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GIFT  OF 

SEELEY  W.  MUDD 

and 

GEORGE  I.  COCHRAN     MEYER  ELSASSER 

DR.  JOHN  R.  HAYNES    WILLIAM  L.  HONNOLD 

JAMES  R.  MARTIN         MRS.  JOSEPH  F.  SARTORI 

to  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

SOUTHERN  BRANCH 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


hRäRY, 


f%t 


AHISTORY  OFALL-  NATIONS 

I  ROAVTHEEARLIEST  TIMES 

BEINGAVNIVERSALHIST  - 

ORICAL- LIBRARY  BY  DISH  V 

CA  ISHED  SCHOLARS  ■  IN 

TWENTY-FOVRVOLVMES 

BY 

CHARLES  M.ANDREWS 

JOHN  FISKE 

THEODOR  FLATHE 

G.F.  HERTZBERG 

E.J  VST  I 

J.  yonPFLYGR-I  IARTTVNG 

M.PHILIPPSONHANS  PRVTZ 

FAVELLS  WILLIAMS 

WN  BATES  AVWJACKSON 

w  jastrow  :jr 
we.lingelbach 

JOHN  BACH  McMASTER 

PHSTEENSTRA 

SAR  AY  STEVENSON 

J. H.WRIGHT, General  Editor 


•  (3hsj  <*. 


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Head   of  Seti    I. 


History  of  All  Nations,  Vol.  I.— Frontispiece. 


EGYPT  AND  WESTERN  ASIA 
IN  ANTIQUITY 


BY 

FERDINAND  JUSTI,  PH.  D. 

PEOFESSOR  OF  COMPAKATI VE  PHILOLOGY   IX  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  MARBURG, 
AUTHOR  OF  A  "HISTORY   OF  ANCIENT  PERSIA,"  "HISTORY   OK    IRAN,"  ETC. 

SARA  YORKE  STEVENSON,  SC.  D. 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHEOLOGY  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY   OF  PENNSYL 

VAMA,  CURATOR  OF  THE  EGYPTIAN   AND  MEDITERRANEAN  SECTION    OF  THE 

MDSEÜM  OF  SCIENCE  AND  ART,    UNIVERSITY'    OF   PENNSYLVANIA 

AND 

MORRIS  JASTROW,  JR.,  PH.  D.  (Leipzig, 

PROFESSOR  OF  SEMITIC   LANGUAGES  IN    THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


IN  PART  TRANSLATED  UNDER  THE  SUPERVISION  OF 

JOHN  HENRY  WRIGHT,  LL.  I). 

PROFESSOR  OF  GREEK    IN    HARVARD    UNIVERSITY  AND    DEAN  OF  THE  GRADUATE    SCHOOL, 
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF    OF  THE  "AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  ARCHAEOLOGY,  SECOND  SERIES" 


VOLUME  I 

OF 

A  HISTORY  OF  ALL  NATIONS 


LEA    BROTHERS  ,V   COMPANY 

PHILADELPHIA  AND  NEW  YORK 


■31029 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1905,  by 

LEA  BROTHERS  &  CO., 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington.    All  rights  reserved. 


ELECTROTYPED    BY  PRESS  OF 

WESTCOTT    a.    THOMSON.   PHILADA.  WILLIAM    J.    ÜORNAN.    PHILADA. 


1 


GENERAL   PREFACE. 


I 


N  the  wonderful  intellectual  movement  of  the  past  half-century 
historical  science  has  shared  in  the  advance  made  by  all  depart- 
ments of  human  knowledge.  New  sources  of  information  have  been 
opened  in  every  part  of  the  world,  which  have  thrown  fresh  light  on 
the  development  of  the  race  in  all  ages,  from  the  prehistoric  period 
down  to  the  present  day.  Excavations  of  buried  cities  have  revealed 
ancient  and  forgotten  civilizations  ;  the  study  of  the  languages  of  the 
East  has  given  us  a  fairly  accurate  knowledge  of  the  empires  and 
religions  of  Asia ;  the  enormous  accumulation  of  inscriptions  and  the 
discovery  of  manuscripts  have  furnished  new  insight  into  the  histoiy 
and  institutions  of  Greece  and  Rome;  the  wealth  of  documentary 
material  respecting  the  Middle  Ages  has  enabled  students  to  recon- 
struct the  political  and  social  history  of  the  European  commonwealths  ; 
while  for  modern  times  the  throwing  open  of  the  archives  of  nearly 
all  nations  has  laid  bare  the  secret  springs  of  action  which  have 
influenced  the  present  and  will  mould  the  future.  Everywhere  there 
has  been  untiring  zeal  of  investigation,  which  lias  accumulated  an 
enormous  mass  of  materials  unknown  to  the  past  generation.  These 
have  been  analyzed  and  the  results  co-ordinated  in  thousands  of  mono- 
graphs. 

This  accumulation  has  led  to  a  complete  change  in  the  manner  of 
treatment.  History  is  no  longer  a  merely  superficial  account  of  events 
which  are  conspicuous  on  the  surface, — battles  and  sieges  and  dynastic 
changes.  It  seeks  to  trace  the  causes  of  event-  ;  it  concerns  itself  not 
only  with  political  but  also  with  social  phenomena;  it  reconstructs 
society,  and  explains  the  development  of  civilization  as  this  follows  the 
changing  fortunes  of  nations.  It  is  no  longer  a  more  or  less  illusory 
romance,  but  a  science  which  deals  with  the  highest  interests  of  man- 
kind, and  teaches  wisdom  from  the  lessons  of  the  past. 

»Such  being  the  modern  aim-  of  history,  and  such  the  vast  mass  of 
materials  from  which  it  is  constructed,  it  follow-  self-evidently  that  qo 
single  mind  can  grasp  it  in  its  entirety.      lake  all  other  sciences,  it  lias 

v 


vi  GENERAL  PREFACE. 

become  specialized,  and  only  specialists  are  competent  to  treat  of  its 
various  sections.  To  write  a  general  history  of  mankind,  therefore, 
requires  the  collaboration  of  scholars,  each  of  whom  has  made  a  partic- 
ular era  the  subject  of  his  life-work.  But  not  only  has  history  become 
specialized  :  with  the  widening  of  knowledge  its  broader  relations*and 
aspects  have  become  more  clearly  discerned,  and  in  particular  the  inter- 
action of  diverse  nations,  with  their  dissimilar  civilizations,  is  understood 
as  never  before.  In  place  of  the  earlier  special  and  detailed  histories  of 
individual  nations,  each  necessarily  recounted  with  slight  reference  to  the 
others,  there  is  now  for  the  first  time  rendered  possible  a  general  and 
comprehensive  history  of  all  nations,  in  which  the  progress  of  human 
civilization  is  treated  period  by  period,  more  like  one  mighty  river  than 
as  a  multitude  of  separate  streams.  Such  a  history  is  far  more  signifi- 
cant and  instructive  than  the  Avorks  of  the  earlier  type  could  ever  be. 
These  are  the  conceptions  that  inspired  the  preparation  of  the  Allge- 
meine Weltgeschichte,  of  which  the  first  nineteen  volumes  of  the  present 
work  are  a  carefully  edited  translation,  slightly  condensed,  with  addi- 
tions. The  remote  antiquity  of  Egypt  and  the  East  has  been  entrusted 
to  the  well-known  Orientalist,  Professor  Ferdinand  Justi  of  Marburg ; 
Greece  and  Rome  to  the  eminent  historian  of  classical  antiquity,  Pro- 
fessor G.  F.  Hertzberg  of  Halle ;  the  early  Middle  Ages  to  Dr.  Julius 
von  Pflugk-Harttung  of  Berlin,  and  the  later  mediaeval  period  to  Pro- 
fessor Hans  Prutz  of  Königsberg,  both  of  whom  are  recognized  as 
leading  authorities  in  these  fields ;  the  period  between  the  Reformation 
and  the  French  Revolution  to  Professor  Martin  Philippson,  now  of 
Berlin,  wdiose  published  works  have  manifested  an  absolute  command 
of  his  materials  and  practised  skill  in  their  use ;  while  Professor 
Theodor  Flathe  of  St.  Afra,  in  Meissen,  has  contributed  the  history  of 
the  agitated  period  which  stretches  from  the  French  Revolution  to  the 
close  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War  (1871).  Thus  the  history  of  the 
Old  World  as  here  presented  is  a  concentration  within  moderate  space 
of  the  best  German  learning  and  research  on  the  subject. 

Yet,  in  view  of  the  daily  additions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  past,  it 
has  been  felt  that,  to  render  the  work  fully  representative  of  the  existing 
state  of  historical  research,  some  additions  to  the  original  were  requisite. 
For  the  somewhat  scattered  references  to  Biblical  history  and  literature 
by  Professor  Justi,  it  has  been  thought  desirable  to  substitute  a  more  com- 
plete and  connected  account,  which  has  been  supplied  by  the  well-known 
specialist  in  Hebrew,  the  Rev.  Dr.  P.  H.  Steenstra,  Professor  in  the 
Episcopal  Theological  School  of  Cambridge  ;  this  account  appears  in  the 


GENERAL  PREFACE.  vii 

second  volume,  in  which  also  will  be  found  an  account  of  the  most  recent 
developments  concerning  the  ancient  civilizations  of  Babylonia  and 
Assyria,  and  their  connection  with  the  history  of  Israel  by  Morris 
Jastrow,  Jr.,  Professor  of  Semitic  languages  in  the  university  of  Penn- 
sylvania, as  well  as  a  review  of  the  Empire  of  the  Persians  and  India 
by  Dr.  A.  V.  Williams  Jackson,  Professor  of  Indo-Iranian  languages  in 
Columbia  University.  Similarly  the  omission  from  the  original  work  of 
an  account  of  China  and  Japan  in  antiquity — an  antiquity  which  in  these 
belated  nations  extends  well  into  the  nineteenth  century — has  been  made 
good  by  the  addition,  in  the  same  volume,  of  three  interesting  chapters  on 
Chinese  and  Japanese  history,  which  have  been  contributed  by  F.  Wells 
Williams,  Professor  of  Modern  Oriental  History  in  Yale  University. 
The  recent  remarkable  discoveries,  illustrating  the  most  ancient  history 
of  Egypt,  have  required  the  rewriting  of  the  section  on  that  country  in 
Volume  I.,  which  has  been  performed  by  Mrs.  Sara  Yorkc  Stevenson, 
Curator  of  the  Egyptian  Section  of  the  Museum  of  Science  and  Art  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  similarly  the  investigations  in 
Crete  and  elsewhere  which  have  revolutionized  early  Greek  history  have 
been  treated  in  Volume  III.  by  William  Nickerson  Bates,  Assistant 
Professor  of  Greek  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  To  the  fifth 
volume  has  been  appended  a  new  chapter  on  late  Roman  literature  and 
education  by  George  W.  Robinson,  A.B.,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 
Throughout  the  whole,  but  more  especially  in  the  earlier  volumes,  the 
Editor  has  added  paragraphs  and  notes  wherever  they  seemed  to  be 
called  for. 

To  adapt  the  work  more  thoroughly  to  the  wants  of  the  American 
reader  the  sections  concerning  the  New  World  have  been  replaced  with 
three  additional  volumes,  written  by  the  late  distinguished  Professor 
John  Fiske,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  who  has  presented  in  them  a 
brilliant  survey  of  the  history  of  the  Two  Americas  from  their  discovery 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  since  when  it  has  been  continued  by  Pro- 
fessor Henry  Morse  Stephens,  of  the  University  of  California.  A  sepa- 
rate volume  has  also  been  prepared,  which  brings  the  history  of  the  three 
Continents  of  the  Old  World  down  to  the  present  century,  embracing 
the  events  which  are  destined  to  influence  it  greatly  in  the  future,  in  the 
rise  of  the  Japanese  Empire,  and  the  expansion  of  the  white  races  over 
the  earth.  This  volume  has  been  contributed  by  Professor  Charles  M. 
Andrews,  of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  Pennsylvania,  and  by  William  E. 
Lingelbach,  Assistant  Professor  of  Modern  European  History  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  gentlemen  wrhose  special  qualifications  for 


vin  GENERAL  PREFACE. 

the  task  have  been  amply  demonstrated.  All  this  additional  matter  has, 
of  course,  been  designated  as  such,  and  it  is  confidently  hoped  that  the 
combined  labor  of  so  many  eminent  specialists  will  be  found  to  have 
brought  before  the  reader  the  results  öf  the  most  recent  research  into 
the  history  of  mankind  in  all  ages  and  in  all  lands. 

This  general  "History  of  All  Nations"  consists,  accordingly,  of 
twenty-four  volumes:  five  on  Antiquity,  five  on  the  Middle  Ages,  ten 
on  the  Modern  History  of  the  Old  World,  and  three  on  the  Two 
Americas,  with  a  comprehensive  Index  volume  to  the  whole. 

In  the  effort  to  unite  completeness  with  due  condensation  the  aid 
of  illustrations  has  been  lavishly  invoked.  Maps  have  been  introduced 
wherever  necessary  to  aid  in  the  comprehension  of  the  text;  and  sources 
of  all  kinds  have  been  freely  laid  under  contribution  wherever  they  can 
supplenicnt  description  or  convey  more  definite  impressions  to  the 
understanding  through  the  eye.  In  the  selection  of  illustrative  material 
especial  care  has  been  exercised  to  give  that  which  is  authentic,  whether 
in  the  representation  of  persons  and  places,  of  monuments  and  works 
of  art,  of  documents  and  events,  or  of  coins  and  inscriptions. 

To  facilitate  the  use  of  the  History  as  a  work  of  reference  very  full 
analytical  Tables  of  Contents  have  been  furnished  for  each  volume. 
Chronological  Tables  seemed  to  be  necessary  for  the  History  of  An- 
tiquity only,  owing  to  the  vastness  of  the  periods  of  time  passed  in  review 
in  the  first  five  volumes.  These  Tables  have  been  expanded  and  other- 
wise modified  in  the  light  of  most  recent  research,  and  are  affixed  to  the 
fifth  volume.  The  Editor  believes  that  the  devotion  of  the  whole  final 
volume  to  a  General  Index  of  the  entire  world's  history  in  a  single 
alphabet  is  not  only  a  fitting  conclusion  of  this  monumental  series,  but 
also  a  unique  feature  which  cannot  fail  to  be  of  practical  value  to  every 
reader.  This  index  includes  not  only  proper  names,  but  also  important 
topics. 

Many  American  scholars  have,  as  translators,  revisers,  and  makers 
of  indexes,  assisted  the  Editor  in  the  preparation  of  this  History  for 
American  and  English  readers.  James  Hunter,  A.M.,  of  Philadelphia, 
translated  ten  volumes  wholly  or  in  part;  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Myers,  D.D., 
of  Washington,  two  volumes  entire  and  parts  of  two  others;  John  K. 
Lord,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Latin  in  Dartmouth  College,  translated  the 
two  volumes  on  Ancient  Rome,  and  Charles  Förster  Smith,  Ph.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Greek  in  the  university  of  Wisconsin,  translated  the  volume 
on  Ancient  Greece.  Louis  Pollens,  Ph.D.,  lately  Professor  of  French 
;it   Dartmouth  College,   prepared  the  translation  not  only  of  the  volume. 


CENERAL  PREFACE.  ix 

that  treats  of  the  Reformation,  but  also  of  a  part  of  the  following  volume 
(on  the  Counter-Reformation).  Frank  E.  Zinkeisen,  Ph.D.,  for  a  time 
Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  Illinois,  translated  the  vol- 
umes on  the  Age  of  Feudalism  and  Theocracy  and  the  Age  of  the  Renais- 
sance, besides  assisting  in  other  ways  on  other  volumes.  Herman  W. 
Hay  ley,  Ph.D.,  formerly  Instructor  at  both  Harvard  and  Wesleyan 
Universities,  was  the  translator  of  the  volume  on  the  Age  of  Charlemagne. 
Professor  William  Wells  Eaton,  of  Middlebury  College,  co-operated  in 
the  translation  of  the  first  volume,  and  Nathan  Haskell  Dole,  A.B., 
of  Boston,  in  that  of  the  second  volume.  The  following  scholars,  who 
have  been  or  now  are  teachers  of  History  at  Harvard  University, 
assisted  the  Editor  here  and  there  in  the  revision  of  the  translations  and 
in  part  in  the  preparation  of  the  manuscripts  for  the  press:  George 
Bendelari,  A.B.,  Professor  Charles  Gross,  Ph.D.,  Sidney  Bradshaw 
Fay,  Ph.D.,  Henry  E.  Scott,  A.M.,  and  .lames  Sullivan,  Ph.D.  Aid 
in  the  indexing  was  rendered  by  Dr.  Fay,  Mr.  Scott,  Maurice  W. 
Mather,  Ph.D.,  and  the  Rev.  Charles  F.  Robinson.  The  Editor  has 
read  and  revised  both  manuscript  and  proofs  of  all  the  translated 
volumes,  and  has  prepared  the  analytical  Tables  of  Contents  that 
accompany  these  volumes  and  the  volumes  on  American  history.  In 
all  parts  of  his  work  he  has  had  the  able  assistance  of  Mr.  George  W. 
Robinson. 

The  Editor  entertains  the  hope  that  the  result  of  this  united  labor, 
to  which  some  of  the  foremost  historical  writers  of  the  Old  and  New 
Worlds  have  contributed,  will  furnish  what  has  hitherto  been  lacking 
in  English,  a  trustworthy  account,  at  once  comprehensive  and  detailed, 
of  the  history  of  mankind  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day, 
reflecting  the  latest  investigations  and  presented  in  a  form  to  excite  the 
interest  of  all  intelligent  readers. 


GENERAL    CONTENTS. 

(For  Analytical  Contents,  see  Page  347.) 


BOOK  T. 

EGYPT,   FROM   THE   EARLIEST   TIMES   TO   THE   SHEP- 
HERD  KINGS   (ABOUT    1800  B.C.). 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION— PREHISTORIC  EGYPT.    ...       1 

CHAPTER  I. 
EAELIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTOEY 19 

CHAPTER  II. 

AET  IN  THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE 74 

CHAPTER  JIJ. 
THE  MIDDLE  EMPIEE 117 


BOOK  II. 

ASIA:    THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   HISTORY   IX   WESTERN 
ASIA,— BABYLONIA,   SYRIA,    AND   ASIA    MINOR. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
BABYLONIA  (CHALDAEA) 145 

CHAPTER   V. 

SYEIA   AND  ASIA   MINOR 200 


xii  GENERAL  CONTENTS  OF   VOLUME  I. 

BOOK  III. 

EGYPT  AND    WESTERN   ASIA:    THE   NEW  EMPIRE   IN 
EGYPT   AND   THE  RISE  OF  ASSYRIA. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

THE  RELATIONS  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIEE  TO  SYRIA 251 

CHAPTER  VII. 

