latter case all
their sisters, born of marriages which to us appear
incestuous, took precedence of them, and the eldest daughter
became the legitimate Pharaoh, who sat in the seat of
Horns on the death of her father, or even occasionally
during his lifetime. The prince whom she married
governed for her, and discharged those royal duties which
could be legally performed by a man only, such as
offering worship to the supreme gods, commanding the
army, and administering justice ; but his wife never
ceased to be sovereign, and however small the intelli
gence or firmness of which she might be possessed, her
husband was obliged to leave to her, at all events on

THE THEBAN PRINCESSES

109

certain occasions, the direction of affairs. At her death
her children inherited the crown : their father had
formally to invest the
eldest of them with royal
authority in the room of
the deceased, and with
him he shared the exter
nals, if not the reality, of
power. 1 It is doubtful
whether the third Saq-
nuuri Tiuaa known to us
he who added an epi
thet to his name, and
was commonly known as
Tiuaqni, " Tiuaa the
brave " 2 - -united in his
person all the requisites
of a Pharaoh qualified to
reign in his own right.
However this may have
been, at all events his
wife, Queen Ahhotpu, pos
sessed them. His eldest

NOFRITARI, FROM THE WOODEN STATUETTE IN
THE TUBIN MUSEUM. 3

1 Thus we find Thutmosis I. formally enthroning his daughter Hat-
shopsitu, towards the close of his reign.

2 It would seem that the epithet Qcni ( = the brave, the robust) did not
form an indispensable part of his name, any more than Ahmosi did of the
names of members of the family of Ahmosis, the conqueror of the Shepherds.
It is to him that the Tiuaa cartouche refers, which is to be found on the
statue mentioned by Daninos-Pasha, published by Bouriant, and on which we
find Ahmosis, a princess of the same name, together with Queen Ahhotpu I.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Flinders Petrie.

110

THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

son Ahmosu died prematurely ; the two younger brothers,
Karaosu and a second Ahmosu, the Amosis of the Greeks,
assumed the crown after him. It is possible, as frequently
happened, that their young sister Ahmasi-Nofritari entered
the harem of both brothers consecutively. We cannot
be sure that she was united to Kamosii, but at all events
she became the wife of Ahmosis, and the rights which

she possessed, together
with those which her hus
band had inherited from
their mother Ahhotpu, gave
him a legal claim such as
was seldom enjoyed by the
Pharaohs of that period,
so many of them being
sovereigns merely de facto,
while he was doubly king
by right.

Tiuaqni, Kamosu, and
Ahmosis quickly succeeded
each other. Tiuaqni very probably waged war against the
Shepherds, and it is not known whether he fell upon the
field of battle or was the victim of some plot ; the appear
ance of his mummy proves that he died a violent death
when about forty years of age. Two or three men, whether
assassins or soldiers, must have surrounded and despatched
him before help was available. A blow from an axe must
have severed part of his left cheek, exposed the teeth,
fractured the jaw, and sent him senseless to the ground ;

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

THE HEAD OF S.VQNUNRI III. 1

TIUAQNI AND KAMOSU 111

another blow must have seriously injured the skull, and a
dagger or javelin has cut open the forehead on the right
side, a little above the eye. His body must have remained
lying where it fell for some time : when found, decom
position had set in, and the embalming had to be hastily
performed as best it might. The hair is thick, rough, and
matted ; the face had been shaved on the morning of his
death, but by touching the cheek we can ascertain how
harsh and abundant the hair must have been. The mummy
is that of a fine, vigorous man, who might have lived
to a hundred years, and he must have defended himself
resolutely against his assailants ; his features bear even now
an expression of fury. A flattened patch of exuded brain
appears above one eye, the forehead is wrinkled, and the
lips, which are drawn back in a circle about the gums,
reveal the teeth still biting into the tongue. Kamosu did
not reign long ; l we know nothing of the events of his life,
but we owe to him one of the prettiest examples of the
Egyptian goldsmith s art the gold boat mounted on a
carriage of wood and bronze, which was to convey his
double on its journeys through Hades. This boat was

/^ A .

afterwards appropriated by his mother Ahhotpu. Ahmosis 2

1 With regard to Kamosu, we possess, in addition to the miniature bark
which was discovered on the sarcophagus of Queen Ahhotpu, and which is
now in the museum at Gizeh, a few scattered references to his worship
existing on the monuments, on a stele at Gizeh, on a table of offerings in the
Marseilles Museum, and in the list of princes worshipped by the " servants
of the Necropolis." His pyramid was at Drah-Abu 1-Neggah, beside those
of Tiuaa and Amenothes I.

2 The name Amosu or Ahmosi is usually translated " Child of the Moon-
god" the real meaning is, " the Moon-god has brought forth," " him " or
" her " (referring to the person who bears the name) being understood.

112 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

must have been about twenty-five years of age when he
ascended the throne ; he was of medium height, as his body
when mummied measured only 5 feet 6 inches in length,
but the development of the neck and chest indicates
extraordinary strength. The head is small in proportion to
the bust, the forehead low and narrow, the cheek-bones
project, and the hair is thick and wavy. The face exactly
resembles that of Tiuaqni, and the likeness alone would
proclaim the affinity, even if we were ignorant of the close
relationship which united these two Pharaohs. 1 Ahmosis
seems to have been a strong, active, warlike man ; he was
successful in all the wars in which we know him to have
been engaged, and he ousted the Shepherds from the last
towns occupied by them. It is possible that modern
writers have exaggerated the credit due to Ahmosis for
expelling the Hyksos. He found the task already half
accomplished, and the warfare of his forefathers for at least
a century must have prepared the way for his success ; if he
appears to have played the most important role in the
history of the deliverance, it is owing to our ignorance of
the work of others, and he thus benefits by the oblivion
into which their deeds have passed. Taking this into
consideration, we must still admit that the Shepherds,
even when driven into Avaris, were not adversaries to be
despised. Forced by the continual pressure of the

1 Here again my description is taken from the present appearance of
the mummy, which is now in the Gizeh Museum. It is evident, from the
inspection which I have made, that Ahmosis was about fifty years old at
the time of his death, and, allowing him to have reigned twenty-five years,
he must have been twenty-five or twenty-six when he came to the throne,

THE SHEPHERDS NO MEAN ADVERSARIES

113

Egyptian armies into this corner of the Delta, they were
as a compact body the more able to make a protracted
resistance against very superior forces. The impenetrable
marshes of Menzaleh on the north, and the desert of the
Eed Sea on the south, completely covered both their wings ;
the shifting network of the branches of the Nile, together
with the artificial canals, protected them as by a series of

THE SMALL GOLD VOTIVE BARQUE OF PHARAOH KAMOSO, IN THE GIZEH MUSEUM. 1

moats in front, while Syria in their rear offered them
inexhaustible resources for revictualling their troops, or
levying recruits among tribes of kindred race. As long as
they could hold their ground there, a re-invasion was
always possible ; one victory would bring them to Memphis,
and the whole valley would again fall under their
suzerainty. Ahmosis, by driving them from their last
stronghold, averted this danger. It is, therefore, not

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.
VOL. IV. I

114

THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

without reason that the official chroniclers of later times
separated him from his ancestors and made him the head of
a new dynasty. His predecessors had in reality been

merely Pharaohs on sufferance,
ruling in the south within the
confines of their Theban princi
pality, gaining in power, it is
true, with every generation,
but never able to attain to the
suzerainty of the whole country.
They were reckoned in the

XVII th dynasty
together with
the Hyksos
sovereigns of
uncontested le
gitimacy, while
their successors
were chosen to
constitute the
XVIII th , com
prising Pharaohs

with full powers, tolerating no competitors, and uniting
under their firm rule the two regions of which Egypt was
composed the possessions of Sit and the possessions of
Horus. 1

1 Manetho, or his abridgers, call the king who drove out the Shepherds
Amosis or Tethmosis. Lepsius thought he saw grounds for preferring the
second reading, and identified this TethmOsis with Thutmosi Manakhpirri,
the Thutinosis III. of our lists ; Ahmosis could only have driven out the
greater part of the nation. This theory, to which Naville still adheres, as

PRINCIPALITY

or
NEKHABIT.

AHMOSIS I. 115

The war of deliverance broke out on the accession of
Ahmosis, and continued during the first five years of his
reign. 1 One of his lieutenants, the king s namesake
Ahmosi-si-Abina who belonged to the family of the lords
of Nekhabit, has left us an account, in one of the inscrip
tions in his tomb, of the numerous exploits in which he
took part side by side with his royal master, and thus,
thanks to this fortunate record of his vanity, we are not
left in complete ignorance of the events which took place
during this crucial struggle between the Asiatic settlers
and their former subjects. Nekhabit had enjoyed consider
able prosperity in the earlier ages of Egyptian history,
marking as it did the extreme southern limit of the
kingdom, and forming an outpost against the barbarous
tribes of Nubia. As soon as the progress of conquest had
pushed the frontier as far south as the first cataract, it
declined in importance, and the remembrance of its former
greatness found an echo only in proverbial expressions or
in titles used at the Pharaonic court. 2 The nomes situated

also does Steindorff, was disputed nearly fifty years ago by E. de Rouge ;
nowadays we are obliged to admit that, subsequent to the V th year of
Ahmosis, there were no longer Shepherd-kings in Egypt, even though a part
of the conquering race may have remained in the country in a state of
slavery, as we shall soon have occasion to observe.

This is evident from passage in the biography of Ahmosi-si-Abina,
where it is stated that, after the taking of Avaris, the king passed into
Asia in the year VI. The first few lines of the Great Inscription of El-Kab
seem to refer to four successive campaigns, i.e. four years of warfare up to
the taking of Avaris, and to a fifth year spent in pursuing the Shepherds
into Syria.

The vulture of Nekhabit is used to indicate the south, while the ura?us
of Buto denotes the extreme north; the title Ra-Nekhnit, "Chief of
Nekhnit," which is, hypothetically, supposed to refer to a judicial function,

110

THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

to the south of Thebes, unlike those of Middle Egypt, did
not comprise any extensive fertile or well-watered territory
calculated to enrich its possessors or to afford sufficient
support for a large population : they consisted of long
strips of alluvial soil, shut in between the river and the

THE WALLS OF EL-KAB SEEN FROM THE TOMB OF TIHIRI. 1

mountain range, but above the level of the inundation,
and consequently difficult to irrigate. These nomes were

is none the less associated with the expression, " Nekhabit-Nekhnit," as an
indication of the south, and, therefore, can be traced to the prehistoric epoch
when Nekhabit was the primary designation of the south.

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.

THE PRINCIPALITY OF EL-KAB 117

cultivated, moreover, by a poor and sparse population.
It needed a fortuitous combination of circumstances to
relieve them from their poverty-stricken condition either
a war, which would bring into prominence their strategic
positions ; or the establishment of markets, such as those
of Syene and Elephantine, where the commerce of neigh
bouring regions would naturally centre ; or the erection,
as at Ombos or Edfu, of a temple which would periodically
attract a crowd of pilgrims. The principality of the Two
Feathers comprised, besides Nekhabit, at least two such
towns Anit, on its northern boundary, and Nekhnit almost
facing Nekhabit on the left bank of the river. 1 These three
towns sometimes formed separate estates for as many
independent lords : 2 even when united they constituted a
fiefdom of but restricted area and of slender revenues, its
chiefs ranking below those of the great feudal princes of
Middle Egypt. The rulers of this fiefdom led an obscure
existence during the whole period of the Memphite empire,
and when at length Thebes gained the ascendency, they
rallied to the latter and acknowledged her suzerainty.
One of them, Sovkunakhiti, gained the favour of Sovkhotpu
III. Sakhemuaztauiri, who granted him lands which made
the fortune of his house ; another of them, Ai, married
Khonsu, one of the daughters of Sovkumsauf I. and his
Queen Nubkhas, and it is possible that the misshapen

1 Nekhnit is the Hieraconpolis of Greek and Roman times, Hait-Bauku,
the modern name of which is Kom-el-Ahmar.

2 Pihiri was, therefore, prince of Nekhabit and of Anit at one and the
same time, whereas the town of Nekhnit had its own special rulers, several
of whom are known to us from the tombs at Kom-el-Ahmar.

118 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

pyramid of Qulah, the most southern in Egypt proper, was
built for one of these royally connected personages. The
descendants of Ai attached themselves faithfully to the
Pharaohs of the XVII th dynasty, and helped them to the
utmost in their struggle against the invaders. Their
capital, Nekhabit, was situated between the Nile and the
Arabian chain, at the entrance to a valley which penetrates
some distance into the desert, and leads to the gold-mines
on the Ked Sea. The town profited considerably from the
precious metals brought into it by the caravans, and also
from the extraction of natron, which from prehistoric times
was largely employed in embalming. It had been a fortified
place from the outset, and its walls, carefully repaired by
successive ages, were still intact at the beginning of this
century. They described at this time a rough quadrilateral,
the two longer sides of which measured some 1900 feet
in length, the two shorter being about one-fourth less.
The southern face was constructed in a fashion common in
brick buildings in Egypt, being divided into alternate panels
of horizontally laid courses, and those in which the courses
were concave ; on the north and west faades the bricks
were so laid as to present an undulating arrangement
running uninterruptedly from one end to the other. The
walls are 33 feet thick, and their average height 27 feet ;
broad and easy steps lead to the foot- walk on the top.
The gates are unsymmetrically placed, there being one on
the north, east, and west sides respectively ; while the
southern side is left without an opening. These walls
afforded protection to a dense but unequally distributed
population, the bulk of which was housed towards the north

Factory
AMu

NEKHABIT AND ITS WALLS

119

and west sides, where the remains of an immense number
of dwellings may still be seen. The temples were crowded
together in a small square enclosure, concentric with the
walls of the enceinte, and the principal sanctuary was
dedicated to Nekhabit, the vulture goddess, who gave her
name to the city. 1 This enclosure formed a kind of citadel,
where the garrison could hold out when the outer part had
fallen into the enemy s hands. The times were troublous ;

TUE RUINS OF THE PYRAMID OF QULAH, NEAR HOHAMJIERIEH. 2

the open country was repeatedly wasted by war, and the
peasantry had more than once to seek shelter behind the
protecting ramparts of the town, leaving their lands to lie
fallow. Famine constantly resulted from these disturbances,
and it taxed all the powers of the ruling prince to provide
at such times for his people. A chief of the Commissariat,

A part of the latter temple, that which had been rebuilt in the Saite
epoch, was still standing at the beginning of the XIX th century, with
columns bearing the cartouches of Hakori ; it was destroyed about the year
1825, and Champollion found only the foundations of the walls.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.

120 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

Bebi by name, who lived about this period, gives us a
lengthy account of the number of loaves, oxen, goats, and
pigs, which he allowed to all the inhabitants both great
and little, down even to the quantity of oil and incense,
which he had taken care to store up for them : his prudence
was always justified by the issue, for u during the many
years in which the famine recurred, he distributed grain
in the city to all those who hungered."

Babai, the first of the lords of El-Kab whose name has
come down to us, was a captain in the service of Saqnunri
Thlaqni. 1 His son Ahmosi, having approached the end of
his career, cut a tomb for himself in the hill which over
looks the northern side of the town. He relates on the
walls of his sepulchre, for the benefit of posterity, the most
praiseworthy actions of his long life. He had scarcely
emerged from childhood when he was called upon to act
for his father, and before his marriage he was appointed to
the command of the barque The Calf. From thence he
was promoted to the ship The North, and on account of
his activity he was chosen to escort his namesake the
king on foot, whenever he drove in his chariot. He re
paired to his post at the moment when the decisive war
against the Hyksos broke out. The tradition current in
the time of the Ptolemies reckoned the number of men

1 There are still some doubts as to the descent of this Ahmosi. Some
authorities hold that Babai was the name of his father and Abina that of
his grandfather; others think that Babai was his father and Abina his
mother ; others, again, make out Babai and Abina to be variants of the
same name, probably a Semitic one, borne by the father of Ahmosi ; the
majority of modern Egyptologists (including myself) regard this last
hypothesis as being the most probable one.

THE LORDS OF EL-KAB 121

/\.

under the command of King Ahmosis when he encamped
before Avaris at 480,000. This immense multitude failed
to bring matters to a successful issue, and the siege
dragged on indefinitely. The king at length preferred to
treat with the Shepherds, and gave them permission to
retreat into Syria safe and sound, together with their
wives, their children, and all their goods. This account,
however, in no way agrees with the all too brief narration
of events furnished by the inscription in the tomb. The
army to which Egypt really owed its deliverance was not
the undisciplined rabble of later tradition, but, on the
contrary, consisted of troops similar to those which subse
quently invaded Syria, some 15,000 to 20,000 in number,
fully equipped and ably officered, supported, moreover,
by a fleet ready to transfer them across the canals and
arms of the river in a vigorous condition and ready for
the battle. 1 As soon as this fleet arrived at the scene of
hostilities, the engagement began. Ahmosi-si-Abina con
ducted the manoeuvres under the king s eye, and soon
gave such evidence of his capacity, that he was transferred
by royal favour to the Rising in Memphis a vessel with
a high freeboard. He was shortly afterwards appointed
to a post in a division told off for duty on the river

1 It may be pointed out that Ahmosi, son of Abina, was a sailor and
a leader of sailors ; that he passed from one vessel to another, until he was
at length appointed to the command of one of the most important ships in
the royal fleet. Transport by water always played considerable part in the
wars which were carried on in Egyptian territory ; I have elsewhere drawn
attention to campaigns conducted in this manner under the Heracleopolitan
dynasties, and we shall see that the Ethiopian conquerors adopted the same
mode of transit in the course of their invasion of Egypt.

122

THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

Zadiku, which ran under the walls of the enemy s fortress. 1
Two successive and vigorous attacks made in this quarter
were barren of important results. Ahmosi-si-Abina suc
ceeded in each of the attacks in killing an enemy, bringing
back as trophies a hand of each of his victims, and his
prowess, made known to the king by one of the heralds,

THE TOMBS OF THE PRINCES OF XEKHABIT, IX THE HILLSIDE ABOVE EL-KAB. 2

twice procured for him, " the gold of valour," probably
in the form of collars, chains, or bracelets. 3 The assault

1 The name of this canal was first recognised by Brugsch, then mis
understood and translated the water bearing the name of the water of
Avaris." It is now read "Zadiku," and, with the Egyptian article,
Pa-zadiku, or Pzadiku. The name is of Semitic origin, and is derived from
the root meaning " to be just ; " we do not know to which of the water
courses traversing the east of the Delta it ought to be applied.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.

3 The fact that the attacks from this side were not successful is proved

THE TAKING OP AVARIS 123

having been repulsed in this quarter, the Egyptians made
their way towards the south, and came into conflict with
the enemy at the village of Taqimit. 1 Here, again, the
battle remained undecided, but Ahmosi-si-Abina had an
adventure. He had taken a prisoner, and in bringing him
back lost himself, fell into a muddy ditch, and, when he
had freed himself from the dirt as well as he could, pursued
his way by mistake for some time in the direction of
Avaris. He found out his error, however, before it was
too late, came back to the camp safe and sound, and
received once more some gold as a reward of his brave
conduct. A second attack upon the town was crowned
with complete success; it was taken by storm, given
over to pillage, and Ahmosi-si-Abina succeeded in captur
ing one man and three women, who were afterwards, at
the distribution of the spoil, given to him as slaves. 2 The
enemy evacuated in haste the last strongholds which they
held in the east of the Delta, and took refuge in the
Syrian provinces on the Egyptian frontier. Whether it
was that they assumed here a menacing attitude, or
whether Ahmosis hoped to deal them a crushing blow
before they could find time to breathe, or to rally around
them sufficient forces to renew the offensive, he made up
his mind to cross the frontier, which he did in the 5th

by the sequel. If they had succeeded, as is usually supposed, the Egyptians
would not have fallen back on another point further south in order to renew

the struggle.

1 The site of Taqimit is unknown.

2 The prisoner who was given to Ahmosis after the victory, is probably
Paamu, the Asiatic, mentioned in the list of his slaves which he had

engraved on one of the walls of his tomb.

124 THE HYKSOS IN EGYPT

year of his reign. It was the first time for centuries that
a Pharaoh had trusted himself in Asia, and the same
dread of the unknown which had restrained his ancestors
of the XII th dynasty, doubtless arrested Ahmosis also on
the threshold of the continent. He did not penetrate
further than the border provinces of Zahi, situated on
the edge of the desert, and contented himself with pillag
ing the little town of Sharuhana. 1 Ahmosi-si-Abina was
again his companion, together with his cousin, Ahmosi-
Pannekhabit, then at the beginning of his career, who
brought away on this occasion two young girls for his
household. 2 The expedition having accomplished its
purpose, the Egyptians returned home with their spoil,
and did not revisit Asia for a long period. If the Hyksos
generals had fostered in their minds the idea that they
could recover their lost ground, and easily re-enter upon
the possession of their African domain, this reverse must
have cruelly disillusioned them. They must have been
forced to acknowledge that their power was at an end,

1 Sharuhana, which is mentioned again under Thutmosis III. is not the
plain of Sharon, as Birch imagined, but the Sharuhen of the Biblical texts,
in the tribe of Simeon (Josh. xix. 6), as Brugsch recognised it to be. It is
probably identical with the modern Tell-esh-Sheriah, which lies north-west
of Beersheba.

2 Ahmosi Pannekhabit lay in tomb No. 2, at El-Kab. His history is
briefly told on one of the walls, and on two sides of the pedestal of his
statues. We have one of these, or rather two plates from the pedestal of
one of them, in the Louvre ; the other is in a good state of preservation, and
belongs to Mr. Finlay. The inscription is found in a mutilated condition
on the wall of the tomb, but the three monuments which have come down
to us are sufficiently complementary to one another to enable us to restore
nearly the whole of the original text.

THE WARS OF AHMOSIS I. 125

and to renounce all hope of returning to the country
which had so summarily ejected them. The majority of
their own people did not follow them into exile, but
remained attached to the soil on which they lived, and
the tribes which had successively settled down beside
them including the Beni-Israel themselves no longer
dreamed of a return to their fatherland. The condition
of these people varied according to their locality. Those
who had taken up a position in the plain of the Delta
were subjected to actual slavery. Ahmosis destroyed the
camp at Avaris, quartered his officers in the towns, and
constructed forts at strategic points, or rebuilt the ancient
citadels to resist the incursions of the Bedouin. The
vanquished people in the Delta, hemmed in as they
were by a network of fortresses, were thus reduced to a
rabble of serfs, to be taxed and subjected to the corvee
without mercy. But further north, the fluctuating popula
tion which roamed between the Sebennytic and Pelusiac
branches of the Nile were not exposed to such rough
treatment. The marshes of the coast-line afforded them
a safe retreat, in which they could take refuge at the
first threat of exactions on the part of the royal emissaries.
Secure within dense thickets, upon islands approached by
interminable causeways, often covered with water, or by
long tortuous canals concealed in the thick growth of
reeds, they were able to defy with impunity the efforts
of the most disciplined troops, and treason alone could
put them at the mercy of their foes. Most of the Pharaohs
felt that the advantages to be gained by conquering them
would be outweighed by the difficulty of the enterprise;

120 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII TH DYNASTY

all that could result from a campaign would be the
destruction of one or two villages, the acquisition of a
few hundred refractory captives, of some ill-favoured cattle,
and a trophy of nets and worm-eaten boats. The kings,
therefore, preferred to keep a close watch over these un
disciplined hordes, and as long as their depredations were
kept within reasonable limits, they were left unmolested
to their wild and precarious life.

The Asiatic invasion had put a sudden stop to the
advance of Egyptian rule in the vast plains of the Upper
Nile. The Theban princes, to whom Nubia was directly
subject, had been too completely engrossed in the wars
against their hereditary enemy, to devote much time to
the continuation of that work of colonization in the south
which had been carried on so vigorously by their forefathers
of the XII th and XIII th dynasties. The inhabitants of the
Nile valley, as far as the second cataract, rendered them
obedience, but without any change in the conditions and
mode of their daily life, which appear to have remained
unaltered for centuries. The temples of Usirtasen and
Amenemhait were allowed to fall into decay one after
another, the towns waned in prosperity, and were unable
to keep their buildings and monuments in repair ; the
inundation continued to bring with it periodically its fleet
of boats, which the sailors of Kush had laden with timber,
gum, elephants tusks, and gold dust : from time to time
a band of Bedouin from Uauait or Mazaiu would suddenly
bear down upon some village and carry off its spoils ; the
nearest garrison would be called to its aid, or, on critical
occasions, the king himself, at the head of his guards,

AHMOSIS I. IN NUBIA 127

would fall on the marauders and drive them back into the
mountains. Ahmosis, being greeted on his return from
Syria by the news of such an outbreak, thought it a favour
able moment to impress upon the nomadic tribes of Nubia
the greatness of his conquest. On this occasion it was the
people of Khonthanfmofir, settled in the wadys east of the
Nile, above Semneh, which required a lesson. The army
which had just expelled the Hyksos was rapidly conveyed
to the opposite borders of the country by the fleet, the two
Ahmosi of Nekhabit occupying the highest posts. The
Egyptians, as was customary, landed at the nearest point
to the enemy s territory, and succeeded in killing a few of
the rebels. Ahmosi-si-Abina brought back two prisoners
and three hands, for which he was rewarded by a gift of two
female Bedouin slaves, besides the " gold of valour." This
victory in the south following on such decisive success
in the north, filled the heart of the Pharaoh with pride,
and the view taken of it by those who surrounded him
is evident even in the brief sentences of the narrative. He
is described as descending the river on the royal galley,
elated in spirit and flushed by his triumph in Nubia,
which had followed so closely on the deliverance of the
Delta. But scarcely had he reached Thebes, when an
unforeseen catastrophe turned his confidence into alarm,
and compelled him to retrace his steps. It would appear
that at the very moment when he was priding him
self on the successful issue of his Ethiopian expedition,
one of the sudden outbreaks, which frequently occurred
in those regions, had culminated in a Sudanese invasion
of Egypt. We are not told the name of the rebel leader,

TIIM ! ,i x;i.\\i\(; or TIII-; xvnr" DYNASTY

nor tho:;e of the l,i ibes who took part in it. The Egyptian
people,, f,lire;i.f,eiied in :i, moment of such apparent security
by ih in inroad of barbarians, regarded them as a fresh
ineur.ion of the llyl md applied to these southern

the opprobrious term of " Fever-stricken," already used to
denote their Asiatic conquerors. The enemy descend -*!
the Nile, committing terrible atrocities, find polluting
ovnry sanctuary of the Theban gods which came within
their reach. They had reached a spot called Tentoa, 1
before they fell in with the Egyptian troops. Ahmosi-si-
Abina a^ain distinguished himself in the (mg;i,g(!rnent.
r l he resse] whioh ho commanded, probably the A /.sy// ; // in
iix, run alongside the chief galliot of the Sudanese
, ;md took possession of it after a straggle, in which
Alimosi m;i,dn two of the enemy s sailors prisoners with his
own h;ind. The king generously rewarded those whoso
valour had Mnis turned the day in his favour, for the danger
h;id :i.p|)c:i.r(id to him critical ; ho allotted to every man on
ho:ird l,he notorioUfl vessel five slaves, and five c/r//m of
land silimird in his native province of each respectively.
Tln&gt; invasion was not without its natural consequences to
l &gt;ypl, il.sdf. A rortain Titianfi, who appears to have been
:i,t I. he lie;id of ;i, powerful faction, rose in rebellion at some

1 Tin- n. iiiii ipf I. hi; 1 . l&lt;n-:i,lily dor;; not, occur (dscwlicrc ; it, \voiil&lt;l sccin to
refer, not, to ;i, \ill:i^c, Inil, r:i.l,lirr to :i, C;I.M:I I, in- (lie lii . i.ncli of :i river, or ;i

li.illioin ;:oliii wlicrc ;i,loli^ t,ll( Nile. I :i,lll llll. lJilc t-o |(ic;it,e it, ( Iclill it.cl V, hut

:un indiiHMl In Think \\ "lit t.o look for it,, it not, in I l.i^ypt. itself, a,t, any

r:i.t.e in tli:i.t, |&gt;.irl, of Nllliin, wliieli i:; ne:i,re:;t, t,o l &lt;ypt,. M. I {evil lollt,, taking
ii|&gt; M, theory \\liidi li;nl Keen :ili.-i .ndonei | liy (Miali:i.n, recognising in iliin
evpedit ion :i.n oll en!.i\c i ncii r .ion of the Slirplierds, Sil.^est.s i,li;i.t, Tant.&gt;:"i.
in. IV lie (.lie Ilioilern I . Ul I :i I) in I lie hell.i.

THE RESUMING OP BUILDING WORKS 129

place not named in the narrative, but in the rear of the

army. The rapidity with which Ahmosis repulsed the
Nubians, and turned upon his new enemy, completely
baffled the latter s plans , and he and his followers were cut
to pieces, but the danger had for the moment been serious. 1
It was, if not the last expedition undertaken in this reign,
at least the last commanded by the Pharaoh in person.
By his activity and courage Ahmosis had well earned
the right to pass the remainder of his days in peace.

A revival of military greatness always entailed a
renaissance in art, followed by an age of building activity.
The claims of the gods upon the spoils of war must be
satisfied before those of men, because the victory and the
booty obtained through it were alike owing to the divine
help given in battle. A tenth, therefore, of the slaves,
cattle, and precious metals was set apart for the service of
the gods, and even fields, towns, and provinces were allotted
to them, the produce of which was applied to enhance the
importance of their cult or to repair and enlarge their

1 The wording of the text is so much condensed that it is difficult to bo
sure of its meaning. Modern scholars agree with Brugsch that Titianu is the
name of a man, but several ^Egyptologists believe its bearer to have been
chief of the Ethiopian tribes, while others think him to have been a rebellious
Egyptian prince, or a king of the Shepherds, or give up the task of identifi
cation in despair. The tortuous wording of the text, and the expressions
\\liich occur in it, seem to indicate that the rebel was a prince of the royal
blood, and even that the name lie bears was not his real one. Later on we
shall find that, on a similar occasion, the official documents refer to a prince
who took part in a plot against Ramses III. by the fictitious name of
Pentauirit ; Titianu was probably a nickname of the same kind inserted in
place of the real name. It seems that, in cases of high treason, the
criminal not only lost his life, but his name was proscribed both in this
world and in (ho next.

VOL. IV. K

130 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII TH DYNASTY

temples. The main body of the building was strengthened,

halls and pylons were added to the original plan, and the

impulse once given to architectural work, the co-operation

of other artificers soon followed. Sculptors and painters

whose art had been at a standstill for generations during

the centuries of Egypt s humiliation, and whose hands had

lost their cunning for want of practice, were now once

more in demand. They had probably never completely

lost the technical knowledge of their calling, and the

ancient buildings furnished them with various types of

models, which they had but to copy faithfully in order to

revive their old traditions. A few years after this revival

a new school sprang up, whose originality became daily

more patent, and whose leaders soon showed themselves to

be in no way inferior to the masters of the older schools.

Ahmosis could not be accused of ingratitude to the gods ;

as soon as his wars allowed him the necessary leisure, he

began his work of temple-building. The accession to

power of the great Theban families had been of little

advantage to Thebes itself. Its Pharaohs, on assuming the

sovereignty of the whole valley, had not hesitated to

abandon their native city, and had made Heracleopolis, the

Eayum or even Memphis, their seat of government, only

returning to Thebes in the time of the XIII th dynasty, when

the decadence of their power had set in. The honour of

furnishing rulers for its country had often devolved on

Thebes, but the city had reaped but little benefit from the

fact ; this time, however, the tide of fortune was to be

turned. The other cities of Egypt had come to regard

Thebes as their metropolis from the time when they had

CENTRAL POSITION OP THEBES 131

learned to rally round its princes to wage war against the
Hyksds. It had been the last town to lay down arms at
the time of the invasion, and the first to take them up
again in the struggle for liberty. Thus the Egypt which
vindicated her position among the nations of the world was
not the Egypt of the Memphite dynasties. It was the
great Egypt of the Amenemhaits and the Usirtasens, still
further aggrandised by recent victories. Thebes was her
natural capital, and its kings could not have chosen a more
suitable position from whence to command effectually the
whole empire. Situated at an equal distance from both
frontiers, the Pharaoh residing there, on the outbreak of
a war either in the north or south, had but half the length
of the country to traverse in order to reach the scene of

action. Ahrnosis spared no pains to improve the city, but
his resources did not allow of his embarking on any very
extensive schemes; he did not touch the temple of Amon,
and if he undertook any buildings in its neighbourhood,
they must have been minor edifices. He could, indeed,
have had but little leisure to attempt much else, for it was
not till the XXII nd year of his reign that he was able to set
seriously to work. 1 An opportunity then occurred to revive
a practice long fallen into disuse under the foreign kings,
and to set once more in motion an essential part of the
machinery of Egyptian administration. The quarries of
Turah, as is well known, enjoyed the privilege of furnishing

In the inscription of the year XXII., Ahmosis expressly states that he
opened new chambers in the quarries of Turah for the works in connection
with the Theban Amon, as well as for those of the temple of the Memphite
Phtah.

132 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII TH DYNASTY

the finest materials to tlie royal architects ; nowhere else
could be found limestone of such whiteness, so easy to cut,
or so calculated to lend itself to the carving of delicate
inscriptions and bas-reliefs. The commoner veins had
never ceased to be worked by private enterprise, gangs of
quarrymen being always employed, as at the present day,
in cutting small stone for building purposes, or in ruthlessly
chipping it to pieces to burn for lime in the kilns of the
neighbouring villages; but the finest veins were always
kept for State purposes. Contemporary chroniclers might
have formed a very just estimate of national prosperity by

SXX

",..&gt;&gt;

A COXVOY OF TURAII QUAERYMEX DRAWIXG STOXE. 1

the degree of activity shown in working these royal
preserves ; when the amount of stone extracted was
lessened, prosperity was on the wane, and might be
pronounced to be at its lowest ebb when the noise of the
quarryman s hammer finally ceased to be heard. Every
dynasty whose resources were such as to justify their
resumption of the work proudly recorded the fact on stelaB
which lined the approaches to the masons yards. Ahmosis
reopened the Turah quarry-chambers, and procured for
himself " good stone and white " for the temples of Amon
at Thebes and of Phtah at Memphis. No monument has

1 Drawn by Faucher -Gudin, from a sketch by Vyse-Perriag.

THE TURAH QUARRIES REOPENED 133

as yefc been discovered to throw any light on the fate of
Memphis subsequent to the time of the Amenenihaits. It
must have suffered quite as much as any city of the Delta
from the Shepherd invasion, and from the wars which
preceded their expulsion, since it was situated on the
highway of an invading army, and would offer an attraction
for pillagers. By a curious turn of fortune it was the
"Fankhiii," or Asiatic prisoners, who were set to quarry
the stone for the restoration of the monuments which their
own forefathers had reduced to ruins. 1 The bas-reliefs
sculptured on the stela3 of Ahmosis show them in full
activity under the corvee; we see here the stone block
detached from the quarry being squared by the chisel, or
transported on a sledge drawn by oxen.