ART  UNDER  THE  NEW   EMPIRE 288 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS 325 


ANALYTICAL  CONTENTS 347 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


"oukk  PAGE 

1.  Prehistoric  interment  of  the  NTagadah  type  (El-Amrah)      (After  de  Morgan, 

'  Recherches,'  etc,  |          ..........  22 

2.  Prehistoric  implements  from   N"agadah.     Bucrania  from  Hu      Originals  in 

Museum  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 23 

3.  Door-socket,  Hierakonpolis.     Original  in  the  Museum  of  the  University  of 

Pennsylvania  ............  24 

4.  The  Cataract  at  Assuan,  in  part      .........  25 

5.  Ebony  tablet  of  Aha  (Mena).     Original  in  the  Museum  of  the  University 

of  Pennsylvania 31 

6.  The  first  and  the  second  nomes  in  Upper  Egypt.     (From  a  list  in  the  temple 

of  Rameses  II.  in  Abydos,  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  about  1350  B.C.)  .         .  32 

7.  Coin  of  the  nome  Ombites      .........  32 

8.  Small  Island  near  Philae,  at  tin;  upper  end  of  the  Cataracts  of  Assuan           .  34 

9.  Nekhebt 35 

10.  Coins  of  the  nome  Hermonthites     .........  36 

11.  Ivory  tablet  from  tomb  of  Den-Setui,  showing  oldest  known  sectional  plan. 

Original  in  Museum  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania          ...  39 

12.  Horus.     (Edfu.) 46 

13.  Khnum,  the  Lord  of  Elephantine 51 

14.  Sebek-Ra 51 

15.  List  of  Egyptian  Kings  from  the  tomb  at  Tun  my  at  Sakkara         ...  61 

16.  Sent  and  his  wife.     (Oxford) 62 

17.  King  Khafra  .............  64 

18.  King  Khafra  (bust) 65 

]'.».    Monument  of  King  Sahura  at  Wady-Maghara 66 

20.  Bas-relief  of  King  Menkau-hor  (Mencheres) 67 

21.  Facsimile  of  the  oldest  book  in  hieratic  writing,  the  Prisse  papyrus       .        .  68 

22.  Cabinet  of  Queen  Mentu-hotep 72 

23.  A  table  of  offerings 76 

24.  A  granary,  from  the  tomb  of  Ameny,  Beni-Hassan.    (After  Maspero, 'Hist. 

Anc.  des  Peup.  de  1' Orient. ') TU 

25.  Stone  sarcophagus 78 

26.  Portrait  heads  of  the  earliest  date  (Sepa  and  Nesa).     Louvre         ...  80 

l'7.  Statues  of  Ra-hotep  and  Nefert.     (Gizeh  Museum) 81 

28.    Bead  of  Ra-hotep.     Head  of  Nefert 82 

2'.».  The  Scribe  (Louvre) 82 

30.  Portrait-statue  of  Ra-em-ka 83 

31.  Fanning  scenes.      Relief  on  a  wall  in  the  tomb  of  Ti  at  Sakkara  ...  87 

32.  Shipbuilding.     From  the  tomb  of  Ti 88 

B3.  The  Pyramids  of  Gizeh,  from  the  southwest 93 

'!4.   Entrance  to  the  Pyramid  of  Kliufu 95 

;J">.  The  Sphinx.     Gizeh.     (IVfore  the  excavations  of  Maspero)  .         .         .         .  100 

xiii 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  VOLUME  I. 

FIGURE  PAGE 

36.  The  Temple  of  the  Sphinx  at  Gizeh 101 

87.    Mastaba-el-Faraun 104 

38.    Pyramid  of  Medum 105 

89.  Sphinx  of  Tanis.     (After  Maspero) 120 

40.  The  Ruins  at  Biahmu 121 

41.  The  Pyramid  of  Illahun 122 

42.  Rock  tombs  of  Beni-Hassan 124 

43.  44.    Paintings  on  the  wall  of  a  tomb  at  Beni-Hassan.     Semitic  family  asking 

admission  into  Egypt       ..........  129 

45.  Bead  of  Seqenen-Ba-Ta-aa      ..........  132 

46.  [nscription  of  Särgon  [.  and  neo-Bahylonian  business  document.     (To  illus- 

trate the  cuneiform  script)       .........  150 

47.  An  Armenian  town  plundered.      (Relief  from  Kouyunjik)    ....  158 

48.  Ruins  of  the  Temple  of  Mugheir  (Ur) 1G2 

49.  The  Wuswas  ruins  (Warka) 106 

50.  Adoration  of  Samas.     Tablet  from  Sippar.     (After  Perrot)  .         .         .         .  172 

51.  Head  of  Gudea  from  Telloh 174 

52.  Statue  of  Gudea  from  Telloh 175 

53.  Statue  of  the  god  Nebo,  found  at  Nimrud.     Limestone.      (British  Museum)  176 

54.  Bronze  Canephorus,  from  Bagdad.     (Paris,  Louvre)      .....  177 
;j.").  Statuette  of  Ishtar  and  child  ..........  178 

56.  Relief  of  Marduk-nadin-akhe.     (London,  British  Museum)  ....  179 

57.  Seals  of  the  Pharaoh  Sabaco  and  the  King  of  Assyria   .....  180 

58.  Cylinder  of  Mushezib-Ninib.      (London,  British  Museum)    .  .         .         .181 

59.  Seal  of  Nebuchadnezzar 182 

60.  Daemon,  or  Genius,  with  Eagle's  Head.     (London,  British  Museum)   .         .  184 

61.  "Winged  Daemon  in  an  Offering.     Alabaster  relief  from  Khorsabad.     About 

10  feet  in  height.      (London,  British  Museum)        .....  187 

62.  The  god  Ea  (Oannes) 189 

63.  King  Hammurabi  before  the  sun-god      ........  196 

64.  An  Armenian  town  stormed  ;  removal  of  prisoners.     Marble  relief.     (After 

Layard) 197 

65.  Lake  Tiberius,  or  Gennesaret 201 

66.  Mouth  of  the  river  Anion,  or  Mojib 202 

67.  The  salt  columns  at  Uzdum 203 

68.  Bronze  coin  of  Paphos.     Emperor  Caracalla  (211-217  A.n.)  .         .         .         .  205 
60.   Bronze  coin  of  the  city  Byblus.     Emperor  Macrinus  (217,  218  a.d.)      .         .  208 

70.  Cedars  of  Lebanon 209 

71.  The  sarcophagus  of  King  Eshmuna'zar  II.     (Paris,  Louvre)          .         .         .  211 

72.  Sepulchral  Monuments  at  Amrit 212 

7:;.   Tomb  at  Amrit 214 

74.  '  The  Tomb  of  King  Hiram '  of  Tyre 216 

75.  Sphinx  of  the  Palace  Entrance  at  Euyuk 229 

76.  Double  Eagle  on  the  Door-posts  of  the  Palace  at  Euyuk       ....  231 
77-8:!.   A  Ilittite  Religious  Procession  of  Men  and  "Women.     (Relief  at  Pteria, 

Boghaz-Keui) 232,  233 

si.   Relief  from  Boghaz-Keui 237 

85.  Cyclopean  wall  at  Giaur-Kalesi,  with  two  Ilittite  warriors  in  relief        .         .  238 

86.  Belief  from  Ivris 239 

87.  Seal  of  Tarkondemoa 243 

88.  The  Tomb  of   Midas 246 

80.  Tablet  of  Thothmes  1 253 

90.  Queen  Hatasu 255 


EGYPT  AND    WESTERN  ASIA    IX   ANTIQUITY.  XV 

HM  BS  PAOE 

91.  Head  of  Amenhotep  II 259 

92.  Head  of  Thothmea  1 260 

93.  Amenhotep  I\'.  and  his  family  sacrificing  to  the  Sun.     Relief  in  a  tomb 

at  Tel-el-Amarna 262 

94.  a,   Deatb   Mask.     6,    Bas-relief  portrait  of   Ehu-en-Aten,  from  original   in 

Museum  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 263 

95.  King  Khu-en-aten  (Amenhotep  IV.) 264 

96.  I  Jameses  II.  as  crown-prince.     Relief  in  the  temple  at  Abydos  .        .        .  271 

97.  Mounl  Tabor 27"> 

98.  Rameses  II. 277 

99.  Sandstone  statue  of  Seti  II.     (A  rain  on  his  knees.)     From  Thebes.     Lon- 

don, British  Museum     ..........  278 

100.  Seti  II 280 

101.  The  captive  Pulasati  in  the  triumphal  procession  of  Rameses  III.          .         .  281 

102.  The  Mummy  of  Rameses  II.     Gizeh  Museum,  Cairo 283 

Hi:;.   Head  of  Rameses  II 285 

104.  Quarries  at  Tuna 289 

105.  The  Obelisk  of  Heliopolis 292 

106.  The  Vestibule,  with  the  first  Pylons,  of  the  Great  Temple  at  Karnak   .        .  293 

107.  Thothmes  III.  as  Androsphinx 294 

108.  Relief  at  Karnak.     Nekhebt,  the  Goddess  of  the  South,  conducting  Kin«; 

Seti  [.  to  the  throne  of  Amen.     (Fourteenth  century  b.c.)  .         .        .  296 

109.  King  Horus  approaching  Amen.     Bas-relief  on  the  Pylon  of  Horus  (south 

of  the  Great  Temple  at  Karnak) 299 

110.  The  Holy  Lake  in  the  Middle  Temple  at  Karnak 301 

111.  The  Temple  of  Khuns  (southwest  of  the  Great  Temple  at  Karnak)       .         .  302 

112.  Obelisk,  seated  statues  of  Rameses  II.,  and  Pylons  of  tin-  Temple  at  Luxor.  304 
11. i.   View  of  the  plain  of  Thebes,  with  the  two  Colossi  of  Memnon  in  the  dis- 
tance.    From  the  Temple  of  Medinet-Abu 305 

111.  Ground-plan  of  the  Memnonium  of  Rameses  III.,  at  Medinet-Abu       .         .  306 

115.  Vestibule  of  the  Temple  at  Medinet-Abu 308 

116.  The  Colossi  of  Memnon 309 

117.  Ground  plan  of  the  Memnonium  of  King  Rameses  II.           ....  310 

118.  The  Memnonium  of  King  Rameses  II. 311 

119.  S<  t  is  Temple  of  the  Dead  at  Gurnah 313 

120.  Columns  of  Rameses  II.   before  the  Hypostyle  of  the  Temple  of  Seti  at 

Abydos 314 

121.  The  arched  hallways  of  Seti's  temple  at  Abydos 316 

122.  Tiglath-Pileser  1 328 

123.  Statue  of  Asurnazirpal.     From  Nimrud.     London,  British  Museum   .        .  332 

124.  Assyrian  Battle-scene,  from  the  Palace  of  Asurnazirpal  at  Calah  (Nimrud). 

Marble  relief.     London.  British  Museum :;:;:> 

125.  King  Asurnazirpal.     Relief  from  Nimrud.     London, British  Museum          .  337 
126    Ivory  carved  work,  found  in  Nimrud.     London.  British  Museum        .  :;n 

127.  Bel-Merodach  and  the  Dragon  (Tiamat).     Relief  from  Nimrud.     London, 

British  Museum 343 

128.  Portrait  of  a  king.     Relief  from  Nimrud.     London,  British  Museum  .        .  345 

129.  Lion  at  the  Portal  of  the  Temple  at  Nimrud.     London,  British  Museum     .  346 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 


PLATE  OPP.  PAGE 

Frontispiece.     Head  of  Seti  I. 
I.     The  Murchison  Falls.     (From  a  sketch  by  Sir  Samuel  Baker)    .         .       23 
II.     The  Nile  in  the  Tropics.     (From  a  sketch  by  G.  Schweinfurth)  .       23 

III.  The  Judgment  of  the  Dead  before  the  (Jod  <  »siris  in  the  Ball  of  Jus- 

tice in  the  Lower  World.  (From  a  Papyrus  discovered  at  Thebes 
containing  the  so-called  Book  of  the  Dead.  Facsimile  ;  Half 
original  size)        ..........       56 

IV.  Hieroglyphic   Genealogy   of   the   First   Eighteen   Dynasties   of    the 

Kings  of   Egypt.     Bas-relief   from  Abydos.     British   .Museum. 

(After  Diimichen) 59 

V.     a,  Bracelets  of  King  Teta's  Queen  Abydos.    6,  Palette  of  King  Narmer, 

Hierakonpolis        .....                  ....  87 

VI.     Wall  in  the  Tomb  of  Ptah-hotep  at  Sakkara 90 

VII.     The  Pyramid  of  Steps  at  Sakkara.     (After  Lepsius)  .         .         .         .  102 

VIII.     The  Rosetta  Stone.     (One-fourth  actual  size) 108 

IX.     Jewelry  found  at  Dashur,  Twelfth  Dynasty.     (After  de  Morgan)     .  120 
IX. — A.     Monument  of  Naram-Sin  with   Superimposed    [nscription   of 

Sutruk-nakhunte          .........  159 

IX. — B.     Oldest   Statue   found   in    Babylonia.     (University   of  Chicago 

expedition  at  Bismya)          ........  168 

X.     Arch  of  burnt  brick  (Nippur) 169 

XL     Temple  of  Bel  at  Nippur 169 

XII.     Inscribed  Bas-relief  of  Naram-Sin  at  Diarbekir         ....  169 

XIII.  E-annatum's  campaign  against  the  Gishbanites            ....  169 

XIV.  Northwestern  Faeade  of  the  First  Stage  of  Ur-Gur's  Ziggurat  at  Nip- 

pur        169 

X  V.     Sarcophagi  from  Nippur     .  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     171 

XVI.  Fr-Nina  and  his  Family 175 

XVII.  Lion  of  Babylon 178 

XVII. — A.     Sarcophagus  of  the  Greek  Period  found  in  Sidon       .        .        .     210 
XVII. — B.     Hittite  Monument  found  in  Babylon 242 

XVIII.  Bas-relief  on  a  Wall  in  the  Temple  at  Der-el-Bahri.  representing  a 
Fleet  sent  by  Queen  Hatasu  to  the  Land  of  Punt.  L.  Arrival  of 
the  Fleet  at  the  Land  of  Punl  (one-sixteenth  the  original  size). 
2.  The  Freighting  of  a  Ship  (one-ninth  the  original  size)  .  .  254 
XIX.  Victory  of  Raineses  II.  over  the  Hittites.  Storming  of  Dapur.  Mu- 
ral painting  in  the  Temple  of  Rameses  II.  at  Thebes  .         .         .     i'74 

XX.     Columns  from  the  Great  Temple  at  Karnak 290 

XXI.     Plan  of  the  Three  Temple  Precincts  at  Karnak  in  the  Northern  Part 
of  Eastern  Thebes.      Based  on  Wilkinson.    Lepsius,  and  Mari- 

ette,  with  additions  by  J.  Diimichen 294 

xvii 


LIST  OF  PLATES  IN   VOLUME   I 


PLATE  OPP 

\.\I1.     General  View  of  the  Greal  Temple  of  Amen  in  the  Middle  Temple 

Precinct  of  Karnak  (from  the  south)  .... 

Will.     The  Ohelisk  of  Thothmes  in  the  Greal  Temple  at  Karnak 

XXIV.     Columns  in  the  Great  Temple  al  Karnak 

XXV.     The  Terrace-Temple  of  Der-el-Bahri,  before  excavations  by  Naville 
XXVI.     Statue  of  the  God  Khuns.     (After  Legrain)     .... 
XXVII.     The  Rock  Temple  of  Ahu-Simbel  (Ipsambul)  . 
XXVIII.     Head  of  Winged   Figure  from  Nineveh.     As  type  of  the  Assyrian 
Race  and  Proof  of  Painting  on  Rock-sculptures.    (After  Lay ard) 
XXIX.      Fragment   of  an  Assyrian   Bronze  Relief,  from  a  Gate  at  Balawat 
London,  British  .Museum 


294 
297 
297 
312 

317 
317 

325 

341 


BOOK  I. 


EGYPT. 


EGYPT. 

FROM   THE  EARLIEST   TIMES    TO    THE    SHEPHERD    KINGS 
(ABOUT   1800   B.C.). 


INTRODUCTION. 

PREHISTORIC  EGYPT. 

Within  the  last  few  years  remarkable  discoveries  in  the 

valley  of  the  Nile  have  furnished  material  for  a  new  chapter 
of  Egyptian  history.  Not  only  have  the  first  dynasties  of 
Manetho — of  which  little  was  known  beyond  hypothetical 
names — taken  their  places  at  the  head  of  the  monumental 
record,  but  beyond  them,  through  the  penumbra  of  proto- 
historic  times,  a  large  amount  of  material  takes  us  back  to  the  pre- 
historic period. 

The  word  'prehistoric'  is  relative  and  conveys  no  definite  idea  of 
time.  Its  value  varies  according  to  the  development  of  the  country  or 
of  the  men  to  whom  it  is  applied.  In  America,  for  instance,  '  prehis- 
toric '  may  mean  pre-Columbian  ;  in  Egypt  it  must  mean  at  least  six 
thousand  years  ago. 

The  above  remarks  apply  with  even  more  force  to  the  word  '  stone- 
age.'  In  some  parts  of  the  world  the  stone-age  has  continued  to  the 
present  time.  It  has  notably  survived  through  countless  ages  in  Egypt, 
where  Mr.  Maspero  states  that  he  saw  a  man  who  still  shaved  his  head 
with  flint  blades.  When  questioned,  he  said  that  flint  razors  wen-  good 
enough  for  his  fathers,  and  surely  must  be  good  enough  for  him.  The 
man  was  eighty  years  old.  He  stated  that  in  the  days  of  his  youth 
the  custom  was  still  common  in  Egypt.  He  therefore  covered  his  sore 
head  with  fresh  leaves  to  allay  the  irritation  caused  by  the  operation  ; 
but  continued  the  process  to  the  end  of  his  life.  Indeed,  to  this  extra- 
ordinary conservatism  among  the  Egyptians  are  due  many  interesting 
survivals  from  primitive  times  which  are  of  great  assistance  in  an 
attempt  at   understanding  many  ideas  and   customs   which    have   been 

l 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

handed  down  from  generation  to  generation  since  the  dawn  of  civiliza- 
tion. 

However  this  may  be,  and  notwithstanding  the  evidence  implied 
in  so  tenacious  a  survival,  only  a  few  years  ago  the  existence  of  a  stone- 
age  in  the  Nile  valley  was  regarded  by  many  as  a  problematic  possi- 
bilitv  which  could  not  be  dealt  with  as  a  fact.  The  earliest  remains 
found  at  Gizeh  revealed  a  high  civilization  already  fully  developed.  A 
few  monuments,  because  of  their  archaism,  often  on  their  own  merits, 
were  assigned  to  the  Second  or  Third  dynasty  of  Manetho,  which 
seemed  hardly  less  legendary  than  his  Divine  Dynasties.  History 
proper  opened  with  the  monuments  of  Med  urn  and  of  Gizeh — i.e., 
with  the  Fourth  Dynasty  and  King  Seneferu.  The  beginnings  of  the 
civilization  which  bequeathed  to  the  world  the  great  pyramids  and  the 
granite  temple  were  unknown,  and  its  origins  were  a  mystery. 

The  use  of  flint  implements  throughout  the  long  period  of  Egyptian 
history  was  calculated  to  cast  a  doubt  upon  the  age  of  the  specimens 
offered  to  the  scrutiny  of  scholars,  none  of  which  was  found  in  undis- 
turbed strata  of  an  age  determined  by  the  presence  of  extinct  fauna. 
This  uncertainty  long  seemed  to  make  the  hope  of  reaching  any  definite 
conclusion  upon  the  subject  a  remote  one.  The  general  physical  condi- 
tions of  Egypt  were  such  as  to  preclude  any  reasonable  expectation  of 
finding  vestiges  of  paleolithic  man  under  such  convincing  geological 
conditions  as  have  conclusively  established  his  presence  in  western 
Europe  and  in  other  parts  of  the  quaternary  world.  Nevertheless, 
many  distinguished  scholars — Hamy,  Arcelin,  Lubbock,  Pitt-Rivers, 
and  others  too  numerous  to  mention — labored  to  solve  the  problem,  and 
accumulated  sufficient  evidence  to  warrant  a  belief  in  his  existence. 

Among  the  most  important  of  the  earlier  contributions  to  the 
subject  was  that  of  General  Pitt-Rivers,  who,  in  1881,  found  worked 
flints  of  the  paleolithic  type  imbedded  in  the  indurated  stratified  gravel 
between  Biban-el-Moluk  and  Gurnah  (Thebes),  in  which  tombs  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty  had  been  cut.  The  locality  lay  along  the  bed  of  an 
ancient  stream,  which  once  drained  a  side  valley  into  the  river,  forming 
as  it  reached  it  an  estuary  in  the  shape  of  a  small  delta.  The  gravel 
is  sixty  yards  away  from  the  highest  mark  of  the  Nile  flood  ;  and  the 
tombs  are  cut  quite  to  the  end  of  the  gravel  in  parts  facing  the  Nile. 
At  the  mouth  of  the  Wadi,  between  it  and  the  line  of  the  inundation, 
is  a  cemetery  which,  of  course,  must  have  been  buried   beneath  the 


PREHISTORIC  EGYPT.  3 

gravel  had  any  been  deposited  since  the  graves  were  made.1  Since 
then,  considerable  corroborative  evidence  has  been  added,  notably  by 
Mr.  Petrie;  and  while  it  is  impossible  to  tell  at  what  geological  period 
paleolithic  man  entered  the  Xile  valley,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  of  his  presence  there. 

The  rocky  formation  of  Egypt  for  some  five  hundred  miles  from 
the  coast  is  of  eocene  limestone.  It  belongs  to  the  same  formation  as 
the  great  masses  of  tertiary  limestone  found  at  Gibraltar,  Malta, 
Southern  France,  Athens,  and  Syria.  In  the  neighborhood  of '  Gebel- 
Silsileh  this  formation  gives  place  to  Nubian  sandstone,  and  at  Assuan 
this  is  again  broken  into  by  the  great  granite  hills  and  rocks  which — 
before  the  construction  of  the  dam  recently  thrown  across  the  river  at 
this  point — formed  so  picturesque  a  setting  to  the  lovely  island  and 
temples  of  Philae  (see  p.  34,  Fig.  8).  Here  were  the  famous  quarries 
whence  the  materials  were  obtained  by  the  Pharaohs  for  the  obelisks 
and  noble  monoliths  which  lent  such  imposing  dignity  to  the  art  and  to 
the  architecture  of  Thebes,  Memphis,  and  other  great  Egyptian  capital-. 

At  the  close  of  the  eocene  period  it  would  seem  that  the  limestone 
deposit  was  raised  in  a  wide  tableland,  over  which  swept  the  drainage 
of  northeastern  Africa.  To  the  east  this  was,  as  it  is  now,  bounded  by 
the  high  mountains  of  the  eastern  desert.  Amid  the  masses  of  granite 
and  other  crystalline  rocks,  some  of  which  rise  to  a  height  of  some  six 
thousand  feet,  were  other  important  quarries,  also  used  in  historic  rimes. 
These  mountain  ranges  barred  any  outlet  to  the  Red  Sea.  In  the 
miocene  period  a  further  elevation  of  the  eastern  desert  must  have  taken 
place,  causing  a  cleft  from  the  old  coast-line  to  Asiüt.  The  river  fell 
into  this  break,  and  it  is  regarded  as  probable  that  the  surface  basalts 
of  Khankah,  north  of  Cairo,  are  the  result  of  the  water  reaching  the 
heated  strata  below,  thus  causing  a  volcanic  disturbance,  resulting  in 
the  hot  springs  which  silicified  the  sandstone  of  Gebel-Ahmar,  and  the 
trees  of  the  petrified  forest  near  Helawan. 

It  would  also  appear  that  in  these  ancient  days  a  gulf — the  outline 
of  which  may  roughly  be  full.. wed  eastwardly  along  the  foot  of  the 
Libyan  hills,  the  Gebel  Mokattam,  and  the  Gebel  Geneffe,  to  the 
present  Suez  Canal — stretched  from  the  great  inland  sea  at  least  as 
far  up  as  the  sandy  plateau    above  which   to-day  tower  the  pyramids 

1  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  vol.  \i..  -<>n  the  Discovery  of  Chert 
Implements  in  Stratified  Gravel  in  the  Nile  Valley, '  p.  389,  1882. 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

of  Gizeh.  To  the  east  shallow  straits  united  the  Mediterranean  with 
the  Red  Sea,  separating  the  African  continent  from  Asia.1  This  gulf 
was  gradually  filled  up  by  the  alluvial  deposits,  which  already  at  the 
opening  of  the  historic  period  formed  the  wide  plains  of  the  delta,  until 
they  reached  a  point  where  a  strong  eastward  coast-current  seized  upon 
them  and  swept  them  toward  the  frontier  of  Syria.2 

Since  then,  many  thousand  years  have  elapsed,  but  the  coast-line  of 
the  delta  has  remained  practically  unchanged.  The  interior,  however, 
is  gradually  rising  and  drying.  The  latest  observations  taken  show 
that  the  coast  is  by  degrees  lowering  and  diminishing  near  Alexandria, 
while  it  is  steadily  rising  in  the  neighborhood  of  Port-Said. 

Herodotos  avers  that,  according  to  Egyptian  tradition,  Mena,  the 
founder  of  the  United  Empire,  found  the  lower  part  of  the  valley 
under  water ;  the  sea  reaching  to  the  Fayum  ;  and  that  in  his  day  the 
country  north  of  Thebes  was  an  unhealthful  swamp.'5  But  while  in 
early  historic  times  the  delta  must  have  been  more  swampy  than  it  is  at 
present — a  fact  which  may  account  for  its  later  development  and  for 
the  small  part  which  it  appears  to  have  played  in  earliest  history4 — the 
general  conditions  and  outline  of  the  country  have  probably  not 
materially  altered  in .  the  historic  period,  and  the  tradition  preserved 
by  the  Greek  historian  could  be  but  an  echo  of  prehistoric  memories. 

During  those  remote  ages  the  climate  was  moist  and  the  rainfall 
abundant.  This  is  shown  by  the  deep  cuts,  and  by  the  denudation  of 
the  cliffs  and  the  wadis,  in  the  now  arid  regions  beyond  the  flood-line. 
The  country  was  wooded  and  probably  resembled  the  present  valley  of 
the  Nile  in  the  interior  of  Africa.  Primeval  forests  covered  its  banks  ; 
luxurious  weeds  and  rushes  formed  a  thick  undergrowth  over  swamps 

1  Aristotle  (Meteor.  I.  xiv.)  states  that  the  Red  Sea.  the  Mediterranean,  and  the 
space  now  occupied  by  the  delta,  once  formed  but  one  sea. 

'-'  Schweinfurth  (Bulletin  de  l'Institut  Egyptien,  [ere  Serie,  xii.,  p.  206)  .-ays :  "U 
a  fallu  environ  deux  cents  siecles  pour  que  le  sol  de  l'Egypteait  acquis  la  puissance  que 
nous  constatons  aujourd'hui."  Others  reckon  that  it  took  some  seventy-five  thousand 
years  for  the  Nile  to  form  its  estuary. 

3  Herod.  II.,  iv.,  v.,  and  x«i\. 

4  At  the  court  of  the  pyramid  builders,  for  instance,  the  '  great  men  of  the  South  ' 
hold  an  important  place;  l>nt  there  i>  no  mention  of  any  great  men  of  the  North. 
M.  Erman  has  also  pointed  out  that  the  South  is  always  mentioned  first.  The  delta  is 
called  tin-  'North  Country.'  while  the  South  is  simply  'the  South.'  Under  the 
.Middle  Empire  we  meet  with  a  'Governor  of  the  North  Country,'  and  under  the 
Old  Empire  there  was  but  one  province  in  the  delta.  (Erman,  'Life  in  Ancient 
Egypt,' pp.  80-83.) 


PREHISTORIC  EQ  VIT  5 

inhabited  by  the  crocodile;  and  tin1  hippopotamus,  which  has  now 
retreated  to  southern  Nubia,  was  still  hunted  by  the  sportsmen  of 
Memphis  as  late  as  the  days  of  Herodotos.     The  papyrus  plant  also, 

now  <>nlv  met  with  under  the  ninth  parallel,  was  then  >till  abundant. 

The  old  surfaces  of  the  desert  plateau  of  Upper  Egypt  have 
weathered  dark  brown  from  long  exposure.  And  so  have  the  flints 
and  waste  flakes  (rejects)  of  the  paleolithic  type  found  there.  Flints 
which,  according  to  Mr.  Petrie,  are  known  to  be  seven  thousand  years 
old,  and  are  found  under  the  same  conditions  of  exposure,  have  hardly 
become  discolored.  This  may  serve  to  gauge,  in  a  general  way,  the 
antiquity  of  these  vestiges  of  man.1 

At  that  time  there  was  a  far  higher  river-bed  than  at  present.  The 
heavy  rainfall  found  its  way  to  the  river  by  the  deep  channelled  cliffs. 
The  land  also  was  lower  and  estuaries  were  formed.  This  may  be  gath- 
ered from  the  large  rolled  gravels  associated  with  mud  deposits,  such  as 
have  been  referred  to  as  existing  at  Thebes,  and  which  are  found 
at  fifty  feet  or  more  above  the  present  water-level.  Water-worn  flints 
of  the  paleolithic  type  are  found  high  up  on  the  hills,  and  in  the  beds 
of  stream  courses  that  once  flowed  from  the  high  plateau.  From  the 
time  when  the  paleolithic  Egyptian  chipped  his  primitive  implements 
on  the  elevated  tableland  of  the  present  desert — then  possibly  a  fertile 
moist  region  where  he  could  find  sustenance  and  minister  to  his  simple 
needs — to  his  next  appearance  on  the  misty  horizon  of  prehistoric 
investigation,  an  enormous  lapse  of  time  must  have  run  its  course. 
Many  geologic  and  climatic  changes  must  have  taken  place.  Who  can 
tell  how  many  different  tribes  may  have  wandered  into  the  fertile  valley 
and  left  their  unrecognized  impress  upon  its  population  '.'  Tt  is  probable 
that,  among  the  innumerable  deposits  left  by  the  primeval  flint-worker-, 
are  the  unidentifiable  remains  of  intervening  ages.2  Be  this  as  it  may, 
the  next  glimpse  we  get  of  human  existence  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile 
shows  us  a  large  population,  dwelling  in  settlements  in  Upper  Egypt, 
under  much  the  same  conditions  as  prevail  at  the  present  «lay.      Their 

1  F<>r  the  entire  subject  of  geological  change?  and  climatic  conditions,  compare 
FlindeiB-Petrie,  'History  of  Egypt,'  vol.  i.,  ch.  i.  ;  Bfaspero,  'Hist.  Am-,  des 
Peup.  de  l'Orient  Classiq.,'  vol.  i.  (Les  Origines),  ch.  i.  ;  Erman,  'Aegypt  und 
A.egypt  Leben,'  vol.  i..  ch.  i.  :  Elie  de  Beaumont,  '  Lecona  de  <;.'■..], >gie,'  vol.  i..  pp. 
105-492;  Oscar  Fraas,  'Aus  dem  Orient,'voL  i..  pp.  175,  17*::  Prof.  Hull,  'Journal 
of  the  Victoria  Institute,    1890. 

Maspero  suggests  ten  thousand  years  ae  a  possible  period  for  the  development 
of  Egyptian  civilization. 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

remains  have  been  found  in  the  last  seven  years  by  MM.  de  Morgan, 
Petrie,  Quibell,  Reisner,  and  others,  in  the  course  of  excavations  con- 
ducted among  the  debris  of  their  villages  and  in  many  nekropoles 
stretching  over  a  territory  of  some  one  hundred  miles  or  more,  on  both 
sides  of  the  river,  from  Silsileh  to  Sohag.  Their  skulls  and  skeletons 
have  been  subjected  to  accurate  measurement,  and  submitted  to  com- 
petent study  at  the  College  of  Surgeons  at  Oxford,1  and  at  the  Medical 
School  at  Cairo,  as  well  as  by  individual  anatomists.2  But  while  the 
field  of  investigation  has  been  widely  extended,  the  question  of  ultimate 
origin  remains  unsettled.  The  most  recent  conclusion  based  upon  the 
careful  expert  examination  of  the  material  lately  collected,  is  that  the 
men  to  whom  it  belonged  already  were  in  the  main  fellahin.3  There  is, 
however,  no  doubt  that  before  the  dawn  of  the  historic  period  a  domi- 
nant Libyan  element  dwelt  in  the  Nile  valley.  This  is  shown  by  the 
results  of  the  examination  of  the  remains  at  Oxford.  Moreover,  the 
evidence  of  the  rudely  carved  figures  found  in  1887  at  Ballas  and 
Nagadah  by  Mr.  Petrie  and  M.  Quibell,  as  well  as  that  of  the  interest- 
ing heads  and  fine  ivory  statuettes  of  early  dynastic  times  obtained  at 
Hierakonpolis  by  the  latter  scholar  (see  '  Hierakonpolis,'  Plate  VI., 
i.-v.),  and  especially  that  of  the  remarkable  portrait  of  a  predynastic 
king  of  Upper  Egypt,  discovered  at  Abydos  in  1902  by  Mr.  Petrie 
(Abydos  IL,  p.  38,  Fig.  5),  requires  little  comment.  All  these 
introduce  us  to  an  orthognathous  human  type  whose  aquiline  nose, 
dome-shaped  skull,  and  pointed  beard  show  an  affinity  with  the  type 
known  and  represented  by  the  historic  Egyptians  themselves  as  the 
Tehennu, — i.e.,  the  western  people  of  Libya,4 — an  affinity  which  is  further 
confirmed  by  important  cultural  similarities.5     We  may  therefore  rea- 

1  The  College  of  Surgeons  at  Oxford  have  pronounced  the  Nagadah  men  to  be 
allied  to  the  white  race  which  inhabited  the  Libyan  region  in  earliest  times. 

2  Dr.  Fouquet,  who  examined  the  material  discovered  by  MM.  de  Morgan  and 
Amelineau,  also  identified  their  remains  with  those  of  the  men  of  Cro-Magnon  (doli- 
chocephalic, with  smooth  hair,  not  infrequently  light  in  color,  and  belonging  in  their 
general  character  to  the  so-called  Caucasian  or  white  race).  (Comp,  de  Morgan,  '  ße- 
cherches, '  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  50.) 

:i  I  am  indebted  to  M.  Quibell  for  this  information  with  regard  to  the  result  of  the 
study  of  the  material  at  the  Medical  School  of  Cairo. 

*  Petrie,  '  The  Races  of  Early  Egypt, '  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  vol.  xxxi.,  p.  248,  etc.,  1901. 

6  Naville,  'Figurines  Egyptiennes  de  1'Epoque  Archaique, '  Recueil  de  Travaux 
Relatifs  a  la  Philologie  et  ä  1' Archäologie  Egyptiennes  et  Assyriennes,  vol.  xxi.,  p.  -\'2, 
1899,  and  xxii.,  p.  65,  1900. 


PREHISTORIC  EGYPT.  7 

sonably  conjecture  that  tliis  so-called  Caucasian  or,  properly  speaking, 
European  type,  extended  along  the  littoral  of  the  Mediterranean  basin, 
as  far  cast  as  Syria,  where  it  is  said  to  be  represented  by  the  Amorites. 
Indeed  the  early  population  of  northwestern  Africa  it.-elf*  was  mixed. 
The  geographical  isolation  which,  in  the  historic  period,  has  tended  to 
produce  an  amalgamation  of  the  various  ethnographic  clement-  into  one 
main  type,  was  possibly  much  less  great  in  prehistoric  times.  The 
Sahara  was  probably  not  then  the  arid  region  which  it  has  become;  and 
it  apparently  sustained  a  considerable  population.  This  may  be  gathered 
from  the  numerous  stone  implements  found  over  the  region,  in  parts  of 
the  desert  now  quite  uninhabitable.  In  prehistoric  days  lair-haired 
men,  classified  by  anthropologists  with  the  widespread  race  of  Cro- 
Ma&rnon,  lived  in  North  Africa,  which  some  authorities  are  inclined  to 
regard  as  the  home  of  the  race.  The  megalithic  monuments  which  they 
built  seem  older  than  those  of  Western  Europe.  Another  light-skinned 
but  dark-haired  and  short-headed  race  also  lived  in  North  Africa  and 
in  the  Canary  Islands  when  the  fair-haired  Europeans  came  there. 
Their  remains  have  been  compared  to  those  of  the  pre-Aryan  Armenians, 
and  also  display  similarities  with  the  pre-Aryans  of  Southern  Europe. 
Like  the  fair-haired  Libyans,  they  probably  sprang  from  some  point 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Mediterranean  region.  Out  of  the  somewhat 
complicated  evidence  one  fact  stands  out  clearly  :  that  is,  that  the  destiny 
of  the  Northern  Africans  in  the  stone-age  of  their  industrial  develop- 
ment was  quite  as  closely  linked  with  that  of  the  other  inhabitants  of 
the  Mediterranean  basin  as  it  was  iu  later  times.  This  inference  is 
strengthened  by  the  affinity  existing  between  the  Nagadah  culture  and 
that  of  the  Mediterranean  stations  of  the  late  neolithic  age.  In  the 
early  Egyptian  sepulchral  deposits  pottery  has  been  found  of  a  type 
commonly  met  with  in  the  transition,  or  aeneolithic  stations  of  Spain, 
Bosnia,  Istria,  Crete,  the  Aegaean  Islands,  and  other  points  of  the 
Mediterranean  area.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
a  bowl  of  the  black  and  red  polished  ware  typical  of  the  Egyptian  pre- 
dynastic  pottery — now  in  the  museum  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania— was  found  by  Dr.  M.  O.  Richter  in  Cyprus,  at  the  lowest 
stratum  of  his  copper-bronze  age,  to  which — prior  to  the  discoveries  at 
Nagadah — he  independently  assigned  the  approximate  date  4000  B.C.1 

1  Other  similar  specimens  are  said  to  have  been  (bund — notably  very  recently  at 
Vasiliki,  near  Gournia  (Crete),  by  the  Philadelphia  Expedition. 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

Mr.  Petrie,  as  a  result  of  his  most  recent  researches,  feels  justified  in 
dividing  the  newly  discovered  prehistoric  remains  into  sequences  cover- 
ing in  the  aggregate  a  period  of  two  thousand  years — beginning  with  a 
population  wearing  goat  skins  and  manufacturing  the  simplest  pottery 
— and  running  through  the  gradual  stages  of  an  elaborate  and  wealthy 
civilization.  This  he  regards  as  having  reached  a  decadent  stage  when 
it  was  overthrown  and  vitalized  by  the  dynastic  Egyptians.  According 
to  his  latest  view,  four  racial  types  preceded  the  Libyan  in  Egypt  ; 
and  the  latter  was  the  dominant  race  when  the  power  of  the  dynastic 
Egyptians  asserted  itself  over  the  land. 

^Yithout  going  into  the  interesting  problems  suggested  by  the  above, 
or  even  attempting  here  to  follow  Mr.  Petrie  in  his  effort  to  trace  the 
evolution  of  the  primitive  men  of  Nagadah,  certain  broad  outlines  of 
their  culture  are  sufficient  for  our  present  purpose. 

They  skilfully  polished  their  maces  and  stone  vessels,  and  the 
regularity  with  which  they  flaked  their  flint  blades,  and  obtained  an 
exquisitely  fine  serrated  edge  on  their  peculiar  flint  forked  lance-heads, 
was  unsurpassed  by  any  known  people  in  the  same  stage  of  industry. 
(See  Fig.  2,  p.  23.)  Their  flint  bangles,  cut  out  of  a  single  stone  and 
worked  down  to  a  circlet  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  thickness,  are  marvels 
of  stone-workmanship  (ibid.).  They  buried  their  dead  in  square  pits 
dug  out  of  gravel  beds,  roofed  over  with  beams  and  brush.  The  better 
tombs  were  faced  inside  with  mud  or  mud  brick-work  and  matting.  The 
preserved  body,  often  wrapped  in  a  hide  or  in  a  mat,  lay  on  its  left  side. 
The  knees  were  drawn  up,  the  hands  were  raised  to  the  head,  which 
was  placed  to  the  south,  facing  the  west.  Green  paint,  on  a  slate 
palette,  was  near  the  head  and  hands  ;  and  this  recalls  the  curious 
practice  of  painting  a  band  of  green  across  the  face  and  eyes,  which  is 
observed  on  the  statues  of  the  early  historic  period.1  They  surrounded 
their  dead  with  food  and  other  necessities  of  their  simple  life,  which 
they  evidently  believed  was  to  continue  in  the  grave  ;  and  a  mass  of 
fine  hand-made  pottery  of  various  sizes  and  forms  surrounded  the  body. 
(See  Fig.  1.)  Pear-shaped  maces,  sharp-edged  disks,  flint  forked  lances, 
and  knives  wen;  their  principal  weapons.      Bone  spoons  and  ornamented 

1  The  tradition  attached  t<>  the  painting  of  the  eyes  survived  throughout  Egyptian 
history.  '  TJatit'  or  the  •green  painted  eye'  was  the  'good'  eye,  the  'well'  eye,  a 
belief  which  gave  rise  to  the  superstitious  reverence  fur  the  amulet,  the  'sacred  eye  ' ; 
the  process  of  painting  the  eyes  with  ' mesd'emt '  being  regarded  as  a  cure  for 
ophthalmia. 


PREHISTORIC  EGYPT.  9 

hair-combs  are  found.  Exquisitely  made  vessels  of  granite,  basalt, 
porphyry,  as  well  as  the  suiter  alabaster,  were  skilfully  polished  with 
crnery,  Mocks  of  which  attest  the  fact.  Carnelian  and  blue-glazed 
quartz-rock  beads  and  shells  were  among  their  ornaments.  Mud  brick 
was  used  ;  and  buerania — i.e.,  the  skulls  of  horned  animals — probably 
furnished  decoration  for  their  buildings.  At  least,  an  ivory  tusk  of  the 
early  historic  period,  found  by  M.  Quibell  at  Hierakonpolis,  gives  the 
facade  of  a  low  building  over  the  four  doors  of  which  hang  buerania; 
and  horned  skulls,  evidently  prepared  for  the  purpose  of  hanging  to 
a  wall,  have  been  found  in  later  Libyan  deposits.  (Fig-  -•)  From 
this  style  of  decoration  evidently  originated  the  Ilathor  heads  which 
formed  so  conspicuous  and  odd  an  architectural  feature  of  many  of 
the  later  temples,  and  which  already  appear  on  the  palettes  of  King 
Narmer,  whose  archaic  remains  Mr.  Petrie  regards  as  pre-Menite. 
(Plate  V.  6.) 