Ahmosis had several children by his various wives ; six
at least owned Nofritari for their mother and possessed near
claims to the crown, but she may have borne him others
whose existence is unrecorded. The eldest appears to have
been a son, Sipiri ; he received all the honours due to an
hereditary prince, but died without having reigned, and his
second brother, Amenhotpu called by the Greeks
Arnenothes 2 took his place. Ahmosis was laid to rest in

1 The FankJiui are, properly speaking, all white prisoners, without
distinction of race. Their name is derived from the root /o/c/ra, fanJchu to
bind, press, carry off, steal, destroy ; if it is sometimes used in the sense of
Phoenicians, it is only in the Ptolemaic epoch. Here the term " Fankhui "
refers to the Shepherds and Asiatics made prisoners in the campaign of the
year V. against Sharuhana.

The form Amenophis, which is usually employed, is, properly speaking,
the equivalent of the name Amenemaupitu, or Amenaupiti, which belongs to
a king of the XXI st Tanite dynasty ; the true Greek transcription of the
Ptolemaic epoch, corresponding to the pronunciation Amcnhotpe, or Amcnlioptc,

134 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII DYNASTY

the chapel which he had prepared for himself in the
cemetery of Drah-abu 1-Neggah, among the modest
pyramids of the XI th , XIII th , and XVII th dynasties. 1 He
was venerated as a god, and his cult was continued for six
or eight centuries later, until the increasing insecurity of
the Theban necropolis at last necessitated the removal of
the kings from their funeral chambers. 2 The coffin of
Ahmosis was found to be still intact, though it was a poorly
made one, shaped to the contours of the body, and smeared
over with yellow ; it represents the king with the false
beard depending from his chin, and his breast covered with
a pectoral ornament, the features, hair, and accessories
being picked out in blue. His name has been hastily
inscribed in ink on the front of the winding-sheet, and
when the lid was removed, garlands of faded pink flowers
were still found about the neck, laid there as a last offering

is Amenothes. Under the XVIII th dynasty the cuneiform transcription of
the tablets of Tel-el Amarna, Amankhatbi, seems to indicate the pronuncia
tion Amanhautpi, Amanhatpi, side by side with the pronunciation Aman-
hautpu, Amenhotpu.

1 The precise site is at present unknown : we see, however, that it was
in this place, when we observe that Ahmosis was worshipped by the Servants
of the Necropolis, amongst the kings and princes of his family who were
buried at Drah-abu 1-Neggah.

l His priests and the minor employes of his cult are mentioned on a stele
in the museum at Turin, and on a brick in the Berlin Museum. He is
worshipped as a god, along with Osiris, Horus, and Isis, on a stele in the
Lyons Museum, brought from Abydos : ha had, probably, during one of his
journeys across Egypt, made a donation to the temple of that city, on con
dition that he should be worshipped there for ever ; for a stele at Marseilles
shows him offering homage to Osiris in the bark of the god itself, and
another stele in the Louvre informs us that Pharaoh Thutmosis IV. several
times sent one of his messengers to Abydos for the purpose of presenting
land to Osiris and to his own ancestor Ahmosis.

AMENOTHES I. AND NOFRITARI

135

by the priests who placed the Pharaoh and his compeers in
their secret burying-place. Amenothes I. had not attained
his majority when his father " thus winged his way to
heaven," leaving him as heir to the throne. 1 Nofritari
assumed the authority ; after having shared the royal
honours for nearly twenty-five years with her husband, she

COFFIX OF AHMOSIS IX THE GIZEH MUSEUM.

resolutely refused to resign them. 3 She was thus the first
of those queens by divine right who, scorning the inaction

1 The last date known is that of the year XXII. at Turah ; Manetho s
lists give, in one place, twenty -five years and four months after the expulsion ;
in another, twenty-six years in round numbers, as the total duration of his
reign, which has every appearance of probability.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.

3 There is no direct evidence to prove that Amenothes I. was a minor
when he came to the throne ; still the presumptions in favour of this
hypothesis, afforded by the monuments, are so strong that many historians
of ancient Egypt have accepted it. Queen Nofritari is represented as
reigning, side by side with her reigning son, on some few Theban tombs
which can be attributed to their epoch.

136

THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII DYNASTY

of the harem, took on themselves the right to fulfil the
active duties of a sovereign, and claimed the recognition
of the equality or superiority of their titles to those of their

husbands or sons. The aged

AhhotpiijWho, like Nofritari,
was of pure royal descent,
and who might well have
urged her superior rank, had
been content to retire in
favour of her children ; she
lived to the tenth year of
her grandson s reign, re
spected by all her family,
but abstaining from all in
terference in political affairs.
When at length she passed
away, full of days and
honour, she was embalmed
with special care, and her
body was placed in a gilded
mummy-case, the head of
which presented a faithful
copy of her features. Be
side her were piled the jewels
she had received in her life
time from her husband and

XOFRITARI, THE BLACK-SKINNED GODDESS. 1

son. The majority of them
are for feminine use ; a fan with a handle plated with

1 Drawn by Boudier, from the photograph by M. de Mertens taken in
the Berlin Museum.

THE JEWELS AXD WEAPONS OF QUEEN AHHOTPU I. IN T1IK GIZEH MUSEUM.

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph, by BecLard,

THE JEWELS OP QUEEN AHHOTPU 139

gold, a mirror of gilt bronze with ebony handle, bracelets
and ankle-rings, some of solid and some of hollow gold,
edged with fine chains of plaited gold wire, others formed of
beads of gold, lapis-lazuli, cornelian, and green felspar,

many of them engraved with the cartouche of Ahmosis.
Belonging also to Ahmosis we have a beautiful quiver, in
which figures of the king and the gods stand out in high
relief on a gold plaque, delicately chased with a graving
tool ; the background is formed of small pieces of lapis and
blue glass, cunningly cut to fit each other. One bracelet in
particular, found on the queen s wrist, consisted of three
parallel bands of solid gold set with turquoises, and having
a vulture with extended wings on the front. The queen s
hair was held in place by a gold circlet, scarcely as large as
a bracelet ; a cartouche was affixed to the circlet, bearing
the name of Ahmosis in blue paste, and flanked by small
sphinxes, one on each side, as supporters. A thick flexible
chain of gold was passed several times round her neck, and
attached to it as a pendant was a beautiful scarab, partly of
gold and partly of blue porcelain striped with gold. The
breast ornament was completed by a necklace of several
rows of twisted cords, from which depended antelopes
pursued by tigers, sitting jackals, hawks, vultures, and the
winged uraeus, all attached to the winding-sheet by means
of a small ring soldered on the back of each animal. The
fastening of this necklace was formed of the heads of two
gold hawks, the details of the heads being worked out in
blue enamel. Both weapons and amulets were found
among the jewels, including three gold flies suspended by a
thin chain, nine gold and silver axes, a lion s head in gold

110 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIIF 11 DYNASTY

of most minute workmanship, a sceptre of black wood
plated with gold, daggers to defend the deceased from the
dangers of the unseen world, boomerangs of hard wood, and
the battle-axe of Ahmosis. Besides these, there were two
boats, one of gold and one of silver, originally intended for
the Pharaoh Kamosu models of the skiff in which his
mummy crossed the Nile to reach its last resting-place, and
to sail in the wake of the gods on the western sea.

Nofritari thus reigned conjointly with Amenothes,
and even if we have no record of any act in which she
was specially concerned, we know at least that her rule was
a prosperous one, and that her memory was revered by
her subjects. While the majority of queens were relegated
after death to the crowd of shadowy ancestors to whom
habitual sacrifice was offered, the worshippers not knowing
even to which sex these royal personages belonged, the
remembrance of Nofritari always remained distinct in
their minds, and her cult spread till it might be said to
have become a kind of popular religion. In this veneration

Ahmosis was rarely associated with the queen, but
Amenothes and several of her other children shared in
it her son Sipiri, for instance, and her daughters
Sitarnon, 1 Sltkamosi, and Maritamon; Nofritari became,
in fact, an actual goddess, taking her place beside Amou,
Khonsu, and Maut, 2 the members of the Theban Triad,
or standing alone as an object of worship for her devotees.

1 Sitamon is mentioned, with her mother, on the Karnak stele and on
the coffin of Butehamon.

1 She is worshipped with the Theban Triad by Hrihor, at Karnak, in the
temple of Khonsu.

THE APOTHEOSIS OF NOFRITARI

141

She was identified with Isis, Hathor, and the mistresses
of Hades, and adopted their attributes, even to the black

THE TWO COFFINS OF AHHOTPO II. AND NOFRITARI STAXDIXG IX THE VESTIBULE

OF THE OLD B0LAK MUSEUM. 1

or bine coloured skin of these funerary divinities. 2 Con
siderable endowments were given for maintaining worship

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.

2 Her statue in the Turin Museum represents her as having black skin.
She is also painted black standing before Amenothes (who is white) in the
Deir el-Medineh tomb, now preserved in the Berlin Museum, in that of
Nibnutiru, and in that of Unnofir, at Sheikh Abel el-Qurnah. Her face is
painted blue in the tomb of Kasa. The representations of this queen with a
black skin have caused her to be taken for a negress, the daughter of an

142 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIIF H DYNASTY

at her tomb, and were administered by a special class of
priests. Her mummy reposed among those of the princes
of her family, in the hiding-place at Deir-el-Baharl : it
was enclosed in an enormous wooden sarcophagus covered
with linen and stucco, the lower part being shaped to
the body, while the upper part representing the head and
arms could be lifted off in one piece. The shoulders are
covered with a network in relief, the meshes of which
are painted blue on a yellow background. The Queen s
hands are crossed over her breast, and clasp the crux
ansata, the symbol of life. The whole mummy-case
measures a little over nine feet from the sole of the feet
to the top of the head, which is furthermore surmounted
by a cap, and two long ostrich-feathers. The appearance
is not so much that of a coffin as of one of those enormous
caryatides which we sometimes find adorning the front
of a temple.

We may perhaps attribute to the influence of Nofritari
the lack of zest evinced by Amenothes for expeditions
into Syria. Even the most energetic kings had always
shrunk from penetrating much beyond the isthmus. Those
who ventured so far as to work the mines of Sinai had
nevertheless felt a secret fear of invading Asia proper

Ethiopian Pharaoh, or at any rate the daughter of a chief of some Nubian
tribe ; it was thought that Ahmosis must have married her to secure the
help of the negro tribes in his wars, and that it was owing to this alliance
that he succeeded in expelling the Hyksos. Later discoveries have not
confirmed these hypotheses. Nofritari was most probably an Egyptian of
unmixed race, as we have seen, and daughter of Ahhotpii I., and the black
or blue colour of her skin is merely owing to her identification with the
goddesses of the dead.

DECORATIONS ON THE WRAPPINGS OF A MUMMY.

THE WARS OF AMENOTHES I. 143

a dread which they never succeeded in overcoming. When
the raids of the Bedouin obliged the Egyptian sovereign
to cross the frontier into their territory, he would retire
as soon as possible, without attempting any permanent
conquest. After the expulsion of the Hyksos, Ahmosis
seemed inclined to pursue a less timorous course. He
made an advance on Sharuhana and pillaged it, and the
booty he brought back ought to have encouraged him
to attempt more important expeditions ; but he never
returned to this region, and it would seem, that when
his first enthusiasm had subsided, he was paralysed by
the same fear which had fallen on his ancestors. Nofritari
may have counselled her son not to break through the
traditions winch his father had so strictly followed, for
Amenothes I. confined his campaigns to Africa, and the
traditional battle-fields there. He embarked for the land
of Kush on the vessel of Ahmosi-si-Abina " for the purpose
of enlarging the frontiers of Egypt." It was, we may
believe, a thoroughly conventional campaign, conducted
according to the strictest precedents of the XII th dynasty.
The Pharaoh, as might be expected, came into personal
contact with the enemy, and slew their chief with his
own hand ; the barbarian warriors sold their lives dearly,
but were unable to protect their country from pillage,
the victors carrying off whatever they could seize men,
women, and cattle. The pursuit of the enemy had led
the army some distance into the desert, as far as a halting-
place called the "Upper cistern" Khnumit hirU ; instead
of retracing his steps to the Nile squadron, and returning
slowly by boat, Amenothes resolved to take a short cut

144 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII DYNASTY

homewards. Ahmosi conducted him back overland in
two days, and was rewarded for his speed by the gift of a
quantity of gold, and two female slaves. An incursion
into Libya followed quickly on the Ethiopian campaign.

STATUE OF AMEXOTHES I. IX THE Tl RIX MUSEUM

The tribe of the Kihaka, settled between Lake Mareotis
and the Oasis of Amon, had probably attacked in an
audacious manner the western provinces of the Delta ;

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph supplied by Flinders Petrio.

AMENOTHES AS A CONQUERING KING 145

a raid was organized against them, and the issue was
commemorated by a small wooden stele, on which we
see the victor represented as brandishing his sword over
a barbarian lying prostrate at his feet. The exploits of
Amenofches appear to have ended with this raid, for we
possess no monument recording any further victory gained
by him. This, however, has not prevented his contem
poraries from celebrating him as a conquering and
victorious king. He is portrayed standing erect in his
chariot ready to charge, or as carrying off two barbarians
whom he holds half suffocated in his sinewy arms, or
as gleefully smiting the princes of foreign lands. He
acquitted himself of the duties of the chase as became
a true Pharaoh, for we find him depicted in the act of
seizing a lion by the tail and raising him suddenly in
mid-air previous to despatching him. These are, indeed,
but conventional pictures of war, to which we must not
attach an undue importance. Egypt had need of repose
in order to recover from the losses it had sustained during
the years of struggle with the invaders. If Amenothes
courted peace from preference and not from, political
motives, his own generation profited as much by his
indolence as the preceding one had gained by the energy
of Ahrnosis. The towns in his reign resumed their
ordinary life, agriculture flourished, and commerce again
followed its accustomed routes. Egypt increased its
resources, and was thus able to prepare for future con
quest. The taste for building had not as yet sufficiently
developed to become a drain upon the public treasury.
We have, however, records showing that Amenothes

VOL. IV. L

146 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII DYNASTY

excavated a cavern in the mountain of Ibrim in Nubia,
dedicated to Satit, one of the goddesses of the cataract.
It is also stated that he worked regularly the quarries
of Silsileh, but we do not know for what buildings the

sandstone thus extracted was
destined. 1 Karnak was also
adorned with chapels, and
with at least one colossus, 2
while several chambers
built of the white lime
stone of Turah were added
to Ombos. Thebes had
thus every reason to
cherish the memory of
this pacific king. As

1 A bas-relief on the western
bank of the river represents him
deified : Panaiti, the name of a
superintendent of the quarries
who lived in his reign, has been
STELE OF AMENOTHES i. IN THE LOUVRE. 3 preserved in several graffiti, while

another graffito gives us only the
protocol of the sovereign, and indicates that the quarries were worked in his

reign.

2 The chambers of white limestone are marked I, K, on Marietta s plan ;
it is possible that they may have been merely decorated under Thutmosis III.,
whose cartouches alternate with those of Amen6thes I. The colossus is now
in front of the third Pylon, and Wiedemann concluded from this fact that
Amenothes had begun extensive works for enlarging the temple of Amon ;
Mariette believed, with greater probability, that the colossus formerly stood
at the entrance to the XII th dynasty temple, but was removed to its present
position by Thutmosis III.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the wooden stele No. 342

Louvre.

MUMMY OF AMBNOTHES I.

147

Nofritari had been metamorphosed into a form of Isis,
Amenothes was similarly represented as Osiris, the pro
tector of the Necropolis, and he was depicted as such
with the sombre colour of the funerary divinities ; his
image, moreover, together with those of the other gods,
was used to decorate the interiors of coffins, and to
protect the mummies of his devotees. 1 One of his
statues, now in the Turin Museum, represents him sitting

THE COFFIX AND MUMMY OF AMENOTHES I. IN THE GIZEII MUSEUM. 2

on his throne in the posture of a king giving audience
to his subjects, or in that of a god receiving the homage
of his worshippers. The modelling of the bust betrays

1 Wiedemann has collected several examples, to which it would be easy
to add others. The names of the king are in this case constantly accom
panied by unusual epithets, which are enclosed in one or other of his
cartouches : Mons. Revillout, deceived by these unfamiliar forms, has made
out of one of these variants, on a painted cloth in the Louvre, a new
Amenothes, whom he styles Amenothes V.

a Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.

148 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII" DYNASTY

a flexibility of handling which is astonishing in a work
of art so little removed from barbaric times; the head
is a marvel of delicacy and natural grace. We feel that
the sculptor has taken a delight in chiselling the features
of his sovereign, and in reproducing the benevolent and
almost dreamy expression which characterised them. 1 The
cult of Amenothes lasted for seven or eight centuries,
until the time when his coffin was removed and placed
with those of the other members of his family in the
place where it remained concealed until our own times. 2
It is shaped to correspond with the form of the human
body and painted white; the face resembles that of his
statue, and the eyes of enamel, touched with kohl, give
it a wonderful appearance of animation. The body is
swathed in orange-coloured linen, kept in place by bands
of brownish linen, and is further covered by a mask of
wood and cartonnage, painted to match the exterior of
the coffin. Long garlands of faded flowers deck the
mummy from head to foot. A wasp, attracted by their
scent, must have settled upon them at the moment of
burial, and become imprisoned by the lid ; the insect has
been completely preserved from corruption by the balsams
of the embalmer, and its gauzy wings have passed un-
crumpled through the long centuries.

1 Another statue of very fine workmanship, but mutilated, is preserved
in the Gizeh Museum; this statue is of the time of Seti I., and, as is
customary, represents Amenothes in the likeness of the king then reigning.

2 We know, from the Abbott Papyrus, that the pyramid of Amenothes I.
was situated at Drah Abou l-Neggah, among those of the Pharaohs of the
XI th , XII th , and XVII th dynasties. The remains of it have not yet been
discovered.

THUTMOSIS CROWNED AT THEBES 149

Amenothes had married Ahhotpu II., his sister by the

same father and mother ; l Ahmasi, the daughter bom of
this union, was given in marriage to Thutmosis, one of her
brothers, the son of a mere concubine, by name Sonisonbu. 2
Ahmasi, like her ancestor Nofritari, had therefore the right
to exercise all the royal functions, and she might have
claimed precedence of her husband. Whether from con
jugal affection or from weakness of character, she yielded,
however, the priority to Thutmosis, and allowed him to
assume the sole government. He was crowned at Thebes
on the 21st of the third month of Pirit ; and a circular,
addressed to the representatives of the ancient seignorial
families and to the officers of the crown, announced the
names assumed by the new sovereign. "This is the royal
rescript to announce to you that my Majesty has arisen
king of the two Egypts, on the seat of the Horus of the
living, without equal, for ever, and that rny titles are as
follows : The vigorous bull Horus, beloved of Malfc, the

1 Ahhotpu II. may be seen beside her husband on several monuments.
The proof that she was full sister of Amenothes I. is furnished by the title
of " hereditary princess " which is given to her daughter Ahmasi ; this
princess would not have taken precedence of her brother and husband
Thutmosis, who was the son of an inferior wife, had she not been the
daughter of the only legitimate spouse of Amenothes I. The marriage had
already taken place before the accession of Thutmosis I., as Ahmasi figures
in a document dated the first year of his reign.

2 The absence of any cartouche shows that Sonisonbii did not belong to
the royal family, and the very form of the name points her out to have been
of the middle classes, and merely a concubine. The accession of her son,
however, ennobled her, and he represents her as a queen on the walls of the
temple at Deir el-Bahari ; even then he merely styles her " Royal Mother,"
the only title she could really claim, as her inferior position in the harem
prevented her from using that of " Royal Spouse."

150 THE BEGINNING OP THE XVIII DYNASTY

Lord of the Vulture and of the Urseus who raises itself as
a flame, most valiant, the golden Horns, whose years are

THUTMOSIS I., FROM A STATUE IX THE GIZEH MUSEUM. 1

good and who puts life into all hearts, king of the two
Egypts, AKHOPIRKERI, son of the Sun, THUTMOSIS, living for

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the photograph taken byEmil Brugsch-
Bey.

PROSPERITY OF THE ROYAL HOUSE 151

ever. 1 Cause, therefore, sacrifices to be offered to the gods
of the south and of Elephantine, 2 and hymns to be chanted
for the well-being of the King Akhopirkeri, living for ever,
and then cause the oath to be taken in the name of my
Majesty, born of the royal mother Sonisonbu, who is in
good health. This is sent to thee that thou rnayest know
that the royal house is prosperous, and in good health and
condition, the 1st year, the 21st of the third month of
Pirit, the day of coronation." The new king was tall in
stature, broad-shouldered, well knit, and capable of enduring
the fatigues of war without flagging. His statues represent
him as having a full, round face, long nose, square chin,
rather thick lips, and a smiling but firm expression. Thut-
mosis brought with him on ascending the throne the spirit
of the younger generation, who, born shortly after the
deliverance from the Hyksos, had grown up in the peaceful
days of Amenothes, and, elated by the easy victories
obtained over the nations of the south, were inspired by
ambitions unknown to the Egyptians of earlier times. To
this younger race Africa no longer offered a sufficiently
wide or attractive field ; the whole country was their own
as far as the confluence of the two Niles, and the Theban
gods were worshipped at Napata no less devoutly than at
Thebes itself. What remained to be conquered in that

1 This is really the protocol of the king, as we find it on the monuments,
with his two Horus names and his solar titles.

2 The copy of the letter which has come down to us is addressed to the
commander of Elephantine : hence the mention of the gods of that town.
The names of the divinities must have been altered to suit each district, to
which the order to offer sacrifices for the prosperity of the new sovereign
was sent.

152 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII" DYNASTY

direction was scarcely worth the trouble of reducing to a
province or of annexing as a colony ; it comprised a number
of tribes hopelessly divided among themselves, and con
sequently, in spite of their renowned bravery, without
power of resistance. Light columns of troops, drafted at
intervals on either side of the river, ensured order among
the submissive, or despoiled the refractory of their possessions
in cattle, slaves, and precious stones. Thutmosis I. had
to repress, however, very shortly after his accession, a
revolt of these borderers at the second and third cataracts,
but they were easily overcome in a campaign of a few
days duration, in which the two Ahmosis of El-Kab took
an honourable part. There was, as usual, an encounter
of the two fleets in the middle of the river : the young
king himself attacked the enemy s chief, pierced him with
his first arrow, and made a considerable number of prisoners.
Thutmosis had the corpse of the chief suspended as a
trophy in front of the royal ship, and sailed northwards
towards Thebes, where, however, he was not destined to
remain long. 1 An ample field of action presented itself
to him in the north-east, affording scope for great exploits,
as profitable as they were glorious. 2 Syria offered to

1 That this expedition must be placed at the beginning of the king s
reign, in his first year, is shown by two facts : (1) It precedes the Syrian
campaign in the biography of the two Ahmosis of El-Kab ; (2) the Syrian
campaign must have ended in the second year of the reign, since Thutmosis
I., on the stele of Tombos which bears that date, gives particulars of the
course of the Euphrates, and records the submission of the countries watered
by that river.

2 It is impossible at present to draw up a correct table of the native or
foreign sovereigns who reigned over Egypt during the time of the Hyksos.
I have given the list of the kings of the XIII th and XIV th dynasties which

THE NEW GENERATION OF EGYPTIANS

153

Egyptian cupidity a virgin prey in its large commercial
towns inhabited by an industrious population, who by

are known to us from the Turin Papyrus. I here append that of the
Pharaohs of the following dynasties, who are mentioned either in the frag
ments of Manetho or on the monuments :

XV th DYNASTY

The Bhepherdi in the Delta.
I. [SHALIT], SALATIS, SAITE*.
II. ? BXON.

III. ? APAKHN AX, APAKHXAS.

IV. [APUPI I.], APOPHIS, APHOBIS.

V. ? STAAX, IAXXAS, ANNAS.

VI. ? AriSES, ASSETH.

The Thebans in the Said.
I. AMUNTIMAIOS .

XVI th DYNASTY.

The Shepherds over the whole of Egypt.

SCsiRxiui KHIANI.
APOPI II. AUSIUKI.

XVII th DYNASTY.

The Shepherds in the Delta. The Thebans in the Said.

I. APUPI III. AQN T UNRI.

I. TIUAA I. SAQXUNIU I.

II. TlCAA II. SAQXCXKI II.

TETHMOSIS ?

SAKHOXTINIBIU ?
SANAKHTUR! ?
HOTPURI ?
MAXHUTPUUI?
NUBIIOTPCKI

TIUAQXI SAQXUNIU III.
UAZKHOPIIUU KAJIOSU.
NEBPEHTIRI AHJIOSU I.

The date of the invasion may be placed between 2300 and 2250 B.C. ;
if we count 661 years for the three dynasties together, as Erman proposes,

154 THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII DYNASTY

maritime trade and caravan traffic had amassed enormous
wealth. The country had been previously subdued by the
Chaldseans, who still exercised an undisputed influence
over it, and it was but natural that the conquerors of the
Hyksos should act in their turn as invaders. The incursion
of Asiatics into Egypt thus provoked a reaction which
issued in an Egyptian invasion of Asiatic soil. Thutmosis
and his contemporaries had inherited none of the instinctive
fear of penetrating into Syria which influenced Ahmosis
and his successor : the Theban legions were, perhaps,
slow to advance, but once they had trodden the roads of
Palestine, they were not likely to forego the delights of
conquest. From that time forward there was perpetual
warfare and pillaging expeditions from the plains of the
Blue Nile to those of the Euphrates, so that scarcely a
year passed without bringing to the city of Amon its
tribute of victories and riches gained at the point of the
sword. One day the news would be brought that the
Amorites or the Khati had taken the field, to be im
mediately followed by the announcement that their forces
had been shattered against the valour of the Egyptian
battalions. Another day, Pharaoh would re-enter the city
with the flower of his generals and veterans; the chiefs
whom he had taken prisoners, sometimes with his own
hand, would be conducted through the streets, and then
led to die at the foot of the altars, while fantastic pro-

we find that the accession of Ahmosis would fall between 1640 and 1590. I
should place it provisionally in the year 1600, in order not to leave the
position of the succeeding reigns uncertain; I estimate the possible error
at about half a century.

til

&lt;n

THE SPOILS OF WAR 155

cessions of richly clothed captives, beasts led by halters,
and slaves bending under the weight of the spoil would
stretch in an endless line behind him. Meanwhile the
Timihu, roused by some unknown cause, would attack the
outposts stationed on the frontier, or news would come
that the Peoples of the Sea had landed on the western
side of the Delta; the Pharaoh had again to take the
field, invariably with the same speedy and successful issue.
The Libyans seemed to fare no better than the Syrians,
and before long those who had survived the defeat would
be paraded before the Theban citizens, previous to being
sent to join the Asiatic prisoners in the mines or quarries ;
their blue eyes and fair hair showing from beneath strangely
shaped helmets, while their white skins, tall stature, and
tattooed bodies excited for a few hours the interest and
mirth of the idle crowd. At another time, one of the
customary raids into the land of Kush would take place,
consisting of a rapid march across the sands of the
Ethiopian desert and a cruise along the coasts of Piianit.
This would be followed by another triumphal procession,
in which fresh elements of interest would appear, heralded
by flourish of trumpets and roll of drums : Pharaoh would
re-enter the city borne on the shoulders of his officers,
followed by negroes heavily chained, or coupled in such
a way that it was impossible for them to move without
grotesque contortions, while the acclamations of the
multitude and the chanting of the priests would resound
from all sides as the cortege passed through the city gates
on its way to the temple of Amon. Egypt, roused as it
were to warlike frenzy, hurled her armies across all her

156

THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIII TH DYNASTY

frontiers simultaneously, and her sudden appearance in
the heart of Syria gave a new turn to human history.
The isolation of the kingdoms of the ancient world was
at an end; the conflict of the nations was about to
begin.

SYRIA AT THE BEGINNING OF
THE EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

NINEVEH AND THE FIRST COSS^AN KINGS THE PEOPLES OP SYRIA, THEIR
TOWNS, THEIR CIVILIZATION, THEIR RELIGION PHOENICIA.

The dynasty of UruazaggaThe Cossseans : their country, tlieir gods, tlieir
conquest of ChaldaeaThe first sovereigns of Assyria, and tlie first Cosssean
kings : Agumkakrimc.

TJte Egyptian names for Syria: Kharu, Zahi, Lotant, KefntiuThe
military highway from the Nile to tlie Euphrates : first section from Zalu to
Gaza The Canaanites : tlieir fortresses, their agricultural character: the forest
between Jaffa and Mount Carmel, MegiddoThe three routes beyond Megiddo :
Qoflslm Alasia, Naharaim, Carchemish ; Mitanni and the countries beyond the
Euphrates.

Disintegration of the Syrian, Canaanite, Amorite, and Khdti populations;
obliteration of types Influence of Babylon on costumes, customs, and religion
Baalim and Astarte, plant-gods and stone-gods Eeligion, human sacrifices,
festivals ; sacred stones Tombs and the fate of man after death Ph xnician
cosmogony.

( 158 )

Phoenicia Arad, Marathus, Simyra, Botnjs ~ BuUos, its temple, its goddess,
the myth of Adonis : Aphaka and the valley of the Nahr-Ibrahim, the festival*
of tJie death and resurrection of Adonis Berytus and its god El ; Sidon and
its suburbs Tyre: its foundation, its gods, its necropolis, its domain in the
Lebanon.

Isolation of the Phoenicians with regard to the other nations of Syria ; their
love of the sea and the causes which developed it Legendary accounts of the
beginning of their colonization Their commercial proceedings, their banks and
factories; their ships Cyprus, its wealth, its occupations The Fhxnieian
colonies in Asia Minor and the Mjean Sea: purple dye The nations of the
2Egean.

THE MODERN VILLAGE OF ZERIN, IN GALILEE, SEEN FROM THE SOUTH. 1

CHAPTER II

SYRIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EGYPTIAN

CONQUEST

Nineveh and the first Cossjean kings The peoples of
Syria, their towns, their civilization, their
religion Phoenicia.

world beyond the Arabian desert
presented to the eyes of the enter
prising Pharaohs an active and bustling
scene. Babylonian civilization still main
tained its hold there without a rival, but
Babylonian rule had ceased to exercise
any longer a direct control, having
probably disappeared with the sovereigns
who had introduced it. When Ammisatana

1 Drawn by Bouclier, from a photograph. The
vignette, by Faucher-Gudin, represents an Asiatic
draped with a blue and a red shawl.

160 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

died, about the year 2099, the line of Khammurabi be
came extinct, and a family from the Sea-lands came into
power. 1 This unexpected revolution of affairs did not
by any means restore to the cities of Lower Chaldsea the
supreme authority which they once possessed. Babylon
had made such good use of its centuries of rule that it
had gained upon its rivals, and was not likely now to fall
back into a secondary place. Henceforward, no matter
what dynasty came into power, as soon as the fortune
of war had placed it upon the throne, Babylon succeeded
in adopting it, and at once made it its own. The new
lord of the country, Ilumailu, having abandoned his
patrimonial inheritance, came to reside near to Merodach. 2
He was followed during the four next centuries by a
dynasty of ten princes, in uninterrupted succession. Their
rule was introduced and maintained without serious opposi
tion. The small principalities of the south were theirs
by right, and the only town which might have caused

them any trouble Assur was dependent on them, being

1 The origin of this second dynasty and the reading of its name still
afford matter for discussion. Amid the many conflicting opinions, it behoves
us to remember that Gulkishar, the only prince of this dynasty whose title
we possess, calls himself King of tlic Country of the Sea, that is to say, of the
marshy country at the mouth of the Euphrates : this simple fact directs us
to seek the cradle of the family in those districts of Southern Chaldaea.
Sayce rejects this identification on philological and chronological grounds,
and sees in Gulkishar, " King of the Sea-lands." a vassal Kalda prince.

2 The name has been read An-ma-an or Anman by Pinches, subsequently
Ilumailu, Mailu, finally Anumailu and perhaps Humailu. The true reading
of it is still unknown. Hommel believed he had discovered in Hilprecht s
book an inscription belonging to the reign of this prince ; but Hilprecht has
shown that it belonged to a king of Erech, An-a-an, anterior to the time of
An-ma-an.

THE FIRST COSS^EAN KINGS 101

satisfied with the title of vicegerents for its princes,
Khallu, Irishuin, Ismidagan and his son Samsiramrnan I.,
Igurkapkapu and his son Samsiraminan II. 1 As to the
course of events beyond the Khabur, and any efforts
Ilurnailu s descendants may have made to establish their
authority in the direction of the Mediterranean, we have
no inscriptions to inform us, and must be content to
remain in ignorance. The last two of these princes,
Melamkurkurra and Eagamil, were not connected with
each other, and had no direct relationship with their
predecessors. 2 The shortness of their reigns presents a
striking contrast with the length of those preceding them,
and probably indicates a period of war or revolution.
When these princes disappeared, we know not how or
why, about the year 1714 B.C., they were succeeded by
a king of foreign extraction ; and one of the semi-barbarous
race of Kashshu ascended the throne which had been
occupied since the days of Khammurabi by Chaldseans of
ancient stock.

Inscription of Irishum, son of Khallu, on a brick found at Kalah-
Shergat, and an inscription of Samsiramman II., son of Igurkapkapu, on
another brick from the same place. Samsiramman I. and his father Ismida
gan are mentioned in the great inscription of Tiglath-pileser II., as having
lived 641 years before King Assurdan, who himself had preceded Tiglath-
pileser by sixty years: they thus reigned between 1900 and 1800 years
before our era, according to tradition, whose authenticity we have no other
means of verifying.

The name of the last is read Eagamil, for want of anything better :
Oppert makes it Eaga, simply transcribing the signs ; and Hilprecht, who
took up the question again after him, has no reading to propose.

3 I give here the list of the kings of the second dynasty, from the docu
ments discovered by Pinches :

VOL. IV. M

162 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

These Kashshu, who spring up suddenly out of obscurity,
had from the earliest times inhabited the mountainous
districts of Zagros, on the confines of Elymais and Media,
where the Cossseans of the classical historians flourished
in the time of Alexander. 1 It was a rugged and un
attractive country, protected by nature and easy to defend,
made up as it was of narrow tortuous valleys, of plains
of moderate extent but of rare fertility, of mountain chains
whose grim sides were covered with forests, and whose
peaks were snow-crowned during half the year, and of
rivers, or, more correctly speaking, torrents, for the rains
and the melting of the snow rendered them impassable
in spring and autumn. The entrance to this region was
by two or three well-fortified passes : if an enemy were

ANMAN [!LUMA!LU] 2082-2022 B.C.

KlANXIBI [iTTI-lLU-

NIBI] 2022-1967

DAMKILISHU . . . 1967-1931
ISHKIBAL . . . .1931-1916
SHUSHSHI, his brother 1916-1889
GULKISHAB. 1889-1834

KURGALALAMMA, his

son 1834-1780 B.C.

ADAEAKALAMA, his

son 1780-1756

EKUEULANNA . . . 1756-1730
MELAMKURKUEBA .

[MELAMMATATI] . 1730-1723
EAGAMiL [EAGA] . .1723-1714

No monument remains of any of these princes, and even the reading of their
names is merely provisional : those placed between brackets represent
Delitzsch s readings. A Gulkishar is mentioned in an inscription of
Belnadinabal ; but Jensen is doubtful if the Gulkishar mentioned in this
place is identical with the one in the lists.

1 The Kashshu are identified with the Cossseans by Sayce, by Schrader,
by Fr. Delitzsch, by Halevy, by Tiele, by Hommel, and by Jensen. Oppert
maintains that they answer to the Kissians of Herodotus, that is to say, to
the inhabitants of the district of which Susa is the capital. Lehmann
supports this opinion. Winckler gives none, and several Assyriologists
incline to that of Kiepert, according to which the Kissians are identical with
the Cossseans.

THE COSS^ANS AND THEIR COUNTRY 163

unwilling to incur the loss of time and men needed to
carry these by main force, he had to make a detour by
narrow goat-tracks, along which the assailants were
obliged to advance in single file, as best they could, exposed
to the assaults of a foe concealed among the rocks and
trees. The tribes who were entrenched behind this
natural rampart made frequent and unexpected raids upon
the marshy meadows and fat pastures of Chaldsea : they
dashed through the country, pillaging and burning all
that came in their way, and then, quickly regaining their
hiding-places, were able to place their booty in safety
before the frontier garrisons had recovered from the first
alarm. 1 These tribes were governed by numerous chiefs
acknowledging a single king ianzi whose will was
supreme over nearly the whole country : 2 some of them
had a slight veneer of Chaldsean civilization, while among
the rest almost every stage of barbarism might be found.
The remains of their language show that it was remotely
allied to the dialect of Susa, and contained many Semitic
words. 3 What is recorded of their religion reaches us

1 It was thus in the time of Alexander and his successors, and the
information given by the classical historians about this period is equally
applicable to earlier times, as we may conclude from the numerous passages
from Assyrian inscriptions which have been collected by Fr. Delitzsch.

2 Delitzsch conjectures that Ianzi, or lanzu, had become a kind of proper
name, analogous to the term Pliaraoli employed by the Egyptians.

3 A certain number of Cosssean words has been preserved and trans
lated, some in one of the royal Babylonian lists, and some on a tablet in the
British Museum, discovered and interpreted by Fr. Delitzsch. Several
Assyriologists think that they showed a marked affinity with the idiom of
the Susa inscriptions, and with that of the Achaemenian inscriptions of the
second type; others deny the proposed connection, or suggest that the

161 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

merely at second hand, and the groundwork of it has
doubtless been modified by the Babylonian scribes who
have transmitted it to us. 1 They worshipped twelve great
gods, of whom the chief Kashshu, the lord of heaven-
gave his name to the principal tribe, and possibly to the
whole race : 2 Shumalia, queen of the snowy heights, was
enthroned beside him, 3 and the divinities next in order
were, as in the cities of the Euphrates, the Moon, the
Sun (Sakh or Shuriash), the air or the tempest (Ubriash),
and Khudkha. 4 Then followed the stellar deities or
secondary incarnations of the sun, Mirizir, who re
presented both Istar and Beltis ; and Khala, answering

Cosssean language was a Semitic dialect, related to the Chaldseo-Assyrian.
Oppert, who was the first to point out the existence of this dialect, thirty
years ago, believed it to be the Elamite ; he still persists in his opinion, and
has published several notes in defence of it.

1 It has been studied by Fr. Delitzsch, who insists on the influence which
daily intercourse with the Chaldseans had on it after the conquest ; Halevy,
in most of the names of the gods given as Cosssean, sees merely the names
of Chalclsean divinities slightly disguised in the writing.

2 The existence of Kashshu is proved by the name of Kashshunadinakhe :
Ashshur also bore a name identical with that of his worshippers.

3 She is mentioned in a rescript of Nebuchadrezzar I., at the head of the
gods of Namar, that is to say, the Cosssean deities, as "the lady of the
shining mountains, the inhabitants of the summits, the frequenter of peaks."
She is called Shimalia in Rawlinson, but Delitzsch has restored her name
which was slightly mutilated ; one of her statues was taken by Samsiramman
III., King of Assyria, in one of that sovereign s campaigns against Chaldsea.

4 All these identifications are furnished by the glossary of Delitzsch.
Ubriash, under the form of Buriash, is met with in a large number of proper
names, Burnaburiash, Shagashaltiburiash, Ulamburiash, Kadashmanburiash,
where the Assyrian scribe translates it Bel-matdti, lord of the world : Buriash
is, therefore, an epithet of the god who was called Ramman in Chaldsea.
The name of the moon-god is mutilated, and only the initial syllable Shi . . .
remains, followed by an indistinct sign : it has not yet been restored.

THE COSS^EAN KINGS 165

to Gula. 1 The Chaldaean Ninip corresponded both to
Gidar and Maruttash, Bel to Kharbe and Turgu, Merodach
to Shipak, Nergal to Shugab. 2 The Cosssean kings,
already enriched by the spoils of their neighbours, and
supported by a warlike youth, eager to enlist under their
banner at the first call, 3 must have been often tempted
to quit their barren domains and to swoop down on the rich
country which lay at their feet. We are ignorant of the
course of events which, towards the close of the XVIII th
century B.C., led to their gaining possession of it. The
Cossaian king who seized on Babylon was named Gandish,
and the few inscriptions we possess of his reign are cut
with a clumsiness that betrays the barbarism of the
conqueror. They cover the pivot stones on which Sargon
of Agade or one of the Bursins had hung the doors of the
temple of Nippur, but which Gandish dedicated afresh in
order to win for himself, in the eyes of posterity, the
credit of the work of these sovereigns. 4 Bel found favour

1 Halevy considers Khala, or Khali, as a harsh form of Gula : if this is
the case, the Cossseans must have borrowed the name, and perhaps the
goddess herself, from their Chaldsean. neighbours.

! Hilprecht has established the identity of Turgu with Bel of
Nippur.

3 Strabo relates, from some forgotten historian of Alexander, that the
Cossseans " had formerly been able to place as many as thirteen thousand
archers in line, in the wars which they waged with the help of the Elymteans
against the inhabitants of Susa and Babylon."

The full name of this king, Gandish or Gandash, which is furnished
by the royal lists, is written Gaddash on a monument in the British Museum
discovered by Pinches, whose conclusions have been erroneously denied by
Winckler. A process of abbreviation, of which there are examples in the
names of other kings of the same dynasty, reduced the name to Gande in
the current language.

166 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

in the eyes of the Cossa^ans who saw in him Kharbe or
Turgu, the recognised patron of their royal family : for
this reason Gandish and his successors regarded Bel with
peculiar devotion. These kings did all they could for the
decoration and endowment of the ancient temple of Ekur,
which had been somewhat neglected by the sovereigns of
purely Babylonian extraction, and this devotion to one
of the most venerated Chaldsean sanctuaries contributed
largely towards their winning the hearts of the conquered
people. 1

The Cossaean rule over the countries of the Euphrates
was doubtless similar in its beginnings to that which the
Hyksos exercised at first over the nomes of Egypt. The
Cosssean kings did not merely bring with them an army
to protect their persons, or to occupy a small number of
important posts ; they were followed by the whole nation,
and spread themselves over the entire country. The bulk
of the invaders instinctively betook themselves to districts
where, if they could not resume the kind of life to which
they were accustomed in their own land, they could at
least give full rein to their love of a free and wild existence.
As there were no mountains in the country, they turned
to the marshes, and, like the Hyksos in Egypt, made
themselves at home about the mouths of the rivers, on
the half-submerged low lands, and on the sandy islets of
the lagoons which formed an undefined borderland between
the alluvial region and the Persian Gulf. The covert

1 Hilprecht calls attention on this point to the fact that no one has yet
discovered at Nippur a single ex-voto consecrated by any king of the two
first Babylonian dynasties.

OCCUPATION OF CHALD^A 167

afforded by the thickets furnished scope for the chase
which these hunters had been accustomed to pursue in
the depths of their native forests, while fishing, on the
other hand, supplied them with an additional element of
food. When their depredations drew down upon them
reprisals from their neighbours, the mounds occupied by
their fortresses, and surrounded by muddy swamps, offered
them almost as secure retreats as their former strongholds
on the lofty sides of the Zagros. They made alliances
with the native Aramasans with those Kashdi, properly
called Chaldaeans, whose name we have imposed upon
all the nations who, from a very early date, bore rule
on the banks of the Lower Euphrates. Here they formed
themselves into a State Karduniash whose princes at
times rebelled against all external authority, and at other
times acknowledged the sovereignty of the Babylonian
monarchs. 1 The people of Sumir and Akkad, already a

1 The state of Karduniash, whose name appears for the first time on the
monuments of the Cosssean period, has been localised in a somewhat vague
manner, in the south of Babylonia, in the country of the Kashdi, and after
wards formally identified with the Countries of the Sea, and with the
principality which was called Bit-Yakin in the Assyrian period. In the
Tel-el-Amarna tablets the name is already applied to the entire country
occupied by the Cosssean kings or their descendants, that is to say, to the
whole of Babylonia. Sargon II. at that time distinguishes between an
Upper and a Lower Karduniash ; and in consequence the earliest Assyri-
ologists considered it as an Assyrian designation of Babylon, or of the district
surrounding it, an opinion which was opposed by DeKtzsch, as he believed
it to be an indigenous term which at first indicated the district round
Babylon, and afterwards the whole of Babylonia. From one frequent
spelling of the name, the meaning appears to have been Fortress of DuniasJi ;
to this Delitzsch preferred the translation Garden of Duniash, from an
erroneous different reading Ganduniash : Duniash, at first derived from a

168 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

composite of many different races, absorbed thus another
foreign element, which, while modifying its homogeneity,
did not destroy its natural character. Those Cosssean
tribes who had not quitted their own country retained
their original barbarism, but the hope of plunder constantly
drew them from their haunts, and they attacked and
devastated the cities of the plain unhindered by the
thought that they were now inhabited by their fellow-
countrymen. The raid once over, many of them did
not return home, but took service under some distant
foreign ruler the Syrian princes attracting many, who
subsequently became the backbone of their armies, 1 while
others remained at Babylon and enrolled themselves in
the body-guard of the kings. To the last they were an
undisciplined militia, dangerous, and difficult to please :
one day they would hail their chiefs with acclamations,
to kill them the next in one of those sudden outbreaks
in which they were accustomed to make and unmake

Chaldsean God Dun, whose name may exist in DungJii, is a Cosssean name,
which the Assyrians translated, as they did Buriash, Belmatdti, lord of the
country. Winckler rejects the ancient etymology, and proposes to divide
the word as Kardu-niash and to see in it a Cosssean translation of the
expression mdt-Jcaldi, country of the Caldseans : Hommel on his side, as well
as Delitzsch, had thought of seeking in the Chaldseans proper Kaldi ior
Kaslidi, or Kash-da, " domain of the Cossseans " the descendants of the
Cossseans of Karduniash, at least as far as race is concerned. In the cunei
form texts the name is written Kara D. P. Duniyas, " the Wall of the god
Duniyas" (cf. the Median Wall or Wall of Semiramis which defended
Babylonia on the north).

1 Halevy has at least proved that the Khabiri mentioned in the Tel el-
Amarna tablets were Cossseans, contrary to the opinion of Sayce, who makes
them tribes grouped round Hebron, which W. Max Miiller seems to accept ;
Winckler, returning to an old opinion, believes them to have been Hebrews.

THE WORK OF ASSIMILATION 169

their kings. 1 The first invaders were not long in acquir
ing, by means of daily intercourse with the old inhabitants,
the new civilization : sooner or later they became blended
with the natives, losing all their own peculiarities, with
the exception of their outlandish names, a few heroic
legends, 2 and the worship of two or three gods Shumalia,
Shugab, and Shukamuna. As in the case of the Hyksos
in Africa, the barbarian conquerors thus became merged
in the more civilized people which they had subdued.
This work of assimilation seems at first to have occupied
the whole attention of both races, for the immediate
successors of Gandish were unable to retain under their
rule all the provinces of which the empire was formerly
composed. They continued to possess the territory
situated on the middle course of the Euphrates as far
as the mouth of the Balikh, but they lost the region
extending to the east of the Khabur, at the foot of the
Masios, and in the upper basin of the Tigris : the vice
gerents of Assur also withdrew from them, and, declaring
that they owed no obedience excepting to the god of
their city, assumed the royal dignity. The first four of
these kings whose names have come down to us, Sulili,

1 This is the opinion of Hommel, supported by the testimony of the
Synchronous Hist. : in this latter document the Cossseans are found revolting
against King Kadashmankharbe, and replacing him on the throne by a
certain Nazibugash, who was of obscure origin.

2 Fr. Delitzsch and Schrader compare their name with that of Kush,
who appears in the Bible as the father of Nimrod (Gen. x. 8-12) ; Homrnel
and Sayce think that the history of Nimrod is a reminiscence of the
Cosssean rule. Jensen is alone in his attempt to attribute to the Cossseans
the first idea of the epic of Gilgames.

170 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Belkapkapu, Adasi, and Belbani, 1 appear to have been
but indifferent rulers, but they knew how to hold their
own against the attacks of their neighbours, and when,
after a century of weakness and inactivity, Babylon re
asserted herself, and endeavoured to recover her lost
territory, they had so completely established their in
dependence that every attack on it was unsuccessful.
The CossaBan king at that time an active and enter
prising prince, whose name was held in honour up to
the days of the Ninevite supremacy was Agumkakrimg,
the son of Tassigurumash. 2 This " brilliant scion of
Shukamuna : entitled himself lord of the Kashshu and

1 These four names do not so much represent four consecutive reigns as
two separate traditions which were current respecting the beginnings of
Assyrian royalty. The most ancient of them gives the chief place to two
personages named Belkapkapu and Sulili; this tradition has been trans
mitted to us by Rammannirari III., because it connected the origin of his
race with these kings. The second tradition placed a certain Belbani, the
son of Adasi, in the room of Belkapkapu and Sulili : Esarhaddon made use
of it in order to ascribe to his own family an antiquity at least equal to that
of the family to which Rammannirari III. belonged. Each king appropriated
from the ancient popular traditions those names which seemed to him best
calculated to enchance the prestige of his dynasty, but we cannot tell how
far the personages selected enjoyed an authentic historical existence : it is
best to admit them at least provisionally into the royal series, without
trusting too much to what is related of them.

1 The tablet discovered by Pinches is broken after the fifth king of the
dynasty. The inscription of Agumkakrime, containing a genealogy of this
prince which goes back as far as the fifth generation, has led to the restora
tion of the earlier part of the list as follows :

GANDISH, GADDASH, ADUMITASH .... 1655-? B.C.

GANDE: .... 1714-1707 B.C. TASSIGURUMASH ... 1

AGUMRABI, his son . 1707-1685 AGUMKAKRIM . , . ?

[AJGUYASHI . . . 1685-1663

USHSHI, his son . , 1663-1655

(

AGUMKAKRIME 171

of Akkad, of Babylon the widespread, of Padan, of Alman,
and of the swarthy Guti. 1 Ashnunak had been devastated ;
he repeopled it, and the four "houses of the world
rendered him obedience ; on the other hand, Elam revolted
from its allegiance, Assur resisted him, and if he still
exercised some semblance of authority over Northern
Syria, it was owing to a traditional respect which the
towns of that country voluntarily rendered to him, but
which did not involve either subjection or control. The
people of Khani still retained possession of the statues
of Merodach and of his consort Zarpanit, which had been
stolen, we know not how, some time previously from
Chaldsea. 2 Agurnkakrime recovered them and replaced
them in their proper temple. This was an important
event, and earned him the good will of the priests. The
king reorganised public worship ; he caused new fittings
for the temples to be made to take the place of those
which had disappeared, and the inscription which records
this work enumerates with satisfaction the large quantities
of crystal, jasper, and lapis-lazuli which he lavished on
the sanctuary, the utensils of silver and gold which he

1 The translation black-headed, i.e. dark-haired and complexioned, Guti,
is uncertain ; Jensen interprets the epithet nishi saklati to mean " the Guti,
stupid (foolish ? culpable ?) people." The Guti held both banks of the lower
Zab, in the mountains on the east of Assyria. Delitzsch has placed Padan
and Alman in the mountains to the east of the Diyaleh ; Jensen places
them in the chain of the Khamrin, and Winckler compares Alman or Halman
with the Hoi wan of the present day.

2 The Khani have been placed by Delitzsch in the neighbourhood of
Mount Khana, mentioned in the accounts of the Assyrian campaigns, that
is to say, in the Amanos, between the Euphrates and the bay of Alexan-
dretta : he is inclined to regard the name as a form of that of the Khati.

172 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

dedicated, together with the " seas " of wrought bronze
decorated with monsters and religious emblems. 1 This
restoration of the statues, so flattering to the national
pride and piety, would have been exacted and insisted
upon by a Khammurabi at the point of the sword, but
Agumkakrime doubtless felt that he was not strong
enough to run the risk of war; he therefore sent an
embassy to the Khani, and such was the prestige which
the name of Babylon still possessed, from the deserts
of the Caspian to the shores of the Mediterranean, that
he was able to obtain a concession from that people
which he would probably have been powerless to extort
by force of arms. 2

The Egyptians had, therefore, no need to anticipate
Chaldaean interference when, forsaking their ancient tra
ditions, they penetrated for the first time into the heart of
Syria. Not only was Babylon no longer supreme there,
but the coalition of those cities on which she had depended
for help in subduing the West was partially dissolved, and
the foreign princes who had succeeded to her patrimony
were so far conscious of their weakness, that they
voluntarily kept aloof from the countries in which, previous
to their advent, Babylon had held undivided sway. The
Egyptian conquest of Syria had already begun in the days
of Agumkakrime, and it is possible that dread of the

We do not possess the original of the inscription which tells us of these
facts, but merely an early copy.

2 Strictly speaking, one might suppose that a war took place ; but most
Assyriologists declare unhesitatingly that there was merely an embassy and
a diplomatic negotiation.

KEF ATI U, ZAHI, KHARU, LOTANU 173

Pharaoh was one of the chief causes which influenced the
Cossseans to return a favourable answer to the Khani.
Thutmosis L, on entering Syria, encountered therefore only
the native levies, and it must be admitted that, in spite of
their renowned courage, they were not likely to prove
formidable adversaries in Egyptian estimation. Not one of
the local Syrian dynasties was sufficiently powerful to
collect all the forces of the country around its chief, so as
to oppose a compact body of troops to the attack of the
African armies. The whole country consisted of a
collection of petty states, a complex group of peoples and
territories which even the Egyptians themselves never
completely succeeded in disentangling. They classed the
inhabitants, however, under three or four very comprehensive
names Kharu, Zahi, Lotanu, and Kefatiti all of which
frequently recur in the inscriptions, but without having
always that exactness of meaning we look for in geo
graphical terms. As was often the case in similar circum
stances, these names were used at first to denote the
districts close to the Egyptian frontier with which the
inhabitants of the Delta had constant intercourse.
The Kefatiu seem to have been at the outset the people of
the sea-coast, more especially of the region occupied later
by the Phoenicians, but all the tribes with whom the
Phoenicians came in contact on the Asiatic and European
border were before long included under the same name. 1

1 The Kefatiu, whose name was first read Kefa, and later Kefto, were
originally identified with the inhabitants of Cyprus or Crete, and sub
sequently with those of Cilicia, although the decree of Canopus locates
them in Phoenicia.

174 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Zahi originally comprised that portion of the desert and of
the maritime plain on the north-east of Egypt which was
coasted by the fleets, or traversed by the armies of Egypt,
as they passed to and fro between Syria and the banks of
the Nile. This region had been ravaged by Ahmosis during
his raid upon Sharuhana, the year after the fall of Avaris.
To the south-east of Zahi lay Kharu ; it included the
greater part of Mount Seir, whose wadys, thinly dotted
over with oases, were inhabited by tribes of more or less
stationary habits. The approaches to it were protected by
a few towns, or rather fortified villages, built in the neigh
bourhood of springs, and surrounded by cultivated fields and
poverty-stricken gardens ; but the bulk of the people lived
in tents or in caves on the mountain-sides. The Egyptians
constantly confounded those Khauri, whom the Hebrews
in after-times found scattered among the children of Edom,
with the other tribes of Bedouin marauders, and designated
them vaguely as Shausu. Lotanu lay beyond, to the north
of Kharu and to the north-east of Zahi, among the hills
which separate the " Shephelah " from the Jordan. 1 As it
was more remote from the isthmus, and formed the
Egyptian horizon in that direction, all the new countries
with which the Egyptians became acquainted beyond its

1 The name of Lotanu or Rotanu has been assigned by Brugsch to the
Assyrians, but subsequently, by connecting it, more ingeniously than
plausibly, with the Assyrian iltdnu, he extended it to all the peoples of the
north ; we now know that in the texts it denotes the whole of Syria, and,
more generally, all the peoples dwelling in the basins of the Orontes and the
Euphrates. The attempt to connect the name Rotanu or Lotanu with that
of the Edomite tribe of Lotan (Gen. xxxvi. 20, 22) was first made by F. de
Saulcy ; it was afterwards taken up by Haigh and adopted by Renan.

UPPER LOTANU 175

northern limits were by degrees included under the one
name of Lotanu, and this term was extended to comprise
successively the entire valley of the Jordan, then that of the
Orontes, and finally even that of the Euphrates. Lotanu
became thenceforth a vague and fluctuating term, which
the Egyptians applied indiscriminately to widely differing
Asiatic nations, and to which they added another indefinite
epithet when they desired to use it in a more limited sense :
that part of Syria nearest to Egypt being in this case
qualified as Upper Lotanu, while the towns and kingdoms
further north were described as being in Lower Lotanu. In
the same way the terms Zahi and Kharu were extended to
cover other and more northerly regions. Zahi was applied
to the coast as far as the mouth of the Nahr el-Kebir and to
the country of the Lebanon which lay between the Mediter
ranean and the middle course of the Orontes. Kharu ran
parallel to Zahi, but comprised the mountain district, and
came to include most of the countries which were at
first ranged under Upper Lotanu ; it was never applied to
the region beyond the neighbourhood of Mount Tabor, nor
to the trans- Jordanic provinces. The three names in their
wider sense preserved the same relation to each other as
before, Zahi lying to the west and north-west of Kharu, and
Lower Lotanu to the north of Kharu and north-east of
Zahi, but the extension of meaning did not abolish the old
conception of their position, and hence arose confusion
in the minds of those who employed them ; the scribes,
for instance, who registered in some far-off Theban temple
the victories of the Pharaoh would sometimes write Zahi
where they should have inscribed Kharu, and it is a

176 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

difficult matter for us always to detect their mistakes. It
would be unjust to blame them too severely for their
inaccuracies, for what means had they of determining the
relative positions of that confusing collection of states with
which the Egyptians came in contact as soon as they had
set foot on Syrian soil ?

A choice of several routes into Asia, possessing unequal
advantages, was open to the traveller, but the most direct
of them passed through the town of Zalu. The old
entrenchments running from the Red Sea to the marshes
of the Pelusiac branch still protected the isthmus, and
beyond these, forming an additional defence, was a canal
on the banks of which a fortress was constructed. This
was occupied by the troops who guarded the frontier, and
no traveller was allowed to pass without having declared
his name and rank, signified the business which took him
into Syria or Egypt, and shown the letters with which he
was entrusted. 1 It was from Zalu that the Pharaohs set
out with their troops, when summoned to Kharu by a
hostile confederacy; it was to Zalu they returned
triumphant after the campaign, and there, at the gates of
the town, they were welcomed by the magnates of the
kingdom. The road ran for some distance over a region
which was covered by the inundation of the Nile during
six months of the year; it then turned eastward, and for

1 The notes of an official living at Zalu in the time of Mineptah are
preserved on the back of pis. v., vi. of the Anastasi Papyrus III. ; his
business was to keep a register of the movements of the comers and goers
between Egypt and Syria during a few days of the month Pakhons, in the
year III.

THE MILITARY ROUTE FROM ZALU TO GAZA 177

some distance skirted the sea-shore, passing between the
Mediterranean and the swamp which writers of the Greek
period called the Lake of Sirbonis. 1 This stage of the
journey was beset with
difficulties, for the Sir-
bonian Lake did not al
ways present the same
aspect, aud its margins
were constantly shifting.
When the canals which
connected it with the
open sea happened to
become obstructed, the
sheet of water subsided
from evaporation, leaving
in many places merely an
expanse of shifting mud,
often concealed under the
sand which the wind
brought up from the
desert. Travellers ran
imminent risk of sinking

., . . n THE FORTKESS AND BRIDGE OF ZALU. *

in this quagmire, and

the Greek historians tell of large armies being almost

entirely swallowed up in it. About halfway along the

1 The Sirbonian Lake is sometimes half full of water, sometimes
almost entirely dry ; at the present time it bears the name of Sebkhat
Berdawil, from King Baldwin I. of Jerusalem, who on his return from
his Egyptian campaign died on its shores, in 1148, before he could reach
El-Arish.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger.

VOL. IV. N

178 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

length of the lake rose the solitary hill of Mount
Casios ; beyond this the sea-coast widened till it became
a vast slightly undulating plain, covered with scanty
herbage, and dotted over with wells containing an abundant
supply of water, which, however, was brackish and dis
agreeable to drink. Beyond these lay a grove of palms,
a brick prison, and a cluster of miserable houses, bounded
by a broad wady, usually dry. The bed of the torrent
often served as the boundary between Africa and Asia, and
the town was for many years merely a convict prison,
where ordinary criminals, condemned to mutilation and
exile, were confined ; indeed, the Greeks assure us that it
owed its name of Rhinocolura to the number of noseless
convicts who were to be seen there. 1 At this point the
coast turns in a north-easterly direction, and is flanked
with high sand-hills, behind which the caravans pursue
their way, obtaining merely occasional glimpses of the sea.
Here and there, under the shelter of a tower or a half-
ruined fortress, the traveller would have found wells of
indifferent water, till on reaching the confines of Syria

1 The ruins of the ancient town, which were of considerable extent, are
half buried under the sand, out of which an Egyptian naos of the Ptolemaic
period has been dug, and placed near the well which supplies the fort, where
it serves as a drinking trough for the horses. Brugsch believed he could
identify its site with that of the Syrian town Hurnikheri, which he
erroneously reads Harinkola ; the ancient form of the name is unknown, the
Greek form varies between Rhinocorura and Rhinocolura. The story of the
mutilated convicts is to be found in Diodorus Siculus, as well as in Strabo ;
it rests on a historical fact. Under the XVIII th dynasty Zalu was used
as a place of confinement for dishonest officials. For this purpose it was
probably replaced by Rhinocolura, when the Egyptian frontier was removed
from the neighbourhood of Selle to that of El-Arish.

x-tfi - *nrS\* *,

m /SMRStosJ :bi*

THE FIRST HALTIXG-PLACE 181

he arrived at the fortified village of Baphia, standing like
a sentinel to guard the approach to Egypt. Beyond Eaphia
vegetation becomes more abundant, groups of sycomores
and mimosas and clusters of date-palms appear on the
horizon, villages surrounded with fields and orchards are
seen on all sides, while the bed of a river, blocked with
gravel and fallen rocks, winds its way between the last
fringes of the desert and the fruitful Shephelah ; 1 on the
further bank of the river lay the suburbs of Gaza, and, but
a few hundred yards beyond, G-aza itself came into view
among the trees standing on its wall-crowned hill. 2 The
Egyptians, on their march from the Nile valley, were wont
to stop at this spot to recover from their fatigues; it
was their first halting-place beyond the frontier, and the
news which would reach them here prepared them in some
measure for what awaited them further on. The army
itself, the " troop of Ra," was drawn from four great races,
the most distinguished of which came, of course, from the
banks of the Nile : the Amu, born of Sokhlt, the lioness-
headed goddess, were classed in the second rank; the
Nahsi, or negroes of Ethiopia, were placed in the third ;
while the Timihu, or Libyans, with the white tribes of the

The term Shephelah signifies the plain ; it is applied by the Biblical
writers to the plain bordering the coast, from the heights of Gaza to those
of Joppa, which were inhabited at a later period by the Philistines (Josh. xi.
16 ; Jer. xxxii. 44 and xxxiii. 13).

2 Guerin describes at length the road from Gaza to Raphia. The only
town of importance between them in the Greek period was lenysos, the ruins
of which are to be found near Khan Yunes, but the Egyptian name for this
locality is unknown : Aunaugasa, the name of which Brugsch thought he
could identify with it, should be placed much further away, in Northern or
in Coele-Syria.

182 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

north, brought up the rear. The Syrians belonged to the
second of these families, that next in order to the Egyptians,
and the name of Amu, which for centuries had been given
them, met so satisfactorily all political, literary, or com
mercial requirements, that the administrators of the
Pharaohs never troubled themselves to discover the various
elements concealed beneath the term. We are, however,
able at the present time to distinguish among them several
groups of peoples and languages, all belonging to the same
family, but possessing distinctive characteristics. The
kinsfolk of the Hebrews, the children of Ishmael and Edom,
the Moabites and Ammonites, who were all qualified as
Shausu, had spread over the region to the south and east of
the Dead Sea, partly in the desert, and partly on the
confines of the cultivated land. The Canaanites were not
only in possession of the coast from Gaza to a point beyond
the Nahr el-Kebir, but they also occupied almost the whole
valley of the Jordan, besides that of the Litany, and
perhaps that of the Upper Orontes. 1 There were Aramaean
settlements at Damascus, in the plains of the Lower
Orontes, and in Naharaim. 2 The country beyond the
Aramaean territory, including the slopes of the Amanos and

1 I use the term Canaanite with the meaning most frequently attached
to it, according to the Hebrew use (Gen. x. 15-19). This word is found
several times in the Egyptian texts under the forms Kinakhna, Kinakhkhi,
and probably Kunakhaiu, in the cuneiform texts of Tel el-Amarna.

2 As far as I know, the term Arameean is not to be found in any
Egyptian text of the time of the Pharaohs : the only known example of it is
a writer s error corrected by Chabas. W. Max Muller very justly observes
that the mistake is itself a proof of the existence of the name and of the
acquaintance of the Egyptians with it.

THE CANAANITES 183

the deep valleys of the Taurus, was inhabited by peoples
of various origin ; the most powerful of these, the Khati,
were at this time slowly forsaking the mountain region,
and spreading by degrees over the country between the
Afrin and the Euphrates. 1

The Canaanites were the most numerous of all these
groups, and had they been able to amalgamate under
a single king, or even to organize a lasting confederacy,
it would have been impossible for the Egyptian armies
to have broken through the barrier thus raised between
them and the rest of Asia; but, unfortunately, so far
from showing the slightest tendency towards unity or
concentration, the Canaanites were more hopelessly divided
than any of the surrounding nations. Their mountains
contained nearly as many states as there were valleys,
while in the plains each town represented a separate
government, and was built on a spot carefully selected
for purposes of defence. The land, indeed, was chequered
with these petty states, and so closely were they crowded
together, that a horseman, travelling at leisure, could
easily pass through two or three of them in a day s
journey. 2 Not only were the royal cities fenced with

1 Thutmosis III. shows that, at any rate, they were established in these
regions about the XVI th century B.C. The Egyptian pronunciation of their
name is KhUi, with the feminine KhUalt, Khitit ; but the Tel el-Amarna
texts employ the vocalisation Khdti, KMte, which must be more correct
than that of the Egyptians. The form KMti seems to me to be explicable
by an error of popular etymology. Egyptian ethnical appellations in -iti
formed their plural by -dtiti, -dteu, -dti, -ate, so that if KMte, Khdti, were
taken for a plural, it would naturally have suggested to the scribes the
form Khiti for the singular.

2 Thutmosis HI., speaking to his soldiers, tells them that all the chiefs

181 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OP EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

walls, but many of the surrounding villages were fortified,
while the watch-towers, or migdols^ built at the bends
of the roads, at the fords over the rivers, and at the
openings of the ravines, all testified to the insecurity of the
times and the aptitude for self-defence shown by the in
habitants. The aspect of these migdols, or forts, must have
appeared strange to the first Egyptians who beheld them.
. r .. rn . : .^._, - ,._...._ : These; strongholds bore no re
semblance to the large square or
oblong enclosures to which they
were accustomed, and which in
their eyes represented the
highest skill of the engineer.
In Syria, however, the posi
tions suitable for the construc
tion of fortresses hardly ever lent
themselves to a symmetrical
plan. The usual sites were on

AN ASIATIC MIGDOL. 2

the projecting spur of some

mountain, or on a solitary and more or less irregularly shaped
eminence in the midst of a plain, and the means of defence

in the country are shut up in Megiddo, so that " to take it is to take a
thousand cities : " this is evidently a hyperbole in the mouth of the conqueror,
but the exaggeration itself shows how numerous were the chiefs and con
sequently the small states in Central and Southern Syria.