The  Xagadah  culture  seems  to  put  us  in  the  presence  of  a  very 
archaic  stage  of  Egyptian  life  and  faith — humble,  yet  developing  along 
the  lines  of  the  later  peculiar  culture  so  familiar  to  us.  On  some  of 
the  pottery  found  by  Mr.  Petrie  in  the  prehistoric  and  early  dynastic 
interments,  as  well  as  through  the  entire  course  of  Egyptian  history, 
are  written  characters  or  marks  which  have  excited  considerable  in- 
terest. According  to  Mr.  Petrie  and  Arthur  J.  Evans,  many  of 
these  marks  are  identical  with  others  found  at  various  points  of  the 
Mediterranean  region,  from  the  Spanish  peninsula  to  Crete  and  to  Asia 
Minor.1  The  conclusion  is  drawn  by  these  eminent  scholars  that  from 
a  very  remote  time  a  signary  was  in  use  among  those  widely  separated 
peoples.      But  the  whole  subject  is  new  and  requires  careful  study. 

Were  these  prehistoric  Egyptians  immigrants  in  the  Nile  valley  ? 
If  so,  who  preceded  them,  and  whence  did  they  come?  Did  they 
develop  their  own  culture,  gradually  forming  the  petty  states  of  Tpper 
Egypl  which  eventually  overcame  the  region  of  (lie  delta  and  became 
united  into  one  empire?  Or  were  they  the  victims  of  a  conquest  or  of 
conquests  from  the  east?  Confident  answers  have  been  given  to  all 
these  questions  by  more  or  less  ingenious  scholars;  but  they  neverthe- 
less must  for  the  time  remain   matters  of  speculation.     The  discovery 

1  For  a  comparative  study  "f  the  characters  of  the  signaries  found  in  Egypt, 
Karia,  Spain,  Crete.  Cyprus,  see  Petrie,  '  Royal  Tomhs,'  i.,  p.  32;  .-tl-"  Arthur  J. 
Evans's  ■  Cretan  Pictographa  and  Pre-Phenician  Script,'  Tahles  I.  ami  III. 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

of  dwarfs  among  them  has  led  to  the  suggestion  that  pigmies  once 
occupied  the  lower  Nile  valley;  and  steatopygous  statuettes  found  with 
their  remains,  taken  in  connection  with  the  measurements  of  certain 
skulls  which  approach  the  Hottentot  type,  have  also  given  rise  to 
speculation  with  regard  to  a  possible  connection  with  those  now  distant 
African  tribes. 

Many  scholars  have  looked  to  Asia  for  the  source  of  Egyptian 
culture,  if  not  for  that  of  Egyptian  origin.1  Some  of  them  have 
brought  the  Egyptians  over  the  Isthmus  f  others,  by  the  more  circuitous 
route  of  the  straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb.3  But  so  long  as  similar  material, 
in  as  complete  a  sequence  and  revealing  identity  of  culture  at  the  same 
time  or  earlier,  is  not  found  in  Asia,  it  must  seem  fruitless,  interesting 
as  the  subject  may  be,  to  step  from  the  domain  of  fact  to  that  of  simple 
hypothesis.  Unlike  most  nations,  the  Egyptians  themselves  preserved 
no  traditional  recollection  of  a  migration,  of  a  foreign  conquest,  or 
even  of  the  advent  of  a  culture  hero.  There  is  nothing  in  their  annals, 
their  legends,  or  their  religious  myths  to  indicate  such  events.  Their 
legendary  wars  were,  as  it  were,  local  wars,  in  the  course  of  which 
brother  was  arrayed  against  brother ;  the  North  against  the  South  ; 
Osiris  and  Horos  against  Set.  Their  hieroglyphs — as  far  as  their  exact 
nature  can  be  ascertained — all  reproduce  the  fauna,  the  flora,  and  other 
objects  falling  under  the  observation  and  the  experience  of  the  dwellers 
in  the  Nile  valley.  The  importation  of  a  foreign  animal  or  object  from 
time  to  time  may  be  approximately  dated  by  its  use  among  the  hiero- 
glyphs. The  ideogram  for  'land'  was  a  flat  plain  ;  while  the  sign  for 
'  foreign  land'  was  a  mountain  chain.  Their  beliefs  regarding  life  after 
death,  and  their  consequent  burial  customs,  link  them  with  the  men  of 
the  dolmens  rather  than  with  those  of  Babylonia,  where  the  ancient 
structures  are  temples  and  palaces,  not  tombs ;  and  where  the  latter 
play  no   conspicuous   part.     So   far,  no   fact   that   cannot  otherwise  be 

1  De  Rouge\  Brugsch,  Ebers,  Lauth,  Lieblein,  and  others,  seek  the  cradle  of  the 
Egyptians  in  Asia.  Hommel  goes  to  the  extreme  of  deriving  their  entire  culture  from 
that  of  the  Babylonians.  (See  '  Geschichte  Babyloniens  und  Assyriens,'  p.  12,  etc.  ;  and 
especially  '  Der  Babyl.  Ursprung  der  Eg.  Kultur,'  1892,  where  he  seeks  to  show  that 
the  Heliopolitan  myths  and  the  Egyptian  religion  are  derived  from  those  of  Eridu. ) 

2  De  Rouge,  '  Recherches, '  etc.  ;  Brugsch,  '  Geschichte  Egyptens, '  p.  8  ;  Wiede- 
mann, '  Aeg.  Geschichte,'  p.  21. 

3  Ebers,  'Aeg.  und  die  Bücher  Moses,' p.  48;  Düniichen,  'Geschichte  des  alten 
Aegyptens,'  pp.  118,  119;  Brugsch,  'Aeg.  Beiträge  zur  Volkerkunde  der  ältesten 
AVeit,'  Deutsche  K.'vue,  1881,  p.  48. 


PREHISTORIC  EGYPT.  11 

explained  1ms  been  brought  forward  to  show  that  Egyptian  civilization 
was  derived  from  Asia;  and  important  cultural  differences  exist  between 
the  two  oldest  civilized  nations  of  the  ancient  world,  which  are  best 
accounted  for  by  the  theory  of  an  independent  development. 

At  least  such  seems  to  be  the  view  held  by  the  two  highest  authori- 
ties in  France  and  Germany,  whose  general  scholarship,  as  well  as 
long-established  reputation  as  Egyptologists,  makes  their  opinion  of 
singular  value.  M.  Maspero,  in  his  monumental  work,1  says  that  if 
one  examines  closely  into  the  matter  the  theory  of  an  Asiatic  origin, 
although  attractive,  is  difficult  to  maintain.  The  mass  of  the  Egyptian 
population  presents  the  characteristics  of  the  peoples  which  at  all  times 
have  settled  in  the  Libyan  continent  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean. 
They  belong  to  North  Africa,  and  came  into  Egypt  from  the  west. 
Such  is  also  the  view  of  the  naturalists  and  of  the  ethnologists.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  of  the  word-roots  of  the  Egyptian  language  seem 
to  belong  to  the  Semitic  group.  Personal  pronouns  are  constructed 
with  suffixes  ;  and  the  most  simple  and  archaic  tense  of  the  conjugation 
is  formed  with  an  affix  ;  indeed  it  may  be  said  that  most  of  the  gram- 
matical processes  of  the  Semitic  languages  are  found  in  a  rudimentary 
form  in  Egyptian.  One  might  conclude  therefrom  that  the  Egyptians 
and  the  Semites,  after  having  belonged  to  one  group,  had  early  separated 
at  a  time  preceding  that  when  their  language  became  fixed,  and  that 
under  different  surroundings  the  two  families  had  independently  de- 
veloped what  they  possessed  in  common.  The  Egyptian  first  cultivated, 
became  first  crystallized,  the  Semitic  languages  continued  to  develop. 

This  view  seems  to  be  shared  by  Dr.  Erman,2  who,  moreover, 
suggests,  as  an  hypothesis  in  accordance  with  all  the  facts  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  question  by  ethnologists  as  well  as  by  philologists,  that  a 
Libyan  invasion  of  the  Nile  valley  gave  its  inhabitants  its  language  ; 
that  a  similar  invasion  of  Syria  and  Arabia  produced  the  Semitic 
language;  and  that  the  latter  regions  later  gave  the  same  to  East  Africa. 
He  concludes,  however,  that  these  movements  took  place  at  so  remote  a 
period  "that  we  may  conscientiously  believe  the  Egyptians  to  be  natives 

1  Maspero,  '  Histoire  ancienne  des  Peuples  de  l'Orient  elassique,'  i.,  pp.  46,  46. 

1  Erman,  'Aegyptens  und  Aeg.  Leben,'  54,  55.  Also  compare  Erman,  'Ver- 
bältnisa  des  Aegyptischen  zu  den  Semitischen  Sprachen, '  in  the  Zeitschrift  der  Mor- 
genlandischen Gesellschaft,  xlvi.,  85-129. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

of  their  own  country,  children  of  their  own  soil,  even  if  it  should  be 
proved  that  their  old  language,  like  their  modern  one,  was  imported 
from  other  countries." 

M.  Naville,1  in  a  study  of  certain  important  cultural  relations 
existing  between  the  Libyan  populations  and  the  Egyptians,  as  revealed 
in  the  earliest  known  monuments,  regards  the  North  African  character 
of  the  Egyptian  civilization  as  'established.'  And  after  going  over 
the  question  of  the  Semitic  linguistic  elements  present  in  the  Egyptian 
tongue,  he  says:  "No  doubt  there  are  in  Egyptian  Semitic  elements  ; 
but  there  are  also  other  elements  ;  and  the  more  we  penetrate  into  those 
distant  ages — of  which  we  are  beginning  to  perceive  the  length  and  the 
remoteness — the  fainter  become  the  traces  of  the  Semites,  and  of  their 
influence  upon  the  culture  and  the  language  of  Egypt." 

That  a  mixture  of  races  already  existed  at  an  early  date  is  abun- 
dantly proved.  But  in  all  ages  Egypt  has  revenged  itself  upon  intru- 
ders and  foreign  invaders  by  absorbing  them  ;  and  it  would  seem  as 
though  this  capacity  for  assimilation  had  existed  from  the  earliest  time 
to  which  we  have  access.  The  vicissitudes  of  the  prehistoric  Egyptians 
were  numerous  and  varied.  This  is  revealed  in  the  art  of  the  Thiuite 
kings  at  the  very  dawn  of  history.  At  Hierakonpolis,  at  Abydos,  and 
other  sites;  on  the  palettes  of  King  Narmer,  on  the  archaic  fragments 
in  the  Louvre  and  in  the  British  Museum — such  as  those  published  by 
Steindorff — as  well  as  among  the  recent  'finds'  at  Abydos,  are  repre- 
sentations which  show  at  least  two  or  perhaps  more  human  types,  other 
than  the  Libyan  to  which  we  have  already  referred.2  They  appear  as 
warriors,  some  as  conquering,  some  as  conquered  foes.  One  brandishes 
a  double  battle-axe.      And  whatever  their   history,  whether  they  came 

1  Naville  'Figurines  de  l'Epoque  Archaique,'  'Recueil  de  Travaux,'  etc.,  1900, 
p.  78,  PI.  I.-III.  M.  Xaville  regards  the  population  as  indigenous  in  Africa,  with  a 
conquering  element,  such  as  the  Turks  appear  to  he  among  the  Arabs,  or  as  the  Normans 
arc  among  the  British.  The  indigenous  inhabitants  are  the  '  Annu  ' — the  bearded 
anlicr-  of  the  slate-.  The  conquerors,  according  to  his  view,  came  from  Bab-el-Mandeb 
and  Punt,  and  spoke  a  Semitic  language,  although  they  may  not  have  been  Semite-. 
(' Recueil,' etc.,  vol.  xxiv..  p.  120.)  M.  Petrie  also  brings  the  dynastic  Egyptians 
into  Egypt  over  the  straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb. 

-  Mr.  Petrie  thinks  that  he  can  detect  -even.  But.  as  he  himself  remark-  (  ■  Races 
cf  Early  Egypt,'  in  Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  vol.  xxxi..  1901,  p.  250), 
some  of  them  may  well  he  the  result  of  a  mixture  of  the  main  types.  In  a  lecture 
recently  delivered  in  London  he  claim-  that  live  types  of  men  preceded  the  dynasties, 
the  fifth  of  which  is  the  Libyan. 


PREHISTORIC  EGYPT.  13 

from  the  Mediterranean,  the  Red  Sen,  or  the  Libyan  desert,  each 
probably  contributed  something  to  the  population  or  to  the  culture  of 
the  petty  states  which  composed  the  United  Empire  of  King  Mena. 

It  may  be  gathered  from  the  above  that  the  glimpse  qow  obtained 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Nile  valley  at  this  remote  period,  if  frag- 
mentary and  incomplete,  is  fairly  clear.  We  see  them  living  in  a 
transition  .-taue  of  culture,  acquainted  with  cupper,  but  commonly  using 
stone  tools;  navigating  in  their  long  river  boats,  and  more  or  less  in 
touch  with  contemporary  peoples  in  the  same  stage  of  industry.  As 
far  back  as  modern  research  can  reach,  Egypt  i>  already  playing  its  pari 
among  nations  in  conformity  with  its  general  surroundings,  and  working 
out  its  destiny  under  conditions  most  favorable  to  the  development  of 
civilization. 

This  civilization  had  already  acquired  most  of  its  distinctive 
features,  and  was  far  away  from  its  early  beginnings,  when  the  historic 
period  opens  under  King  Mena.  In  the  last  few  years  the  once 
legendary  founder  of  the  Egyptian  United  Empire,  whose  greater 
exploits  had  been  handed  down  by  tradition  through  the  Greek  histo- 
rians, has  passed  from  the  realm  of  myth  to  that  of  practical  fact.  In 
1896,  M.  de  Morgan,  then  Director  of  the  Service  of  Antiquities  uuder 
the  Egyptian  government — and  to  whom  belongs  the  credit  of  having 
been  the  first  to  recognize  the  true  nature  of  the  Nagadah  material — 
made  the  discovery,  in  that  locality,  of  a  large  panelled  brick  tomb 
(190  ■  50  cubits)  of  very  archaic  character.  In  this  tomb,  among 
other  sepulchral  deposits,  was  found  an  ivory  tablet  bearing  the  standard 
name  '  Aha.'  and  also  another  name  which  he  originally  read  Hesepti  (see 
p.  18),  and  therefore  attributed  to  the  fifth  king  of  the  First  Dynasty  ; 
but  which,  subsequently,  Dr.  Borchardt  identified  with  that  of  Mena. 
While  the  reading  of  the  name,  and  its  consequent  identification,  at 
first  led  to  considerable  discussion,  and  were  resisted  by  some  scholars, 
subsequent  researches  based  upon  additional  material  discovered  at 
Abydos  greatly  strengthened  its  probability,  and  the  identification  is 
generally  accepted.  A  doubt,  however,  now  c\i-t<  as  to  the  owner- 
ship of  the  tomb  itself.  Another  archaic  tomb,  forming  one  of  the 
group  of  royal  tombs  of  the  first  dynasty  found  at  Abydos,  and 
surrounded  by  thirty-four  minor  burials  of  contemporary  retainer-,  in 
which  were  found   many  object-  bearing   Kin-  Aha'-  name,  was  opened 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

in  L902  by  Mr.  Petrie.  The  presumption  is,  therefore,  that  the  latter  is 
the  Thiuite  founder's  tomb  ;  and  that  the  isolated  royal  monument  in 
the  nekropolis  of  Nagadah  may  be  that  of  some  other  personage 
connected  with  him — perhaps  that  of  his  queen,  Neit-Hotep,  whose  name 
is  inscribed,  not  only  upon  several  ivory  labels  found  in  it,  but  also  on 
objects  found  at  Abydos.  However  this  may  be,  the  abundant  material 
contemporary  with  Mena  and  his  early  successors  shows  us  at  the 
opening  of  history  an  advanced  civilization.  In  addition  to  the  fine 
stonework  of  preceding  generations — the  progress  of  which  is  here 
represented  by  superb  vases  of  every  obtainable  kind  of  hard  stone — 
other  arts  and  industries  had  been  developed.  Numerous  ivory  and 
ebony  inlays  tell  of  artistic  furniture.  Copper  and  gold  were  used,1 
and  the  hieroglyphic  system  of  writing  had  been  evolved,  and  appears 
in  short  sentences  and  in  archaic  forms. 

From  1896  to  1899  the  nekropolis  of  Abydos  was  excavated  by 
M.  Amelineau  ;  and  the  scientific  significance  of  the  site  burst  upon  the 
learned  world  with  dramatic  effect,  when  among  the  many  inscribed 
fragments  brought  to  Paris  by  the  fortunate  explorer  after  his  two  first 
campaigns,  Dr.  Erman  and  Dr.  Sethe  recognized  the  names  of  some  of 
the  kings  of  the  first  dynasty  of  Manetho. 

In  1899  M.  Amelineau  retired,  looking  upon  the  nekropolis  of 
Abydos  as  exhausted  (completement  epuisee).  Mr.  Petrie  then  obtained 
from  the  authorities  the  right  to  excavate  there.  This  experienced  field 
archeologist,  working  from  1899  to  1902,  was  able  to  bring  to  light  a 
large  amount  of  inscribed  material,  from  which  the  attempt  may  be 
made  partly  to  reconstruct  the  two  first  dynasties  of  Manetho.  Among 
the  royal  names  found,  there  are  some  the  archaism  of  whose  surround- 
ings have  led  Mr.  Petrie  to  regard  as  representing  the  Thinite  dynasty 
of  ten  kings,  who,  according  to  the  Ptolemaic  historian,  were  the 
immediate  predecessors  of  Menes.  The  practice  of  the  Egyptian 
kings  of  adopting  a  standard,  or  Horos  name,  upon  their  accession  to 
the  throne,  in  addition  to  their  personal  and  other  titular  names,  makes 
the  identification  of  monumental  names  with  those  of  the  later  official 

1  Analysis  by  Dr.  Gladstone,  F.R.S.,  shows  practically  pure  copper,  with  1  percent. 
of  manganese,  and  no  tin.  The  gold  is  under  King  Zer  (Mena's  successor),  79.7  to 
13.4  of  silver;  under  King  Mersckha  =  84.82  to  13.5  of  silver;  under  King  Qa  (the 
seventh  king  of  the  First  Dynasty),  84  to  12.95,  with  no  iron  or  copper. 


PREHISTORIC   /•.'.  )/"/'. 


15 


lists  of  extreme  difficulty  ;  save  in  such  cases  as,  fur  instance,  when 
both  names  are  found  on  the  same  object.  It  may  well  he  that  Mr. 
Petrie's  preliminary  study  may  have  to  he  revised  as  additional  material 
bearing  upon  the  question  comes  to  light;  meanwhile  his  identifications 
may  be  regarded  as  practically  established  lor  the  First  Dynasty. 


Pre-Menite  Kings. 

Ka,  Zeser, 

Nanner, 

Sma. 

First  Dy 

nasty. 

Manetho. 

Seti's  List. 

Tombs. 

1.   Menes. 

Mena. 

Aba-Men. 

•2.     Atllnthis. 

Teta. 

Zer-Ta. 

3.   Kenkenes. 

Ateth. 

Zet-Ath. 

4.  Uenephes. 

Ata. 

Den-Merneit. 

5.   Usafais. 

Hesepti. 

Den-Setui. 

6.    Biiebis. 

Merbap. 

Azab-Merpaba. 

7.  Semem pses. 

Sememptah. 

Mersekha-SbeinMi. 

8.   Bienekhes. 

Qebh. 

Ka-Sen. 

Second 

Dynasty. 

1.  Bokhos. 

Bazau. 

Hotep-Abaui. 

2.   Kaiekbos. 

Kakau. 

Baneb. 

3.  Binotbris. 

Beneteren. 

Neberen. 

4.  Tlas. 

Uaznes. 