1 This Canaanite word was borrowed by the Egyptians from the Syrians
at the beginning of their Asiatic wars ; they employed it in forming the
names of the military posts which they established on the eastern frontier of
the Delta : it appears for the first time among Syrian places in the list of
cities conquered by Thuttnosis III.

: Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato.

THE CANAANITE FORTRESSES

185

had to be adapted in each case to suit the particular con
figuration of the ground. It was usually a mere wall of stone
or dried brick, with towers at intervals ; the wall measuring
from nine to twelve feet thick at the base, and from
thirty to thirty-six feet high, thus rendering an assault

THE WALLED CITY OF DAl UR, IN GALILEE. 1

by means of portable ladders, nearly impracticable. 2 The
gateway had the appearance of a fortress in itself. It
was composed of three large blocks of masonry, forming

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken at Karnak by
Beato.

- This is, at least, the result of investigations made by modern engineers
who have studied these questions of military archaeology.

186 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

a re-entering face, considerably higher than the adjacent
curtains, and pierced near the top with square openings
furnished with mantlets, so as to give both a front and
flank view of the assailants. The wooden doors in the
receded face were covered with metal and raw hides,
thus affording a protection against axe or fire. 1 The
building was strong enough not only to defy the bands of
adventurers who roamed the country, but was able to
resist for an indefinite time the operations of a regular siege.
Sometimes, however, the inhabitants when constructing
their defences did not confine themselves to this rudi
mentary plan, but threw up earthworks round the selected
site. On the most exposed side they raised an advance
wall, not exceeding twelve or fifteen feet in height, at
the left extremity of which the entrance was so placed
that the assailants, in endeavouring to force their way
through, were obliged to expose an unprotected flank to
the defenders. By this arrangement it was necessary
to break through two lines of fortification before the
place could be entered. Supposing the enemy to have
overcome these first obstacles, they would find themselves
at their next point of attack confronted with a citadel
which contained, in addition to the sanctuary of the

Most of the Canaanite townr, taken by Ramses II. in the campaign of
his VIII th year were fortified in this manner. It must have been the usual
method of fortification, as it seems to have served as a type for conventional
representation, and was sometimes used to denote cities which had fortifica
tions of another kind. For instance, Dapur-Tabor is represented in this
way, while a picture on another monument, which is reproduced in the
illustration on page 185, represents what seems to have been the particular
form of its encompassing walls.

THE CANAANITE FORTRESSES

187

principal god, the palace of the sovereign himself. This
also had a double enclosing wall and massively built
gates, which could be forced only at the expense of fresh
losses, unless the cowardice or treason of the garrison
made the assault an easy one. 1 Of these bulwarks of

f , -r -- - .J . --. " -v VJ

- .rf^fSTL :ir^3

THE MIGDOI. OF RAMSES III. AT THEBES, IK THE TEMPLE OF MEDIXET-ABU. 2

Canaanite civilization, which had been thrown up by
hundreds on the route of the invading hosts, not a trace
is to be seen to-day. They may have been razed to the

1 The type of town described in the text is based on a representation on
the walls of Karnak, where the siege of Dapur-Tabor by Ramses II. is
depicted. Another type is given in the case of Ascalon.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken by Deveria in
1865.

188 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

ground during one of those destructive revolutions to
which the country was often exposed, or their remains
may lie hidden underneath the heaps of rains which thirty
centuries of change have raised over them. 1 The records
of victories graven on the walls of the Theban temples
furnish, it is true, a general conception of their appear
ance, but the notions of them which we should obtain
from this source would be of a very confused character
had not one of the last of the conquering Pharaohs,
Eamses III., taken it into his head to have one built at
Thebes itself, to contain within it, in addition to his
funerary chapel, accommodation for the attendants
assigned to the conduct of his worship. In the Greek
and Bornan period a portion of this fortress was
demolished, but the external wall of defence still exists
on the eastern side, together with the gate, which is
commanded on the right by a projection of the enclosing-
wall, and flanked by two guard-houses, rectangular in
shape, and having roofs which jut out about a yard beyond
the wall of support. Having passed through these
obstacles, we find ourselves face to face with a miadol

of cut stone, nearly square in form, with two projecting
wings, the court between their loop-holed walls being
made to contract gradually from the point of approach
by a series of abutments. A careful examination of the
place, indeed, reveals more than one arrangement which

The only remains of a Canaanite fortification which can be assigned
to the Egyptian period are those which Professor Fl. Petrie brought to light
in the ruins of Tell el-Hesy, and in which he rightly recognised the remains
of Lachish.

THE CANAANITE FORTRESSES

189

the limited knowledge of the Egyptians would hardly
permit us to expect. We discover, for instance, that
the main body of the building is made to rest upon a
sloping sub-structure which rises to a height of some
sixteen feet. This served two purposes: it increased,
in the first place, the strength of the defence against

THE 3IODEEX VILLAGE OF BEITIN* (AXCIEXT BETHEL), SEEN FKOM THE SOUTH-WEST. 1

sapping ; and in the second, it caused the weapons
launched by the enemy to rebound with violence from
its inclined surface, thus serving to keep the assailants
at a distance. The whole structure has an imposing
look, and it must be admitted that the royal architects
charged with carrying out their sovereign s idea brought

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

190 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

to their task an attention to detail for which the people
from whom the plan was borrowed had no capacity,
and at the same time preserved the arrangements of
their model so faithfully that we can readily realise what
it must have been. Transport this migdol of Earnses III.
into Asia, plant it upon one of those hills which the
Canaanites were accustomed to select as a site for their
fortifications, spread out at its base some score of low
and miserable hovels, and we have before us an improvised
pattern of a village which recalls in a striking manner
Zerin or Beitin, or any other small modern town which
gathers the dwellings of its fellahin round some central
stone building whether it be a hostelry for benighted
travellers, or an ancient castle of the Crusading age.

There were on the littoral, to the north of Gaza, two
large walled towns, Ascalon and Joppa, in whose roadsteads
merchant vessels were accustomed to take hasty refuge
in tempestuous weather. 1 There were to be found on the
plains also, and on the lower slopes of the mountains, a
number of similar fortresses and villages, such as lurza,
Migdol, Lachish, Ajalon, Shocho, Adora, Aphukin, Keilah,
Gezer, and Ono ; and, in the neighbourhood of the roads
which led to the fords of the Jordan, Gibeah, Beth-Anoth,
and finally Urusalim, our Jerusalem. 2 A tolerably dense

1 Ascalon was not actually on the sea. Its port, " Maiumas Ascalonis,"
was probably merely a narrow bay or creek, now, for a long period, filled
up by the sand. Neither the site nor the remains of the port have been
discovered. The name of the town is always spelled iii Egyptian with an
" s " Askaluna, which gives us the pronunciation of the time. The name
of Joppa is written Yapu, Yaphu, and the gardens which then surrounded
the town are mentioned in the Anastasi Papyrus I.

2 Urusalim is mentioned only in the Tel el-Amarna tablets, alongside of

THE CANAAMTES THEIR AGRICULTURE

191

population of active and industrious husbandmen maintaiDed
themselves upon the soil. The plough which they employed
was like that used by the Egyptians and Babylonians, being
nothing but a large hoe to which a couple of oxen were
harnessed. 1 The scarcity of rain, except in certain seasons,

VINEYARDS IX THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF HEBRON. 1

and the tendency of the rivers
to run low, contributed to make
the cultivators of the soil experts in irrigation and agri
culture. Almost the only remains of these people which
have come down to us consist of indestructible wells and
cisterns, or wine and oil presses hollowed out of the rock. 3

Kilti or Keilah, Ajalon, and Lachish. The remaining towns are noticed in
the great lists of Thutmosis III.

1 This is the form of plough still employed by the Syrians in some
places.

2 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph and original sketches.

3 Monuments of this kind are encountered at every step in Judaea, but
it is very difficult to date them. The aqueduct of Siloam, which goes back
perhaps to the time of Hezekiah, and the canals which conducted water into

192 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Fields of wheat and barley extended along the flats of
the valleys, broken in upon here and there by orchards,
in which the white and pink almond, the apple, the fig,
the pomegranate, and the olive flourished side by side.

SIIECIIEJI IN T THE MIDDLE OF AX
AMPHITIIEATKE OF HILLS. 1

If the slopes of the valley rose too precipitously for
cultivation, stone dykes were employed to collect the

Jerusalem, possibly in part to be attributed to the reign of Solomon, are
the only instances to which anything like a certain date may be assigned.
But these are long posterior to the XVIII th dynasty. Good judges, how
ever, attribute some of these monuments to a very distant period : the
masonry of the wells of Beersheba is very ancient, if not as it is at present,
at least as it was when it was repaired in the time of the Cresars ; the
olive and wine presses hewn in the rock do not all date back to the Roman
empire, but many belong to a still earlier period, and modern descriptions
correspond with what we know of such presses from the Bible.
1 Drawn by Boudier, from a plate in Chesney.

THE FOREST BETWEEN JAFFA AND CARMEL 193

falling earth, and thus to transform the sides of the hills
into a series of terraces rising one above the other. Here
the vines, planted in lines or in trellises, hlended their
clusters with the fruits of the orchard-trees. It was,
indeed, a land of milk and honey, and its topographical
nomenclature in the Egyptian geographical lists reflects
as in a mirror the agricultural pursuits of its ancient
inhabitants : one village, for instance, is called Aubila,
"the meadow;" while others bear such names as Ganutu,
" the gardens ; " Magraphut, " the mounds ; " and Karman,
u the vineyard." The further we proceed towards the
north, we find, with a diminishing aridity, the hillsides
covered with richer crops, and the valleys decked out with
a more luxuriant and warmly coloured vegetation. Shechem
lies in an actual amphitheatre of verdure, which is irrigated
by countless unfailing streams ; rushing brooks babble on
every side, and the vapour given off by them morning and
evening covers the entire landscape with a luminous haze,
where the outline of each object becomes blurred, and
quivers in a manner to which we are accustomed in our
Western lands. 1 Towns grew and multiplied upon this
rich and loamy soil, but as these lay outside the usual
track of the invading hosts which preferred to follow the
more rugged but shorter route leading straight to Carmel
across the plain the records of the conquerors only casually
mention a few of them, such as Bitshailu, Birkana, and
Dutina. 2 Beyond Ono reddish-coloured sandy clay took

1 Shechem is not mentioned in the Egyptian geographical lists, but
Max Miiller thinks he has discovered it in the name of the mountain of
Sikima which figures in the Anastasi Papyrus, No. 1.

2 Bitshailu, identified by Chabas with Bethshan, and with Shiloh by
VOL. IV.

194 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

the place of the dark and compact loam : oaks began to
appear, sparsely at first, but afterwards forming vast forests,
which the peasants of our own days have thinned and
reduced to a considerable extent. The stunted trunks of
these trees are knotted and twisted, and the tallest of them
do not exceed some thirty feet in height, while many of
them may be regarded as nothing more imposing than
large bushes. 1 Muddy rivers, infested with crocodiles,
flowed slowly through the shady woods, spreading out
their waters here and there in pestilential swamps. On
reaching the seaboard, their exit was impeded by the sands
which they brought down with them, and the banks which
were thus formed caused the waters to accumulate in
lagoons extending behind the dunes. For miles the road
led through thickets, interrupted here and there by marshy
places and clumps of thorny shrubs. Bands of Shaiisu
were accustomed to make this route dangerous, and even
the bravest heroes shrank from venturing alone along this
route. Towards Aluna the way began to ascend Mount
Carmel by a narrow and giddy track cut in the rocky side
of the precipice. 2 Beyond the Mount, it led by a rapid

Mariette and Maspero, is more probably Bethel, written Bit-sha-ilu, either
with sh, the old relative pronoun of the Phoenician, or with the Assyrian
sha ; on the latter supposition one must suppose, as Sayce does, that the
compiler of the Egyptian lists had before him sources of information in
the cuneiform character. Birkana appears to be the modern Brukin, and
Dutina is certainly Dothain, now Tell-Dothan.

1 The forest was well known to the geographers of the Greco-Roman
period, and was still in existence at the time of the Crusades.

This defile is described at length in the Anastasi Papyrus, No. 1, and
the terms used by the writer are in themselves sufficient evidence of the
terror with which the place inspired the Egyptians. The annals of

MEGIDDO 195

descent into a plain covered with corn and verdure, and
extending in a width of some thirty miles, by a series of
undulations, to the foot of Tabor, where it came to an end.
Two side ranges running almost parallel little Hermon
and Gilboa disposed in a line from east to west, and
united by an almost imperceptibly rising ground, serve
rather to connect the plain of Megiddo with the valley
of the Jordan than to separate them. A single river, the
Kishon, cuts the route diagonally or, to speak more
correctly, a single river-bed, which is almost waterless for
nine months of the year, and becomes swollen only during
the winter rains with the numerous torrents bursting from
the hillsides. As the flood approaches the sea it becomes
of more manageable proportions, and finally distributes its
waters among the desolate lagoons formed behind the
sand-banks of the open and wind-swept bay, towered over
by the sacred summit of Carmel. 1 No corner of the world
has been the scene of more sanguinary engagements, or
has witnessed century after century so many armies cross
ing its borders and coming into conflict with one another.
Every military leader who, after leaving Africa, was able
to seize Gaza and Ascalon, became at once master of

Thutmosis III. are equally explicit as to the difficulties which an army
had to encounter here. I have placed this defile near the point which is
now called Umm-el-Fahm, and this site seems to me to agree better with
the account of the expedition of Thutmosis III. than that of Arraneh
proposed by Conder.

1 In the lists of Thutmosis III. we find under No. 48 the town of Rosh-
Qodshu, the " Sacred Cape," which was evidently situated at the end of
the mountain range, or probably on the site of Haifah ; the name itself
suggests the veneration with which Carmel was invested from the earliest
times.

196 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Southern Syria. He might, it is true, experience some
local resistance, and coine into conflict with bands or
isolated outposts of the enemy, but as a rule he had no
need to anticipate a battle before he reached the banks
of the Kishon. Here, behind a screen of woods and
mountain, the enemy would concentrate his forces and

THE EVERGREEN OAKS BETWEEN JOPPA AND CARMEL. 1

prepare resolutely to meet the attack. If the invader
succeeded in overcoming resistance at this point, the
country lay open to him as far as the Orontes ; nay, often
even to the Euphrates. The position was too important
for its defence to have been neglected. A range of forts,

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a pencil sketch by Lortet.

THE ANCIENT PORT OF ACRE

197

Ibleam, Taanach, and Megiddo, 1 drawn like a barrier across
the line of advance, protected its southern face, and beyond
these a series of strongholds and villages followed one
another at intervals in the bends of the valleys or on the
heights, such as Shunem, Kasuna, Anaharath, the two
Aphuls, Cana, and other places which we find mentioned

ACRE AND THE FRINGE OF EEEFS SHELTERING TI1K ANCIENT 1 ORT. 2

on the triumphal lists, but of which, up to the present,
the sites have not been fixed.

1 Megiddo, the " Legio " of the Roman period, has been identified since
Robinson s time with Khurbet-Lejun, and more especially with the little
mound known by the name of Tell-el-Mutesallim. Conder proposed to place
its site more to the east, in the valley of the Jordan, at Khurbet-el-Mujeddah.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Lortet.

198 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

From this point the conqueror had a choice of three
routes. One ran in an oblique direction to the west, and
struck the Mediterranean near Acre, leaving on the left the
promontory of Carmel, with the sacred town, Kosh-Qodshu,
planted on its slope. Acre was the first port where a fleet
could find safe anchorage after leaving the mouths of the
Nile, and whoever was able to make himself master of it
had in his hands the key of Syria, for it stood in the same
commanding position with regard to the coast as that held
by Megiddo in respect of the interior. Its houses were
built closely together on a spit of rock which projected
boldly into the sea, while fringes of reefs formed for it a kind
of natural breakwater, behind which ships could find a safe
harbourage from the attacks of pirates or the perils of bad
weather. From this point the hills come so near the shore
that one is sometimes obliged to wade along the beach to
avoid a projecting spur, and sometimes to climb a zig-zag
path in order to cross a headland. In more than one place
the rock has been hollowed into a series of rough steps,
giving it the appearance of a vast ladder. 1 Below this
precipitous path the waves dash with fury, and when the
wind sets towards the land every thud causes the rocky wall
to tremble, and detaches fragments from its surface. The
majority of the towns, such as Aksapu (Ecdippa), Mashal,
Lubina, Ushu-Shakhan, lay back from the sea on the moun
tain ridges, out of the reach of pirates ; several, however, were
built on the shore, under the shelter of some promontory,
and the inhabitants of these derived a miserable subsistence

1 Hence the name Tyrian Ladder, which is applied to one of these
passes, either Ras-en-Nakurah or Ras-el-Abiad.

v* i i ". y o
*K

//er-AA ./ * =*

- ,.?;i-^~-. 4* j^"SB|

A VAST PASTURE-LAND

201

from fishing and the chase. Beyond the Tyrian Ladder
Phoenician territory began. The country was served
throughout its entire length, from town to town, by the
coast road, which turning at length to the right, and passing
through the defile formed by the Nalir-el-Keblr, entered the
region of the middle Orontes.

The second of the roads leading from Megiddo described
an almost sym
metrical curve east
wards, crossing the
Jordan at Beth-
shan, then the Jab-
bok, and finally
reaching Damascus
after having skirted
at some distance
the last of the basal
tic ramparts of the
Hauran. Here ex
tended a vast but
badly watered pas
ture-land, which attracted the Bedouin from every side,
and scattered over it were a number of walled towns,
such as Hamath, Magato, Ashtaroth, and Ono-Repha. 2

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato.

2 Proof that the Egyptians knew this route, followed even to this day
in certain circumstances, is furnished by the lists of Thutmosis III., in
which the principal stations which it comprises are enumerated among the
towns given up after the victory of Megiddo. Dimasqu was identified with
Damascus by E. de Rouge, and Astarotu with Ashtaroth-Qarnaim. Hamatu
is probably Hamath of the Gadarenes ; Magato, the Maged of the

THE TOWN OF QODSIIU. 1

202 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Probably Damascus was already at this period the domi
nant authority over the region watered by these two
rivers, as well as over the villages nestling in the gorges
of Hermon, Abila, Helbon of the vineyards, and Yabrud,
but it had not yet acquired its renown for riches and
power. Protected by the Anti-Lebanon range from its
turbulent neighbours, it led a sort of vegetative existence
apart from invading hosts, forgotten and hushed to sleep, as
it were, in the shade of its gardens.

The third road from Megiddo took the shortest way
possible. After crossing the Kishon almost at right angles
to its course, it ascended by a series of steep inclines to arid
plains, fringed or intersected by green and flourishing
valleys, which afforded sites for numerous towns, Pahira,
Merom near Lake Huleh, Qart-Nizanu, Beerotu, andLauisa,
situated in the marshy district at the head-waters of the
Jordan. 1 From this point forward the land begins to fall,
and taking a hollow shape, is known as Coale-Syria, with
its luxuriant vegetation spread between the two ranges of
the Lebanon. It was inhabited then, as at the time of the
Babylonian conquest, by the Amorites, who probably
included Damascus also in their domain. 2 Their capital,

Maccabees, is possibly the present Mukatta; and Ono-Repha, Raphon,
Raphana, Arpha of Decapolis, is the modern Er-Rafeh.

1 Pahira is probably Safed ; Qart-Nizaiiu, the " flowery city," the
Kartha of Zabulon ; and Beerot, the Berotha of Josephus, near Merom.
Maroma and Lauisa, Laisa, have been identified with Merom and Laish.

3 The identification of the country of Arnauru with that of the Amorites
was admitted from the first. The only doubt was as to the locality
occupied by these Amorites : the mention of Qodshu on the Orontes, in the
country of the Amurru, showed that Ccele-Syria was the region in question.
In the Tel el-Amarna tablets the name Amurru is applied also to the

THE TYRIAX LADDER AT HAS EL-ABIAD.

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

QODSHU 205

the sacred Qodshu, was situated on the left bank of the
Orontes, about five miles from the lake which for a long
time bore its name, Bahr-el-Kades. 1 It crowned one of those
barren oblong eminences which are so frequently met with
in Syria. A muddy stream, the Tannur, flowed, at some
distance away, around its base, and, emptying itself into
the Orontes at a point a little to the north, formed a natural
defence for the town on the west. Its encompassing walls,

country east of the Phoenician coast, and we have seen that there is reason
to believe that it was used by the Babylonians to denote all Syria. If the
name given by the cuneiform inscriptions to Damascus and its neighbour
hood, Gar-Imirishu," " Imirishu," " Imirish," really means " the Fortress
of the Amorites," we should have in this fact a proof that this people were
in actual possession of the Damascene Syria. This must have been taken
from them by the Hittites towards the XX th century before our era, accord
ing to Hommel ; about the end of the XVIII th dynasty, according to
Lenormant. If, on the other hand, the Assyrians read the name Sha-
imiri-shu," with the signification, "the town of its asses," it is simply a
play upon words, and has no bearing upon, the primitive meaning of the

name.

1 The name Qodshu-Kadesh was for a long time read

Atesh, and, owing to a confusion with Qodi, Ati, or Atet. The town was
identified by Champollion with Eactria, then transferred to Mesopotamia by
Rosellini, in the land of Omira, which, according to Pliny, was close to the
Taurus, not far from the Khabur or from the province of Aleppo : Osburn
tried to connect it with Hadashah (Josh. xv. 21), an Amorite town in the
southern part of the tribe of Judah ; while Hincks placed it in Edessa.
The reading Kedesh, Kadesh, Qodshu, the result of the observations of
Lepsius, has finally prevailed. Brugsch connected this name with that of
Bahr el-Kades, a designation attached in the Middle Ages to the lake
tnrough which the Orontes flows, and placed the town on its shores or on a
small island on the lake. Thomson pointed out Tell Neby-Mendeh, the
ancient Laodicea of the Lebanon, as satisfying the requirements of the site.
Conder developed this idea, and showed that all the conditions prescribed by
the Egyptian texts in regard to Qodshu find here, and here alone, their
application. The description given in the text is based on Gender s
observations.

200

SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

slightly elliptic in form, were strengthened by towers, and
surrounded by two concentric ditches which kept the
sapper at a distance. A dyke running across the Orontes
above the town caused the waters to rise and to overflow in
a northern direction, so as to form a shallow lake, which

THE DYKE AT BAHK EL-KADES IN ITS PKESENT CONDITION. 1

acted as an additional protection from the enemy. Qodshu
was thus a kind of artificial island, connected with the
surrounding country by two flying bridges, which could be
opened or shut at pleasure. Once the bridges were raised
and the gates closed, the boldest enemy had no resource
left but to arm himself with patience and settle down to a

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

THE KINGDOM OF ALASIA 207

lengthened siege. The invader, fresh from a victory at
Megiddo, and following up his good fortune in a forward
movement, had to reckon upon further and serious resistance
at this point, and to prepare himself for a second conflict.
The Amorite chiefs and their allies had the advantage of a
level and firm ground for the evolutions of their chariots
during the attack, while, if they were beaten, the citadel
afforded them a secure rallying-place, whence, having
gathered their shattered troops, they could regain their
respective countries, or enter, with the help of a few
devoted men, upon a species of guerilla warfare in which
they excelled.

The road from Damascus led to a point south of
Quodshu, while that from Phoenicia came right up to the
town itself or to its immediate neighbourhood. The dyke
of Bahr el-Kades served to keep the plain in a dry
condition, and thus secured for numerous towns, among
which Hamath stood out pre-eminently, a prosperous
existence. Beyond Hamath, and to the left, between the
Orontes and the sea, lay the commercial kingdom of
Alasia, protected from the invader by bleak mountains. 1
On the right, between the Orontes and the Balikh, ex
tended the land of rivers, Naharaim. Towns had grown
up here thickly, on the sides of the torrents from the
Amanos, along the banks of rivers, near springs or wells-
wherever, in fact, the presence of water made culture

1 The site of Alasia, Alashia, was determined from the Tel el-Amarna
tablets by Maspero. Niebuhr had placed it to the west of Cilicia, opposite
the island of Eleousa mentioned by Strabo. Conder connected it with the
scriptural Elishah, and W. Max Miiller confounds it with Asi or Cyprus.

208 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

possible. The fragments of the Egyptian chronicles which
have coine down to us number these towns by the
hundred, 1 and yet of how many more must the records
have perished with the crumbling Theban walls upon
which the Pharaohs had their names incised ! Khalabu
was the Aleppo of our own day, 2 and grouped around it
lay Turmanuna, Tunipa, Zarabu, Nil, Durbaniti, Nirabu,
Sarmata, 3 and a score of others which depended upon it,
or upon one of its rivals. The boundaries of this portion
of the Lower Lotanii have come down to us in a singularly
indefinite form, and they must also, moreover, have been
subject to continual modifications from the results of tribal
conflicts. We are at a loss to know whether tbe various
principalities were accustomed to submit to the leadership
of a single individual, or whether we are to relegate to the
region of popular fancy that Lord of Naharaim of whom
the Egyptian scribes made such a hero in their fantastic
narratives. 4 Carchemish represented in this region the

1 Two hundred and thirty names belonging to Naharaim are still
legible on the lists of Thutmosis III., and a hundred others have been
effaced from the monument.

2 Khalabu was identified by Chabas with Khalybon, the modern
Aleppo, and his opinion has been adopted by most Egyptologists.

3 Tunipa has been found in Tennib, Tinnab, by Noldeke ; Zarabu in
Zarbi, and Sarmata in Sarmeda, by Tomkins ; Durbaniti in Deir el-Banat,
the Castrum Puellarum of the chroniclers of the Crusades; Nirabu in
Nirab, and Tirabu in Tereb, now el-Athrib. Nirab is mentioned by
Nicholas of Damascus. Nii, long confounded with Nineveh, was identified
by Lenormant with Ninus Vetus, Membidj, and by Max Miiller with Balis
on the Euphrates : I am inclined to make it Kefer-Naya, between Aleppo
and Turmanin.

4 In the " Story of the Predestined Prince " the heroine is daughter of
the Prince of Naharaim, who seems to exercise authority over all the chiefs

VOL. TV.

CARCHEMISH

211

position occupied by Megiddo in relation to Kharu, and
by Qodshu among the Amorites ; that is to say, it was
the citadel and sanctuary of the surrounding country.
Whoever could make himself master of it would have
the whole country at his feet. It lay upon the Euphrates,
the winding of the river protecting it on its southern and
south-eastern sides, while around its northern front ran
a deep stream, its defence being further completed by a
double ditch across the intervening region. Like Qodshu,
it was thus situated in
the midst of an artificial
island beyond the reach
of the battering-ram or
the sapper. The en
compassing wall, which
tended to describe an
ellipse, hardly measured
two miles in circumfer
ence ; but the suburbs extending, in the midst of villas and
gardens, along the river-banks furnished in time of peace an
abode for the surplus population. The wall still rises some
five and twenty to thirty feet above the plain. Two mounds
divided by a ravine command its north-western side, their
summits being occupied by the ruins of two fine buildings
-a temple and a palace. 1 Carchemish was the last stage

of the country ; as the manuscript does not date back further than the XX th
dynasty, we are justified in supposing that the Egyptian writer had a know
ledge of the Hittite domination, during which the King of the Khati was
actually the ruler of all Naharaim.

Karkamisha, Gargamish, was from the beginning associated with the
Carchemish of the Bible : but as the latter was wrongly identified with

C a r c K e m i s h

" .

212 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

in a conqueror s march coming from the south. For an
invader approaching from the east or north it formed his
first station. He had before him, in fact, a choice of the
three chief fords for crossing the Euphrates. That of
Thapsacus, at the bend of the river where it turns east-

THE TELL OF JERABIS IN ITS PRESENT CONDITION. 1

ward to the Arabian plain, lay too far to the south, and
it could be reached only after a march through a parched

Circesium, it was naturally located at the confluence of the Khabur with the
Euphrates. Hincks fixed the site at Rum-Kaleh. G. Eawlinson referred
it cursorily to Hierapolis-Mabog, which position Maspero endeavoured to
confirm. Finzi, and after him G. Smith, thought to find the site at Jerabis,
the ancient Europos, and excavations carried on there by the English have
brought to light in this place Hittite monuments which go back in part to
the Assyrian epoch. This identification is now generally accepted, although
there is still no direct proof attainable, and competent judges continue to
prefer the site of Membij. I fall in with the current view, but with all

reserve.

1 Reproduced by Faucher-Gudin, from a cut in the Graphic.

CARCHEMISH

213

and desolate region where the army would run the risk
of perishing from thirst. For an invader proceeding from
Asia Minor, or intending to make his way through the
denies of the Taurus, Samosata offered a convenient
fording-place ; but this route would compel the general,
who had Naharaim or the kingdoms of Chaldaea in view,

A NORTHERN 8TBIAN.

, ;

to make a long detour, and although the Assyrians used
it at a later period, at the time of their expeditions to the
valleys of the flalys, the Egyptians do not seem ever to
have travelled by this road. Carchemish, the place of the
third ford, was about equally distant from Thapsacus and
Samosata, and lay in a rich and fertile province, which was
so well watered that a drought or a famine would not be

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph.

214 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

likely to enter into the expectations of its inhabitants.
Hither pilgrims, merchants, soldiers, and all the wander
ing denizens of the world were accustomed to direct their
steps, and the habit once established was perpetuated for
centuries. On the left bank of the river, and almost
opposite Carchernish, lay the region of Mitanni, 1 which
was already occupied by a people of a different race, who
used a language cognate, it would seem, with the im
perfectly classified dialects spoken by the tribes of the
Upper Tigris and Upper Euphrates. 2 Harran bordered
on Mitanni, and beyond Harran one may recognise, in the
vaguely denned Singar, Assur, Arrapkha, and Babel, states
that arose out of the dismemberment of the ancient
Chaldean Empire. 3 The Carchernish route was, of course,
well known to caravans, but armed bodies had rarely
occasion to make use of it. It was a far cry from Memphis
to Carchernish, and for the Egyptians this town continued
to be a limit which they never passed, except incidentally,

1 Mitanni is mentioned on several Egyptian monuments; but its im
portance was not recognised until after the discovery of the Tel el-Amarna
tablets and of its situation. The fact that a letter from the Prince of
Mitanni is stated in a Hieratic docket to have come from Naharaim has
been used as a proof that the countries were identical ; I have shown that
the docket proves only that Mitanni formed a part of Naharaim. It
extended over the province of Edessa and Harran, stretching out towards
the sources of the Tigris. Niebuhr places it on the southern slope of the
Masios, in Mygdonia ; Th. Keinach connects it with the Matieni, and asks
whether this was not the region occupied by this people before their emigra
tion towards the Caspian.

2 Several of the Tel el-Amarna tablets are couched in this language.

3 These names were recognised from the first in the inscriptions of
Thutraosis III. and in those -of other Pharaohs of the XVIII th and XIX" 1
dynasties.

DISINTEGRATION OF THE SYRIAN POPULATION 215

when they had to chastise some turbulent tribe, or to give
some ill-guarded town to the flames. 1

It would be a difficult task to define with any approach
to accuracy the distribution of the Canaanites, Amorites,
and Aramaeans, and to indicate the precise points where
they came into contact with their rivals of non- Semitic
stock. Frontiers between races and languages can never

THE HEADS OF THREE AMOKITE CAPTIVES. 3

be very easily determined, and this is especially true of
the peoples of Syria. They are so broken up and mixed
in this region, that even in neighbourhoods where one
predominant tribe is concentrated, it is easy to find at
every step representatives of all the others. Four or five
townships, singled out at random from the middle of a

1 A certain number of towns mentioned in the lists of Thutmosis III.
were situated beyond the Euphrates, and they belonged some to Mitanni
and some to the regions further away.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph.

216 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

province, would often "be found to belong to as many
different races, and their respective inhabitants, while
living within a distance of a mile or two, would be as
great strangers to each other as if they were separated
by the breadth of a continent. It would appear that
the breaking up of these populations had not been
carried so far in ancient as in modern times, but the

confusion must al
ready have been
great if we are to
judge from the num
ber of different sites
where we encounter
evidences of people
of the same language
and blood. The bulk
of the Khati had not
yet departed from
the Taurus region,
but some stray bands
of them, carried
away by the movement which led to the invasion of the
Hyksos, had settled around Hebron, where the rugged
nature of the country served to protect them from their
neighbours. 2 The Amorites had their head-quarters around

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph.

In very early times they are described as dwelling near Hebron or in
the mountains of Judah. Since we have learned from the Egyptian and
Assyrian monuments that the Khati dwelt in Northern Syria, the majority of
commentators have been indisposed to admit the existence of southern
Hittites ; this name, it is alleged, having been introduced into the Biblical

A NORTHERS SYRIAN INNTJAM. 1

MIXTURE OF SYRIAN RACES 217

Qodshu 1 in Coele- Syria, but one section of them had
taken up a position on the shores of the Lake of Tiberias
in Galilee, others had established themselves within a
short distance of Jaffa 2 on the Mediterranean, while
others had settled in the neighbourhood of the southern
Hittites in such numbers that their name in the Hebrew
Scriptures was at times employed to designate the western
mountainous region about the Dead Sea and the valley
of the Jordan. Their presence was also indicated on the
table-lands bordering the desert of Damascus, in the
districts frequented by Bedouin of the tribe of Terah,
Ammon and Moab, on the rivers Yarinuk and Jabbok,
and at Edrei and Heshbon. 3 The fuller, indeed, our
knowledge is of the condition of Syria at the time of the
Egyptian conquest, the more we are forced to recognise
the mixture of races therein, and their almost infinite
subdivisions. The mutual jealousies, however, of these
elements of various origin were not so inveterate as to
put an obstacle in the way, I will not say of political

text through a misconception of the original documents, where the term
Hittite was the equivalent of Canaanite.

1 Ed. Meyer has established the fact that the term Amorite, as well as
the parallel word Canaanite, was the designation of the inhabitants of
Palestine before the arrival of the Hebrews : the former belonged to the
prevailing tradition in the kingdom of Israel, the latter to that which was
current in Judah. This view confirms the conclusion which may be drawn
from the Egyptian monuments as to the power of expansion and the diffusion
of the people.