Sekhemab- IVrabsen, 

5.   Srthenes. 

Senda. 

Kha-Sekbem. 

.").    Khaires. 

Ka-lta. 

7.   Neferkheres. 

Zaza. 

Kha-Sekhemui. 

It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  these  important  tombs  should  have 
been  often  and  ruthlessly  ransacked  in  ancient,  ami  especially  in  modern 
time-«.  Only  the  refuse  of  this  rich  mine  of  precious  information 
remained  to  be  collected.  But  even  that  refuse  has  furnished  data  for 
the  study  of  the  earliest  organized  community  of  which  we  possess  any 
knowledge,  and  has  set  back  the  beginnings  of  authentic  history  some 
five  hundred  years.  Moreover,  the  connection  between  the  close  of  the 
prehistoric  period  and  the  rise  of  the  dynastic  power  is  established 
through  the  means  of  the  pottery;  and  its  history  may  be  followed  in 
the  stratified  ruins  of  the  old  town  of  Abydos.  The  prehistoric  is 
thus  linked  with  reigns  of  the  historic  kings.  On  the  other  hand, 
through  the  temple  offerings,  among  which  are  some  admirable  ivory 
carvings,  the  development  of  art  can  be  traced.  In  Mr.  Petrie's  opinion 
there  is  a  difference  between  the  art  of  the  dynastic  and  that  of  the 
prehistoric  peoples,  and  he  argues  that  the  former  were  a  conquering 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

race,  whom  he  credits  with  the  hieroglyphic  system  of  writing.  These, 
according  to  his  view,  were  endowed  with  an  artistic  sense,  while  the 
prehistoric  people  were  a  mechanical  race,  from  whose  culture  the  con- 
querors adopted  some  of  the  elements  which  became  united  with  their 
own.  However  this  may  be,  tue  early  historic  material  consists  of 
stone  fragments — of  stelae  and  of  vases — of  jar  sealings,  inscribed  with 
royal  names,  of  ivory,  bone,  and  ebony  tablets  and  labels  giving  in 
brief  inscriptions  some  all  too  scanty  information  concerning  these 
monarchs ;  stone  and  alabaster  vases — some  of  which  are  of  huge 
proportions — bearing  royal  names  and  titles  ;  others  small,  of  rock 
crystal,  or  of  polished  marble  capped  with  gold  and  fastened  with  a 
twisted  gold  wire  the  delicacy  of  which  could  not  be  surpassed  to-day  ; 
games,  ornaments,  feet  of  furniture  admirably  carved  in  the  shape  of 
those  of  hoofed  animals ;  fluted  columns  of  ivory  or  of  ebony,  which 
once  formed  parts  of  elegant  caskets  or  of  other  articles  of  furniture  ; 
the  great  stelae  of  the  kings,  and  the  humble  limestone  epitaphs  of 
their  servants — all  these  relics  of  the  highest  civilization  reached  by 
man  six  or  seven  thousand  years  ago,  teem  with  historic  suggestion  ; 
but  they  are  surpassed  in  human  interest  by  the  crowning  discovery,  in 
1902,  of  the  mummied  arm  of  the  queen  of  King  Zer — the  Teta  of  the 
official  lists,  and  the  immediate  successor  of  Mena.  This  arm  had  been 
torn  off  from  the  body  of  the  queen  by  early  grave  robbers,  and  had 
been  concealed  in  a  hole  in  the  wall  of  the  tomb.  The  object  of  this 
desecration  of  the  queen's  mummy  became  manifest  as  soon  as  the 
prize  was  examined.  On  the  arm  were  three  bracelets  of  gold  and 
precious  stones — turquoise,  amethyst,  and  lapis-lazuli.  These  are  now 
in  the  museum  at  Cairo.     (See  Plate  V.) 

The  most  important  result  of  the  discoveries  of  the  last  few  years 
is  the  tying  together  of  many  hitherto  loose  and  disconnected  threads  in 
Egyptian  culture.  The  day  is  forever  past  when  serious  scholars  could 
exclaim,  with  more  eloquence  than  accuracy,  that  Egyptian  civilization, 
"like  Pallas- Athene,  had  burst  upon  the  world  armed  cap  a  pie  at  the 
loot  of  the  pyramids."  From  the  prehistoric  interments  of  Nagadah 
to  the  reigrj  of  Aha-Mena;  from  the  latter  to  the  pyramids  of  Gizeh, 
a  natural  sequence  may  be  traced  through  the  upward  stages  of  a 
laborious  evolution.  Even  in  the  prehistoric  age  the  original  pit  dug 
out  of  the  ground  had  been   improved  into  a  large  sepulchral  cham- 


PREHISTORIC  EGYPT.  17 

her,  lined  with  mats,  roofed  with  timber  and  brush  wood,  ami  fitted 
with  vases  and  other  furniture.  The  early  dynastic  tombs  were  much 
the  same,  only  they  were  lined  and  floored  with  timber.  The  offerings 
at  first  were  dropped  between  the  timber  lining  and  the  side  of  the  pit. 
Later  regular  cells  were  built  for  the  offerings  ;  and,  lastly,  an  elaborate 
series  of  store-rooms  was  added.  The  tomb  originally  had  an  entrance. 
Later  a  sloping  hole  led  to  it;  in  time  a  stairway  was  made;  and  at 
last  a  long  passage  appears,  such  as  is  seen  in  the  pyramids.  A  similar 
evolution  can  be  traced  in  the  outer  form  of  the  tomb.  At  first  tin- 
sand  was  heaped  over  the  pit  or  the  chamber  in  a  slightly  raised 
mound.  Xext,  this  heap  was  walled  in  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  in 
the  sand.  Then  the  wall  was  gradually  raised  and  became  a  brick 
block  (mastaba).  At  last  this  expanded  and  rose  upward  in  a  mass  of 
concentric  coatings,  which  eventually  reached  the  pyramidal  shape,  as 
at  Meduni,  and  culminated  in  the  pyramids  of  Gizeh.  The  wood  and 
mud-brick  styles  of  architecture  furnish  a  clue  to  the  peculiar  technique 
of  the  later  stone  work.  The  hard  stone  beads  of  the  Nagadah  stone- 
workers,  lead  to  the  rich  though  bead-like  jewelry  of  Teta's  queen, 
which  [»recedes  the  elaborate  goldsmithery  of  Dashur ;  while  their  blue- 
glazed  quartz  beads  prepare  us  for  the  glazed  vases  of  King  Mena  and 
tli"  large  tiles  which  were  used  for  wall  decoration  under  the  first 
dynasties,  as  well  as  for  the  fine  and  varied  glazes  of  later  times.  The 
concisely  inscribed  tablets  and  labelled  offerings  of  Mena's  age  fore- 
shadow the  gradually  increasing  use  of  writing,  which  grows  on  the 
walls  of  the  mastabas  of  Medum  and  of  Gizeh,  until  under  the  sixth 
dynasty  the  walls  of  the  entire  sepulchral  chamber  in  the  royal  pyramids 
of  Sakkara  are  covered  with  long  religious  texts.  Under  Mena  we 
already  see  the  king's  earliest  emblem,  the  mighty  bull,  as  he  charges 
into  nets,  with  a  freedom  which  recalls  the  art  of  the  pre-hellenic 
Aegaean  world.  Neit,  the  Libyan  goddess,  is  a  prominent  object  of 
worship  among  the  first  dynastic  kings;  and  Up-Uatu — a  form  of  the 
jackal-headed  god  Anubis,  the  guardian  of  the  nekropolis  and  the 
'opener  of  the  ways'  (to  the  other  world) — after  Horos,  i~  the  special 
protector  of  the  kin--.  On  the  tablet  of  Mena,  in  the  Museum  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  the  monarch  is  termed  :  -flic  Horos  Aha, 
born  of  Up-Uatu,'  and  he  is  represented  worshipping  at  the  shrine  of 
Neit.  (See  Fig.  5.)  From  first  to  last  the  early  Egyptians  seem  to 
Vol.  I.— 2 


18 


INTRODUCTION. 


have  steadilv  pursued  a  consistent  course  of  development ;  and  we  may 
well  hold,  with  MM.  Errnan  and  Maspero,  that  wheresoever  may  have 
been  the  primeval  home  of  their  ancestors,  and  whatever  contingent  the 
original  North- Africans  mav  have  received  at  various  times  from  Asia, 
whenever  these  settled  in  the  Nile  valley,  the  country  conquered  and 
assimilated  them  ;  and  when  the  monumental  record  opens,  the  stamp 
of  Egypt's  peculiar  civilization  is  already  set  upon  the  Egyptian 
people. 

S.  Y.  S. 


Ivory  Tablet  of  Aha-Mena.     (From  de  Morgan  '  Recherches, '  etc. — Le  grand  tombeau 

de  Nagadah. ) 


CHAPTER   I. 

EARLIEST   EGYPTIAN    HISTORY. 

THE  historical  development  of  Africa  has  been  controlled  by  its 
physical  geography.  In  the  infancy  of  navigation  the  greater 
part  of  the  continent  was  cut  off  from  intercourse  with  the  outer 
world  by  the  ocean  and  by  virtually  impassable  deserts.  That  por- 
tion of  its  vast  area  was  therefore  limited  to  such  civilization  as 
could  be  originated  among  its  own  populations,  and  was  deprived  of 
the  intercourse  with  other  races  which  stimulates  internal  develop- 
ment The  indigenous  Africans  are  doubtless  capable  of  organizing 
great  political  communities  ;  yet  history  can  afford  to  be  content  with 
the  barest  allusion,  for  example,  to  the  empire  of  Ghana,  destroyed 
by  the  Mandingos  in  1213  a.D.,  and  to  that  of  the  Mandingos  them- 
selves, which  was  broken  up  by  the  attacks  of  the  Tuariks,  and  by 
lb.-  discordant  ambitions  of  its  provincial  governors.  It  was  otherwise 
with  the  Mediterranean  littoral  and  the  Nile  valley.  Their  a< 
bilitv  to  foreign  influences  led  to  an  early  development.  Some  four 
millenniums  before  Homer  sang  of  "  Royal  Thebes — 

••  Egyptian  treasure-house  of  countless  wealth. 
■  Who  boasts  her  hundred  gates,  through  each  of  which 
•  With  bone  and  car  two  hundred  warriors  march  " — 

the  inhabitants  of  the  Nile  Valley  had  laboriously  built  up  a  mighty 
civilization.  For  many  centuries  Egypt  remained  a  leading  factor  in 
the  world's  history,  and  was  the  great  school  of  the  civilized  world. 
On  the  other  hand,  during  the  Punic  wars  the  balance  of  universal 
ciiij. ire  for  a  time  wavered  between  African  Carthage  and  Koine. 

These  civilized  portions  of  Africa  were  occupied  by  non-African 
rait-  belonging  to  the  Mediterranean  or  Caucasian  family,  which  by 
many  are  regarded  as  immigrants  ;  they  were  the  Libyan-,  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  the  ( lushites.1 

1  Among  the  Libyans  or  Berbers  are  to  be  reckoned  the  Araazerks  and  the  Shel- 
Iooks,  descendants  of  the    Mauritania™,  the  most  ancient  inhabitants  "t"  Bfoi 

19 


20  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 

The  Egyptians  regarded  themselves  as  autochthones,  the  remem- 
brance of  an  immigration,  if  one  had  taken  place,  having  vanished  from 
their  minds.1  The  name  which  they  gave  themselves  was  Romet  '  men.' 
Others  might  be  Asiatic-,  Libyans,  Negroes — they  were  'men'  par 
excellence;  and  they  maintained  that  the  God  Horns  had  created  them 
in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  The  physiognomy  of  the  dynastic  Egyptians 
is  discernible  in  their  sculptures,  particularly  in  those  of  the  Old  Empire  ; 
in  these,  more  than  in  those  of  later  times,  the  artists  aimed  at  realistic 
reproduction.  The  face  bears  a  mild,  often  melancholy,  expression.  The 
forehead  is  low,  the  nose  of  moderate  length,  the  lips  full,  the  shoulders 
are  remarkably  broad  ;  the  legs  are  not  powerful ;  the  feet  are  long. 

The  physical  type  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  bears  a  resemblance 
to  that  of  the  Berbers.  An  inference  has  been  drawn  that  the  Berbers 
or  Libyans  are  immigrants  from  Europe.  This  inference  is  by  no 
means  made  improbable  by  the  affinity  which  clearly  exists  between 
the  languages  of  the  Egyptians,  Berbers,  and  Cushites, — an  affinity 
which,  though  not  so  pronounced  as  that  connecting  the  Sanskrit 
and  the  Greek,  is  still  indisputable,  showing  itself  most  evidently 
in  the  structure  of  the  language,  and  particularly  in  the  pronoun. 
The  Semitic  tribes  who  live  adjacent  to  the  Cushites,  i.  e.,  the  Abys- 

furthermore,  the  Kabyles,  descendants  of  the  Numidians,  and  other  tribes  in  Algeria; 
a  few  remains  in  Tunis  and  Tripoli,  and  also  the  dwellers  in  the  oases  at  the 
foot  of  the  Atlas  Mountains,  in  the  oasis  of  Awdjila,  south  of  Barca,  and  in 
Siwah  (the  oasis  of  Amnion);  moreover,  the  Imosharghs  ( in  Arabic  Tuariks,  'night- 
robbers');  probably  the  ancient  Gaetulians;  and  finally  the  Guanches,  upon  the 
Canary  Islands,  by  whom  one  hundred  years  ago  the  Berber  language  was  still  spoken. 
To  the  Cushites  belong  the  Bedja,  descendants  of  the  Blemyes  and  of  the  Ethiopians 
of  Meroe,  with  the  nearly  related  branches  of  the  Bisharin  in  the  desert  east  of  the 
Nile;  the  Ababdeh,  dwelling  to  the  north  of  them,  the  Zabadaeans  of  Ptolemy  ;  the 
Shukurieh,  east  of  Khartum;  the  Hamran  upon  the  Setit.  an  affluent  of  the  Atbara; 
and  the  Hadendoa,  east  of  the  lower  Atbara.  After  the  Bedja  follow  the  Dankali,  on 
the  eastern  margin  of  the  region  extending  from  the  fifteenth  degree  of  latitude  to  the 
straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb ;  the  Agau  in  western  Abyssinia,  with  the  Bogos,  Falasha, 
and  Jewaressa;  the  Somali,  inhabitants  of  the  only  peninsula  in  Africa;  the  Galla  or 
Ororao,  with  the  Shoa  and  numerous  subdivisions;  and  the  Saho,  northeast  from 
Axutn,  perhaps  a  severed  branch  of  the  Galla  tribe. 

1  In  1894  Mr.  Flinders-Petrie  made  excavations  at  Koptos,  near  Thebes,  under 
the  belief  thai  the  dynastic  Egyptians  entered  the  Nile  Valley  by  the  Kosseir-Koptos 
road  from  the  Red  Sea  und  its  southern  shores.  His  discoveries  at  this  point  were 
the  first  of  the  recent  prehistoric  'finds.'  At  the  lowest  of  several  strata  containing 
remains  of  35  reigns  ranging  from  pre-dynastic  times  to  the  third  century  A.  D.,  he 
found  crude  statues  of  the  God  of  Koptos — Min — roughly  carved  with  shells  and  fish. 
These  establish  an  early  connection  with  the  Red  Sea;  hut  their  makers  obviously 
had  little  to  contribute  to  Egypt's  artistic  or  industrial  life. 


THE   NILE   TN    EGYPT.  21 

sinians,  do  not  appeal' on  the  page  of  history  before  the  Christian  era, 
though  they  seem  to  have  immigrated  from  southern  Arabia  at  an 
earlier  date;  they  once  spoke  the  now  extinct  Language  of  the 
Geez,  of  which  the  living  representatives  are  the  Tigre  and  Tigrina  ; 

the  Amharic  dialect,  now  the  chief  speech  of  A b\ ssiuia,  though 
related  to  that  of  the  Gee/,,  is  not  in  the  line  of  direct  descent. 

Egypt,  QPmef,  "the  black,"  the  land  of  the  dark  soil,1  is,  as  Herod- 
otus characterizes  it,  a  gift  of  the  Nile,-  whose  waters,  fraught  with 
blessing,  have  not  only  created  the  diluvium  of  the  Delta,  but  also 
the  fruitfulness  of  the  rainless  valley,  which  is  immediately  contigu- 
ous to  the  rocky  wilderness. 

The  regular  recurrence  of  the  Nile  floods  had  its  distinct  influence 
on  the  nature  of  the  civilization  of  the  people  that  inhabited  these 
regions.  These  people,  from  remotest  times,  were  obliged  to  devise 
manifold  mechanical  and  useful  arts  by  which  to  preserve  the  bless- 
ings bestowed  by  the  river. 

Regulations  relating  to  boundaries  of  property,  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  all  measures  securing  the  profitable  use  of  the  water,  issued 
from  the  rulers  and  the  cultivated  classes;  thus  was  developed  the 
sense  of  justice  and  order  in  the  life  of  the  state.  The  ease  with 
which  it  was  possible  to  transport  great  burdens,  as  blocks  of  stone, 
upon  the  water,  gave  occasion  for  navigation  at  an  early  day,  and 
caused  it  to  be  eagerly  pursued.  In  order  to  form  a  conception  of 
the  difficulties  attending  culture  of  the  soil  in  Egypt,  we  must  bear 
in  mind  that  the  valley  of  the  Nile  was  originally  covered  with 
masses  of  reeds  emitting  noxious  vapors,  and  lying  between  sandy 
hillocks;  that  the  river  often  changed  its  course;  and  that  the  inun- 
dations left  a  large  part  of  the  valley  untouched,  while  in  other  places 
the  water  excavated  the  soil  and  formed  standing  lakes.  The  Delta 
was  a  vast  lagoon  of  islands  of  sand,  upon  which  grew  reeds,  papyrus, 
and  lotus.  The  inhabitants  were  obliged  to  regulate  the  course  of 
the  stream  by  dikes,  and  to  construct  canals  to  the  remote  parts  of 
the  valley,  in  order  to  render  the  sand-flats  also  fertile. 

1  In  Hebrew,  Assyrian,  and  Persian,  Mizraim,  MuQur,  Mudraya,  from  which  is 
derived  the  Arabic  Mirr  now  used,  '  the  land  of  fortresses'  (originally  the  appella- 
tion of  a  district  east  of  the  Delta). 

-  In  Egyptian  the  Nile  bad  the  sacred  name  Mapi,  the  profane,  Aur;  in  Assyrian, 
Jaru  :  in  Persian,  Pirav—lvom  the  Egyptian  pi  (article)  and  aur  and  in  Hebrew 
Jeor. 


22 


EARLIEST  EGltPflAN   BISTORT. 


As  Egypt  is  composed  wholly  of  the  broad  openings  in  the  valley 
which  are  watered  by  the  Nile,  its  population  was  necessarily  homo- 
geneous. There  was  no  distinction  between  nomads  and  permanent 
settlers,  between  robber  mountaineers  and  industrious  lowlanders. 
Cultivating  a  soil  of  amazing  fertility,  the  people  obtained  an  opulence 
which  even  in  the  early  ages  secured  a  luxury  that  was  refined  by  the 
arts  and  sciences  which  they  had  acquired.  At  the  same  time  the  sol- 
diery who  guarded  and  protected  the  provinces  of  Lower  Egypt,  which 
enjoyed  but  a  slight  natural  defence  against  Libya  and  Asia,  were  no£ 


Fig.  1.  —  Prehistoric  interment  of  Nagadah  type  (from  El  Amrali),  after  de  Morgan. 

without  occupation,  and  hence  when  the  era  of  conquests  began,  they 
were  able  to  appear  in  the  field  endowed  with  surpassing  military  science. 
The  Nile  is  formed  by  two  large  streams,  —  the  White  and  the 
Blue  Nile.1  The  former,  which  according  to  the  geographer  Ptolemy 
comes  from  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon,  or  from  the  slopes  of  the 
mountain-range  whose  highest  peak  is  Kilimanjaro,  under  the  equator, 
Hows  out  of  Lake  Ukerewe  or  Victoria  Nyanza  (which  receives  trib- 
utaries from  the  same  mountains),  and  descending  the  great  Murchison 
i  In  Arabic.  Bahr-el-Abiad  and  Bahr-eUAzrak. 


PLATE     I 


The    Murchison   Falls. 
(From  a  sketch  by  Sir  Samuel  Baker.) 


History  of  All  Nations,  Vol.  J  page  23. 


ü  5 

•~*  u 

o.  .- 

o  a 

h  | 


z    « 

h    - 


THE    DELIA. 


23 


Falls    (Plate  I.),  after  a  short  distance  empties  into  the  Qorthera 

bay  of  Allien  Nyanza;  it  then  emerges  from  this  lake,  and  dashes 
down  in  the  cataract  of  Gondokoro.  Augmented  by  many  affluents, 
and  especially  by  the  waters  of  the  Bahr-el-Ghazai,  it  reaches  the 
Egyptian  Soudan  after  passing  through  boundless  stretches  of  Cores! 
and  swamp  (  Plate  ll.j,  and  at  Khartum  unites  with  the  Blue  Nile, 
which  with  the  Atbara  (Astaboras)  and  other  Abyssinian  tributaries 
causes  the  inundation.     The  united  stream,  hereafter  receiving  no 


Fig.  2. (a)  Prehistoric  implements  from  Nagadah.     (Original-  in  Museum  of 

University  of  Pennsylvania.)      [h\  Bucrania  from  Hu. 

additional  tributaries,  separates  at  Cairo  into  two  main  branches,  which 
form  the  Delta  or  Lower  Egypt  (Figs.  1-3).  The  arable  soil  of  the 
Delta  covers  a  plain  of  about  G560  square  miles  (a  little  more 
than  Saxony,  a  little  less  than  Wiirtemberg  or  New  Jersey),  while 
the  remaining  territory  below  Assuan  contains  a  cultivated  area  oi 
about  5,163  square  miles.  The  mouths  of  the  Nile  have  changed 
considerably  since  ancient  times.  In  antiquity  seven  mouths  or  arms 
were  enumerated,  namely,  from  west  to  east:  the  Canopic  mouth 
(west  from  Abukir  Bay),  the  Bolbitine  (at  Rosetta),  the  Sebennytic 


24 


EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  HIS  TORY. 


(at  the  extreme  end  of  the  Lake  of  Burlos),  the  Phatnitic  (at 
Damietta),  the  Mendesian  and  Tanitic  (on  the  borders  of  hake 
Menzaleh),  and  the  Pelusian  (southeast  of  Port  Said),  the  former 
channel  of  which  is  now  crossed  by  the  Suez  Canal.  The  first  of 
these,  according  to  the  account  given  by  Herodotus,  was  artificially 
diverted  in  its  lower  section  from  an  older  Canopic  arm  of  the  Nile ; 
the  latter,  in  the  opinion  of  Aristotle,  was  the  only  natural  mouth. 

At  the  time  before  the  Nile  rises,  when  it  is  at  the  lowest  point, 
the  Khamsin,  the  Egyptian  Simoom,  begins  to  blow.     It  comes  from 


Fig.  3.  —  Door  socket,  Hierakonpolis.      (From  original  in  Museum  of  the  University 

of  Pennsylvania. ) 

the  southeast ;  and  for  fifty  days  from  the  end  of  April  it  continues, 
charging  the  air  as  it  were  with  electricity  by  the  sand  which  it 
carries  along ;  everything  is  covered  with  a  hot  and  glowing  stratum. 
Set-Typhon  (the  god  of  evil)  seems  to  have  won  the  victory;  but 
si  »on  the  Etesian  wind  rises  in  the  west-north-west,  and  blows  away 
the  dust,  and,  especially  during  the  dog-days,  mitigates  the  fierce  heat 
of  the  sun.  In  early  June  the  rise  of  the  Nile  commences,  and  this, 
like  the  preceding  drought,  is  accomplished  with  such  extraordi- 
nary and  impressive  phenomena,  that  it  is  not  surprising  that  the 
awestruck  people  believed  that  they  observed,  in  these  changes, 
the  immediate  intervention  of  beneficent  and  of  destructive  divinities. 


THE   INUNDATION   OF    THE    NILE. 


25 


The  inundation  comes 
from  Abyssinia,  in  whose 
highlands  the  rain  falls  in- 
cessantly for  three  months, 
and  the  river  rolls  an  im- 
mense mass  of  mud  in 
upon  the  lower  valley  of 
the  Nile.  By  the  end  of 
June  the  flood  reaches 
Syene  or  Assuan  (  Fig.  4  ), 
by  the  beginning  of  July 
it  st likes  the  apex  of  the 
Delta  at  Cairo.  At  the 
close  of  September  the  wa- 
ters remain  for  nearly  a 
month  at  the  same  eleva- 
tion, but  attain  their  high- 
est point  during  the  first 
half  of  October.  In  the 
first  months  of  the  follow- 
ing year  the  water  has 
already  retired  from  the 
fields  and  the  stream  con- 
tinues to  subside  until 
June.  In  order  to  be  best 
suited  to  purposes  of  cul- 
tivation, the  waters  must 
have  reached  a  height  of 
twenty-four  feet;  in  our 
day  nearly  nine  feet  ad- 
ditional  are  necessary. 
Moreover,  the  floods  can- 
not be  suffered  to  work 
as  they  will  ;  innumerable 
canals  and  reservoirs  must 
be  contrived,  or  yet  more 
simple   arrangements,  as  water-wheels,  to  conducl   the  water  to  the 


26  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN   HISTORY. 

more  elevated  fields  in  order  to  cause  the  necessary  deposit  of  mud 
and  its  penetration  by  the  moisture. 

All  appearances  of  nature  and  of  human  life,  which  with  unvary- 
ing uniformity  begin  and  pass  away,  fulfilling  their  ends  unerringly, 
with  a  regularity  denied  to  man,  were  conceived  of  by  mankind 
in  the  childhood  of  the  race  as  divine  acts.  Even  in  the  brutes,  as 
it  seemed  to  the  Egyptians,  the  certainty  with  which  they  effeeted 
their-  objects,  the  unchanging  nature  of  their  existence,  the  incom- 
prehensible intuitive  skill  which  without  any  instruction  constantly 
recurs  in  each  individual,  are  a  revelation  of  an  immediate  exercise 
of  divine  power.  Thus  the  Nile,  which  regulated  the  increase  and 
the  fall  of  its  waters  in  a  true  dependence  upon  heavenly  manifesta- 
tions, was  a  god  named  Hapi,  to  whom  offerings  were  poured  out, 
and  psalms  were  sung,  as  in  a  hymn  composed  by  Enna  in  the  time  of 
Merenptah,  the  son  of  Rameses  II.  : 

"  O  overflowing  of  the  Nile,  to  thee  will  offerings  be  brought ; 
oxen  will  for  thee  be  slain;  in  thine  honor  shall  there  be  festivals  ; 
winged  things  to  thee  shall  be  offered ;  wild  beasts  of  the  fields 
rejoice ;  pure  flames  shall  be  kindled  to  thee ;  gifts  such  as  men 
bring  to  the  gods  shall  they  bring  to  the  Nile;  incense  rises  up  to 
heaven;  oxen,  bulls,  and  fowls  shall  be  roasted;  the  Nile  makes  two 
cavities  in  Thebais.1  Full  of  mystery  is  his  name  in  heaven ;  he  reveals 
not  his  form ;  vain  are  all  images  of  him.  No  temple  can  contain 
him,  no  counsellor  can  penetrate  to  his  heart ;  youth  delights  in  thee, 
thy  children  thou  guidest  as  their  king.  Thy  law  prevails  through- 
out the  land,  in  the  presence  of  thy  servants  in  the  Northland ;  he 
drinks  (  wipes  away )  the  tears  from  every  eye,  he  provides  for  the 
fulness  of  his  blessings."" 

At  Gebel-Selseleh  (in  Egyptian,  Khenu),  where  the  Nile  bursts 
through  the  mountains  with  impetuous  rush,  the  Pharaoh  is  por- 
trayed as  he  is  presenting  offerings  to  the  divine  triad,  Amen, 
Mut,  and  Khuns.  The  inscription  mentions  the  two  festivals  in 
honor  of  the  issuing  forth  of  the  stream  out  of  its  two  cavities  (by 
Herodotus,  the  mountains  in  which  these  cavities  lie  are  called 
Crophi  and  Mophi),   and   in  honor  of  the   arrival   of  the  water  at 

1  According  to  the  Egyptian  legend,  the  Nile  issues  from  two  caves  in  the  south. 


ESTABLISHMENT   OF  MONARCHY.  27 

this  place.  In  the  firsl  festival  (  among  the  (necks  called  Neiloa  ), 
at  the  beginning  of  the  rise  of  the  Nile,  there  used  to  be  offered, 
according  to  the  aceoiint  ,^i\ en  by  the  Arabians,  a  maiden,  in  any 
event  a  wax  puppet,  in  order  to  obtain  a   full   inundation.     Ever  at 

this  day  a  clay  image  as  a  ■•  bride  "  is  placed  on  the  dike,  and  this  is 
swept  away  by  the  flood  before  it  has  reached  its  highest  point.  The 
present  inhabitants  of  Egypt  celebrate  the  *  night  of  the  tear-drop' 
(June  17),  on  which  a  drop  falling  from  heaven,  according  to  the 
ancient  Egyptian  faith  a  tear  of  the  goddess  Isis,  causes  the  rise  of 
the  water.  They  also  celebrate  the  festival  of  the  '  filling  up  of  the 
Nile'  (August  19 ),  after  which  there  follows  the  cutting  of  the 
embankment. 

As  early  as  the  first  Pharaoh,  Menes  (Mena),  mention  is  made 
of  an  undertaking  relative  to  the  Nile.  This  king, — the  most  ancient 
dynastic  ruler  whose  identity  has  been  established  by  contemporary  monu- 
mental evidence, — according  to  tradition  altered  the  course  of  the  river, 
and  founded  Memphis.  He  is  also  credited  with  having  brought  about 
a  serious  political  change — i.  e.,  the  consolidation  of  the  principalities 
then  dividing  the  Nile  Valley  into  one  united  Empire  of  the  "  two 
lands"  under  the  rule  of  the  house  of  This. 

This  was  a  theocratic  Empire,  in  so  far  that  no  separation  was  made 
between  the  temple  and  the  state.  The  chief  alteration  from  the  former 
condition  consisted  in  uniting  the  numerous  provinces  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt  under  one  absolute  and  sole  authority.  The  king  was 
the  rider  in  the  name  of  God  ;  he  was  the  son  of  God,  and  once  estab- 
lished on  the  throne,  became  his  incarnation.  The  temple  was  the 
domestic  chapel  of  this  earthly  god,  who  shared  his  sanctuary  with  the 
priesthood  alone.  The  priesthood,  in  addition  to  its  spiritual  functions, 
was  invested  with  the  most  important  secular  offices,  and  was  com- 
posed largely  of  the  dependents  and  relatives  of  the  royal  family. 
Although  it  was  possible  for  men,  through  education,  to  attain  to 
the  highest  positions,  yet  it  was  customary  for  sons  to  succeed  their 
fathers,  and  daughters  their  mothers,  —  the  latter,  for  example,  in 
discharging  the  duties  of  priestesses  and  temple-women.  The  con- 
sideration with  which  the  Egyptian  priesthood  was  treated  was  en- 
hanced by  the  elaborate  Bystem  of  rules  that  regulated  the  manner 
of  life  of  the  priests.     In  externals  they  were  distinguished  from  the 


28  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 

laboring  classes  by  their  dress  of  white  linen,  over  which  was  thrown, 
while  they  were  performing  priestly  functions,  a  panther's  skin  ;  their 
heads  were  shaven,  and  they  wore  elaborate  wigs ;  they  were  required 
to  al  »stain  from  fish,  from  the  flesh  of  certain  wild  animals,  from 
beans,  and  from  other  food  which  was  considered  unclean.  The 
Greeks, — Herodotus,  Diodorus,  Strabo,  Plato  (in  the  Timaeus), — who 
in  the  later  periods  of  the  monarchy  visited  the  country,  differed  in 
their  enumeration  of  the  several  orders  of  society.  It  would  seem  that 
the  priests  (with  whom  were  included  the  learned  men,  authors, — the 
libraries  were  in  the  temples, — high  officials,  and  especially  architects), 
the  soldiers,  the  merchants,  the  members  of  different  trades,  and  the 
peasants  constituted  distinct  classes  of  society,  marked  off  by  sharp 
dividing-lines.  In  their  precepts,  however,  the  Egyptian  sages  disclaim 
arrogance,  and  allow  for  changes  of  condition  resulting  from  life's 
vicissitudes.  There  are  instances  of  freedmen  who  advanced  to  high 
places  through  their  own  efforts  and  the  King's  favor.  Ti  was  a  par- 
venu who  rose  to  a  high  estate  and  wedded  a  princess.  The  ancestors  of 
the  great  architect  Sen-mut  "  were  not  found  in  writing  " — and  among 
court  officials  were  foreigners  who  may  even  have  been  slaves.  For 
instance,  the  First  Speaker  to  his  Majesty  King  Merenptah,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  take  charge  of  all  intercourse  between  the  King  and  his  attend- 
ants, was  a  Canaanite — Ben  Mat'ana,  son  of  Yupa'a — from  d'Arbarsana.1 
Among  the  government  architects  are  also  found  the  names  of  princes 
and  of  officers  who  had  intermarried  with  princesses.  Brugsch  has  given 
a  genealogical  list  of  twenty -five  head  architects,2  which  reaches  back 
from  the  time  of  Darius  to  the  reign  of  Shishak  I.,  whose  architect  was 
named  Hor-em-bes,  and  thence  farther  back  to  the  time  of  Rarneses  II. 
and  Seti  I.,  in  whose  reigns  the  famous  Bek-en-khuns,  builder  of  the 
Ramesseum  and  of  many  other  splendid  works,  nourished  ;  his  statue, 

1  Comp.  Erman,  l<>o.  cit.,  10G.  Also  Mariette,  Catalog.  d'Abydos,  No.  1136.  and 
Abydos,  III.  90. 

2  Such  genealogies  are  valuable  for  ascertaining  approximately  chronological 
studies.  In  these  lists  three  generations  are  reckoned  to  a  century,  while  the  average 
duration  of  the  reigns  of  the  several  kings  must  be  regarded  as  much  shorter.  An 
architect  was  named  Bek,  whose  father  was  Men  ;  the  father  of  the  latter,  Hor-amu, 
served  under  Amenhotep  Ii  I.  as  the  superintendent  of  the  sculptors  ;  the  architect  of 
the  latter,  under  whose  direction  was  erected  the  colossal  statue  of  Memnon,  which 
was  brought  from  the  quarry  upon  eight  boats  joined  together,  was  Amenhotep,  son 
of  Hapi,  whose  tomb  is  at  Der-el-Bahri. 


MEMPHIS  20 

with  an  enumeration  of  the  offices  which   he  filled,  and  an  account  of 
his  labors  as  architect,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Glyptothek  at  Munich. 

Pharaoh  Mena  was  ;t  native  of  Tini,  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
province  of  Thinitis  j  at  a  later  day  this  place  was  overshadowed  by 
the  neighboring  Abydos.  Near  this  spot  was  found,  some  years  ago, 
a  tomb  with  two  lions  resembling  those  at  Mycenae  j  which  according 
to  an  inscription  belonged  to  a  family  sepulchre  in  existence  since  the 
age  of  .Mena.  We  have  seen  (Introduction,  pp.  13-18)  that  Menu's 
tomb,  and  perhaps  that  of  his  Queen  Neit-hotep,  have  been  recently  dis- 
covered j  and  that,  in  some  thirty-four  contemporary  burials  of  retainers, 
a  large  number  of  objects  inscribed  in  his  name  have  been  found.  There 
is  now,  therefore,  an  abundance  of  material  to  prove  the  identity  of  the 
until  now  semi-legendary  personage,  who  henceforth  must  stand  unchal- 
lenged at  the  threshhold  of  History.  His  worship  continued  throughoul 
the  ages  ;  and  his  priesthood  is  on  record  as  late  as  the  reign  of  Psam- 
metichus.  According  to  tradition,  he  was  killed  by  a  hippopotamus — 
perhaps  an  allusion  to  some  rebellion  of  Set-worshippers,  to  whom  that 
animal  was  sacred.  Mena  introduced  the  pomp  and  ceremony  of  royalty, 
and  the  laws  which  he  established  were  revealed  to  him  by  the  god 
Thoth.  His  most  important  work  was  the  building  of  Memphis.1 
Herodotus  relates  that  he  erected  a  dike  to  protect  the  town  from 
the  overflow  of  the  river.  The  flood  had  formerly  swept  close  by 
the  Libyan  range  of  mountains ;  but  the  king,  by  means  of  the  dike 
constructed  a  hundred  stadia  higher  up,  had  compelled  the  stream  to 
flow  in  the  new  bed  as  it  is  to-day,  so  that  the  town  came  to  lie 
on  the  west  bank ;  and  by  excavating  a  lake,  the  town  was  protected 
also  on  the  west,  (This  dike  was  discovered  by  Linant  Bey.  about 
thirteen  miles  south  of  Memphis.)  The  town  extended  from  the 
present  Bedrashen,  beyond  Mitrahineh  and  Sakkara  ('the  temple 
of  Sokar '),  as  far  as  Abusir  ('the  temple  of  Osiris').  It  existed 
until  the  end  of  the  kingdom,  although  at  one  time  it  suffered 
greatly  from  the  Shepherd  Kings,  after  whose  expulsion  it  was 
rebuilt.  It  was  again  much  injured  by  the  Persians,  and  finally  losl 
its  importance  by  the  founding  of  Alexandria  ( 332  B.C.  >.  When  in 
638  A.D.,  upon  the  site  of  ancient  Babylon,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Nile    opposite    the  island  Roda,  the  modern  Old  Cairo,  and,  later, 

1  Men-no-fer,  'the good  dwelling,'  or  Nw-ptah  (Hebrew  Noph),  'the town  of  Heph- 
aestus' ;  in  the  lists  of  the  provinces  it  is  styled  the  'town  of  the  white  wall.' 


30  KARLIEST   EGYPTIAN   HISTORY. 

Cairo  itself,  were  built,  the  ancient  city  of  Memphis  ceased  to  exist. 
The  stones  of  the  monuments  of  the  temple  of  Ptah,  of  the  'white 
wall  '  or  castle,  and  of  the  seat  of  the  princes  of  the  provinces  or  nom- 
archs,  as  well  as  those  of  many  Grecian  edifices,  were  appropriated 
and  used  for  new  foundations ;  so  that  at  the  time  of  Abdul-Atif 
(who  died  in  1232)  there  remained  only  one  monolithic  apartment 
or  naos  of  green  stone,  with  figures  of  beasts  (sphinxes)  and  of  men 
of  immense  size,  together  with  a  mass  of  wonderful  ruins,  inhabited 
by  bands  of  robbers  who  drove  a  traffic  in  the  ransacked  treasures 
of  antiquity.  In  our  day  the  heaps  of  rubbish  at  Mitrahineh  are 
overgrown  with  palm-trees ;  and  there  remains  only  a  statue  of 
Rameses  IL,  about  fifty-three  feet  in  height,  formed  of  a  single  piece 
of  limestone,  which  lies  on  the  right  side,  having  fallen  to  the 
ground ;  it  was  set  up  by  this  Pharaoh  in  front  of  the  pylon  of  the 
temple  of  Ptah,  of  which  a  few  pieces  of  the  foundation  remain. 

One  might  well  conceive  that  the  Pharaoh  who  introduced  mon- 
archy also  brought  about  a  division  of  the  land  into  districts  or  nomes  l 
in  order  to  lighten  the  labor  of  administration.  It  is  more  likely,  how- 
ever, that  the  petty  states  brought  together  to  form  Mena's  Empire 
were  simply  turned  into  its  provinces,  each  retaining  its  original  limits, 
as  well  as  its  nobility,  its  militia,  and  its  special  standard.  At  least, 
these  standards  appear  on  the  earliest  monuments,  such,  for  instance, 
as  are  found  at  Abydos  and  at  Hierakonpolis.  Furthermore,  the 
forty-two  judges  of  the  other  world,  who,  according  to  the  "  Book  of  the 
Dead,"  were  summoned  from  the  chief  cities  of  the  kingdom  to  form 
a  tribunal,  stand  in  evident  agreement  with  the  number  of  the  nomes, 
and  this  connection  of  the  nomes  with  the  ancient  doctrine  of  Hades 
attests  their  great  antiquity.  In  the  division  of  the  country  into 
Domes,  use  was  probably  made  of  pre-existent  conditions.  The  in- 
habitants were  anciently  doubtless  divided  into  numerous  clans,  each 
with  a  patriarch  as  chief,  who  also  served  as  priest  of  the  deity  of  the 
tribe.  With  the  change  from  the  nomadic  to  a  settled  manner  of  life, 
effected  by  their  new  relations  to  the  soil,  the  bonds  of  kindred  were 
relaxed  as  the  territorial  tie  strengthened.  The  patriarch  was  trans- 
formed into  a  chieftain  or  prince,  his  tent  became  a  temple,  and  he  fell 
into  the  possession  of  the  best  land  and  largest  herds.  Thus  arose  small 
1  Greek,  nomos  ;  in  sacred  Egyptian,  hesp  ;  in  profane,  p-tosh. 