2 These were the Amorites which the tribe of Dan at a later period
could not dislodge from the lands which had been allotted to them.

3 This was afterwards the domain of Sihon, King of the Amorites, and
that of Og.

218 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

alliances, but of daily intercourse and frequent contracts.
Owing to intermarriages between the tribes, and the
continual crossing of the results of such unions, peculiar
characteristics were at length eliminated, and a uniform
type of face was the result. From north to south one
special form of countenance, that which we usually call
Semitic, prevailed among them. The Syrian and
Egyptian monuments furnish us everywhere, under
different ethnical names, with representations of a broad-
shouldered people of high
stature, slender-figured in
youth, but with a fatal
tendency to obesity in old
age. Their heads are
large, somewhat narrow,
and artificially flattened
or deformed, like those of
^, ! several modern tribes in
the Lebanon. Their high
cheek-bones stand out
from their hollow cheeks,
and their blue or black
eyes are buried under their enormous eyebrows. The lower
part of the face is square and somewhat heavy, but it is
often concealed by a thick and curly beard. The forehead is
rather low and retreating, while the nose has a distinctly
aquiline curve. The type is not on the whole so fine
as the Egyptian, but it is not so heavy as that of the
Chaldasans in the time of Gudea. The Theban artists

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph.

A CARICATURE OF THE SYRIAN TYPE. 1

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYRIANS 219

have represented it in their battle-scenes, and while
individualising every soldier or Asiatic prisoner with a
happy knack so as to avoid monotony, they have with
much intelligence impressed upon all of them the marks
of a common parentage. One feels that the
artists must have recognised them as belong
ing to one common family. They associated
with their efforts after true and exact repre
sentation a certain caustic humour, which
impelled them often to substitute for a
portrait a more or less jocose caricature of
their adversaries. On the walls of the Pylons,
and in places where the majesty of a god
restrained them from departing too openly
from their official gravity, they contented
themselves with exaggerating from panel to
panel the contortions and pitiable expressions
of the captive chiefs as they followed behind
the triumphal chariot of the Pharaoh on his
return from his Syrian campaigns. 1 Where
religious scruples offered no obstacle they
abandoned themselves to the inspiration of
the moment, and gave themselves freely up to
caricature. It is an Amorite or Canaanite that thick-
lipped, flat-nosed slave, with his brutal lower jaw and
smooth conical skull who serves for the handle of a spoon

1 An illustration of this will be found in the line of prisoners, brought
by Seti I. from his great Asiatic campaign, which is depicted on the outer
face of the north wall of the hypostyle at Karnak.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original wooden object.

220 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OP EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

in the museum of the Louvre. The stupefied air with
which he trudges under his burden is rendered in the most
natural manner, and the flattening to which his forehead
had been subjected in infancy is unfeelingly accentuated.
The model which served for this object must have been
intentionally brutalised and disfigured in order to exite the
laughter of Pharaoh s subjects. 1

The idea of uniformity with which we are impressed

SYRIANS DRESSED IX THE LOIX-CLOTH AXD DOUBLE SHAWL. 2

when examining the faces of these people is confirmed and
extended when we come to study their costumes. Men
and women we may say all Syrians according to their

1 Dr. Regnault thinks that the head was artificially deformed in
infancy : the bandage necessary to effect it must have been applied very low
on the forehead in front, and to the whole occiput behind. If this is the
case, the instance is not an isolated one, for a deformation of a similar
character is found in the case of the numerous Semites represented on the
tomb of Rakhrairi : a similar practice still obtains in certain parts of modern
Syria.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger.

COSTUME 221

condition of life had a choice between only two or three
modes of dress, which, whatever the locality, or whatever
the period, seemed never to change. On closer examina
tion slight shades of difference in cut and arrangement
may, however, be detected, and it may be affirmed that
fashion ran even in ancient Syria through as many
capricious evolutions as with ourselves ; but these varia
tions, which were evident to the eyes of the people of
the time, are not sufficiently striking to enable us to
classify the people, or to fix their date. The peasants
and the lower class of citizens required no other clothing
than a loin-cloth similar to that of the Egyptians, 1 or a
shirt of a yellow or white colour, extending below the
knees, and furnished with short sleeves. The opening
for the neck was cruciform, and the hem was usually
ornamented with coloured needlework or embroidery. The
burghers and nobles wore over this a long strip of cloth,
which, after passing closely round the hips and chest,
was brought up and spread over the shoulders as a sort of
cloak. This was not made of the light material used in
Egypt, which offered no protection from cold or rain,
but was composed of a thick, rough wool, like that
employed in Chaldaea, and was commonly adorned with
stripes or bands of colour, in addition to spots and other
conspicuous designs. Eich and fashionable folk substituted
for this cloth two large shawls one red and the other
blue in which they dexterously arrayed themselves so as
to alternate the colours : a belt of soft leather gathered

1 The Asiatic loin-cloth differs from the Egyptian in having pendent
cords ; the Syrian fellahin still wear it when at work.

222 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

the folds around the figure. Ked morocco buskins, a soft
cap, a handkerchief, a keffiyeh confined by a fillet, and
sometimes a wig after the Egyptian fashion, completed the
dress. Beards were almost universal among the men, but
the moustache was of rare occurrence. In many of the
figures represented on the monu
ments we find that the head
was carefully shaved, while
in others the hair was al
lowed to grow, arranged in
curls, frizzed and shining
with oil or sweet- smelling

pomade, sometimes A SYRIAX WITH IIUR
thrown back behind
the ears and falling on the
neck in bunches or curly masses, sometimes
drawn out in stiff spikes so as to serve as a
projecting cover over the face. The women
usually tired their hair in three great

AX ASIATIC OF THE UPPER maS8eS &gt; f ^^ ^ thickest

TIRED TEXT-HOUSE
FASHION. 1

allowed to fall freely down the back ;
while the other two formed a kind of framework for the
face, the ends descending on each side as far as the breast.
Some of the women arranged their hair after the Egyptian
manner, in a series of numerous small tresses, brought
together at the ends so as to form a kind of plat, and
terminating in a flower made of metal or enamelled terra
cotta. A network of glass ornaments, arranged on a

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Champollion.
; Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a figure on the tomb of Ramses III.

CHALDEAN INFLUENCE ON SYRIAN CUSTOMS

semicircle of beads, or on a background of embroidered
stuff, was frequently used as a covering for the top of the

head. 1 The shirt

had no sleeves, and

the fringed garment

which covered it left

half of the arm ex
posed. Children of

tender years had

A SYRIAN WITH A KERCHIEF

AS A HEA

their heads shaved,

and rejoiced in no

more clothing than the little ones among
the Egyptians. With the exception of
bracelets, anklets, rings on the fingers, and
occasionally necklaces and earrings, the
Syrians, both men and women, wore little
jewellery. The Chald&an women furnished
them with models of fashion to which they
accommodated themselves in the choice of
stuffs, colours, cut of their mantles or petti
coats, arrangement of the hair, and the use
of cosmetics for the eyes and cheeks. In spite
of distance, the modes of Babylon reigned
supreme. The Syrians would have continued

A YOUNG
SYRIAN GIRL. 3

1 Examples of Syrian feminine costume are somewhat rare on the
Egyptian monuments. In the scenes of the capturing of towns we see a
few. Here the women are represented on the walls imploring the mercy of
the besieger. Other figures are those of prisoners being led captive into

Egypt.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Champollion.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Louvre.

224 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

to expose their right shoulder to the weather as long as it
pleased the people of the Lower Euphrates to do the same ;
but as soon as the fashion changed in the latter region,
and it became customary to cover the shoulder, and to
wrap the upper part of the person in two or three
thicknesses of heavy wool, they at once accommodated
themselves to the new mode, although it served to restrain
the free motion of the body. Among the upper classes,
at least, domestic arrangements were modelled upon the
fashions observed in the palaces of the nobles of Car-
chemish or Assur : the same articles of toilet, the same
ranks of servants and scribes, the same luxurious habits,
and the same use of perfumes were to be found among
both. 1 From all that we can gather, in short, from the
silence as well as from the misunderstandings of the
Egyptian chroniclers, Syria stands before us as a
fruitful and civilized country, of which one might be
thankful to be a native, in spite of continual wars and
frequent revolutions.

The religion of the Syrians was subject to the same
influences as their customs ; we are, as yet, far from being
able to draw a complete picture of their theology, but
such knowledge as we do possess recalls the same names

An example of the fashion of leaving the shoulder bare is found even
in the XX th dynasty. The Tel el-Amarna tablets prove that, as far as the
scribes were concerned, the customs and training of Syria and Chaldsea were
identical. The Syrian princes are there represented as employing the cunei
form character in their correspondence,, being accompanied by scribes brought
up after the Chaldaean manner. We shall see later on that the kinsr of the

Khati, who represented in the time of Ramses II. the type of an accom
plished Syrian, had attendants similar to those of the Chaldsean kings.

THE SYRIAN BAALIM 225

and the same elements as are found in the religious
systems of Chaldaea. The myths, it is true, are still
vague and misty, at least to our modern ideas : the
general characteristics of the principal divinities alone
stand out, and seem fairly well denned. As with the
other Semitic races, the deity in a general sense, the
primordial type of the godhead, was called El or Ilu, and
his feminine counterpart Ildt, but we find comparatively
few cities in which these nearly abstract beings enjoyed the
veneration of the faithful. 1 The gods of Syria, like those
of Egypt and of the countries watered by the Euphrates,
were feudal princes distributed over the surface of the
earth, their number corresponding with that of the
independent states. Each nation, each tribe, each city,
worshipped its own lord Adorn* or its master Baal 3
and each of these was designated by a special title to
distinguish him from neighbouring Baalim, or masters.
The Baal who ruled at Zebub was styled " Master of

1 The frequent occurrence of the term II A or El in names of towns in
Southern Syria seems to indicate pretty conclusively that the inhabitants of
these countries used this term by preference to designate their supreme
god. Similarly we meet with it in Aramaic names, and later on among the
Nabathseans; it predominates at Byblos and Berytus in Phoenicia and
among the Aramaic peoples of North Syria ; in the Samalla country, for
instance, during the VIII th century B.C.

2 The extension of this term to Syrian countries is proved in the
Israelitish epoch by Canaanitish names, such as Adonizedek and Adonibezek,
or Jewish names such as Adonijah, Adonikam, Adoniram-Adoram.

3 Movers tried to prove that there was one particular god named Baal,
and his ideas, popularised in France by M. de Vogiie, prevailed for some
time : since then scholars have gone back to the view of Miinter and of the
writers at the beginning of this century, who regarded the term Baal as a
common epithet applicable to all gods.

VOL. iv, Q

226 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Zebub," or Baal-Zebub ; l and the Baal of Hermon, who
was an ally of Gad, goddess of fortune, was sometimes
called Baal-Hermon, or " Master of Hermon," sometimes
Baal-Gad, or "Master of Gad;" 2 the Baal of Shechem,
at the time of the Israelite invasion, was " Master of the

LOTANU WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM THE TOMB OF RAKHMIR1. 3

Covenant" Baal-BerUli doubtless in memory of some
agreement which he had concluded with his worshippers in
regard to the conditions of their allegiance. 4 The prevalent

1 Baal-Zebub was worshipped at Ekron during the Philistine supremacy.

2 The mountain of Baal-Hermon is the mountain of Banias, where the
Jordan has one of its sources, and the town of Baal-Hermon is Banias
itself. The variant Baal-Gad occurs several times in the Biblical books.

3 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from coloured sketches by Prisse d Avennes.

4 Baal-Berith, like Baal-Zebub, only occurs, so far as we kftQW at present,

ATTRIBUTES OF THE REIGXING DEITIES 227

conception of the essence and attributes of these deities
was not the same in all their sanctuaries, but the more
exalted among them were regarded as personifying the sky
in the daytime or at night, the atmosphere, the light, 1 or
the sun, Shamash, as creator and prime mover of the
universe ; and each declared himself to be king melek
over the other gods. 2 Eashuf represented the lightning
and the thunderbolt ; 3 Shalman, Hadad, and his double
Eimmon held sway over the air like the Babylonian

in the Hebrew Scriptures, where, by the way, the first element, Baal, is
changed to El, El-Berith.

1 This appears under the name Or or Ur in the Samalla inscriptions of
the VHP 1 century B.C. ; it is, so far, a unique instance among the Semites.

2 We find the term applied in the Bible to the national god of the
Ammonites, under the forms Moloch, Molech, Milkom, MilJcam, and especially
with the article, Ham-molek ; the real name hidden beneath this epithet was
probably Ammon or Amman, and, strictly speaking, the God Moloch only
exists in the imagination of scholars. The epithet was used among the
Canaanites in the name Melchizedek, a similar form to Adonizedek,
Abimelech, Ahimelech ; it was in current use among the Phoenicians, in
reference to the god of Tyre, Melek-Karta or Melkarth, and in many proper
names, such as Melekiathon, Baalmelek, Bodmalek, etc., not to mention the
god Milichus worshipped in Spain, who was really none other than
Melkarth.

3 Resheph has been vocalised RasJiuf in deference to the Egyptian
orthography Rashupu. It was a name common to a whole family of light
ning and storm-gods, and M. de Rouge pointed out long ago the passage in
the Great Inscription of Ramses III. at Medinet-Habu, in which the soldiers
who man the chariots are compared to the Rashupu ; the Rabbinic Hebrew
still employs this plural form in the sense of " demons." The Phoenician
inscriptions contain references to several local Rashufs ; the way in which
this god is coupled with the goddess Qodshu on the Egyptian stelte leads
me to think that, at the epoch now under consideration, he was specially
worshipped by the Amorites, just as his equivalent Hadad was by the
inhabitants of Damascus, neighbours of the Amorites, and perhaps them
selves Amorites.

228 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Rammanu ; l Dagon, patron god of fishermen and husband
men, seems to have watched over the fruitfulness of the sea
and the land. 2 We are beginning to learn the names of
the races whom they specially protected : Rashuf the
Amorites, Hadad and Rimmon the Aram&ans of Damascus,
Dagon the peoples of the coast between Ashkelon and the
forest of Carmel. Rashuf is the only one whose appearance
is known to us. He possessed the restless temperament
usually attributed to the thunder-gods, and was, accord
ingly, pictured as a soldier armed with javelin and mace,
bow and buckler; a gazelle s head with pointed horns
surmounts his helmet, and sometimes, it may be, serves
him as a cap. Each god had for his complement a goddess,
who was proclaimed " mistress : of the city, Baalat, or
"queen," Milkat, of heaven, just as the god himself was

1 Hadad and Rimmon are represented in Aasyrio-Chaldaean by one and

the same ideogram, which may be read either Dadda-Hadad or Rammanu.
The identity of the expressions employed shows how close the connection
between the two divinities must have been, even if they were not similar in
all respects ; from the Hebrew writings we know of the temple of Rimmon
at Damascus (2 Kings v. 18) and that one of the kings of that city was
called Tabrimmon = " Rimmon is good " (1 Kings xv. 18), while Hadad gave
his name to no less than ten kings of the same city. Even as late as the
Grseco-Roman epoch, kingship over the other gods was still attributed both
to Rimmon and to Hadad, but this latter was identified with the sun.

2 The documents which we possess in regard to Dagon date from the
Hebrew epoch, and represent him as worshipped by the Philistines. We
know, however, from the Tel el-Amarna tablets, of a Dagantakala, a name
which proves the presence of the god among the Canaanites long before the
Philistine invasion, and we find two Beth-Dagons one in the plain of Judah,
the other in the tribe of Asher ; Philo of Byblos makes Dagon a Phoenician
deity, and declares him to be the genius of fecundity, master of grain and
of labour. The representation of his statue which appears on the Grseco-
Roman coins of Abydos, reminds us of the fish-god of Chaldsea.

THE SYRIAN ASTARTES

229

recognised as "master or " king." As a rule, the
goddess was contented with, the generic name of Astarte ;
but to this was often added some epithet, which lent her a
distinct personality, and prevented her from being con-

. ASTARTE AS A SPHINX. 2

founded with the Astartes of neighbouring cities, her com
panions or rivals. 3 Thus she would be styled the " good "

1 Among goddesses to whom the title " Baalat " was referred, we have
the goddess of Byblos, Baalat-Gebal, also the goddess of Berytus, Baalat-
Berith, or Beyrut. The epithet " queen of heaven " is applied to the
Phoenician Astarte by Hebrew (Jer. vii. 18, xliv. 18-29) and classic writers.
The Egyptians, when they adopted these Canaanitish goddesses, preserved
the title, and called each of them nibit pit, "lady of heaven." In the
Phoenician inscriptions their names are frequently preceded by the word
JRabbat : rabbat Baalat-Gebal, " (my) lady Baalat-Gebal."

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a copy of an original in chased gold.

3 The Hebrew writers frequently refer to the Canaanite goddesses by
the general title "the Ashtaroth" or " Astartes," and a town in Northern
Syria bore the significant name of Istarati = " the Ishtars, the Ashtaroth,"
a name which finds a parallel in Anathoth = " the Anats," a title assumed
by a town of the tribe of Benjamin; similarly, the Assyrio-Chaldeeans
called their goddesses by the plural of Ishtar. The inscription on an
Egyptian amulet in the Louvre tells us of a personage of the XX th dynasty,
who, from his name, Rabrabina, must have been of Syrian origin, and who
styled himself " Prophet of the Astartes," Honnutir Astiratu.

230 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OP EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Astarte, Ashtoreth Naamah, or the " horned Astartfc,
Ashtoreth Qarnaim, because of the lunar crescent which
appears on her forehead, as a sort of head-dress. 1 She was
the goddess of good luck, and was called Gad ; 2 she was
Anat, 3 or Asiti, 4 the chaste and the warlike. The statues
sometimes represent her as a sphinx with a woman s head,
but more often as a woman standing on a lion passant,
either nude, or encircled round the hips by merely a girdle,

1 The two-horned Astarte gave her name to a city beyond the Jordan , of
which she was, probably, the eponymous goddess: (Gen xiv. 5) she would seem
to be represented on the curious monument called by the Arabs " the stone of
Job," which was discovered by M. Schumacher in the centre of the
Hauran. It was an analogous goddess whom the Egyptians sometimes
identified with their Hathor, and whom they represented as crowned with a
crescent.

2 Gad, the goddess of fortune, is mainly known to us in connection with
the Aramaeans ; we find mention made of her by the Hebrew writers, and
geographical names, sucli as Baal-Gad and Migdol-Gad, prove that she must
have been worshipped at a very early date in the Canaanite countries.

3 Anat, or Anaiti, or Aniti, has been found in a Phoenician inscription,
which enables us to reconstruct the history of the goddess. Her worship
was largely practised among the Canaanites, as is proved by the existence
in the Hebrew epoch of several towns, such as Beth-Anath, Beth-Anoth,
Anathoth ; at least one of which, Bit- Aniti, is mentioned in the Egyptian
geographical lists. The appearance of Anat-Amti is known to us, as she
is represented in Egyptian dress on several stelse of the XIX th and XX th
dynasties. Her name, like that of Astarte, had become a generic term,
in the plural form Anathdth, for a whole group of goddesses.

4 Asiti is represented at Radesieh, on a stele of the time of Seti I. ;
she enters into the composition of a compound name, AaUiidkhurii (perhaps
" the goddess of Asiti is enflamed with anger "), which we find on a
monument in the Vienna Museum. W. Max Miiller makes her out to
have been a divinity of the desert, and the place in which the picture
representing her was found would seem to justify this hypothesis ; the
Egyptians connected her, as well as the other Astartes, with Sit-Typhon,
owing to her cruel and warlike character.

QODSHU AND RASHUF

231

her hands filled with flowers or with serpents, her features
framed in a mass of heavy tresses a faithful type of the
priestesses who devoted themselves to her service, the
Qedeshot. She was the god
dess of love in its animal,
or rather in its purely
physical, aspect,
and in this capac
ity was styled
Qaddishat the
Holy, like the
hetaira? of her
family ; Qodshu,
the Amorite capi
tal, was conse
crated to her service,
and she was there as
sociated with Eashuf,
the thunder-god. 1 But
she often comes before
us as a warlike Ama
zon, brandishing a
club, lance, or shield,

mounted On horseback QODSHU AND RA.SHUF ON \ STELE IN THE

1 Qaddishat is know to us from the Egyptian monuments referred to
above. The name was sometimes written Qodshu, like that of the town :
E. de Rouge argued from this that Qaddishat must have been the
eponymous divinity of Qodshu, and that her real name was Kashit or
Kesh ; he recalls, however, the role played by the Qedeshoth, and admits
that " the Holy here means the prostitute."

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Louvre.

232 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

like a soldier, and wandering through the desert in quest of
her prey. 1 This dual temperament rendered her a goddess
of uncertain attributes and of violent contrasts ; at times
reserved and chaste, at other times shameless and dissolute,
but always cruel, always barren, for the countless multitude
of her excesses for ever shut her out from motherhood : she
conceives without ceasing, but never brings forth children. 2
The Baalim and Astartes frequented by choice the tops of
mountains, such as Lebanon, Carmel, Hermon, or Kasios : 3
they dwelt near springs, or hid themselves in the depths of
forests. 4 They revealed themselves to mortals through
the heavenly bodies, and in all the phenomena of nature :
the sun was a Baal, the moon was Astarte, and the
whole host of heaven was composed of more or less
powerful genii, as we find in Chalda3a. They required

A fragment of a popular tale preserved in the British Museum, and
mentioned by Birch, seems to show us Astarte in her character of war-
goddess, and the sword of Astarte is mentioned by Chabas. A bas-relief at
Edfu represents her standing upright in her chariot, drawn by horses, and
trampling her enemies underfoot : she is there identified with Sokhit the
warlike, destroyer of men.

This conception of the Syrian goddesses had already become firmly
established at the period with which we are dealing, for an Egyptian
magical formula defines Aniti and Astarte as " the great goddesses who
conceiving do not bring forth young, for the Horuses have sealed them and
Sit hath established them."

3 The Baal of Lebanon is mentioned in an archaic Phoenician inscription,
and the name " Holy Cape " (Eosli-Qndsliu), borne in the time of Thutmosis
III. either by Haifa or by a neighbouring town, proves that Carmel was
held sacred as far back as the Egyptian epoch. Baal-Hermon has already
been mentioned.

4 The source of the Jordan, near Banias, was the seat of a Baal whom
the Greeks identified with Pan. This was probably the Baal-Gad who
often lent his name to the neighbouring town of Baal-Hermon : many of the

THE PLANT-GODS AND STONE-GODS

that offerings and prayers should be brought to them
at the high places, 1 but they were also pleased and
especially the goddesses to lodge in trees; tree-trunks,
sometimes leafy, sometimes bare and branchless (asherah),
long continued to be living emblems of the local Astarts
among the peoples of Southern Syria. Side by side with
these plant-gods we find everywhere, in the inmost recesses
of the temples, at cross-roads, and in the open fields, blocks
of stone hewn into pillars, isolated boulders, or natural
rocks, sometimes of meteoric origin, which were recognised
by certain mysterious marks to be the house of the god, the
Betyli or Beth-els in which he enclosed a part of his
intelligence and vital force.

The worship of these gods involved the performance of
ceremonies more bloody and licentious even than those
practised by other races. The Baalim thirsted after blood,
nor would they be satisfied with any common blood such
as generally contented their brethren in Chalda3a or Egypt :
they imperatively demanded human as well as animal
sacrifices. Among several of the Syrian nations they had
a prescriptive right to the firstborn male of each family ; 2

rivers of Phoenicia were called after the divinities worshipped in the nearest
city, e.g. the Adonis, the Belos, the Asclepios, the Damuras.

1 These are the " high places " (bamoth) so frequently referred to by the
Hebrew prophets, and which we find in the country of Moab, according
to the Mesha inscription, and in the place-name Bamoth-Baal ; many of
them seem to have served for Canaanitish places of worship before they
were resorted to by the children of Israel.

2 This fact is proved, in so far as the Hebrew people is concerned, by the
texts of the Pentateuch and of the prophets ; amongst the Moabites also it
was his eldest son whom King Mesha took to offer to his god. We find the
same custom among other Syrian races : Philo of By bios tells us, in fact,

234 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

this right was generally commuted, either by a money
payment or by subjecting the infant to circumcision. 1 At
important junctures, however, this pretence of bloodshed
would fail to appease them, and the death of the child
alone availed. Indeed, in times of national danger, the
king and nobles would furnish, not merely a single victim,
but as many as the priests chose to demand. 2 While they
were being burnt alive on the knees of the statue, or before
the sacred emblem, their cries of pain were drowned by
the piping of flutes or the blare of trumpets, the parents
standing near the altar, without a sign of pity, and dressed
as for a festival : the ruler of the world could refuse nothing
to prayers backed by so precious an offering, and by a
purpose so determined to move him. Such sacrifices were,
however, the exception, and the shedding of their own
blood by his priests sufficed, as a rule, for the daily wants
of the god. Seizing their knives, they would slash their
arms and breasts with the view of compelling, by this
offering of their own persons, the good will of the Baalim. 3

that El-Kronos, god of Byblos, sacrificed his firstborn son and set the
example of this kind of offering.

1 Redemption by a payment in money was the case among the Hebrews,
as also the substitution of an animal in the place of a child ; as to
redemption by circumcision, cf. the story of Moses and Zipporah, where
the mother saves her son from Jahveh by circumcising him. Circumcision
was practised among the Syrians of Palestine in the time of Herodotus.

1 If we may credit Tertullian, the custom of offering up children as
sacrifices lasted down to the proconsulate of Tiberius.

3 Cf., for the Hebraic epoch, the scene where the priests of Baal, in a
trial of power with Elijah before Ahab, offered up sacrifices on the highest
point of Carmel, and finding that their offerings did not meet with the usual
success, " cut themselves . . . with knives and lancets till the blood gushed
out upon them."

SYRIAN WORSHIP AND FESTIVALS

235

The Astartes of all degrees and kinds were hardly less
cruel; they imposed frequent flagellations, self- mutilation,
and sometimes even emasculation, on their devotees.
Around the majority of these goddesses was gathered an
infamous troop of profligates (kedesMm), " dogs of love
(kelabim), and courtesans (kedeshot). The temples bore
little resemblance to those of the regions of the Lower

TBANSJOEDANIAN DOLMEN.

. i

Euphrates : nowhere do we find traces of those zigyurat
which serve to produce the peculiar jagged outline
characteristic of Chaldsean cities. The Syrian edifices
were stone buildings, which included, in addition to the
halls and courts reserved for religious rites, dwelling-rooms
for the priesthood, and storehouses for provisions : though
not to be compared in size with the sanctuaries of Thebes,
they yet answered the purpose of strongholds in time of

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

236 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

need, and were capable of resisting the attacks of a
victorious foe. 1 A numerous staff, consisting of priests,
male and female singers, porters, butchers, slaves, and
artisans, was assigned to each of these temples : here the
god was accustomed to give forth his oracles, either by
the voice of his prophets, or by the movement of his
statues. 2 The greater number of the festivals celebrated
in them were closely connected with the pastoral and
agricultural life of the country ; they inaugurated, or
brought to a close, the principal operations of the year
the sowing of seed, the harvest, the vintage, the shearing
of the sheep. At Shechem, when the grapes were ripe,
the people flocked out of the town into the vineyards,
returning to the temple for religious observances and
sacred banquets when the fruit had been trodden in the
winepress. 3 In times of extraordinary distress, such as
a prolonged drought or a famine, the priests were wont
to ascend in solemn procession to the high places in order
to implore the pity of their divine masters, from whom
they strove to extort help, or to obtain the wished-for
rain, by their dances, their lamentations, and the shedding
of their blood. 4 Almost everywhere, but especially in the

1 The story of Abimelech gives us some idea of what the Canaanite temple
of Baal-Berith at Shechem was like.

3 As to the regular organisation of Baal-worship, we possess only docu
ments of a comparatively late period.

3 It is probable that the vintage festival, celebrated at Shiloh in the
time of the Judges, dated back to a period of Canaanite history prior to the
Hebrew invasion, i.e. to the time of the Egyptian supremacy.

4 Cf., in the Hebraic period, the scene where the priests of Baal go up
to the top of Mount Carmel with the prophet Elijah.

THE SACRED STONES 237

regions east of the Jordan, were monuments which popular
piety surrounded with a superstitious reverence. Such
were the isolated boulders, or, as we should call them,
" menhirs," reared on the summit of a knoll, or on the
edge of a tableland ; dolmens, formed of a flat slab placed
on the top of two roughly hewn supports, cromlechs, or,
that is to say, stone circles, in the centre of which might
be found a beth-el. We know not by whom were set up
these monuments there, nor at what time : the fact that
they are in no way different from those which are to be
met with in Western Europe and the north of Africa has
given rise to the theory that they were the work of some
one primeval race which wandered ceaselessly over the
ancient world. A few of them may have marked the
tombs of some forgotten personages, the discovery of
human bones beneath them confirming such a conjecture;
while others seem to have been holy places and altars from
the beginning. The nations of Syria did not in all cases
recognise the original purpose of these monuments, but
regarded them as marking the seat of an ancient divinity,
or the precise spot on which he had at some time
manifested himself. When the children of Israel caught
sight of them again on their return from Egypt, they at
once recognised in them the work of their patriarchs.
The dolmen at Shechem was the altar which Abraham had
built to the Eternal after his arrival in the country of
Canaan. Isaac had raised that at Beersheba, on the very
spot where Jehovah had appeared in order to renew with
him the covenant that He had made with Abraham. One
might almost reconstruct a map of the wanderings of

238 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Jacob from the altars which he built at each of his
principal resting-places at Gilead [Galeed], at Ephrata,
at Bethel, and at Shechem. 1 Each of such still existing
objects probably had a history of its own, connecting it
inseparably with some far-off event in the local annals.

A CROMLECH IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF HESBAX, IX THE COUNTRY OF MOAB. 2

Most of them were objects of worship : they were anointed
with oil, and victims were slaughtered in their honour;
the faithful even came at times to spend the night and

The heap of stones at Galeed, in Aramaic Jcgar-SaJiadutha, " the heap
of witness," marked the spot where Laban and Jacob were reconciled ; the
stele on the way to Ephrata was the tomb of Rachel ; the altar and stele at
Bethel marked the spot where God appeared unto Jacob.

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

THE DESTINIES OF MEN AFTER DEATH 239

sleep near them, in order to obtain in tlieir dreams
glimpses of the future. 1

Men and beasts were supposed to be animated, during
their lifetime, by a breath or soul which ran in their
veins along with their blood, and served to move then-
limb s ; the man, therefore, who drank blood or ate
bleeding flesh assimilated thereby the soul which inhered
in it. After death the fate of this soul was similar to
that ascribed to the spirits of the departed in Egypt and
Chaldffia. The inhabitants of the ancient world were
always accustomed to regard the surviving element in
man as something restless and unhappy a weak and
pitiable double, doomed to hopeless destruction if deprived
of the succour of the living. They imagined it as taking
up its abode near the body wrapped in a half-conscious
lethargy ; or else as dwelling with the other rephaim (de
parted spirits) in some dismal and gloomy kingdom, hidden
in the bowels of the earth, like the region ruled by the
Chaldajan Allat, its doors gaping wide to engulf new
arrivals, but allowing none to escape who had once
passed the threshold. 2 There it wasted away, a prey to
sullen melancholy, under the sway of inexorable deities,
chief amongst whom, according to the Phoenician idea,
was Mout (Death), 3 the grandson of El; there the slave

1 The menhir of Bethel was the identical one whereon Jacob rested his
head on the night in which Jehovah appeared to him in a dream. In
Phoenicia there was a legend which told how Usoos set up two stelse to the
elements of wind and fire, and how he offered the blood of the animals he
had killed in the chase as a libation.

2 The expression rephaim means " the feeble " ; it was the epithet applied
by the Hebrews to a part of the primitive races of Palestine.

3 Among the Hebrews his name was Maweth, who feeds the departed

240 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OP EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

became the equal of his former master, the rich man no
longer possessed anything which could raise him above
the poor, and dreaded monarchs were greeted on their
entrance by the jeers of kings who had gone down into
the night before them. The corpse, after it had been

A CORNER OF THE PHOENICIAN NECROPOLIS AT ADLUN. 1

anointed with perfumes and enveloped in linen, and
impregnated with substances which retarded its decom
position, was placed in some natural grotto or in a cave
hollowed out of the solid rock : sometimes it was simply

like sheep, and himself feeds on them in hell. Some writers have sought to
identify this or some analogous god with the lion represented on a stele of
Piraeus which threatens to devour the body of a dead man.

Drawn by .Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph in Lortet.

THE "ETERNAL" HOUSES 241

laid on the bare earth, sometimes in a sarcophagus or
coffin, and on it, or around it, were piled amulets, jewels,
objects of daily use, vessels filled with perfume, or house
hold utensils, together with meat and drink. The
entrance was then closed, and on the spot a cippus was
erected in popular estimation sometimes held to repre
sent the soul or a monument was set up on a scale
proportionate to the importance of the family to which
the dead man had belonged. 1 On certain days beasts
ceremonially pure were sacrificed at the tornb, and libations
poured out, which, carried into the next world by virtue
of the prayers of those who offered them, and by the
aid of the gods to whom the prayers were addressed,
assuaged the hunger and thirst of the dead man. 3 The
chapels and stelae which marked the exterior of these
"eternal" 3 houses have disappeared in the course of
the various wars by which Syria suffered so heavily :
in almost all cases, therefore, we are ignorant as to the
sites of the various cities of the dead in which the nobles
and common people of the Canaanite and Amorite towns
were laid to rest. 4 In Phoenicia alone do we meet with

1 The pillar or stele was used among both Hebrews and Phoenicians to
mark the graves of distinguished persons. Among the Semites speaking
Aramaic it was called nephesh, especially when it took the form of a pyramid ;
the word means "breath," "soul," and clearly shows the ideas associated
with the object.

2 An altar was sometimes placed in front of the sarcophagus to receive
these offerings.

3 This expression, which is identical with that used by the Egyptians of
the same period, is found in one of the Phoenician inscriptions at Malta.