THE   NOMES. 


31 


cantons  with  their  several  deities,  which  in  later  ages  were  at  times 
in  antagonism.  When  one  princely  house  gained  ascendancy  over 
the  others,  and  stood  at  the  head  of  the  united  kingdom,  it  gave  the 
preference  to  its  own  district,  and  sought  to  exalt  its  local  deity 
above  other  gods. 

It  would  seem  that  Upper  Egypt  annexed  the  'North  Country.1 
The  'two  lands'  never  were  quite  merged  into  one.  They  were 
united.  And  as  the  evidence  of  this  union,  the  Pharaohs  wore  a 
double  crown;  the  southern  white,  the  northern  red,  blended  in  a  single 
one,  the  pshent.  The  Government  remained  twofold.  Public  lands 
and  state  property  were  divided  ;  and  high  administrative  officials  were 
Treasurers  or  Supervisors  of  '  the  two  houses'  of  silver,  or  of  grain, 
etc. 


Fig.  5.  — Ebony  tablet  of  Aha  (Mejja).      (From original  in  Museum  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania. ) 

Besides  occasional  mention  of  the  names  of  the  provinces,  we  pos- 
sess, certainly  from  the  date  of  the  New  Empire  down  to  the  times 
of  the  Romans,  records  of  the  provinces  or  nomes,  from  which  it 
appears  that  the  division  remained  the  same  for  thousands  of  years. 
The  apparent  differences  in  the  several  lists  are  explained  by  the 
existence  of    subordinate  nomes,  mentioned    perhaps    between    two 


32 


KAULIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY 


principal  nomes.  Every  province  bad  its  capital  (md)  with  a  local 
deity,  whose  worship  was  performed  by  chosen  or  by  hereditary 
priests.  This  was  the  seat  of  the  hereditary  ruler  (hik),  the  head 
of  the  administration  and  of  the  military  department,  to  whom  was 
also  intrusted  the  collection  of  the  tribute ;  under  him  were  toparchs 


ffl 

TV 


Fig.  6.  —  The  first  and  the  second  nomes  in  Upper  Egypt.     (From  a  list  in  the 
temple  of  Kameses  II.  in  Abydos,  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  about  1350  b.c.) 

or  subordinate  rulers.  In  every  nome  a  distinction  was  made  between 
arable  land  and  land  where  at  high  water  were  formed  swamps  in  which 
were  reared  water-fowl,  lotus,  and  papyrus,  and  which,  when  dry,  was 
used  for  pasture.  Finally  there  were  the  principal  canal  (mer)  for 
purposes  of  irrigation  and  navigation,  and  the  side 
canals.  The  god  of  the  nome  from  which  the  reign- 
ing house  took  its  origin,  acquired  a  preferred  position. 
In  turn  Ptah,  Ra,  Amen,  assumed  the  highest  rank 
among  the  gods.     The  influence  of  the  Sacred  Colleges 

Fig.  7. —  Coin     was  also  an  important  factor  in  the  religious  evolution 

of  the  nome  Om-       v      ,  ,  rp,  TT  ,.        ,.  i     tt  i- 

bit  ot    the    people.        thus    Heliopolis    ana    ilermopolis, 

while  in  the  historic  period  they  furnished  no  reign- 
ing house,  made  a  powerful  impression  on  the  religions  thought  of 
tlic  people;  and  their  gods  and  doctrine  played  an  important  part  in 
Egyptian  intellectual  life.  A  nome  might  include  a  number  of  minor 
provinces.  For  instance,  the  first,  south  of  Assuan,  possessed  a  longer 
or  shorter  portion  of  the  Nubian   valley  of  the  Nile,  according  to  the 


TUF.    NOMES. 

greater  or  less  extent  of  the  power  of  Egypt  Among  ancient  non- 
Egyptian  writers,  Herodotus  first  names  eighteen  nomes  up  to  the  two 
lying  together  in  the  Delta  occupied  as  their  allotment  by  the  warrior 
(hisses,  —  the  Hermotybies  and  Calasiries  (in  Egyptian,  Kelashes). 
Diodorus  relates  that  Sesostris  established  thirty-six:  nomes;  and  the 
same  number  is  given  by  Strabo,  who  assigns  ten  to  the  Thebais, 
the  same  number  to  the  Delta,  and  sixteen  to  Middle  Egypt  The 
latter  region  contained  at  times  .mly  seven  nomes,  and  hence  was 
called  Heptanomis;  afterwards  an  eighth  was  added,  the  nome  of 
Arsinoe  (Fayum;  in  Coptic,  P'o-ibm,  'lake-land').  Pliny  mentions 
forty-four  nomes,  and  Ptolemy,  in  the  Delta  alone,  twenty-four.  The 
names  that  occur  are  in  part  borrowed  from  the  popular  or  demotic 
Egyptian,  as  Pathyrites  (Egyptian,  Porhatkor)  ;  in  part  they  are- 
Greek  paraphrases,  as  Apollonopolites  (from  Apollo,  or  Ilor-hut, 
whose  temple  was  in  the  chief  town),  or  Lycopolites,  of  •  the  city  of 
the  wolves'  (jackals),  where  the  sacred  animal  of  Anubis  was  wor- 
shipped. Brugsch  has  fully  treated  of  the  lists  of  the  nomes  in 
speaking  of  geographical  inscriptions.  In  these  (see  Fig.  6)  the  rep- 
resentation of  a  nome  appears  in  the  form  of  a  human  figure,  a  woman, 
or  a  form  partaking  of  the  attributes  of  both  sexes  hearing  in  hand 
the  principal  products  of  the  locality.  Upon  the  head  is  the  ideo- 
gram of  the  nome,  and  above  this  the  device  for  the  '  standard  '  ; 
the  latter  is  also  often  found  alone.  Four  lists  of  the  times  of 
the  Eighteenth,  Nineteenth,  and  Thirtieth  Dynasties  are  preserved, 
but  are  so  far  injured  that  they  show  very  imperfectly  the  names 
of  the  nomes.  Two  only,  belonging  to  the  age  of  Seti  I.  and 
Rameses,  which  were  found  by  Brugsch  at  Abydos,  present  a 
larger  series  of  names,  and,  as  a  supplement,  add  a  complete  list 
of  the  towns,  which  are  grouped  under  their  appropriate  nomes.  Of 
the  period  of  the  Macedonian  Ptolemies  there  are  six  lists,  of  which 
the  fullest  had  its  origin  at  Edfu  in  the  age  of  Ptolemy  IX..  (known 
also  as  Alexander  I.).  The  king  is  represented  in  each  nome  as 
offering  or  presenting  the  nome  to  the  god  Ilor-hut.  Finally  there 
are  five  lists  of  the  period  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  situation  of 
the  nomes  or  provinces  we  ascertain  by  comparing  together  the 
names  on  the  Egyptian  monument-,  those  given  in  the  lists  of 
Herodotus,  Strabo,  Pliny,  and  Ptolemy,  modern  name-  of  places,  and 
Vol.   I.     3. 


34 


EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY 


especially  the  later  provincial  coins.  In  this  investigation  great 
credit,  is  due  to  Brugsch,  de  Rouge,  Dümichen,  Maspero,  Erman, 
Müller,  Griffith,  and  others,  and  yet  the  subject  is  by  no  means  ex- 
hausted, particularly  with  regard  to  the  nornes  of  the  Delta. 

The  province  of  Nubia  appears  on  the  lists  as  the  southernmost 
nome,  to  which  also  was  assigned  all  the  conquered  region  south  of  the 
limits  of  Egypt  proper.  Here  lies  the  island  of  Philae  (Fig.  8), 
the  frontier  island ;  opposite  to  it  the  island  Senem  (Bigeh)  ;  and  on 
the  northern  limit  of  this  province,  opposite  Sun  (Syene ;  in  Arabic, 
Assuan),  the  island  of  Ab  (Elephantine),  on  which  were  situated  the 


Fro.  8.  —  Small  Island  near  Philae,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  Cataracts  of  Assuan. 


chief  town  and  the  temple  of  the  god  Khnum.  Here  also  is  found 
the  famous  Nilometer,  a  staircase  leading  down  to  the  surface  of  the 
river,  having  on  it  marks  to  indicate  the  height  of  the  water ;  this 
was  disused  at  an  early  day,  but  in  the  year  1870  was  discovered  and 
again  put  to  use.  Farther  down  are  situated  Ombos  (Fig.  7),  with 
the  temple  of  Sebek-Ra,  a  god  with  a  crocodile's  head  ;  and  Khenu  (in 
Arabic,  Selseleh),  where  the  stream  is  so  narrowed  by  sandstone  rocks 
that  the  people  say  it   could  be  closed  in   old  times  by  chains    (seise- 


THE   NOMES. 


35 


AA).  Of  the  quarries  and  the  monuments  existing  there,  much  has 
been  written.  The  second  province  is  that  of  Apollinopolis  Magna, 
or  Edfu,1  where,  amid  the  walls  of  a  very  ancient  sanctuary,  stands  a 
completely  preserved  temple  of  the  age  of  the  Ptolemies,  dedicated  to 
Horns,  who  is  recognized  by  his  hawk's  head  and  double  crown.  The 
third  province  is  that  of  Latopolis,  or  Esneh  (Egyptian,  Seni),  whose 
inhabitants  regarded  the  fish  latus  as  sacred,  and  did  not  venture  to  eat 
it;  in  the  Old  Empire  Xekhebt  (El-Kab)  was  the  capital.  The  Gov- 
ernors of  its  great  fortress  were  equal  in  rank  with  the  princes  of  the 
blood.  At  this  place,  Nekhebt  (Eileithyia),  the  patron  goddess,  repre- 
sented as  a  vulture  or  as  an  asp,  wearing  the  white  crown  of  Upper 
Egypt,  was  worshipped  (Fig.  i>).  The  fourth  nome  is  the  Pathyritic, 
or  that  of  western  Thebes,  called  also  Diospolites,  on  account  of  Amen 
(Zeus),  who  was  here  held  in  special  reverence,  or  Hermonthites  from 
the  town  of  Hermonthis  (Er- 
ment).  Koptos,  the  capital  of 
the  fifth  nome,  where  the  ithy- 
phallic  Min, — the  Pan,  or  Pria- 
pus,  of  the  Egyptians, — was  wor- 
shipped, had  a  temple  which  goes 
back  to  prehistoric  times.2  This 
town  was  the  place  where  the 
valley  approached  nearest  to  the 
Arabian  Gulf,  and  east  of  it 
several  roads  united  at  Laketa? 
from  which  the  two  lines  of  traffic 

branched  off  to  Berenice,  and  past  the  famous  porphyry  quarries  of 
Hamamat  to  Kosseir  (Leucos  limen).  The  Tentyritic  nome  possessed 
at  its  capital,  Denderah,  a  noble  temple  of  Hathor,  built  in  the  times 
of  the  Romans,  which,  like  the  temple  at  Edfu,  was  erected  on  the  site 
and  according  to  the  plan  of  a  more  ancient  sanctuary.  The  seventh 
province,  that  of  Diospolis  Parva  (Egyptian,  Ha),  was  so  called  be- 
cause in  the  chief  town,  together  with  the  nome  deity  [sis-Hathor, 
the  god  Amen  of  Thebes  received  worship.  In  the  province  of  Aby- 
dos  was  said  to  be  the  tomb  of  Osiris,  a  famous  resort  of  pilgrims, 

1  Edfu,   in   Egyptian,  A/hu,   'the  place  of  the  stabbing,'  namely,  of  Typhon  by 

Horus,  which  took  place  here.  2  See  note  t"  page  20. 


Fig.  9.  —  Nekheht. 


36  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN   HISTORY. 

where  wealthy  Egyptians  were  buried  near  the  God.  In  1898  Ameli- 
neau  discovered  at  Abydos — in  a  tomb  which  turned  out  to  be  that 
of  King  Zer  (Teta)  of  the  First  Dynasty — a  granite  cenotaph  of  Osiris 
of  late  date.  Certain  peculiarities  of  the  tomb  and  the  presence  of 
votive  offerings  make  it  probable  that  this  was  the  so-called  tomb  of 
the  God,  where,  in  the  New  Empire,  pilgrimages  were  made.    (See  above, 

p.  62.)  The  ninth  province,  Panopolites, 
with  its  capital  Khemmis  (Akhmin), 
where  the  God  Min  was  worshipped, 
was  formerly  the  seat  of  the  wool  in- 
dustry.    The  tenth   province  was  Aph- 

Fig.  10.— Coins  of  thenome         roditopolites   (in   Egyptian,    Tebu,   now 
Herinonthites.  ,.    .     T  _  .  ,        ' 

called     Ittu),    where    Hathor-lsis    was 

worshipped ;  and  to  the  east  lay  the  eleventh  nome,  or  Antaeopolites. 
Here  was  the  town  of  Tuka  (in  El-Kebir),  the  abode  of  Antaeus,  who 
is  identical  with  the  Asiatic-Egyptian  war-god  Reshpu,  and,  in 
the  latest  Osiris  myth,  with  Horus.  At  a  later  day  the  province  of 
Aphroditopolis  disappears  from  the  lists  ;  and  in  its  place  is  found  the 
province  of  Shet,  in  which  Aphroditopolis  on  the  west,  and  Antaeopolis 
on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Nile,  are  included  ;  to  them  was  added,  in 
the  time  of  the  Caesars,  Hisopis  (Egyptian,  Shotep).  The  deity  of 
this  province  is  Khnum.  The  twelfth  nome,  Tu-hef,  or  that  of  the 
'  snake  mountain  '  (in  Greek,  Hypselites)  had  for  its  capital  Hierakon, 
'  the  town  of  the  hawk.'  The  ancient  temple  and  nekropolis  were  exca- 
vated in  1898  by  Quibell,  who  found  there  important  remains  of  the 
early  dynasties  (see  Introduction,  pages  6—12,  also  Plate  V.  and  Fig.  3), 
and  among  other  valuable  objects  of  the  Old  Empire,  a  large  copper 
statue  of  Pepi  I  Meri-Ra,  and  a  superb  golden  hawk.  The  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  provinces  are  the  two  Lycopolites,  lying  south  and  north 
of  Siüt,  in  which  Anubis,  having  the  head  of  a  jackal  (the  wolf  of 
Egypt),  was  worshipped.  The  northern  province  had  Kesi  (Cusae) 
for  its  capital,  and  Hathor  was  its  deity.  Under  Hadrian  this  province 
was  divided  between  the  thirteenth  and  fifteenth  ;  and  for  the  fourteenth 
a  new  province  was  created  on  the  west  bank,  which,  after  the  town 
Antinoiipolis,  built  by  him  in  memory  of  his  favorite  Antinoiis,    was 

1  In  Egyptian,  Tiniai  ;  the  town  is  so  called  upon  the  Berberini  obelisk,  reared  by 
Jiudrian. 


THE    NOMES.  37 

named  Antinoites  ;  this  town,  opposite  Ashmunen  or  Hennopolis,  was 
built  in  Roman  style.     The  fifteenth  province  or  nome  is  Soutb  Her- 

rnopolites,  and  its  capital  was  Ashmunen,  when-  Ilermes-Thoth,  the 
ibis-headed  god  of  learning,  was  worshipped;  in  it  lie  the  ruin-  and 
tombs  of  Tel-el- Amarna  and  the  rocky  grottos  of  El-Bersheh.  The  latter 
were  systematically  studied  (1892-94)  by  Messrs.  F.  LI.  Griffith  and 
1\  E.  Newberry  on  behalf  of  the  '  Archaeological  Survey  of  Egypt.'  At 
the  frontier  town  of  Temta,  where  duties  on  imports  coming  from  the 
south  were  levied,  and  where  the  great  canal  branched  off  from  the 
Nile,  flowing  as  far  as  the  Fayum,  we  reach,  with  the  sixteenth  nome,  the 
northern  provinces  of  Upper  Egypt;  these  provinces  of  Middle  Egypl 
are  called  the  Heptanomis.  The  metropolis  of  this  nome,  also  known 
as  Xorth  Hermopolites,  wras  Ha-bennu — that  is,  the  'town  of  the 
phoenix,'  and  Horus  was  the  provincial  deity.  Several  celebrated 
rock-tombs,  especially  those  of  Beni-Hassan,  belong  to  this  nome. 
The  province  of  Cynopolites  derives  its  name  from  the  jackal-headed 
god  Anubis,  which  here  was  worshipped.  The  capital  is  the  modern 
Kais  (Egyptian,  Kasa).  The  eighteenth  province  is  West  Oxyrhyn- 
chites,  or  Alabastropolis,  on  account  of  the  quarry  of  alabaster  found 
at  Shas.  Its  capital  wras  Ha-Suten,  and  Anubis-Sep  was  its  deity. 
The  capital  of  the  nineteenth  nome  was  Oxyrynchus  (Behnesa),  where 
MM.  Grenfell  and  Hunt  recently  discovered  a  mine  of  valuable  Graeco- 
Roman  papyri.  These  include,  among  a  mass  of  business  and  persona] 
documents,  important  fragments  from  the  classics  and  the  early  Chris- 
tians; and  in  both  classes  of  MSS.  furnish  the  earliest  examples 
extant.  The  town  was  founded  by  Unas,  the  last  king  of  the  Fifth 
Dynasty,  and  it  is  probable  that  Herodotus  refers  to  this  province  in 
speaking  of  the  nome  Anysius.  Its  inhabitants  had  the  chief  part 
of  the  commercial  intercourse  with  the  oases  in  the  Sahara,  Kenem 
(Khargeh),  Testes  (Dache!),  and  Ta-ah  (Farafrah),  and  brought  about 
importations  from  them  to  the  valley  of  the  Nile;  but  this  connection 
with  the  desert  appeared  as  an  influence  of  Typhon,  and  it  i-  related 
in  the  myth  of  Osiris  that  here  a  contest  arose  whereby  he  lost  a  part 
of  a  leg;  that  is,  a  part  of  the  desert  was  rent  off  by  the  inundation 
through  the  canal  Bahr-Jusuf.  The  twentieth  province,  Herakleopo- 
lites  Magnus,  had  as  its  deity  Har-Shefl,  who  received  divine  honor- 
in  the  town  of  Ha-Khenen-su,  the  modern  Annas  (in  Coptic,  Hennes). 


81029 


38  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 

The  twenty-first  province  was  divided  into  two  parts,  the  eastern 
situated  on  the  Nile,  the  western  constituting  the  Faymn ;  at  a  later 
day  the  former  was  added  to  the  twentieth  province.  The  capital 
was  called  Pa-Sebek,  the  habitation  of  the  god  Sebek,  to  whom  the 
crocodile  was  sacred ;  hence  the  place  was  named  in  Greek,  Croco- 
dilopolis.  It  was  named  Arsinoe,  after  the  queen  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphia  (284-246  B.c.),  and  is  to-day  called  Medinet-el-Fayum. 
The  last  province  of  Upper  Egypt  is  Aphroditopolites,  so  named 
from  Tepahe  ;  that  is,  the  town  of  the  cow-headed  Isis-Hathor, —  the 
modern  Atfi. 