4 The excavations carried out by M. Gautier in 1893-94, on the little
island of Bahr-el-Kadis, at one time believed to have been the site of the

VOL. IV. E

242 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

burial-places which, after the vicissitudes and upheavals
of thirty centuries, still retain something of their original
arrangement. Sometimes the site chosen was on level
ground : perpendicular shafts or stairways cut in the
soil led down to low-roofed chambers, the number of
which varied according to circumstances : they were
often arranged in two stories, placed one above the other,
fresh vaults being probably added as the old ones were
filled up. They were usually rectangular in shape, with
horizontal or slightly arched ceilings ; niches cut in the
walls received the dead body and the objects intended
for its use in the next world, and were then closed with
a slab of stone. Elsewhere some isolated hill or narrow
gorge, with sides of fine homogeneous limestone, was
selected. 1 In this case the doors were placed in rows on
a sort of facade similar to that of the Egyptian rock-tomb,
generally without any attempt at external ornament.
The vaults were on the ground-level, but were not used
as chapels for the celebration of festivals in honour of the
dead : they were walled up after every funeral, and
all access to them forbidden, until such time as they
were again required for the purposes of burial. Except

town of Qodshu, have revealed the existence of a number of tombs in the
enclosure which forms the central part of the tumulus : some of these may
possibly date from the Amorite epoch, but they are very poor in remains,
and contain no object which permits us to fix the date with accuracy.

1 Such was the necropolis at Adlun, the last rearrangement of which
took place during the Graeco-Roman period, but which externally bears so
strong a resemblance to an Egyptian necropolis of the XVIII th or XIX th
dynasty, that we may, without violating the probabilities, trace its origin
back to the time of the Pharaonic conquest.

THE PHOENICIAN COSMOGONY 243

on these occasions of sad necessity, those whom "the
mouth of the pit had devoured 1 dreaded the visits of
the living, and resorted to every means afforded by their
religion to protect themselves from them. Their inscrip
tions declare repeatedly that neither gold nor silver, nor
any object which could excite the greed of robbers, was
to be found within their graves ; they threaten any one
who should dare to deprive them of such articles of little
value as belonged to them, or to turn them out of their
chambers in order to make room for others, with all sorts of
vengeance, divine and human. These imprecations have
not, however, availed to save them from the desecration
the danger of which they foresaw, and there are few of
their tombs which were not occupied by a succession
of tenants between the date of their first making and
the close of the Eoman supremacy. When the modern
explorer chances to discover a vault which has escaped
the spade of the treasure-seeker, it is hardly ever the
case that the bodies whose remains are unearthed prove
to be those of the original proprietors.

The gods and legends of Chalda?a had penetrated to the
countries of Amauru and Canaan, together with the
language of the conquerors and their system of writing :
the stories of Adapa s struggles against the south-west wind,
or of the incidents which forced Irishkigal, queen of the
dead, to wed Nergal, were accustomed to be read at the
courts of Syrian princes. Chaldaean theology, therefore,
must have exercised influence on individual Syrians and on
their belief; but although we are forced to allow the
existence of such influence, we cannot define precisely the

244 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

effects produced by it. Only on the coast and in
the Phoenician cities do the local religions seem to have
become formulated at a fairly early date, and crystallised
under pressure of this influence into cosmogonic theories.
The Baalim and AstartSs reigned there as on the banks of
the Jordan or Orontes, and in each town Baal was " the
most high," master of heaven and eternity, creator of
everything which exists, though the character of his
creating acts was variously denned according to time and
place. Some regarded him as the personification of Justice,
Sydyk, who established the universe with the help of eight
indefatigable Cabiri. Others held the whole world to be
the work of a divine family, whose successive generations
gave birth to the various elements. The storm-wind,
Colpias, wedded to Chaos, had begotten two mortals, Ulom
(Time) and Kadmon (the First-Born), and these in their
turn engendered Qgn and Qenath, who dwelt in Phoenicia :
then came a drought, and they lifted up their heads to the
Sun, imploring him, as Lord of the Heavens (Baalsamm), to
put an end to their woes. At Tyre it was thought that
Chaos existed at the beginning, but chaos of a dark and
troubled nature, over which a Breath (rtkikh) floated without
affecting it ; " and this Chaos had no ending, and it was
thus for centuries and centuries. Then the Breath became
enamoured of its own principles, and brought about a
change in itself, and this change was called Desire : now
Desire was the principle which created all things, and the
Breath knew not its own creation. The Breath and Chaos,
therefore, became united, and Mot the Clay was born, and
from this clay sprang all the seed of creation, and Mot was

THE PHOENICIAN COSMOGONY 245

the father of all things ; now Mot was like an egg in shape.
And the Sun, the Moon, the stars, the great planets,
shone forth. 1 There were living beings devoid of intelli
gence, and from these living beings came intelligent beings,
who were called Zophesamm, or watchers of the heavens.
Now the thunder- claps in the war of separating elements
awoke these intelligent beings as it were from a sleep, and
then the males and the females began to stir themselves
and to seek one another on the land and in the sea." A
scholar of the Roman epoch, Philo of Byblos, using as
a basis some old documents hidden away in the sanctuaries,
which had apparently been classified by Sanchoniathon, a
priest long before his time, has handed these theories of the
cosmogony down to us : after he has explained how the
world was brought out of Chaos, he gives a brief summary
of the dawn of civilization in Phoanicia and the legendary
period in its history. No doubt he interprets the writings
from which he compiled his work in accordance with the
spirit of his time : he has none the less preserved their
substance more or less faithfully. Beneath the veneer of
abstraction with which the Greek tongue and mind have
overlaid the fragment thus quoted, we discern that ground
work of barbaric ideas which is to be met with in most
Oriental theologies, whether Egyptian or Babylonian.
At first we have a black mysterious Chaos, stagnating in

1 Mot, the clay formed by the corruption of earth and water, is probably
a Phoenician form of a word which means water in the Semitic languages.
Cf. the Egyptian theory, according to which the clay, heated by the sun,
was supposed to have given birth to animated beings ; this same clay
modelled by Khnumu into the form of an egg was supposed to have produced
the heavens and the earth.

216 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

eternal waters, the primordial Nu or Apsu ; then the slime
which precipitates in this chaos and clots into the form
of an egg, like the mud of the Nile under the hand of
Khnumu ; then the hatching forth of living organisms
and indolent generations of barely conscious creatures,
such as the Lakhmu, the Anshar, and the Illinu of
Chaldasan speculation ; finally the abrupt appearance of
intelligent beings. The Phoenicians, however, accustomed
as they were to the Mediterranean, with its blind out
bursts of fury, had formed an idea of
Chaos which differed widely from that
of most of the inland races, to whom
it presented itself as something silent
and motionless : they imagined it as
swept by a mighty wind, which, gradu
ally increasing to a roaring tempest,

BAAL OF AltVAD. 1

at length succeeded in stirring the
chaos to its very depths, and in fertilizing its elements
amidst the fury of the storm. No sooner had the earth
been thus brought roughly into shape, than the whole
family of the north winds swooped down upon it, and
reduced it to civilized order. It was but natural that
the traditions of a seafaring race should trace its descent
from the winds.

In Phoenicia the sea is everything : of land there is hut
just enough to furnish a site for a score of towns, with their
surrounding belt of gardens. Mount Lebanon, with its
impenetrable forests, isolated it almost entirely from Ccele-

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Cabinet des
Medailles.

PHOENICIA 247

Syria, and acted as the eastward boundary of the long
narrow quadrangle hemmed in between the mountains and
the rocky shore of the sea. At frequent intervals, spurs
run out at right angles from the principal chain, forming
steep headlands on the sea-front : these cut up the country,
small to begin with, into five or six still smaller provinces,
each one of which possessed from time immemorial its own
independent cities, its own religion, and its own national
history. To the north were the Zahi, a race half sailors,
half husbandmen, rich, brave, and turbulent, ever ready to
give battle to their neighbours, or rebel against an alien
master, be he who he might. Arvad, 1 which was used by
them as a sort of stronghold or sanctuary, was huddled
together on an island some two miles from the coast : it
was only about a thousand yards in circumference, and the
houses, as though to make up for the limited space available
for their foundations, rose to a height of five stories. An
Astart reigned there, as also a sea-Baal, half man, half fish,
but not a trace of a temple or royal palace is now to be
found. 2 The whole island was surrounded by a stone wall,
built on the outermost ledges of the rocks, which were
levelled to form its foundation. The courses of the masonry

1 The name Arvad was identified in the Egyptian inscriptions by Birch,
who, with Hincks, at first saw in the name a reference to the peoples of
Ararat ; Birch s identification, is now accepted by all Egyptologists. The
name is written Aruada or Arada in the Tel el-Amarna tablets.

2 The Arvad Astarte had been identified by the Egyptians with their
goddess Bastit. The sea-Baal, who has been connected by some with
Dagon of Askalon, is represented on the earliest Arvadian coins. He has a
fish-like tail, the body and bearded head of a man, with an Assyrian head
dress ; on his breast we sometimes find a circular opening which seems to
show the entrails.

Sorto"

Arvtajaaos

THE
ARVAD ISLANDS

from, Renaa

Enhydra ?

248 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

were irregular, laid without cement or mortar of any kind.
This bold piece of engineering served the double purpose of
sea-wall and rampart, and was thus fitted to withstand alike
the onset of hostile fleets and the surges of the Mediter
ranean. 1 There was no potable water on the island, and

for drinking purposes the
inhabitants were obliged to
rely on the fall of rain,
which they stored in cisterns
still in use among their
descendants. In the event of
prolonged drought they were
obliged to send to the main
land opposite ; in time of
war they had recourse to
a submarine spring, which
bubbles up in mid-channel.
Their divers let down a leaden
bell, to the top of which was
fitted a leathern pipe, and
applied it to the orifice of the spring ; the fresh water
coming up through the sand was collected in this bell, and
rising in the pipe, reached the surface uncontaminated by
salt water. 2 The harbour opened to the east, facing the
mainland : it was divided into two basins by a stone jetty,

The antiquity of the wall of Arvad, recognised by travellers of the last
century, is now universally admitted by all archaeologists.

2 Renan tells us that " M. Gaillardot, when crossing from the island to
the mainland, noticed a spring of sweet water bubbling up from the bottom
of the sea. . . . Thomson and Walpole noticed the same spring or similar
springs a little to the north of Tortosa."

.Ma\rath

I \

EgjEHeJ?J_es Island

ARAB, MARATH, SIMYRA

249

and was doubtless insufficient for the sea-traffic, but this
was the less felt inasmuch as there was a safe anchorage
outside it the best, perhaps, to be found in these waters.
Opposite to Arvad, on an almost continuous line of coast
some ten or twelve miles in length, towns and villages
occurred at short intervals, such as Marath, Antarados,

Enhydra, and Karn,
into which the surplus
population of the island
overflowed. Karne pos
sessed a harbour, and
would have been a

PART OF THE KUINS OF THE OLD PI-KEXICIAN WALL OF ARVAD. 1

dangerous neighbour to the Arvadians had they them
selves not occupied and carefully fortified it. 2 The cities

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the engraving in Renan.

2 Marath, now Anirit, possesses some ancient ruins which have been
described by Renan. Antarados, which prior to the Grseco-Roman era was
a place of no importance, occupies the site of Tortosa. Enhydra is not
known, and Karne has been replaced by Karnun to the north of Tortosa.
None of the "neighbours of Arados" are mentioned by name in the
Assyrian texts ; but W. Max Miiller has demonstrated that the Egyptian
form Aratdt or Aratiu.t corresponds with a Semitic plural Aroaddt, and

250 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

of the dead lay close together in the background, on the
slope of the nearest chain of hills ; still further back lay
a plain celebrated for its fertility and the luxuriance of
its verdure : Lebanon, with its wooded peaks, was shut in
on the north and south, but on the east the mountain
sloped downwards almost to the sea-level, furnishing a pass
through which ran the road which joined the great military
highway not far from Qodshu. The influence of Arvad
penetrated by means of this pass into the valley of the
Orontes, and is believed to have gradually extended as far as
Hamath itself in other words, over the whole of Zahi.
For the most part, however, its rule was confined to the
coast between Gabala and the Nahr el-Kebir ; Simyra at
one time acknowledged its suzerainty, at another became a
self-supporting and independent state, strong enough to
compel the respect of its neighbours. 1 Beyond the Orontes,
the coast curves abruptly inward towards the west, and a
group of wind-swept hills ending in a promontory called
Phaniel, 2 the reputed scene of a divine manifestation,
marked the extreme limit of Aradian influence to the north,
if, indeed, it ever reached so far. Half a dozen obscure

consequently refers not only to Arad itself, but also to the fortified cities
and towns which formed its continental suburbs.

1 Simyra is the modern Sumrah, near the Nahr el-Kebir.

2 The name has only come down to us under its Greek form, but its
original form, Phaniel or Penuel, is easily arrived at from the analogous
name used in Canaan to indicate localities where there had been a
theophany. Renan questions whether Phaniel ought not to be taken in
the same sense as the Pne-Baal of the Carthaginian inscriptions, and
applied to a goddess to whom the promontory had been dedicated ; he also
suggests that the modern name Cap Madonne may be a kind of echo of the
title HaHbatli borne by this goddess from the earliest times.

BYBLOS AND HIS TEMPLE 251

cities flourished here, Arka, 1 Siani, 2 Mahallat, Kaiz, Maiza,
and Botrys, 3 some of them on the seaboard, others inland
on the bend of some minor stream. Botrys, 4 the last of the
six, barred the roads which cross the Phaniel headland, and
commanded the entrance to the holy ground where Byblos
and Berytus celebrated each year the amorous mysteries of
Adonis.

G-ublu, or as the Greeks named it Byblos, 5 prided
itself on being the most ancient city in the world. The
god El had founded it at the dawning of time, on the
flank of a hill which is visible from some distance out at
sea. A small bay, now filled up, made it an important
shipping centre. The temple stood on the top of the
hill, a few fragments of its walls still serving to mark
the site ; it was, perhaps, identical with that of which
we find the plan engraved on certain imperial coins. 6 Two

1 Arka is perhaps referred to in the tablets of Tel el-Amarna under
the form Irkata or Irkat ; it also appears in the Bible (Gen. x. 17) and
in the Assyrian texts. It is the Csesarea of classical geographers, which
has now resumed its old Phoenician name of Tell-Arka.

2 Sianu or Siani is mentioned in the Assyrian texts and in the Bible ;
Strabo knew it under the name of Sinna, and a village near Arka was
called Sin or Syn as late as the XV th century.

3 According to the Assyrian inscriptions, these were the names of the
three towns which formed the Tripolis of Graeco-Iloman times.

4 Botrys is the hellenized form of the name Bozruna or Bozrun, which
appears on the tablets of Tel el-Amarna ; the modern name, Butrun or
Batrun, preserves the final letter which the Greeks had dropped.

5 Gublu, or Gubli is the pronunciation indicated for this name in the
Tel el-Amarna tablets ; the Egyptians transcribed it Kupuna or Kupna by
substituting n for 1. The Greek name Byblos was obtained from Gublu by
substituting a b for the g.

6 Renan carried out excavations in the hill of Kassubah which brought

252 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OP EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

flights of steps led up to it from the lower quarters of
the town, one of which gave access to a chapel in the
Greek style, surmounted by a triangular pediment, and
dating, at the earliest, from the time of the Seleucides ;
the other terminated in a long colonnade, belonging to
the same period, added as a new faade to an earlier
building, apparently in order to bring it abreast of more
modern requirements. The sanctuary which stands hidden

behind this incongruous veneer
is, as represented on the coins,
in a very archaic style, and is
by no means wanting in origin
ality or dignity. It consists
of a vast rectangular court
surrounded by cloisters. At
the point where lines drawn
from the centres of the two
doors seem to cross one another
stands a conical stone mounted

on a cube of masonry, which is the beth-el animated by the
spirit of the god : an open-work balustrade surrounds and
protects it from the touch of the profane. The building
was perhaps not earlier than the Assyrian or Persian era,
but in its general plan it evidently reproduced the arrange
ments of some former edifice. 2 At an early time El was

to light some remains of a Graeco-Roman temple : he puts forward, subject
to correction, the hypothesis which I have adopted above.

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Cabinet des
Medailles.

The author of the De Ded Syrd classed the temple of Byblos among
the Phosnician temples of the old order, which were almost as ancient as

THE TEMPLE OF BYBLOS. 1

THE GOD OF BYBLOS

253

spoken of as the first king of G-ablu in the same manner
as each one of his Egyptian fellow-gods had been in their
several nomes, and the story of his exploits formed the
inevitable prelude to the beginning of human history.
Grandson of Eliun who had brought Chaos into order,
son of Heaven and Earth, he dispossessed, vanquished,
and mutilated his father, and conquered the most distant
regions one after another the countries beyond the
Euphrates, Libya, Asia Minor and Greece: one year,
when the plague was ravaging his
empire, he burnt his own son on
the altar as an expiatory victim,
and from that time forward the
priests took advantage of his
example to demand the sacrifice
of children in moments of public
danger or calamity. He was repre
sented as a man with two faces,
whose eyes opened and shut in an
eternal alternation of vigilance and repose : six wings
grew from his shoulders, and spread fan-like around him.
He was the incarnation of time, which destroys all things
in its rapid flight ; and of the summer sun, cruel and

the temples of Egypt, and it is probable that from the Egyptian epoch
onwards the plan of this temple must have been that shown on the coins ;
the cloister arcades ought, however, to be represented by pillars or by
columns supporting architraves, and the fact of their presence leads me to
the conclusion that the temple did not exist in the form known to us at a
date earlier than the last Assyrian period.

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Cabinet des
Medailles.

THE GOD EL OF BYBLOS. 1

254 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

fateful, which eats up the green grass and parches the
fields. An Astarte reigned with him over Byblos Baalat-
Gublu, his own sister; like him, the child of Earth and
Heaven. In one of her aspects she was identified with
the moon, the personification of coldness and chastity,
and in her statues or on her sacred pillars she was repre
sented with the crescent or cow-horns of the Egyptian
Hathor; but in her other aspect she appeared as the
amorous and wanton goddess in whom the Greeks
recognised the popular concept of Aphrodite. Tradition
tells us how, one spring morning, she caught sight of
and desired the youthful god known by the title of Adoni,
or "My Lord." We scarce know what to make of the
origin of Adonis, and of the legends which treat him as
a hero the representation of him as the incestuous off
spring of a certain King Kinyras and his own daughter
Myrrha is a comparatively recent element grafted on the
original myth; at any rate, the happiness of two lovers
had lasted but a few short weeks when a sudden end
was put to it by the tusks of a monstrous wild boar.
Baalat-Gublu wept over her lover s body and buried it;
then her grief triumphed over death, and Adonis, ransomed
by her tears, rose from the tomb, his love no whit less
passionate than it had been before the catastrophe. This
is nothing else than the Chaldasan legend of Ishtar and
Dumuzi presented in a form more fully symbolical of the
yearly marriage of Earth and Heaven. Like the Lady
of Byblos at her master s approach, Earth is thrilled by
the first breath of spring, and abandons herself without
shame to the caresses of Heaven : she welcomes him to

THE VALLEY OF THE ADONIS 255

her arras, is fructified by him, and pours forth the
abundance of her flowers and fruits. Them comes summer
and kills the spring : Earth is burnt up and withers, she
strips herself of her ornaments, and her fruitfulness departs
till the gloom and icy numbness of winter have passed
away. Each year the cycle of the seasons brings back
with it the same joy, the same despair, into the life of
the world ; each year Baalat falls in love with her Adonis
and loses him, only to bring him back to life and lose
him again in the coming year.

The whole neighbourhood of Byblos, and that part of
Mount Lebanon in which it lies, were steeped in memories
of this legend from the very earliest times. We know
the precise spot where the goddess first caught sight of
her lover, where she unveiled herself before him, and
where at the last she buried his mutilated body, and
chanted her lament for the dead. A river which flows
southward not far off was called the Adonis, and the
valley watered by it was supposed to have been the scene
of this tragic idyll. The Adonis rises near Aphaka, 1 at
the base of a narrow amphitheatre, issuing from the
entrance of an irregular grotto, the natural shape of which
had, at some remote period, been altered by the hand of
man ; in three cascades it bounds into a sort of circular
basin, where it gathers to itself the waters of the neighbour
ing springs, then it dashes onwards under the single arch

1 Aphaka means " spring " in Syriac. The site of the temple and town
of Aphaka, where a temple of Aphrodite and Adonis still stood in the time
of the Emperor Julian, had long been identified either with Fakra, or with
El-Yamuni. Seetzen was the first to place it at El-Afka, and his proposed
identification has been amply confirmed by the researches of Renan.

236 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OP EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

of a Roman bridge, and descends in a series of waterfalls
to the level of the valley below. The temple rises opposite
the source of the stream on an artificial mound, a meteorite
fallen from heaven having attracted the attention of the

VALLEY OF THE ADONIS, SEEX
FROM THE RUIN S OF APHAKA. 1

faithful to the spot. The mountain falls abruptly away,
its summit presenting a red and bare appearance, owing
to the alternate action of summer sun and winter frost.
As the slopes approach the valley they become clothed
with a garb of wild vegetation, which bursts forth from
every fissure, and finds a foothold on every projecting

1 Drawn by Bouclier, from a photograph.

THE AMPHITHEATRE OF APHAKA AND THE SOURCE OF THE NARK-IBRAHIM.

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.
VOL. IV. S

CHARMING AND ROMANTIC SCENES 259

rock : the base of the mountain is hidden in a tangled
mass of glowing green, which the moist yet sunny Spring
calls forth in abundance whenever the slopes are not too
steep to retain a shallow layer of nourishing mould. It
would be hard to find, even among the most picturesque
spots of Europe, a landscape in which wildness and beauty
are more happily combined, or where the mildness of the
air and sparkling coolness of the streams offer a more
perfect setting for the ceremonies attending the worship
of Astarte. 1 In the basin of the river and of the torrents
by which it is fed, there appears a succession of charming
and romantic scenes gaping chasms with precipitous
ochre-coloured walls ; narrow fields laid out in terraces
on the slopes, or stretching in emerald strips along the
ruddy river-banks ; orchards thick with almond and walnut
trees ; sacred grottoes, into which the priestesses, seated
at the corner of the roads, endeavour to draw the pilgrims
as they proceed on their way to make their prayers to
the goddess ; 2 sanctuaries and mausolea of Adonis at
Yanukh, on the table-land of Mashnaka, and on the
heights of Ghineh. According to the common belief,
the actual tomb of Adonis was to be found at Byblos

1 The temple had been rebuilt during the Roman period, as were nearly
all the temples of this region, upon the site of a more ancient structure ;
this was probably the edifice which the author of De Ded Syrd considered
to be the temple of Venus, built by Kinyras within a day s journey of
Byblos in the Lebanon.

2 Renan points out at Byblos the existence of one of these caverns which
gave shelter to the kedeshoth. Many of the caves met with in the valley
of the Nahr-Ibrahim have doubtless served for the same purpose, although
their walls contain no marks of the cult.

200 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

itself, 1 where the people were accustomed to assemble
twice a year to keep his festivals, which lasted for several
days together. At the summer solstice, the season when
the wild boar had ripped open the divine hunter, and
the summer had already done damage to the spring, the
priests were accustomed to prepare a painted wooden
image of a corpse made ready for burial, which they hid
in what were called the gardens of Adonis terra-cotta
pots filled with earth in which wheat and barley, lettuce
and fennel, were sown. These were set out at the door
of each house, or in the courts of the temple, where
the sprouting plants had to endure the scorching effect
of the sun, and soon withered away. For several days
troops of women and young girls, with their heads dis
hevelled or shorn, their garments in rags, their faces torn
with their nails, their breasts and arms scarified with
knives, went about over hill and dale in search of their
idol, giving utterance to cries of despair, and to endless
appeals: "Ah, Lord! Ah, Lord! what is become of
thy beauty." Once having found the image, they brought
it to the feet of the goddess, washed it while displaying
its wound, anointed it with sweet-smelling unguents,
wrapped it in a linen and woollen shroud, placed it on
a catafalque, and, after expressing around the bier. their
feelings of desolation, according to the rites observed at
funerals, placed it solemnly in the tomb. 3 The close and

1 Melito placed it, however, near Aphaka, and, indeed, there must have
been as many different traditions on the subject as there were celebrated
sanctuaries.

2 Theocritus has described in his fifth Idyll the laying out and burial of

DEATH AXD RESURRECTION OF ADOXIS 261

dreary summer passes away. With the first days of
September the autumnal rains begin to fall upon the
hills, and washing away the ochreous earth lying upon
the slopes, descend in muddy torrents into the hollows
of the valleys. The Adonis river begins to swell with
the ruddy waters, which, on reaching the sea, do not
readily blend with it. The wind from the offing drives
the river water back upon the coast, and forces it to
cling for a long time to the shore, where it forms a kind
of crimson fringe. 1 This was the blood of the hero, and
the sight of this precious stream stirred up anew the
devotion of the people, who donned once more their
weeds of mourning until the priests were able to announce
to them that, by virtue of their supplications, Adonis
was brought back from the shades into new life. Shouts
of joy immediately broke forth, and the people who had
lately sympathized with the mourning goddess in her
tears and cries of sorrow, now joined with her in ex
pressions of mad and amorous delight. Wives and virgins
all the women who had refused during the week of
mourning to make a sacrifice of their hair were obliged
to atone for this fault by putting themselves at the dis
posal of the strangers whom the festival had brought
together, the reward of their service becoming the property
of the sacred treasury. 2

Adonis as it was practised at Alexandria in Egypt in the III rd century
before our era.

The same phenomenon occurs in spring. Maundrell saw it on March
17, and Renan in the first days of February.

! A similar usage was found in later times in the countries colonised by
or subjected to the influence of the Phoenicians, especially in Cyprus.

202 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OP EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Berytus shared with Byblos the glory of having had
El for its founder. 1 The road which connects these two
cities makes a lengthy detour in its course along the coast,
having to cross numberless ravines and rocky summits :
before reaching Palai-Byblos, it passes over a headland by
a series of steps cut into the rock, forming a kind of
&lt;c ladder " similar to that which is encountered lower down,
between Acre and the plains of Tyre. The river Lykos
runs like a kind of natural fosse along the base of this
steep headland. It forms at the present time a torrent,
fed by the melting snows of Mount Sannin, and is entirely
unnavigable. It was better circumstanced formerly in this
respect, and even in the early years of the Eoman conquest,
sailors from Arvad (Arados) were accustomed to sail up it
as far as one of the passes of the lower Lebanon, leading
into Ccele- Syria. Berytus was installed at the base of a
great headland which stands out boldly into the sea, and
forms the most striking promontory to be met with in
these regions from Carmel to the vicinity of Arvad. The
port is nothing but an open creek with a petty roadstead,
but it has the advantage of a good supply of fresh water,
which pours down from the numerous springs to which it
is indebted for its name. 2 According to ancient legends,
it was given by El to one of his offspring called Poseidon
by the Greeks. Adonis desired to take possession of it,
but was frustrated in the attempt, and the maritime Baal

1 The name Berytus was found by Hincks in the Egyptian texts under
the form Birutu, Beirutu ; it occurs frequently in the Tel el-Amarna tablets.

2 The name Beyrut has been often derived from a Phoenician word
signifying cypress, and which may have been applied to the pine tree. The
Phoenicians themselves derived it from Bir, " wells."

SIDON AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD 263

secured the permanence of his rule by marrying one of
his sisters the Baalat-Beyrut who is represented as a
nymph on Grasco-Rornan coins. 1 The rule of the city
extended as far as the banks of the Tamur, and an old
legend narrates that its patron fought in ancient times
with the deity of that river, hurling stones at him to
prevent his becoming master of the land to the north.
The bar formed of shingle and the dunes which contract
the entrance were regarded as evidences of this conflict. 2
Beyond the southern bank of the river, Sidon sits enthroned
as " the firstborn of Canaan." In spite of this ambitious
title it was at first nothing but a poor fishing village
founded by Bel, the Agenor of the Greeks, on the southern
slope of a spit of land which juts out obliquely towards the
south-west. 3 It grew from year to year, spreading out
over the plain, and became at length one of the most
prosperous of the chief cities of the country a " mother
in Phoenicia. 4 The port, once so celebrated, is shut in by
three chains of half-sunken reefs, which, running out from
the northern end of the peninsula, continue parallel to the

The poet Nonnus has preserved a highly embellished account of this
rivalry, where Adonis is called JDionysos.

2 The original name appears to have been Tamur, Tamyr, from a word
signifying " palm " in the Phoenician language. The myth of the conflict
between Poseidon and the god of the river, a Baal-Demarous, has been
explained by Renan, who accepts the identification of the river-deity with
Baal-Thamar, already mentioned by Movers.

3 Sidon is called " the firstborn of Canaan " in Genesis : the name means
a fishing-place, as the classical authors already knew " nam piscem
Phoenices sidon appellant."

1 In the coins of classic times it is Called "Sidon, the mother Om of
Kambe, Hippo, Citium, and Tyre."

26i SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

coast for some hundreds of yards : narrow passages in these
reefs afford access to the harbour ; one small island, which
is always above water, occupies the centre of this natural
dyke of rocks, and furnishes a site for a maritime quarter
opposite to the continental city. 1 The necropolis on the
mainland extends to the east and north, and consists of an
irregular series of excavations made in a low line of
limestone cliffs which must have been lashed by the waves
of the Mediterranean long prior to the beginning of history.
These tombs are crowded closely together, ramifying into
an inextricable maze, and are separated from each other
by such thin w r alls that one expects every moment to see
them give way, and bury the visitors in the ruin. Many
date back to a very early period, while all of them have
been re-worked and re-appropriated over and over again.
The latest occupiers were contemporaries of the Macedonian
kings or the Eoman Caesars. Space was limited and costly
in this region of the dead : the Sidonians made the best
use they could of the tombs, burying in them again and
again, as the Egyptians were accustomed to do in their
cemeteries at Thebes and Memphis. The surrounding plain
is watered by the " pleasant Bostrenos," and is covered
with gardens which are reckoned to be the most beautiful
in all Syria at least after those of Damascus : their praises
were sung even in ancient days, and they had then earned
for the city the epithet of "the flowery Sidon." 2 Here,

1 The only description of the port which we possess is that in the
romance of Clitophon and Leucippus by Achilles Tatius.

2 The Bostrenos, which is perhaps to be recognised under the form
Borinos in the Periplus of Scylax, is the modern Nahr el-Awaly

THE SIDONIAN GODDESSES 265

also, an Astarte ruled over the destinies of the people, but
a chaste and immaculate Astarte, a self-restrained and
warlike virgin, sometimes identified with the moon, some
times with the pale and frigid morning star. 1 In addition
to this goddess, the inhabitants worshipped a Baal-Sidon,
and other divinities of milder character an Astarte Shem-
Baal, wife of the supreme Baal, and Eshrnun, a god of
medicine each of whom had his own particular temple
either in the town itself or in some neighbouring village
in the mountain. Baal delighted in travel, and was
accustomed to be drawn in a chariot through the valleys
of Phoenicia in order to receive the prayers and offerings
of his devotees. The immodest Astarte, excluded, it would
seem, from the official religion, had her claims acknow
ledged in the cult offered to her by the people, but she
became the subject of no poetic or dolorous legend like
her namesake at Byblos, and there was no attempt to
disguise her innately coarse character by throwing over
it a garb of sentiment. She possessed in the suburbs her
chapels and grottoes, hollowed out in the hillsides, where
she was served by the usual crowd of Ephelse and sacred
courtesans. Some half-dozen towns or fortified villages,
such as Bitziti, 2 the Lesser Sidon, and Sarepta, were

1 Astarte is represented in the Bible as the goddess of the Sidonians,
and she is in fact the object of the invocations addressed to the mistress
Deity in the Sidonian inscriptions, the patroness of the town. Kings and
queens were her priests and priestesses respectively.

2 Bitziti is not mentioned except in the Assyrian texts, and has been
identified with the modern region Ait ez-Zeitun to the south-east of Sidon.
It is very probably the Elaia of Philo of Byblos, the Elais of Dionysios
Periegetes, which Pvenan is inclined to identify with Heldua, Khan-Khaldi,
by substituting Eldis as a correction.

266 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

scattered along the shore, or on the lowest slopes of the
Lebanon. Sidonian territory reached its limit at the Cape
of Sarepta, where the high-lands again meet the sea at
the boundary of one of those basins into which Phoenicia
is divided. Passing beyond this cape, we corne first upon
a Tyrian outpost, the Town of Birds; 1 then upon the
village of Nazana 2 with its river of the same name ; beyond
this upon a plain hemmed in by low hills, cultivated to
their summits ; then on tombs and gardens in the suburbs
of Autu ; 3 and, further still, to a fleet of boats moored at
a short distance from the shore, where a group of reefs
and islands furnishes at one and the same time a site for
the houses and temples of Tyre, and a protection from
its foes.

It was already an ancient town at the beginning of
the Egyptian conquest. As in other places of ancient
date, the inhabitants rejoiced in stories of the origin of
things in which the city figured as the most venerable in
the world. After the period of the creating gods, there
followed immediately, according to the current legends,
two or three generations of minor deities heroes of light
and flame who had learned how to subdue fire and turn

The Phoenician name of Ornithonpolis is unknown to us : the town is
often mentioned Ly the geographers of classic times, but with certain
differences, some placing it to the north and others to the south of Sarepta.
It was near to the site of Adlun, the Adnonum of the Latin itineraries, if it
was not actually the same place.

2 Nazana was both the name of the place and the river, as Kasimiyeh
and Khan Kasimiyeh, near the same locality, are to-day.

3 Autu was identified by Brugsch with Avatha, which is probably El-
Awwatin, on the hill facing Tyre. Max Miiller, who reads the word as
Authu, Ozu, prefers the Uru or Ushu of the Assyrian texts.

TYRE AND THE LEGEND OF ITS FOUNDATIONS 267

it to their needs; then a race of giants, associated with
the giant peaks of Kasios, Lebanon, Hermon, and Brathy ; l
after which were born two male children twins : Samem
rum, the lord of the supernal heaven, and Usoos, the
hunter. Human beings at this time lived a savage life,
wandering through the woods, and given up to shameful
vices. Samemrum took up his abode among them in that
region which became in later times the Tyrian coast, and
showed them how to build huts, papyrus, or other reeds ;
Usoos in the mean time pursued the avoca
tion of a hunter of wild beasts, living upon
their flesh and clothing himself with their
skins. A conflict at length broke out be
tween the two brothers, the inevitable result
of rivalry between the ever-wandering hunter THE AMBROSIAS
and the husbandman attached to the soil. BOCKS T ^, OLIVE
Usoos succeeded in holding his own till the
day when fire and wind took the part of his enemy against
him. 3 The trees, shaken and made to rub against each
other by the tempest, broke into flame from the friction, and
the forest was set on fire. Usoos, seizing a leafy branch,

1 The identification of the peak of Brathy is uncertain. The name has
been associated with Tabor : since it exactly recalls the name of the cypress
and of Berytus, it would be more prudent, perhaps, to look for the name in
that of one of the peaks of the Lebanon near the latter town.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Cabinet des
Medailles.

3 The text simply states the material facts, the tempest and the fire :
the general movement of the narrative seems to prove that the intervention
of these elements is an episode in the quarrel between the two brothers
that in which Usoos is forced to fly from the region civilized by
Samemrum.

268 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

despoiled it of its foliage, and placing it in the water let it
drift out to sea, bearing him, the first of his race, with it.
Landing on one of the islands, he set up two menhirs,
dedicating them to fire and wind that he might thence
forward gain their favour. He poured out at their base the
blood of animals he had slaughtered, and after his death,
his companions continued to perform the rites which he
had inaugurated. The town which he had begun to build
on the sea-girt isle was called Tyre, the "Bock," and the

two rough stones which he had set up re
mained for a long time as a sort of talisman,
bringing good luck to its inhabitants. It
was asserted of old that the island had not
always been fixed, but that it rose and fell

THE GOD OF TYRE. 1

looked down upon it the "Arnbrosian
Eocks -between which grew the olive tree of Astarte,
sheltered by a curtain of flame from external danger.
An eagle perched thereon watched over a viper coiled
round the trunk: the whole island would cease to float
as soon as a mortal should succeed in sacrificing the bird
in honour of the gods. Usoos, the Herakles, destroyer
of monsters, taught the people of the coast how to build
boats, and how to manage them; he then made for the
island and disembarked : the bird offered himself spontane
ously to his knife, and as soon as its blood had moistened
the earth, Tyre rooted itself fixedly opposite the mainland.
Coins of the Eoman period represent the chief elements

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Cabinet des
Medailles.

THE GODS OF TYRE

269

in this legend; sometimes the eagle and olive tree,
sometimes the olive tree and the stelae, and sometimes
the two stelae only. From this time forward the gods
never ceased to reside on the holy island ; Astart herself
was born there, and one of the temples there showed to the
admiration of the faithful a fallen star an aerolite which
she had brought back from one
of her journeys. Baal was
called the Melkarth. king of
the city, and the Greeks after
wards identified him with their
Herakles. His worship was of
a severe and exacting charac
ter : a fire burned perpetually
in his sanctuary ; his priests,
like those of the Egyptians,
had their heads shaved; they
wore garments of spotless
white linen, held pork in
abomination, and refused per
mission to married women
to approach the altars. 1

Festivals, similar to those of Adonis at Byblos, were
held in his honour twice a year : in the summer, when the
sun burnt up the earth with his glowing heat, he offered

1 The worship of Melkarth at Gades (Cadiz) and the functions of his
priests are described by Silius Italicus : as Gades was a Tyrian colony, it
has been naturally assumed that the main features of the religion of Tyre
were reproduced there, and Silius s account of the Melkarth of Gades thus
applies to his namesake of the mother city.

TYKE AND ITS SUBURBS ON THE
MAINLAND.

270 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

himself as an expiatory victim to the solar orb, giving
himself to the flames in order to obtain some mitigation of
the severity of the sky ; l once the winter had brought
with it a refreshing coolness, he came back to life again,
and his return was celebrated with great joy. His temple
stood in a prominent place on the largest of the islands
furthest away from the mainland. It served to remind the
people of the remoteness of their origin, for the priests
relegated its foundation almost to the period of the arrival
of the Phoenicians on the shores of the Mediterranean.
The town had no supply of fresh water, and there was no
submarine spring like that of Arvad to provide a resource in
time of necessity ; the inhabitants had, therefore, to resort
to springs which were fortunately to be found everywhere
on the hillsides of the mainland. The waters of the well of
Ras el-Ain had been led down to the shore and dammed
np there, so that boats could procure a ready supply
from this source in time of peace : in time of war the
inhabitants of Tyre had to trust to the cisterns in which
they had collected the rains that fell at certain seasons. 2

The strait separating the island from the mainland was
some six or seven hundred yards in breadth, 3 less than that

1 The festival commemorating his death by fire was celebrated at Tyre,
where his tomb was shown, and in the greater number of the Tyrian
colonies.

2 Abisharri (Abimilki), King of Tyre, confesses to the Pharaoh
Amenothes III. that in case of a siege his town would neither have water
nor wood. Aqueducts and conduits of water are spoken of by Menander as
existing in the time of Shalmaneser ; all modern historians agree in attribut
ing their construction to a very remote antiquity.

3 According to the writers who were contemporary with Alexander, the
strait was 4 stadia wide (nearly 1 mile), or 500 paces (about f mile), ab the

THE CEMETERIES OF TYRE 271

of the Nile at several points of its course through Middle
Egypt, but it was as effective as a broader channel to
stop the movement of an army : a fleet alone would have
a chance of taking the city by surprise, or of capturing
it after a lengthened siege. Like the coast region opposite
Arvad, the shore which faced Tyre, lying between the
mouth of the Litany and Kas el-Ain, was an actual suburb
of the city itself with its gardens, its cultivated fields,
its cemeteries, its villas, and its fortifications. Here the in
habitants of the island were accustomed to bury their dead,
and hither they repaired for refreshment during the heat
of the summer. To the north the little town of Mahalliba,
on the southern bank of the Litany, and almost hidden
from view by a turn in the hills, commanded the approaches
to the Bekaa, and the high-road to Coele-Syria. 1 To the
south, at Kas el-Ain, Old Tyre (Palaetyrus) looked down
upon the route leading into Galilee by way of the
mountains. 2 Eastwards Antu commanded the landing-
places on the shore, and served to protect the reservoirs ;
it lay under the shadow of a rock, on which was built,
facing the insular temple of Melkarth, protector of

period when the Macedonians undertook the siege of the town ; the author
followed by Pliny says 700 paces, possibly over -f mile wide. From the
observations of Poulain de Bossay, Renan thinks the space between the
island and the mainland might be nearly a mile in width, but we should
perhaps do well to reduce this higher figure and adopt one agreeing better
with the statements of Diodorus and Quint us Curtius.

1 Mahalliba is the present Khurbet-Mahallib.

"2 Palaetyrus has often been considered as a Tyre on the mainland of
greater antiquity than the town of the same name on the island ; it is now
generally admitted that it was merely an outpost, which is conjecturally
placed by most scholars in the neighbourhood of Ras el-Ain.

272 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

mariners, a sanctuary of almost equal antiquity dedicated
to his namesake of the mainland. 1 The latter divinity was
probably the representative of the legendary Samemrum,
who had built his village on the coast, while Usoos had
founded his on the ocean. He was the Baalsamim of
starry tunic, lord of heaven and king of the sun. As was
customary, a popular Astarte was associated with these
deities of high degree, and tradition asserted that Melkarth
purchased her favour by the gift of the first robe of Tyrian
purple which was ever dyed. Priestesses of the goddess
had dwellings in all parts of the plain, and in several
places the caves are still pointed out where they enter
tained the devotees of the goddess. Behind Autu the
ground rises abruptly, and along the face of the escarp
ment, half hidden by trees and brushwood, are the remains
of the most important of the Tyrian burying-places, consist
ing of half-filled-up pits, isolated caves, and dark galleries,
where whole families lie together in their lasi sleep. In
some spots the chalky mass has been literally honey
combed by the quarrying gravedigger, and regular lines
of chambers follow one another in the direction of the
strata, after the fashion of the rock-cut tombs of Upper
Egypt. They present a bare and dismal appearance both
within and without. The entrances are narrow and
arched, the ceilings low, the walls bare and colourless,

If the name has been preserved, as I believe it to be, in that of El-
Awwatin, the town must be that whose ruins we find at the foot of Tell-
Mashuk, and which are often mistaken for those of Paketyrus. The temple
on the summit of the Tell was probably that of Heracles Astrochiton
mentioned by Nonnus.

THE DOMAIN OF TYRE ON THE LEBANON

273

unrelieved by moulding, picture, or inscription. At one
place only, near the modern village of Hanaweli, a few
groups of figures and coarsely cut stelae are to be found,
indicating, it would seem, the burying-place of some chief
of very early times. These figures run in parallel lines
along the rocky sides of a wild ravine. They vary from

THE SCULPTURED ROOKS

OF HANAWEII.

2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet in height, the bodies being re
presented by rectangular pilasters, sometimes merely rough-
hewn, at others grooved with curved lines to suggest the
folds of the Asiatic garments ; the head is carved full
face, though the eyes are given in profile, and the summary
treatment of the modelling gives evidence of a certain
skill. Whether they are to be regarded as the product

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Lortet.
VOL. IV. T

274 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

of a primitive Amorite ait or of a school of Phoenician
craftsmen, we are unable to determine. In the time of
their prosperity the Tyrians certainly pushed their frontier
as far as this region. The wind-swept hut fertile country
lying among the ramifications of the lowest spurs of the
Lebanon hears to this day innumerable traces of their
indefatigable industry remains of dwellings, conduits and
watercourses, cisterns, pits, millstones and vintage-troughs,
are scattered over the fields, interspersed with oil and wine
presses. The Phoenicians took naturally to agriculture, and
carried it to such a high state of perfection as to make it
an actual science, to which the neighbouring peoples of
the Mediterranean were glad to accommodate their modes
of culture in later times. 1 Among no other people was the
art of irrigation so successfully practised, and from such
a narrow strip of territory as belonged to them no other
cultivators could have gathered such abundant harvests
of wheat and barley, and such supplies of grapes, olives,
and other fruits. From Arvad to Tyre, and even beyond
it, the littoral region and the central parts of the valleys
presented a long ribbon of verdure of varying breadth,
where fields of corn were blended with gardens and
orchards and shady woods. The whole region was in
dependent and self-supporting, the inhabitants having no
need to address themselves to their neighbours in the

1 Their taste for agriculture, and the comparative perfection of their
modes of culture, are proved by the greatness of the remains still to be
observed : " The Phoenicians constructed a winepress, a trough, to last for
ever." Their colonists at Carthage carried with them the same clever
methods, and the Romans borrowed many excellent things in the way of
agriculture from Carthaginian books, especially from those of Mago.

ISOLATION OP THE PHOENICIANS 275

interior, or to send their children to seek their fortune in
distant lands. To insure prosperity, nothing was needed
but a slight exercise of labour and freedom from the
devastating influence of war.

The position of the country was such as to secure it
from attack, and from the conflicts which laid waste the
rest of Syria. Along almost the entire eastern border of
the country the Lebanon w r as a great wall of defence
running parallel to the coast, strengthened at each ex
tremity by the additional protection of the rivers Nahr el-
Kebir and Litany. Its slopes were further defended by
the forest, which, with its lofty trees and brushwood,
added yet another barrier to that afforded by rocks and
snow. Hunters or shepherds paths led here and there
in tortuous courses from one side of the mountain to the
other. Near the middle of the country two roads, practic
able in all seasons, secured communications between the
littoral and the plain of the interior. They branched off
on either side from the central road in the neighbourhood
of Tabakhi, south of Qodshu, and served the needs of the
wooded province of Magara. 1 This region was inhabited
by pillaging tribes, which the Egyptians called at one time
Lamnana, the Libanites, 2 at others Shausu, using for them
the same appellation as that which they bestowed upon the
Bedouin of the desert. The roads through this province
ran under the dense shade afforded by oaks, cedars, and

1 Magara is mentioned in the Anastasi Papyrus, No. 1, and Chabas has
identified it with the plain of Macra, which Strabo places in Syria, in the
neighbourhood of Eleutheros.

The name Lamnana is given in a picture of the campaigns of Seti I.

276 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

cypresses, in an obscurity favourable to the habits of the
wolves and hyaenas which infested it, and even of those
thick-maned lions known to Asia at the time ; and then
proceeding in its course, crossed the ridge in the neighbour
hood of the snow-peak called Shaua, which is probably the
Sannin of our times. While one of these roads, running
north along the lake of Yamuneh and through the gorge
of Akura, then proceeded along the Adonis l to Byblos, the
other took a southern direction, and followed the Nahr el-
Kelb to the sea. Towards the mouth of the latter a wall
of rock opposes the progress of the river, and leaves at
length but a narrow and precipitous defile for the passage
of its waters : a pathway cut into the cliff at a very remote
date leads almost perpendicularly from the bottom of the
precipice to the summit of the promontory. Commerce
followed these short and direct routes, but invading hosts
very rarely took advantage of them, although they offered
access into the very heart of Phoenicia. Invaders would
encounter here, in fact, a little known and broken country,
lending itself readily to surprises and ambuscades; and
should they reach the foot of the Lebanon range, they
would find themselves entrapped in a region of slippery
defiles, with steep paths at intervals cut into the rock,
and almost inaccessible to chariots or horses, and so narrow
in places that a handful of resolute men could have held

1 This is the road pointed out by Renan as the easiest but least known
of those which cross the Lebanon ; the remains of an Assyrian inscription
graven on the rocks near Ain el-Asafir show that it was employed from
a very early date, and Renan thought that it was used by the armies
which came from the upper valley of the Orontes,

NATURAL DEFENCES OF THE COUNTRY 277

them for a long time against whole battalions. The enemy
preferred to make for the two natural breaches at the
respective extremities of the line of defence, and for the
two insular cities which flanked the approaches to them-
Tyre in the case of those coming from Egypt, Arvad and
Simyra for assailants from the Euphrates. The Arvadians,
bellicose by nature, would offer strong resistance to the
invader, and not permit themselves to be conquered with
out a brave struggle with the enemy, however powerful he
might be. 1 When the disproportion of the forces which
they could muster against the enemy convinced them of

the folly of attempting an open conflict, their island-home
offered them a refuge where they would be safe from any
attacks. Sometimes the burning and pillaging of their
property on the mainland might reduce them to throw
themselves on the mercy of their foes, but such submission
did not last long, and they welcomed the slightest occasion
for regaining their liberty. Conquered again and again on
account of the sinalmess of their numbers, they were never
discouraged by their reverses, and Phoenicia owed all its
military history for a long period to their prowess. The
Tyrians were of a more accommodating nature, and there
is no evidence, at least during the early centuries of their
existence, of the display of those obstinate and blind
transports of bravery by which the Arvadians were carried

1 Thutmosis III. was obliged to enter on a campaign against Arvad in
the year XXIX., in the year XXX., and probably twice in the following
years. Under Amenothes III. and IV. we see that these people took part
in all the intrigues directed against Egypt ; they were the allies of the
Khati against Ramses II. in the campaign of the year V. and later on we
find them involved in most of the wars against Assyria.

278 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

away. 1 Their foreign policy was reduced to a simple
arithmetical question, which they discussed in the light
of their industrial or commercial interests. As soon as
they had learned from a short experience that a certain
Pharaoh had at his disposal armies against which they
could offer no serious opposition, they at once surrendered
to him, and thought only of obtaining the greatest profit
from the vassalage to which they were condemned. The
obligation to pay tribute did not appear to them so much
in the light of a burthen or a sacrifice, as a means of
purchasing the right to go to and fro freely in Egypt,
or in the countries subject to its influence. The commerce
acquired by these privileges recouped them more than a
hundredfold for all that their overlord demanded from
them. The other cities of the coast Sidon, Berytus,
Byblos usually followed the example of Tyre, whether
from mercenary motives, or from their naturally pacific
disposition, or from a sense of their impotence ; and the
same intelligent resignation with which, as we know, they
accepted the supremacy of the great Egyptian empire, was
doubtless displayed in earlier centuries in their submission
to the Babylonians. Their records show that they did not
accept this state of things merely through cowardice or
indolence, for they are represented as ready to rebel and

1 No campaign against Tyre is mentioned in any of the Egyptian
annals : the expedition of Thutmosis III. against Senzauru was directed
against a town of Coele-Syria mentioned in the Tel el-Amarna tablets
with the orthography Zinzar, the Sizara-Larissa of Grseco-Roman times,
the Shaizar of the Arab Chronicles. On the contrary, the Tel el-Amarna
tablets contain several passages which manifest the fidelity of Tyre and
its governors to the King of Egypt.

THE PHOENICIAN APTITUDE FOR NAVIGATION 279

shake off the yoke of their foreign master when they found
it incompatible with their practical interests. Bui their
resort to war was exceptional ; they generally preferred to
submit to the powers that be, and to accept from them
as if on lease the strip of coast-line at the base of the
Lebanon, which served as a site for their warehouses and
dockyards. Thus they did not find the yoke of the
stranger irksome the sea opening up to them a realm of
freedom and independence which compensated them for
the limitations of both territory and liberty imposed upon
them at home.

The epoch which was marked by their first venture on
the Mediterranean, and the motives which led to it, were
alike unknown to them. The gods had taught them
navigation, and from the beginning of things they had
taken to the sea as fishermen, or as explorers in search of
new lands. 1 They were not driven by poverty to leave their
continental abode, or inspired thereby with a zeal for
distant cruises. They had at home sufficient corn and wine,
oil and fruits, to meet all their needs, and even to administer
to a life of luxury. And if they lacked cattle, the abundance
of fish within their reach compensated for the absence
of flesh-meat. Nor was it the number of commodiously
situated ports on their coast which induced them to become
a seafaring people, for their harbours were badly protected

According to one of the cosmogonies of Sanchoniathon, Khusor, who
has been identified with Hephaestos, was the inventor of the fishing-boat,
and was the first among men and gods who taught navigation. According
to another legend, Melkarth showed the Tyrians how to make a raft from
the branches of a fig tree, while the construction of the first ships is
elsewhere ascribed to the Caliri.

280 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

for the most part, and offered no shelter when the wind set
in from the north, the rugged shore presenting little
resource against the wind and waves in its narrow and
shallow havens. It was the nature of the country itself
which contributed more than anything else to make them
mariners. The precipitous mountain masses which separate
one valley from another rendered communication between
them difficult, while they served also as lurking-places for
robbers. Commerce endeavoured to follow, therefore, the
sea-route in preference to the devious ways of this highway
man s region, and it accomplished its purpose the more
readily because the common occupation of sea-fishing had
familiarised the people with every nook and corner on the
coast. The continual wash of the surge had worn away the
bases of the limestone cliffs, and the superincumbent masses
tumbling down into the sea formed lines of rocks, hardly
rising above the water-level, which fringed the headlands
with perilous reefs, against which the waves broke
continuously at the slightest wind. It required some
bravery to approach them, and no little skill to steer one of
the frail boats, which these people were accustomed to
employ from the earliest times, scatheless amid the breakers.
The coasting trade was attracted from Arvad successively to
Berytus, Sidon, and Tyre, and finally to the other towns of
the coast. It was in full operation, doubtless, from the VI th
Egyptian dynasty onwards, when the Pharaohs no longer
hesitated to embark troops at the mouth of the Nile for
speedy transmission to the provinces of Southern Syria, and
it was by this coasting route that the tin and amber of the
north succeeded in reaching the interior of Egypt. The

PHOENICIAN COMMERCE 281

trade was originally, it would seem, in the hands of those
mysterious Kefatiu of whom the name only was known in
later times. When the Phoenicians established themselves
at the foot of the Lebanon, they had probably only to take
the place of their predecessors and to follow the beaten
tracks which they had already made. We have every
reason to believe that they took to a seafaring life soon after
their arrival in the country, and that they adapted them
selves and their civilization readily to the exigencies of a
maritime career. 1 In their towns, as in most sea-ports,
there was a considerable foreign element, both of slaves and
freemen, but the Egyptians confounded them all under one
name, Kefatiu, whether they were Cypriotes, Asiatics, or
Europeans, or belonged to the true Tyrian and Sidonian
race. The costume of the Kaflti was similar to that worn
by the people of the interior the loin-cloth, with or with
out a long upper garment : while in tiring the hair they
adopted certain refinements, specially a series of curls
which the men arranged in the form of an aigrette above
their foreheads. This motley collection of races was ruled
over by an oligarchy of merchants and shipowners, whose
functions were hereditary, and who usually paid homage to
a single king, the representative of the tutelary god, and
absolute master of the city. 2 The industries pursued in

1 Connexion between Phoenicia and Greece was fully established at the
outbreak of the Egyptian wars, and we may safely assume their existence
in the centuries immediately preceding the second millennium before our
era.

1 Under the Egyptian supremacy, the local princes did not assume the
royal title in the despatches which they addressed to the kings of Egypt,
but styled themselves governors of their cities.

282 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Phoenicia were somewhat similar to those of other parts of
Syria; the stuffs, vases, and ornaments made at Tyre and
Sidon could not be distinguished from those of Hamath or of
Carchemish. All manufactures bore the impress of Baby
lonian influence, and their
implements, weights, measures,
and system of exchange were
the same as those in use among
the Chaldseans. The products
of the country were, however,
not sufficient to freight the
fleets which sailed from Phoe
nicia every year bound for all
parts of the known world, and
additional supplies had to be
regularly obtained from neigh
bouring peoples, who thus be
came used to pour into Tyre
and Sidon the surplus of their
manufactures, or of the natural
wealth of their country. The
Phoenicians were also accus
tomed to send caravans into
regions which they could not
reach in their caracks, and to

establish trading stations at the fords of rivers, or in the
passes over mountain ranges. We know of the existence
of such emporia at Laish near the sources of the Jordan,

ONE OF THE KAFITI FKOM THE TOMB
OF KAKHMIKI. 1

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the coloured sketches by Prisse
d Avennes in the Natural Hist. Museum.

CHARACTER OF THE SETTLEMENTS

at Thapsacus, and at Nisibis, and they must have served
the purpose of a series of posts on the great highways of
the world. The settlements of the Phoanicians always
assumed the character of colonies, and however remote
they might be from their fatherland, the colonists never
lost the manners and customs of their native country.
They collected together into their okels or storehouses
such wares and commodities as they could purchase
in their new localities, and, transmitting them periodi
cally to the coast, shipped them thence to all parts of

the world.

Not only were they acquainted with every part of the

Mediterranean, but they had even made voyages beyond

its limits. In the absence, however, of any specific records

of their naval enterprise, the routes they followed must be

a subject of conjecture. They were accustomed to relate

that the gods, after having instructed them in the art of

navigation, had shown them the way to the setting sun,

and had led them by their example to make voyages even

beyond the mouths of the ocean. El of Byblos was the

first to leave Syria; he conquered Greece and Egypt,

Sicily and Libya, civilizing their inhabitants, and laying

the foundation of cities everywhere. The Sidonian Astarte,

with her head surmounted by the horns of an ox, was the

next to begin her wanderings over the inhabited earth.

Melkarth completed the task of the gods by discovering

and subjugating those countries which had escaped the

notice of his predecessors. Hundreds of local traditions,

to be found on all the shores of the Mediterranean down

to Roman times, bore witness to the pervasive influence

284 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

of the old Canaanite colonisation. At Cyprus, for instance,
we find traces of the cultus of Kinyras, King of Byblos
and father of Adonis ; again, at Crete, it is the daughter
of a Prince of Sidon, Europa, who is carried off by Zeus
under the form of a bull; it was Kadmos, sent forth to
seek Europa, who visited Cyprus, Ehodes, and the Cyclades
before building Thebes in Boeotia and dying in the forests
of Illyria. In short, wherever the Phoenicians had obtained
a footing, their audacious activity made such an indelible
impression upon the mind of the native inhabitants that
they never forgot those vigorous thick-set men with pale
faces and dark beards, and soft and specious speech, who
appeared at intervals in their large and swift sailing
vessels. They made their way cautiously along the coast,
usually keeping in sight of land, making sail when the
wind was favourable, or taking to the oars for days together
when occasion demanded it, anchoring at night under the
shelter of some headland, or in bad weather hauling their
vessels up the beach until the morrow. They did not
shrink when it was necessary from trusting themselves to
the open sea, directing their course by the Pole-star ; l in
this manner they often traversed long distances out of
sight of land, and they succeeded in making in a short
time voyages previously deemed long and costly. It is
hard to say whether they were as much merchants as
pirates indeed, they hardly knew themselves and their
peaceful or warlike attitude towards vessels which they

The Greeks for this reason called it Phoenike, the Phoenician star;
ancient writers refer to the use which the Phoenicians made of the Pole-
star to guide them in navigation.

PHOENICIAN TRADE 285

encountered on the seas, or towards the people whose
countries they frequented, was probably determined by
the circumstances of the moment. 1 If on arrival at a port
they felt themselves no match for the natives, the instinct
of the merchant prevailed, and that of the pirate was kept
in the background. They landed peaceably, gained the
good will of the native chief and his nobles by small
presents, and spreading out their wares, contented them
selves, if they could do no better, with the usual advantage
obtained in an exchange of goods. They were never in a
hurry, and would remain in one spot until they had exhausted
all the resources of the country, while they knew to a
nicety how to display their goods attractively before the
expected customer. Their wares comprised weapons and
ornaments for men, axes, swords, incised or damascened
daggers with hilts of gold or ivory, bracelets, necklaces,
amulets of all kinds, enamelled vases, glass-work, stuffs
dyed purple or embroidered with gay colours. At times
the natives, whose cupidity was excited by the exhibition
of such valuables, would attempt to gain possession of
them either by craft or by violence. They would kill the
men who had landed, or attempt to surprise the vessel
during the night. But more often it was the Phoenicians

1 The manner in which the Phoenicians plied their trade is strikingly
described in the Odyssey, in the part where Eumaios relates how he was
carried off by a Sidonian vessel and sold as a slave : cf . the passage which
mentions the ravages of the Greeks on the coast of the Delta. Herodotus
recalls the rape of lo, daughter of Inachos, by the Phoenicians, who
carried her and her companions into Egypt ; on the other hand, during one
of their Egyptian expeditions they had taken two priestesses from Thebes,
and had transported one of them to Dodona, the other into Libya.

280 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

who took advantage of the friendliness or the weakness
of their hosts. They would turn treacherously upon the
unarmed crowd when absorbed in the interest of buying
and selling ; robbing and killing the old men, they would

make prisoners of the young and
strong, the women and children,
carrying them off to sell them in
those markets where slaves were
known to fetch the highest price.
This was a recognised trade,
but it exposed the Phoenicians
to the danger of reprisals, and
made them objects of
an undying hatred.
When on these dis
tant expeditions they
were subject to trivial
disasters which might
lead to serious conse
quences. A mast might break,
an oar might damage a portion
of the bulwarks, a storm might
THE force them to throw overboard
part of their cargo or their
provisions ; in such predica
ments they had no means of repairing the damage, and,
unable to obtain help in any of the places they might
visit, their prospects were of a desperate character.
They soon, therefore, learned the necessity of establishing

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by M. de Mertens.

HEAD OF A GAZELLE
FIGURE-HEAD OF AX EGYPTIAN
GALLEY.

PHCENICIAN TRADING STATIONS 287

cities of refuge at various points in the countries with
which they traded stations where they could go to
refit and revictual their vessels, to fill up the comple
ment of their crews, to take in new freight, and, if
necessary, pass the winter or wait for fair w r eather before
continuing their voyage. For this purpose they chose by
preference islands lying within easy distance of the main
land, like their native cities of Tyre and Arvad, but
possessing a good harbour or roadstead. If an island were
not available, they selected a peninsula with a narrow
isthmus, or a rock standing at the extremity of a
promontory, which a handful of men could defend against
any attack, and which could be seen from a considerable
distance by their pilots. Most of their stations thus
happily situated became at length important towns. They
were frequented by the natives from the interior, who
allied themselves with the new-comers, and furnished them
not only with objects of trade, but with soldiers, sailors,
and recruits for their army ; and such was the rapid spread
of these colonies, that before long the Mediterranean was
surrounded by an almost unbroken chain of Phoenician
strongholds and trading stations.

All the towns of the mother country Arvad, Byblos,
Berytus, Tyre, and Sidon possessed vessels engaged in
cruising long before the Egyptian conquest of Syria. We
have no direct information from any existing monument
to show us what these vessels were like, but we are familiar
with the construction of the galleys which formed the
fleets of the Pharaohs of the XVIII th dynasty. The art
of shipbuilding had made considerable progress since the

288 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

times of the Memphite kings. From the period when
Egypt aspired to become one of the great powers of the
world, she doubtless endeavoured to bring her naval force
to the same pitch of perfection as her land forces could
boast of, and her fleets probably consisted of the best
vessels which the dockyards of that day could turn out.
Phoenician vessels of this period may therefore be regarded

AN EGYPTIAN TRADING VESSEL OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE XVIII th DYNASTY. 1

with reason as constructed on lines similar to those of the
Egyptian ships, differing from them merely in the minor
details of the shape of the hull and manner of rigging.
The hull continued to be built long and narrow, rising at
the stem and stern. The bow was terminated by a sort
of hook, to which, in time of peace, a bronze ornament was
attached, fashioned to represent the head of a divinity,
gazelle, or bull, while in time of war this was superseded

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato.

THE VESSELS OF THE PHOENICIANS 289

by a metal cut-water made fast to the hull by several turns
of stout rope, the blade rising some couple of yards above
the level of the deck. 1 The poop was ornamented with
a projection firmly attached to the body of the vessel, but
curved inwards and terminated by an open lotus-flower.
An upper deck, surrounded by a wooden rail, was placed
at the bow and stern to serve as forecastle and quarter
decks respectively, and in order to protect the vessel from
the danger of heavy seas the ship was strengthened by a
structure to which we find nothing analogous in the ship
building of classical times : an enormous cable attached
to the gammonings of the bow rose obliquely to a height
of about a couple of yards above the deck, and, passing
over four small crutched masts, was made fast again to the
gammonings of the stern. The hull measured from the
blade of the cut-water to the stern-post some twenty to
five and twenty yards, but the lowest part of the hold did
not exceed five feet in depth. There was no cabin, and
the ballast, arms, provisions, and spare-rigging occupied
the open hold. 2 The bulwarks were raised to a height of
some two feet, and the thwarts of the rowers ran up to
them on both the port and starboard sides, leaving an open

1 To get a clear idea of the details of this structure, we have only to
compare the appearance of ships with and without a cut-water in the scenes
at Thebes, representing the celebration of a festival at the return of the
fleet.

2 M. Glaser thinks that there were cabins for the crew under the
deck, and he recognises in the sixteen oblong marks on the sides of the
vessels at Deir el-Bahari so many dead-lights ; as there could not have been
space for so many cabins, I had concluded that these were ports for oars
to be used in time of battle, but on further consideration I saw that they
represented the ends of the beams supporting the deck.

VOL. IV. U

290 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

space in the centre for the long-boat, bales of merchandise,
soldiers, slaves, and additional passengers. 1 A double set
of steering-oars and a single mast completed the equip
ment. The latter, which rose to a height of some twenty-
six feet, was placed amidships, and was held in an upright
position by stays. The masthead was surmounted by two
arrangements which answered respectively to the top
[" gabie "] and calcet of the masts of a galley. 2 There were
no shrouds on each side from the masthead to the rail, but,
in place of them, two stays ran respectively to the bow and
stern. The single square-sail was extended between two
yards some sixty to seventy feet long, and each made of
two pieces spliced together at the centre. The upper yard
was straight, while the lower curved upward at the ends.
The yard was hoisted and lowered by two halyards, which
were made fast aft at the feet of the steersmen. The yard
was kept in its place by two lifts which came down from
the masthead, and were attached respectively about eight
feet from the end of each yard-arm. When the yard was
hauled up it was further supported by six auxiliary lifts, three
being attached to each yard-arm. The lower yard, made
fast to the mast by a figure-of-eight knot, was secured by

1 One of the bas-reliefs exhibits a long-boat in the water at the time
the fleet was at anchor at Puanit. As we do not find any vessel towing
one after her, we naturally conclude that the boat must have been stowed
on board.

2 The "gabie" was a species of top where a sailor was placed on the
look-out. The " calcet " is, properly speaking, a square block of wood
containing the sheaves on which the halyards travelled. The Egyptian
apparatus had no sheaves, and answers to the " calcet " on the masts of a
galley only in its serving the same purpose.

THE PHCENICIAN CREWS 291

sixteen lifts, which, like those of the upper yard, worked
through the "calcet." The crew comprised thirty rowers,
fifteen on each side, four top-men, two steersmen, a pilot
at the bow, who signalled to the men at the helm the
course to steer, a captain and a governor of the slaves, who
formed, together with ten soldiers, a total of some fifty
men. 1 In time of battle, as the rowers would be exposed
to the missiles of the enemy, the bulwarks were farther
heightened by a mantlet, behind which the oars could be
freely moved, while the bodies of the men were fully
protected, their heads alone being visible above it. The
soldiers were stationed as follows : two of them took their
places on the forecastle, a third was perched on the mast
head in a sort of cage improvised on the bars forming the
top, while the remainder were posted on the deck and
poop, from which positions and while waiting for the order
to board they could pour a continuous volley of arrows
on the archers and sailors of the enemy. 2

The first colony of which the Phoenicians made them
selves masters was that island of Cyprus whose low, lurid
outline they could see on fine summer evenings in the
glow of the western sky. Some hundred and ten miles in
length and thirty-six in breadth, it is driven like a wedge
into the angle which Asia Minor makes with the Syrian

1 I have made this calculation from an examination of the scenes in
which ships are alternatively represented as at anchor and under weigh.
I know of vessels of smaller size, and consequently with a smaller crew,
but I know of none larger or more fully manned.

2 The details are taken from the only representation of a naval battle
which we possess up to this moment, viz. that of which I shall have
occasion to speak further on in connection with the reign of Ramses III.

292 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

coast : it throws out to the north-east a narrow strip of
land, somewhat like an extended finger pointing to where
the two coasts meet at the extremity of the gulf of Issos.
A limestone cliff, of almost uniform height throughout,
bounds, for half its length at least, the northern side of
the island, broken occasionally by short deep valleys,
which open out into creeks deeply embayed. A scattered
population of fishermen exercised their calling in this
region, and small towns, of which we possess only the
Greek or G-reoised names Karpasia, Aphrodision, Kerynia,
Lapethos led there a slumbering existence. Almost in
the centre of the island two volcanic peaks, Troodes and
Olympos, face each other, and rise to a height of nearly
7000 feet, the range of mountains to which they belong
that of Aous forming the framework of the island. The
spurs of this range fall by a gentle gradient towards the
south, and spread out either into stony slopes favourable
to the culture of the vine, or into great maritime flats
fringed with brackish lagoons. The valley which lies on
the northern side of this chain runs from sea to sea in an
almost unbroken level. A scarcely perceptible watershed
divides the valley into two basins similar to those of Syria,
the larger of the two lying opposite to the Phoanician coast.
The soil consists of black mould, as rich as that of Egypt,
and renewed yearly by the overflowing of the Pediaeos and
its affluents. Thick forests occupied the interior,
promising inexhaustible resources to any naval power.
Even under the Eoman emperors the Cypriotes boasted
that they could build and fit out a ship from the keel
to the masthead without looking to resources beyond those

THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF CYPRUS 293

of their own island. The ash, pine, cypress, and oak
flourished on the sides of the range of Aous, while cedars
grew there to a greater height and girth than even on the
Lebanon. Wheat, barley, olive trees, vines, sweet-smelling
woods for burning on the altar, medicinal plants such as
the poppy and the ladanum, henna for staining with a
deep orange colour the lips, eyelids, palm, nails, and finger
tips of the women, all found here a congenial habitat ;
while a profusion everywhere of sweet-smelliug flowers,
which saturated the air with their penetrating odours-
spring violets, many-coloured anemones, the lily, hyacinth,
crocus, narcissus, and wild rose led the Greeks to bestow
upon the island the designation of "the balmy Cyprus."
Mines also contributed their share to the riches of which
the island could boast. Iron in small quantities, alum,
asbestos, agate and other precious stones, are still to be
found there, and in ancient times the neighbourhood of
Tamassos yielded copper in such quantities that the
Eomans were accustomed to designate this metal by the
name " Cyprium," and the word passed from them into
all the languages of Europe. It is not easy to determine
the race to which the first inhabitants of the island
belonged, if we are not to see in them a branch of the
Kefatiu, who frequented the Asiatic shores of the Medi
terranean from a very remote period. In the time of
Egyptian supremacy they called their country "Asi, and
this name inclines one to connect the people with the
An examination of the objects found in the

1 " Asi," " Asii," was at first sought for on the Asiatic continent at Is
on the Euphrates, or in Palestine : the discovery of the Canopic decree

294 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

most ancient tombs of the island seems to confirm this
opinion. These consist, for the most part, of weapons and
implements of stone knives, hatchets, hammers, and
arrow-heads ; and mingled with these rude objects a score
of different kinds of pottery, chiefly hand-made and of
coarse design pitchers with contorted bowls, shallow

L Thuillier. del

buckets, especially of the milk-pail variety, provided with
spouts and with pairs of rudimentary handles. The
pottery is red or black in colour, and the ornamentation
of it consists of incised geometrical designs. Copper and
bronze, where we find examples of these metals, do not
appear to have been employed in the manufacture of
ornaments or arrow-heads, but usually in making daggers.
There is no indication anywhere of foreign influence, and yet

allows us to identify it with Cyprus, and this has now been generally done.
The reading " Asebi " is still maintained by some.

LANGUAGE AND CUSTOMS OF THE NATIVES 295

Cyprus had already at this time entered into relations with
the civilized nations of the continent. 1 According to
Chaldasan tradition, it was conquered about the year 3800
B.C. by Sargon of Agade : without insisting upon the reality
of this conquest, which in any case must have been
ephemeral in its nature, there is reason to believe that the
island was subjected from an early period to the influence
of the various peoples which lived one after another on the
slopes of the Lebanon. Popular legend attributes to King
Kinyras and to the Giblites [i.e. the people of Byblos] the
establishment of the first Phoenician colonies in the southern
region of the island one of them being at Paphos, where
the worship of Adonis and Astarte continued to a very late
date. The natives preserved their own language and
customs, had their own chiefs, and maintained their
national independence, while constrained to submit at the
same time to the presence of Phoenician colonists or
merchants on the coast, and in the neighbourhood of the
mines in the mountains. The trading centres of these
settlers Kitiou, Amathus, Solius, Golgos, and Tamassos-
were soon, however, converted into strongholds, which
ensured to Phoenicia the monopoly of the immense wealth
contained in the island. 2

An examination into the origin of the Cypriotes formed part of the
original scheme of this work, together with that of the monuments of the
various races scattered along the coast of Asia Minor and the islands
of the JEgean ; but I have been obliged to curtail it, in order to keep
within the limits I had prescribed for myself, and I have merely epitomised,
as briefly as possible, the results of the researches undertaken in those
regions during the last few years.

The Phoenician origin of these towns is proved by passages from

296 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OP EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

Tyre and Sidon had no important centres of industry on
that part of the Canaanite coast which extended to the
south of Carmel, and Egypt, even in the time of the
shepherd kings, would not have tolerated the existence on
her territory of any great emporium not subject to the
immediate supervision of her official agents. We know
that the Libyan cliffs long presented an obstacle to inroads
into Egyptian territory, and baffled any attempts to land to
the westwards of the Delta : the Phoenicians consequently
turned with all the greater ardour to those northern regions
which for centuries had furnished them with most valuable
products bronze, tin, amber, and iron, both native and
wrought. A little to the north of the Orontes, where the
Syrian border is crossed and Asia Minor begins, the coast
turns due west and runs in that direction for a considerable
distance. The Phoenicians were accustomed to trade along
this region, and we may attribute, perhaps, to them the
foundation of those obscure cities Kibyra, Masura,
Euskopus, Sylion, Mygdale, and Sidyma l all of which pre
served their apparently Semitic names down to the time of
the Konian epoch. The whole of the important island of
Ehodes fell into their power, and its three ports, lalysos,
Lindos, and Kamiros, afforded them a well-situated base of

classical writers. The date of the colonisation is uncertain, but with the
knowledge we possess of the efficient vessels belonging to the various
Phoenician towns, it would seem difficult not to allow that the coasts
at least of Cyprus must have been partially occupied at the time of the
Egyptian invasions.

1 No direct evidence exists to lead us to attribute the foundation of
these towns to the Phoenicians, but the Semitic origin of nearly all the
names is an uncontested fact.

THE PHOENICIANS IN THE AEGEAN SEA

operations for further colonisation. On leaving Rhodes, the
choice of two routes presented itself to them. To the
south-west they could see the distant outline of Karpathos,
and on the far horizon behind it the summits of the Cretan
chain. Crete itself bars on the south the entrance to the
^Bgean, and is almost a little continent, self-contained and
self-sufficing. It is made up of fertile valleys and mountains
clothed with forests, and its inhabitants could employ
themselves in mines and fisheries. The Phoenicians effected
a settlement on the coast at Itanos, at Kairatos, and at
Arados, and obtained possession of
the peak of Cythera, where, it is
said, they raised a sanctuary to
Astarte. If, on leaving Rhodes,
they had chosen to steer due north,

they would SOOn have come into THE MUREX TRUNCULUS AND THE

contact with numerous rocky islets MUKEX A ARIS -

scattered in the sea between the continents of Asia and
Europe, which would have furnished them with as
many stations, less easy of attack, and more readily
defended than posts on the mainland. Of these the Giblites
occupied Melos, while the Sidonians chose Oliaros and
Thera, and we find traces of them in every island where any
natural product, such as metals, sulphur, alum, fuller s
earth, emery, medicinal plants, and shells for producing
dyes, offered an attraction. The purple used by the
Tyrians for dyeing is secreted by several varieties of
molluscs common in the Eastern Mediterranean ; those
most esteemed by the dyers were the Murex trunculus and
the Murex Brandaris, and solid masses made up of the

298 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

detritus of these shells are found in enormous quantities in
the neighbourhood of many Phoenician towns. The colour
ing matter was secreted in the head of the shellfish. To
obtain it the shell was broken by a blow from a hammer,
and the small quantity of slightly yellowish liquid which
issued from the fracture was carefully collected
and stirred about in salt water for three days. It
was then boiled in leaden vessels and reduced by
simmering over a slow fire; the remainder was
strained through a cloth to free it from the particles
of flesh still floating in it, and the material to be
dyed was then plunged into the liquid. The usual
tint thus imparted was that of fresh blood, in some
lights almost approaching to black; but careful
manipulation could produce shades of red, dark
violet, and amethyst. Phoenician settlements can
be traced, therefore, by the heaps of shells upon
the shore, the Cyclades and the coasts of Greece
being strewn with this refuse. The veins of gold
in the Pangaion range in Macedonia attracted them

DAGGER OF i j_i i

AHMOSIS. to that region, while the islands off the Thracian
coast 2 received also frequent visits from them, and
they carried their explorations even through the tortuous
channel of the Hellespont into the Propontis, drawn thither,
no doubt by the silver mines in the Bithynian mountains 3

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin.

The fact that they worked the mines of Thasos is attested by
Herodotus.

; Pronektos, on the Gulf of Ascania, was supposed to be a Phoenician
colony.

THE PHOENICIAN TRADERS 299

which were already being worked by Asiatic miners. Be
yond the calm waters of the Propontis, they encountered
an obstacle to their progress in another narrow channel,
having more the character of a wide river than of a strait ;
it was with difficulty that they could make their way against
the violence of its current, which either tended to drive
their vessels on shore, or to dash them against the reefs
which hampered the navigation of the channel. When,
however, they succeeded in making the passage safely, they
found themselves upon a vast and stormy sea, whose wooded
shores extended east and west as far as eye could reach.

ONE OF THE D.VGGEKS DISCOVERED AT MYCEX.E, SHOWING AX IMITATION OF

EGYPTIAN DECOKATIOX. 1

From the tribes who inhabited them, and who acted as
intermediaries, the Phoenician traders were able to procure
tin, lead, amber, Caucasian gold, bronze, and iron, all
products of the extreme northa region which always
seemed to elude their persevering efforts to discover it.
We cannot determine the furthest limits reached by the
Phoenician traders, since they were wont to designate the
distant countries and nations with which they traded by
the vague appellations of " Isles of the Sea " and " Peoples

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the facsimile in Perrot-Chipiez.

300 SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

of the Sea," refusing to give more accurate information
either from jealousy or from a desire to hide from other
nations the sources of their wealth.

The peoples with whom they traded were not mere
barbarians, contented with worthless objects of barter;
their clients included the inhabitants of the ^gean, who,
if inferior to the great nations of the East, possessed an
independent and growing civilization, traces of which are
still coming to light from many quarters in the shape of
tombs, houses, palaces, utensils, ornaments, representations
of the gods, and household and funerary furniture, not
only in the Cyclades, but on the mainland of Asia Minor
and of Greece. No inferior goods or tinsel wares would
have satisfied the luxurious princes who reigned in such
ancient cities as Troy and Mycenso, and who wanted the
best industrial products of Egypt and Syria costly stuffs,
rare furniture, ornate and well-wrought weapons, articles
of jewellery, vases of curious and delicate design such
objects, in fact, as would have been found in use among
the sovereigns and nobles of Memphis or of Babylon. For
articles to offer in exchange they were not limited to the
natural or roughly worked products of their own country.
Their craftsmen, though less successful in general
technique than their Oriental contemporaries, exhibited
considerable artistic intelligence and an extraordinary
manual skill. Accustomed at first merely to copy the
objects sold to them by the Phoenicians, they soon
developed a style of their own ; the Mycenaean dagger
in the illustration on page 299, though several centuries
later in date than that of the Pharaoh Ahmosis, appears to

THE PEOPLES OF THE AEGEAN 301

be traceable to this ancient source of inspiration, although
it gives evidence of new elements in its method of decora
tion and in its greater freedom of treatment. The in
habitants of the valleys of the Nile and of the Orontes,
and probably also those of the Euphrates and Tigris,
agreed in the high value they set upon these artistic
objects in gold, silver, and bronze, brought to them from
the further shores of the Mediterranean, which, while re
producing their own designs, modified them to a certain
extent ; for just as we now imitate types of ornamental
work in vogue among nations less civilized than ourselves,
so the ^Egean people set themselves the task through
their potters and engravers of reproducing exotic models.
The Phoenician traders who exported to Greece large con
signments of objects made under various influences in
their own workshops, or purchased in the bazaars of the
ancient world, brought back as a return cargo an
equivalent number of works of art, bought in the towns
of the West, which eventually found their way into the
various markets of Asia and Africa. These energetic
merchants were not the first to ply this profitable trade of
maritime carriers, for from the time of the Memphite empire
the products of northern regions had found their way,
through the intermediation of the Hauinibu, as far south
as the cities of the Delta and the Thebaid. But this
commerce could not be said to be either regular or con
tinuous ; the transmission was carried on from one neigh
bouring tribe to another, and the Syrian sailors were
merely the last in a long chain of intermediaries a
tribal war, a migration, the caprice of some chief, being

302

SYRIA AT BEGINNING OF EGYPTIAN CONQUEST

sufficient to break the communication, and even cause
the suspension of transit for a considerable period. The
Phoenicians desired to provide against such risks by under
taking themselves to fetch the much-coveted objects from
their respective sources, or, where this was not possible,
from the ports nearest the place of their manufacture.
Reappearing with each returning year in the localities
where they had established emporia, they accustomed
the natives to collect against their arrival such products
as they could profitably use in bartering with one or other
of their many customers. They thus established, on a
fixed line of route, a kind of maritime trading service,
which placed all the shores of the Mediterranean in direct
communication with each other, and promoted the blending
of the youthful West with the ancient East.

THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN

DYNASTY

THtTMOSIS I. AND HIS ARMY HATSHOPSIXC AND TIltTMOSIS III.

Thntmosis I. s campaign in Syria The organisation of the Egyptian army .-
the infantry of the line, the archers, tlie horses, and the cliarioteers The
classification of the troops according to their arms Marching and encampment
in the enemy s country: battle array Chariot-charges The enumeration and
distribution of the spoil The vice-royalty of Kush and the adoption of Egyptian
customs by the Ethiopian tribes.

The first successors of TlnUmosis I. .- Ahmasi and Hatshopsitfl,
II. The temple of Deir el-Bahari an! the buildings of Karnalc The Ladders of
Incense The expedition to PflanU : bartering with the natives, the return of
the fleet.

Thutmosis III. : his departure for Asia, the battle of Megiddo and the
subjection of Southern Sf/ria The year 23 to the year 28 of his reign Con
quest of Lotanil and of Mitdnni The campaign of the 33 rl year of the king s
reign.

I HHlpi

THE TEMPLE OF LUXOU IN ITS I KKSKNT CONDITION. SEEX FROM THE LEFT BAXK OF

THE NILE. 1

CHAPTER III

THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

Thutmosis I. and his army Hatshopsitu and Thutmosis III.

HPHE account of the first expedition under
taken by Thutmosis in Asia, a region at
that time new to the Egyptians, would be
interesting if we could lay our hands upon
it. We should perhaps find in the midst of
official documents, or among the short
phrases of funerary biographies, some in
dication of the impression which the
country produced upon its conquerors.

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by
Golenischeff. The vignette, by Faucher-Gudin,
I | represents the fine statue of Amenothes II.
"^ in red granite, from Thebes.

VOL. IV. X

306 THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

With the exception of a few merchants or adventurers,
no one from Thebes to Memphis had any other idea of
Asia than that which could be gathered from the scattered
notices of it in the semi-historical romances of the pre
ceding age. The actual sight of the country must have
been a revelation ; everything appearing new and para
doxical to men of whom the majority had never left their
fatherland, except on some warlike expedition into Ethiopia
or on some rapid raid along the coasts of the Red Sea.
Instead of their own narrow valley, extending between its
two mountain ranges, and fertilised by the periodical
overflowing of the Nile which recurred regularly almost
to a day, they had before them wide irregular plains, owing
their fertility not to inundations, but to occasional rains
or the influence of insignificant streams ; hills of varying
heights covered with vines and other products of cultiva
tion ; mountains of different altitudes irregularly distributed,
clothed with forests, furrowed with torrents, their summits
often crowned with snow even in the hottest period of
summer : and in this region of nature, where everything
was strange to them, they found nations differing widely
from each other in appearance and customs, towns with
crenellated walls perched upon heights difficult of access ;
and finally, a civilization far excelling that which they en
countered anywhere in Africa outside their own boundaries.
Thutmosis succeeded in reaching on his first expedition
a limit which none of his successors was able to surpass,
and the road taken by him in this campaign from Gaza
to Megiddo, from Megiddo to Qodshii, from Qodshii to
Carchemish was that which was followed henceforward

CAMPAIGN OF THUTMOSIS I. IX SYRIA 307

by the Egyptian troops in all their expeditions to the
Euphrates. Of the difficulties which he encountered on
his way we have no information. On arriving at Naharaim,
however, we know that he came into contact with the
army of the enemy, which was under the command of a
single general perhaps the King of Mitanni himself, or
one of the lieutenants of the Cossaean King of Babylon
who had collected together most of the petty princes
of the northern country to resist the advance of the
intruder. The contest was hotly fought out on both
sides, but victory at length remained with the invaders,
and innumerable prisoners fell into their hands. The
veteran Ahmosi, son of Abina, who was serving in his
last campaign, and his cousin, Ahmosi Pannekhabit,
distinguished themselves according to their wont. The
former, having seized upon a chariot, brought it, with
the three soldiers who occupied it, to the Pharaoh, and
received once more " the collar of gold ; " the latter killed
twenty-one of the enemy, carrying off their hands as
trophies, captured a chariot, took one prisoner, and obtained
as reward a valuable collection of jewellery, consisting of
collars, bracelets, sculptured lions, choice vases, and costly
weapons. A stele, erected on the banks of the Euphrates
not far from the scene of the battle, marked the spot which
the conqueror wished to be recognised henceforth as the
frontier of his empire. He re-entered Thebes with immense
booty, by which gods as well as men profited, for he
consecrated a part of it to the embellishment of the temple
of Amon, and the sight of the spoil undoubtedly removed
the lingering prejudices which the people had cherished

308 THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

against expeditions beyond the isthmus. Thutmosis was
held up by his subjects to the praise of posterity as having
come into actual contact with that country and its people,
which had hitherto been known to the Egyptians merely
through the more or less veracious tales of exiles and
travellers. The aspect of the great river of the Naharaim,
which could be compared with the Nile for the volume
of its waters, excited their admiration. They were, how
ever, puzzled by the fact that it flowed from north to
south, and even were accustomed to joke at the necessity
of reversing the terms employed in Egypt to express going
up or down the river. This first Syrian campaign became
the model for most of those subsequently undertaken by
the Pharaohs. It took the form of a bold advance of troops,
directed from Zalu towards the north-east, in a diagonal
line through the country, who routed on the way any
armies which might be opposed to them, carrying by
assault such towns as were easy of capture, while passing
by others which seemed strongly defended pillaging,
burning, and slaying on every side. There was no
suspension of hostilities, no going into winter quarters, but
a triumphant return of the expedition at the end of four
or five months, with the probability of having to begin
fresh operations in the following year should the vanquished
break out into revolt. 1

The troops employed in these campaigns were superior
to any others hitherto put into the field. The Egyptian

i From the account of the campaigns of Arnenothes II., I thought we
might conclude that this Pharaoh wintered in Syria at least once ; but the
text does not admit of this interpretation, and we must, therefore, for the

ORGANIZATION OF THE EGYPTIAN ARMY 309

army, inured to war by its long struggle with the Shepherd-
kings, and kept in training since the reign of Ahmosis by
having to repulse the perpetual incursions of the Ethiopian
or Libyan barbarians, had no difficulty in overcoming the
Syrians ; not that the latter were wanting in courage or
discipline, but owing to their limited supply of recruits, and
the political disintegration of the country, they could not
readily place under arms such enormous numbers as those
of the Egyptians. Egyptian military organisation had
remained practically unchanged since early times : the
army had always consisted, firstly, of the militia who held
fiefs, and were under the obligation of personal service
either to the prince of the norne or to the sovereign ;
secondly, of a permanent force, which was divided into
two corps, distributed respectively between the Sa id and
the Delta. Those companies which were quartered on the
frontier, or about the king either at Thebes or at one of
the royal residences, were bound to hold themselves in
readiness to muster for a campaign at any given moment.
The number of natives liable to be levied when occasion
required, by " generations," or as we should say by classes,
may have amounted to over a hundred thousand men, 1 but

present give up the idea that the Pharaohs ever spent more than a few
months of the year on hostile territory.

1 The only numbers which we know are those given by Herodotus for
the Saite period, which are evidently exaggerated. Coming down to
modern times, we see that Mehemet-Ali, from 1830 to 1840, had nearly
120,000 men in Syria, Egypt, and the Sudan; and in 1841, at the time when
the treaties imposed upon him the ill-kept obligation of reducing his army
to 18,000 men, it still contained 81,000. We shall probably not be far
wrong in estimating the total force which the Pharaohs of the XVIII" 1
dynasty, lords of the whole valley of the Nile, and of part of Asia, had at

310 THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

they were never all called out, and it does not appear that
the army on active service ever contained more than thirty
thousand men at a time, and probably on ordinary occasions
not much more than ten or fifteen thousand. 1 The infantry
was, as we should expect, composed of troops of the line
and light troops. The former wore either short wigs
arranged in rows of curls, or a kind of padded cap by
way of a helmet, thick enough to deaden blows ; the breast
and shoulders were undefended, but a short loin-cloth was
wrapped round the hips, and the stomach and upper part
of the thighs were protected by a sort of triangular apron,
sometimes scalloped at the sides, and composed of leather
thongs attached to a belt. A buckler of moderate dimensions
had been substituted for the gigantic shield of the earlier
Theban period ; it was rounded at the top and often
furnished with a solid metal boss, which the experienced
soldiers always endeavoured to present to the enemy s
lances and javelins. Their weapons consisted of pikes
about five feet long, with broad bronze or copper points,

their disposal at 120,000 or 130,000 men ; these, however, were never all

called out at once.

1 We have no direct information respecting the armies acting in Syria ;
we only know that, at the battle of Qodshu, Ramses II. had against him
2500 chariots containing three men each, making 7500 charioteers, besides
a troop estimated at the Ramesseum at 8000 men, at Luxor at 9000, so that
the Syrian army probably contained about 20,000 men. It would seem that
the Egyptian army was less numerous, and I estimate it with great
hesitation at about 15,000 or 18,000 men: it was considered a powerful
army, while that of the Hittites was regarded as an innumerable host. A
passage in the Anastasi Papyrus, No. 1, tells us the composition of a corps
led by Ramses II. against the tribes in the vicinity of Qoceir and the
Rahanu valley ; it consisted of 5000 men, of whom 620 were Shardana,
1600 Qahak, 70 Mashauasha, and 880 Negroes.

EGYPTIAN SPEARMEN

311

occasionally of flails, axes, daggers, short curved swords,
and spears ; the trumpeters were armed with daggers only,
and the officers did not as a rule encumber themselves
with either buckler or pike,
but bore an axe and dagger,

and occasionally a bow. The
light infantry was composed

A PLATOON* (TK001 ) OF EGYPTIAN SPEARMEN AX DEIK EL-BAIIARI. 1

chiefly of bowmen piddtiu the celebrated archers of
Egypt, whose long bows and arrow s, used with deadly skill,
speedily became renowned throughout the East ; the
quiver, of the use of which their ancestors were ignorant,
had been borrowed from the Asiatics, probably from the
Hyksos, and was carried hanging at the side or slung over

1 Drawn by Faucher-Guclin, from a photograph taken by Kaville.

312 THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

the shoulder. Both spearmen and archers were for the
most part pure-bred Egyptians, and were divided into
regiments of unequal strength, each of which usually bore
the name of some god as, for example, the regiment of
Ea or of Phtah, of Amon or of Sutkhu T in which the
feudal contingents, each commanded by its lord or his
lieutenants, fought side by side with the king s soldiers
furnished from the royal domains. The effective force of
the army was made up by auxiliaries taken from the tribes
of the Sahara and from the negroes of the Upper Nile. 2
These auxiliaries were but sparingly employed in early
times, but their numbers were increased as wars became
more frequent and necessitated more troops to carry them
on. The tribes from which they were drawn supplied
the Pharaohs with an inexhaustible reserve ; they were
courageous, active, indefatigable, and inured to hardships,
and if it had not been for their turbulent nature, which
incited them to continual internal dissensions, they might
readily have shaken off the yoke of the Egyptians. In
corporated into the Egyptian army, and placed under the
instruction of picked officers, who subjected them to
rigorous discipline, and accustomed them to the evolutions

1 The army of Ramses II. at the battle of Qodshu comprised four corps,
which bore the names of Amon, Ra, Phtah, and Sutkhu. Other lesser corps
were named the Tribe of Pharaoh, the Tribe of the Beauty of the Solar disk.
These, as far as I can judge, must have been troops raised on the royal
domains by a system of local recruiting, who were united by certain common
privileges and duties which constituted them an hereditary militia, whence
they were called tribes.

2 These Ethiopian recruits are occasionally represented in the Theban
tombs of the XVIII" dy nasty , among others in the tomb of Pahsukhir.

EGYPTIAN ARCHERS

313

of regular troops, they were transformed from disorganised
hordes into tried and invincible battalions. 1

The old army, which had conquered Nubia in the
days of the Papis and Usirtasens, had consisted of these
three varieties of foot-soldiers only, but since the invasion
of the Shepherds, a new element had been incorporated
into the modern army in the shape of the chariotry, which
answered to some extent to the cavalry of our day as

A PLATOON OF EGYPTIAN ARCHEKS AT DEIR EL-BAHAKI. 2

regards their tactical employment and efficacy. The
horse, when once introduced into Egypt, soon became
fairly adapted to its environment. It retained both its
height and size, keeping the convex forehead which
gave the head a slightly curved profile the slender neck,

1 The armies of Hatshopsitu already included Libyan auxiliaries, some
of which are represented at Deir el-Bahari ; othei s of Asiatic origin are
found under Ainenothes IV., but they are not represented on the monuments
among the regular troops until the reign of Ramses II., when the Sharclana
appear for the first time among the king s body-guard.

2 Drawn by Faueher-Gudin, from a photograph.

314

THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

the narrow hind-quarters, the lean and sinewy legs, and
the long flowing tail which had characterised it in its
native country. The climate, however, was enervating,
and constant care had to be taken, by the introduction of
new blood from Syria, to prevent the breed from
deteriorating. 1 The Pharaohs kept studs of horses in
the principal cities of the Nile valley, and the great

I !

THE EGYFTIAX CHARIOT 1 liESEKVED IX TI1E FLOKEXCE MUSEUM.

feudal lords, following their example, vied with each
other in the possession of numerous breeding stables.
The office of superintendent to these establishments, which
was at the disposal of the Master of the Horse, became

1 The numbers of horses brought from Syria either as spoils of war or as
tribute paid by the vanquished are frequently recorded in the Annals of
ThtUmosis III. Besides the usual species, powerful stallions were imported
from Northern Syria, which were known by the Semitic name of Abiri, the
strong. In the tombs of the XVIII th dynasty, the arrival of Syrian horses
in Egypt is sometimes represented.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken by Petrie.

THE HORSE AND THE WAR-CHARIOT

315

in later times one of the most important State appoint
ments. 1 The first chariots introduced into Egypt were,
like the horses, of foreign origin, but when built by
Egyptian workmen they soon became more elegant, if

THE KIXG CHARGING OX HIS CHARIOT. 2

not stronger, than their
models. Lightness was the
quality chiefly aimed at ;
and at length the weight

was so reduced that it was possible for a man to carry his
chariot on his shoulders without fatigue. The materials
for them were on this account limited to oak or ash

1 In the story of the conquest of Egypt by the Ethiopian Pionkhi, studs
are indicated at Herrnopolis, at Athribis, in the towns to the east and in the
centre of the Delta, and at Sais. Diodorus Siculus relates that, in his time,
the foundations of 100 stables, each capable of containing 200 horses, were
still to be seen on the western bank of the river between Memphis and
Thebes.

2 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph.

316 THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

and leather ; metal, whether gold or silver, iron or bronze,
being used but sparingly, and then only for purposes of
ornamentation. The wheels usually had six, but sometimes
eight spokes, or occasionally only four. The axle consisted
of a single stout pole of acacia. The framework of the
chariot was composed of two pieces of wood mortised
together so as to form a semicircle or half-ellipse, and
closed by a straight bar; to this frame was fixed a floor
of sycomore wood or of plaited leather thongs. The
sides of the chariot were formed of upright panels, solid
in front and open at the sides, each provided with a hand
rail. The pole, which was of a single piece of wood,
was bent into an elbow at about one-fifth of its length
from the end, which was inserted into the centre of the
axletree. On the gigantic T thus formed was fixed the
body of the chariot, the hinder part resting on the axle,
and the front attached to the bent part of the pole,
while the whole was firmly bound together with double
leather thongs. A yoke of hornbeam, shaped like a bow,
to which the horses were harnessed, was fastened to the
other extremity of the pole. The Asiatics placed three
men in a chariot, but the Egyptians only two ; the
warrior sinni whose business it was to fight, and the
shield-bearer qazana who protected his companion with
a buckler during the engagement. A complete set of
weapons was carried in the chariot lances, javelins, and
daggers, curved spear, club, and battle-axe while two
bow-cases as well as two large quivers were hung at
the sides. The chariot itself was very liable to upset,
the slightest cause being sufficient to overturn it. Even

THE CHARIOTEER 317

wlieu moving at a slow pace, the least inequality of the
ground shook it terribly, and when driven at full speed
it was only by a miracle of skill that the occupants could
maintain their equilibrium. At such times the charioteer
would stand astride of the front panels, keeping his right
foot only inside the vehicle, and planting the other firmly
on the pole, so as to lessen the jolting, and to secure a
wider base on which to balance himself. To carry all
this into practice long education was necessary, for which
there were special schools of instruction, and those who
were destined to enter the army were sent to these
schools when little more than children. To each man,
as soon as he had thoroughly mastered all the difficulties
of the profession, a regulation chariot and pair of horses
were granted, for which he was responsible to the Pharaoh
or to his generals, and he might then return to his home
until the next call to arms. The warrior took prec-edence
of the shield-bearer, and both were considered superior
to the foot-soldier ; the chariotry, in fact, like the cavalry
of the present day, was the aristocratic branch of the
army, in which the royal princes, together with the
nobles and their sons, enlisted. No Egyptian ever
willingly trusted himself to the back of a horse, and it
was only in the thick of a battle, when his chariot was
broken, and there seemed no other way of escaping from
the melee, that a warrior would venture to mount one
of his steeds. There appear, however, to have been here
and there a few horsemen, who acted as couriers or
aides-de-camp ; they used neither saddle-cloth nor stirrups,
but were provided with reins with which to guide their

318

THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

animals, and their seat on horseback was even less secure
than the footing of the driver in his chariot.

The infantry was divided into platoons of six to ten men
each, commanded by an officer and marshalled round an
ensign, which represented either a sacred animal, an
emblem of the king or of his double, or a divine figure
placed upon the top of a pike ; this constituted an object of

AX EGYPTIAN LEARNING TO RIDE, FROM A BAS-RELIEF IN THE BOLOGNA MUSEUM. 1

worship to the group of soldiers to whom it belonged. We
are unable to ascertain how many of these platoons, either
of infantry or of chariotry, went to form a company or a
battalion, or by what ensigns the different grades were
distinguished from each other, or what was their relative
order of rank. Bodies of men, to the number of forty or

1 Drawn by Faucher-Guclin, from a photograph by Flinders Petrie.

ARMAMENT OP THE TROOPS

319

fifty, are sometimes represented on the monuments, but
this may be merely by chance, or because the draughtsman
did not take the trouble to give the proper number
accurately. The inferior officers were equipped very much
like the soldiers, with the exception of the buckler, which
they do not appear to have carried, and certainly did not
when on the march : the superior officers might be known
by their umbrella or flabellum, a distinction which gave

THE WAE-DA^*CE OF THE TI.MIIILT AT DEIK EL-BAHABI. 1

them the right of approaching the king s person. The
military exercises to which all these troops were accustomed
probably differed but little from those which were in vogue
with the armies of the Ancient Empire ; they consisted in
wrestling, boxing, jumping, running either singly or in line
at regular distances from each other, manual exercises,
fencing, and shooting at a target ; the war-dance had

1 Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph.

320 THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

ceased to be in use among the Egyptian regiments as a
military exercise, but it was practised by the Ethiopian and
Libyan auxiliaries. At the beginning of each campaign,
the men destined to serve in it were called out by the
military scribes, who supplied them with arms from the
royal arsenals. Then followed the distribution of rations.
The soldiers, each carrying a small linen bag, came up in
squads before the commissariat officers, and each received
his own allowance. 1 Once in the enemy s country the
army advanced in close order, the infantry in columns of
four, the officers in rear, and the chariots either on the
right or left flank, or in the intervals between divisions.
Skirmishers thrown out to the front cleared the line of
march, while detached parties, pushing right and left,
collected supplies of cattle, grain, or drinking-water from
the fields and unprotected villages. The main body was
followed by the baggage train ; it comprised not only
supplies and stores, but cooking-utensils, coverings, and the
entire paraphernalia of the carpenters and blacksmiths
shops necessary for repairing bows, lances, daggers, and
chariot-poles, the whole being piled up in four-wheeled
carts drawn by asses or oxen. The army was accompanied
by a swarm of non-combatants, scribes, soothsayers, priests,
heralds, musicians, servants, and women of loose life, who
were a serious cause of embarrassment to the generals, and
a source of perpetual danger to military discipline. At

1 We see the distribution of arms made by the scribes and other officials
of the royal arsenals represented in the pictures at Medinet-Abu. The
calling out of the classes was represented in the Egyptian tombs of the
XVIII th dynasty, as well as the distribution of supplies.

MARCHES AXD ENCAMPMENTS

321

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

A COLUMN OF TROOPS ON THE MARCH, CHARIOTS AXD INFANTRY. 1

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. The royal quarters

1 Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey.
VOL. IV. y

322

THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY

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

AX EGYPTIAN FORTIFIED CAMP, FORCED BY THE ENEMY. 1

pour out water and burn incense to his father, Amon-Ka of
Thebes. The princes of the blood who formed his escort,

1 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.