The  provinces  of  Lower  Egypt,  respecting  some  of  which  there 
still  exist  many  doubts,  begin  with  Memphites,  the  nome  of  Memphis, 
in  which  is  the  seat  of  government  again  to-day  (Cairo)  as  it  was  six 
thousand  years  ago.  The  second  nome,  Letopolites,  had  as  its  chief 
town  Sokhem,  perhaps  on  the  site  of  the  village  of  Usim,  which  lies 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  a  short  distance  below  Cairo.  The 
god  of  this  nome  was  Horus,  and  the  goddess,  Bast,  or  Leto.  The 
capital  of  the  province  of  the  West  was  on  the  southern  point  of  the 
Lake  Mareotis  ;  its  ruins  are  not  as  yet  discovered.  Its  deity  was 
Hathor,  in  the  form  of  a  cow  lying  down.  The  vicinity  of  the  Natron 
Lakes  and  the  Oasis  of  Amen  (Siwah)  were  regarded  as  belonging 
to  this  province ;  and  hence  it  was  called  by  Strabo,  Nitriotes,  and 
by  Pliny,  Hammoniacus.  To  this  province  we  may  also  refer  the 
district  which  is  specially  called  Mareotis  by  Pliny  and  Ptolemy, 
from  the  town  Marea  (in  Egyptian,  Meri),  on  the  south  shore  of 
Lake  Mareotis.  Lying  between  this  and  Alexandria  was  the  nome 
Menelaites,  so-called.  The  more  recently  constituted  nome  of  Alex- 
andria, which  was  established  in  place  of  Rhacotis,  might  jmss  for  an 
adjunct  to  the  third,  perhaps  also  to  the  fifth  province.  The  fourth 
nome,  Prosopites,  had  for  its  capital  town  Teka,  probably  modern 
Tükh,  southwest  from  Tanta ;  the  Greek  appellation  is  derived  from 
the  town  of  Prosopis,  which  Dümichen  has  identified  with  the  town 
of  Pa-ari-shep,  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  the  western  Delta. 
The  fifth  province  is  Saites  (now  Sa-el-Hugar),  with  the  sanctuary 
of  the  goddess  Neith,  or  Net.  As  a  part  of  the  same  is  to  be  re- 
garded the  nome  of  Temi-en-hor  ('  the  fortress  of  Horns '),  situated 
west,  and  now  called   Damanhfir.     The  sixth  province,  called   Xoites, 


THE    NOMES. 


39 


had  Khasuu  (now  Sakha)  as  its  capital,  and  lay  northeasi  from  Sais. 
The  capital  of  the  seventh  province  was  Pa-neha  (now  Benha),  lying 
on  the  southern  part  of  the  Damietta  branch.  Pa-tum  was  the  capital 
of  the  eighth  province,  lying  to  the  east.  This  is  Pithom,  mentioned 
in  the  Bible,  its  profane  name  being  Succoth.  This  town  was  exca- 
vated by  Naville  in  1883.  The  region  is  full  of  interest  as  the 
scene  of  the  Exodus.  It  was  situated  at  the  entrance  of  the  Wady- 
Tümllät,  originally  a  desert  tract,  which  Hanieses  II.  convened 
into  a  fruitful    region    by  constructing   the    eanal    from    the    Pelusian 


Fig.  11. — Ivory  tablet  from  tomb  of  King  Den-Setui.  showing  oldest  known 
sectional  plan  of  building.  (From  original  in  Museum  of  the  University  <>f 
Pennsylvania. ) 

branch  of  the  Nile,  in  the  vicinity  of  Bubastis  fat  Zagazig),  as  far 
as  Crocodile  (Timsäh)  Bay.  The  district  near  the  entrance  to  the 
Wady  was  low,  and  was  fruitful;  it  was  desirable  for  herdsmen, 
and  was  known  as  the  land  of  Goshen  (in  Egyptian,  Kesem). 
The  ninth  province  is  that  of  Busiris  (in  Egyptian,  Pa-usiri,  '  the 
home  of  Osiris'),  to-day  Abusir,  midway  on  the  Damietta  branch; 
the  tenth  was  that  of  Athribis  ( in  Egyptian,  Hat-her-ab,'  the  midland 
dwelling'),  whose  ruins  lie  thickly  at  Benha.  Here  worship  was 
paid  to  a  Horns.  The  eleventh  province  is  Lycopolites,  at  the  west 
of  the  two  former.     The  name  of  the  capital,  Lycopolis,  is,  on  the 


40  E A  U LIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 

Rosetta  stone,  Pa-mak,  'house  of  the  Evil  One,"  or  Typhon  :  several 
lists  name  Sheten  as  the  capital,  which  is  identified  with  the  modern 
village  of  Shenit,  north  of  Horbet,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Abu- 
Kebir ;  but  Horbet  is  the  ancient  Pharbaethus,  mentioned  by  Herod- 
otus  as  a  separate  nome  (in  Egyptian,  Pa-ari-hebi).  The  twelfth 
province  is  Sebennytes  (in  Egyptian,  Teb-nuter,  '  the  town  of  the 
holy  calf,'  the  modern  Semennud),  on  the  Damietta  branch  of  the 
Nile,  where  in  ancient  times  the  Sebennytic  Nile  flowed.  Here  also 
was  the  scene  of  a  victory  of  Horus  (Anher)  over  Set,  whence  he  was 
represented  on  the  coins  as  a  warrior.  The  thirteenth  nome  has  for  its 
capital  the  celebrated  Heliopolis  (An,  or  On),  with  the  sanctuary  of 
Ra.  The  capital  of  the  fourteenth  province  was  the  city  of  Zan,  from 
which  the  hosts  of  the  Pharaohs  were  accustomed  to  set  forth  for  Asia. 
Its  site,  excavated  by  Petrie  in  1883—4,  is  strewn  with  fragments  of 
colossi,  obelisks,  and  other  monuments  which  date  from  the  Old  Empire 
down  to  later  times.  Horus  was  here  worshipped  in  the  form  of  a  lion, 
in  which  he  pursued  Typhon  amid  the  forests  of  the  neighboring  hills. 
This  is  the  nome  that  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  was  called  Tanites  ; 
its  capital  was  Tanis  (Biblical  Zoan,  modern  San).  Many  remains  of 
the  Hyksos  have  been  found  there.  The  fifteenth  or  Hermopolitic 
province  had  Pa-Tehuti  ('  the  house  of  Thoth  ')  for  its  capital,  which 
must  have  been  situated  northeast  of  Bahr-es-Sughaiyir,  in  the  region 
of  the  village  El-Megnune.  The  sixteenth  was  the  province  of  Mendes 
(in  Egyptian,  Pa-Ba-neb-ded),  where  the  Sacred  Ram — as  the  soul  of 
Osiris — was  worshipped,  and  whose  ruins  lie  east  of  El-Mansurah  on 
the  Damietta  Nile.  The  seventeenth  province  extended  along  the  Dami- 
etta branch  ;  and  its  capital  was  Pachnamunis  (Egyptian,  Pakhen-en- 
amen),  or  Diospolis,  situated  below  Damietta.  Bubastis  was  the  eigh- 
teenth province.  Its  capital,  where  was  held  the  great  festival  of  the 
cat-headed  goddess  Bast,  was  on  the  site  of  the  modern  Tel-Basta. 
Its  temple  was  excavated  by  Naville  (1889-90).  The  capital  of  the 
nineteenth  province  was  named  Am,  and  its  guardian  goddess  of 
the  north,  the  snake-headed  Uazit  or  Buto,  was  revered  here.  This 
province  is  the  most  eastern  of  all ;  for  Am  is  the  city  which  the 
Hebrews  called  Sin,  and  the  Greeks  Pelusium,  the  latter  thus  trans- 
lating Egyptian  am  ('  dirt,'  '  mud  '),  although  am,  the  name  of  the 
city,  is  said  to  mean    '  eyebrows,'  because  the  brows  of  the  murdered 


THE   NOMES.  41 

Osiris  were  venerated  there  as  sacred  relic-.  The  site  of  Pelusium 
is  indicated  by  the  modern  village  of  Gerizet  el-Faramah.  To 
this  province  belonged  also  Sanilmt,  now  Tel-es-semmüt,  on  the 
old  road  to  Syria,  which   is   the  Magdolus   of  Secataeus  and   of  the 

Itinenn-iiiiii  Ardonini  of  the  fourth  century.  The  last  and  twen- 
tieth province  is  the  Arabian,  with  Phacusa  as  its  capital  (Kesem, 
Goshen).  Sepd  (a  form  of  Horns)  was  its  god.  Here  was  the 
land  of  Goshen,  in  which,  according  to  the  Bible,  the  Hebrew-  i'vi\ 
their  flocks.  At  the  extreme  point  arose  Hat-uar,  the  fortress  of 
the  Hyksos.  The  boundaries  of  the  Domes  in  the  Delta  are  to  some 
extent  difficult  to  be  ascertained  ;  and  their  number,  originally 
few,  appears  to  have  increased  in  later  times.  Herodotus,  besides 
some  of  those  already  mentioned,  names  also  the  nome  Aphthites, 
which  is  not  known  ;  Onuphites,  which  is  mentioned  by  Pliny 
also,  and  by  Ptolemy,  and  must  have  extended  between  Thmuites 
and  Athribites ;  moreover,  Myecphorites,  which  lay  opposite  Bu- 
bastis  upon  an  island  formal  by  the  Tanitic  and  Pelusian  branches 
of  the  Nile;  the  province  of  Khemmis,  by  which  Herodotus  could 
not  have  intended  Panopolites  the  ninth  nome  of  Upper  Egypt, 
but  rather  the  region  of  the  island  town  Khebi,  on  Lake  Burins, 
a  lagoon  in  the  northernmost  part  of  the  Delta  ;  also  the  nome 
Papremites,  whose  capital  lay  between  Damietta  and  Menzaleh  ;  and 
the  nome  Natho,  called  by  Ptolemy  Neut,  in  Egyptian,  Na-athu 
('the  papyrus  marshes'),  as  the  water  districts  of  Menzaleh  were 
called,  the  chief  town  being  Pane  phy  sis.  The  province  of  Metelites 
had  for  its  capital  Metelis  (Egyptian,  Senti-nofer,  the  modern  I'ua  >, 
on  the  lower  part  of  the  Rosetta  branch.  The  province  of  Phag- 
roriopolis  Brugsch  places  in  the  Wady-Tümilät.  The  province 
Heroöpolites  possessed  the  eastern  part  of  this  valley,  and  was  named 
after  Heroöpolis,  or  Hero,  the  profane  name  of  the  city  Rames 
Ani,  Anekhtu  (•  the  strength  of  the  mighty  one').  This  city  was 
brought  to  light  by  Naville  in  1883;  the  uame  Ero  castra  of  the 
Romans  was  according  to  him  derived  from  the  Egyptian  "/•".  'store 
chamber,'  since  here  were  situated  the  great  corn  magazines,  whose 
walls,  ten  feet  thick,  ami  doorways  are  still  standing.  To-day  the 
place  is  named  Tel-el-Mashüta.  Sethroites  (in  Egyptian,  Set-ro- 
luitu)  lay  between  the  nome  Tanites  and  the  southeastern   part  of 


42  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 

Lake  Menzaleh;  here  probably  was  situated  one  of  the  three  places 
which  bore  the  Semitic  name  Succoth  ('  tents '),  for  here  lived 
Semitic  nomads.  Here  were  the  nome  Ptenethu  (of  Pliny),  Phthe- 
notes  (of  Ptolemy),  in  which  lay  the  city  of  Buto,  on  the  lower 
Sebennytic  branch ;  the  nome  Menelaites,  which  is  between  the  prov- 
inces of  Mareotis  and  Alexandria,  and  on  its  coins  presents  the 
image  of  Harpocrates;  here  also  the  nomes  Andropolites  and 
Gynaecopolites,  according  to  Brugsch  west  of  Sais,  and  Caba sites 
(in  Egyptian,  Kahebes),  east  of  Metelites ;  the  nome  Naucratites, 
the  capital  of  which  was  near  the  modern  Nebireh,  on  the  Rosetta 
branch;  and  Leontopolites,  which  Brugsch  places  south  of  Mendes. 

As  we  have  already  shown,  division  of  the  land  in  Egypt  was 
connected  with  religion  in  so  far  that  several  provinces  contributed 
their  local  gods  to  the  Egyptian  pantheon.  The  fundamental  religious 
ideas  were  the  same  throughout  all  Egypt ;  and  in  general  attributes 
the  several  deities  bore  much  resemblance  one  to  another.  This  was 
natural  owing  to  the  common  temperament  of  the  Egyptians,  and 
to  the  similar  conditions  of  life  existing  in  the  entire  valley  of  the 
Nile.  The  most  important  source  of  knowledge  with  regard  to  the 
Egyptian  religion  is  the  '  Book  of  the  Dead/  a  collection  of  prayers 
and  formulae  for  the  use  of  the  deceased  in  the  other  world.  Copies 
of  selected  portions  of  these  forms  were  deposited  with  every  mummy. 
Parts  of  the  book  were  very  ancient,  but  others  were  of  later  date. 
The  text  of  the  Turin  papyrus  was  first  published  by  Lepsius.  (See 
Plate  III.)  Naville  has  edited  a  text  based  on  a  comparison  of  more 
than  eighty  copies,  and  many  other  scholars  have  made  contributions 
to  the  subject.  The  texts  discovered  at  Sakkarah  in  1884  in  the  Pyra- 
mids of  Kings  of  the  V.  and  VI.  Dynasties,  furnish  archaic  chapters  of 
similar  import,  and  have  proved  invaluable  for  the  study  of  Egyptian 
beliefs.  A  large  amount  of  religious  literature — hymns,  litanies,  prayers, 
myths,  magic  formulae,  etc. — has  also  survived. 

The  oldest  form  of  religion  in  Egypt  was  Animism.  In  this  form 
of  primitive  religious  consciousness  the  mind  sees  living  entities  in  all 
visible  objects,  and  regards  that  which  we  style  the  forces  of  nature 
as  depending  on  the  free  activity  of  spirits  or  souls.  These  spirits, 
either  of  their  own  free  motion  or  under  the  spell  of  human  incanta- 
tion, mingle  in  the  affairs  of  man.     They  are  regarded   as  taking  up 


RELIGIOUS   CONCEPTIONS.  43 

their  abode  cither  temporarily  or  permanently  in  certain  objects,  and 
from  these  entering  into  intercourse  with  men.  Thus  a  distinction 
may  be  made  between  a  worship  of  nature, — of  hills,  streams,  tree-, — 
as  being  physiolatry;  a  worship  of  animals,  zoölatry  ;  and  fetishism, 
or  a  superstitious  worship  of  lifeless  objects.  Idolatry  is  a  more  or 
less  artistic  development  of  fetishism.  According  to  the  faith  of  the 
ordinary  believer,  the  spirit  inhabiting  the  form  is  so  far  in  man's 
power  that  by  good  or  bad  treatment  he  can  control  it  to  his  advantage  ; 
and  it  is  also  possible  for  him  to  inflict  injury  on  a  distant  enemy  by 
obtaining  possession  of  his  image  and  piercing  or  harming  it.  This  aspeel 
of  fetishism,  or  witchcraft,  survived  through  millenniums.  In  European, 
as  well  as  in  Egyptian  history,  serious  legal  proceedings  were  based  upon 
the  official  recognition  of  the  power  of  man  thus  to  vicariously  control 
another,  and  even  to  murder  him,  either  by  sticking  pins  into  his  image, 
or,  if  of  wax,  by  melting  it  before  a  fire.  Totemism,1  a  designa- 
tion suggested  by  Lubbock  from  an  Indian  word,  marks  a  step  in 
advance  of  fetishism.  A  specific  individual  thing  is  not  now  deified, 
but  a  sacred  character  is  imparted  to  all  individuals  of  the  same  species ; 
thus,  by  elevating  a  bear  to  become  a  totem,  a  mysterious  relationship 
of  all  bears  to  the  men  who  venerate  him  is  established.  These  totems 
are  beings  to  which  man  feels  himself  subordinated,  and  whose  favor 
it  is  advantageous  for  him  to  acquire.  At  this  stage  of  human  devel- 
opment the  worship  of  the  sun  appears.  This  is  the  most  conspicuous 
feature  of  the  religion  of  Egypt  in  historic  times,  and  in  connection 
with  ancestor  worship  it  constituted  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the 
faith  of  Heliopolis,  which  eventually  influenced  the  local  worships  of 
the  entire  land.  To  this  stage  also  belongs  the  worship  of  the  animal 
species;  for  the  reason  that  the  more  powerful  spirits  have  taken  up 
their  abode  in  animals  on  account  of  their  innate  superior  energies,  and 
in  contrast  with  the  more  imperfect  existence  of  plants  and  lifeless  ob- 
jects. Animals  noted  for  their  beauty  and  strength,  for  their  value  to 
man,  for  the  terror  which  they  inspired,  or  for  certain  well-defined  in- 
stincts which  seemed  to  establish  a  relation  between  them  and  some 
deified  aspect  of  nature,  led  man  to  the  belief  that  he  must  seek  by 
worship  for  the  favor  of  their  indwelling  spirit-,  and  musl  thus  avert 
the  evil  that  might  be  inflicted  by  them.  The  several  provinces  of 
1  The  word  in  the  Algonquin  language  isotem,  <■.  '4.,  kitotern,  'a  family  mark.' 


44  THE   EMU,  I  EST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 

Egypt  had  their  escutcheons  or  standards,  on  which  appeared  the  ani- 
mal or  object  sacred  to  the  locality  ;  and  we  find  in  the  sanctuaries  of  the 

temple  sacred  animals  fed  by  the  priests  and  honored  as  divine.  There 
is,  however,  no  indication  that  the  Egyptians  ever  claimed  kinship  with 
or  attempted  to  trace  their  descent  from  the  local  'totem.'  Deities 
were  represented  with  the  heads  of  animals  whose  conspicuous  qualities 
seemed  to  present  some  analogy  to  the  special  attributes  with  which  they 
were  credited  by  their  worshippers.  To  Kaiechos,  the  second  Pharaoh 
of  the  Second  Dynasty,  was  anciently  ascribed  the  introduction  of  the 
worship  of  the  Memphian  Apis,  of  the  Heliopolitan  Mncvis,  and  of 
the  Mendesian  ram,  from  which  perhaps  is  to  be  understood  that 
official  recognition  was  given  by  this  king  to  the  ancient  faith  of  these 
localities.  It  should  be  remembered  that  traces  of  a  primitive  animal- 
worship  maybe  found  among  other  nations — notably  among  the  Greeks. 
It  is  difficult  not  to  see  in  the  eagle  of  Zeus,  the  serpent  of  Asklepios, 
the  owl  of  Athene,  for  instance,  a  dim  reminiscence  of  a  remote  stage 
of  the  people's  religious  evolution,  when  the  Spirit  of  the  Heavenly 
Power  seemed  to  dwell  in  the  eagle,  and  when  the  owl  and  the  ser- 
pent were  regarded  as  the  embodiments  of  Athene  and  Asklepios.  The 
Egyptian  priests  maintained,  even  down  to  the  latest  times,  a  shrewd 
policy,  according  to  which,  while  they  were  advancing  toward  an 
esoteric  monotheism,  they  encouraged  among  the  people  the  exoteric 
practices  of  the  most  unbridled  fetishism. 

The  nome  from  which  the  first  sovereign  came  was  also  the  birth- 
place of  the  best-known  and  most  important  myth  respecting  the 
gods.  Not  far  from  Thinis  lies  Abydos,  whose  priesthood  originated 
the  Osiris  myths,  which  rendered  their  sanctuary  one  of  the  most 
famous.  The  triumph  of  life  over  death  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
this  myth.  ( )siris  and  Isis  are  the  children  of  Nut  ('  space  ')  and 
of  Seb  ('  earth,'  which  is  constantly  renewed  and  yet  remains  im- 
perishable, and  thus  is  a  symbol  of  time).  They  in  turn  engendered 
in  a  mysterious  way  before  their  birth  their  child  Horus.  Next  to 
these  stands  another  pair,  a  brother  and  sister,  Set  (Typhon)  and 
Nephthys,  the  former  originally  a  god  of  evil,  or  of  nature's  fiercest 
powers,  represented  in  the  form  of  a  fabulous  animal  with  a  sharp 
mouth,  erect  ears,  and  a  forked  tail  ;  also  in  human  form  with  the  head 
of  the  same  animal.      He  puts  to  death  Osiris,  having  induced  him  by 


osiris.  45 

deceit  to  lie  in  a  coffer,  which  he  then  shut  and  threw  into  the  Nile. 
The  coffer  floats  down  the  Nile,  and  on  the  third  day  is  found  by 
Isis  and  concealed.  While  she  is  with  her  son  I  loins  at  Unto, 
Typhon  discovers  the  dead  body,  cuts  it  into  fourteen  pieces,  which 
he  casts  about  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  The  severed  mem- 
bers are  the  branches  of  the  Nile  in  the  Delta.  The  place  when-  the 
Delta  begins  is  called  the  '  dividing  of  Osiris '  (Kerk-asar) ;  and  on 
the  extreme  western  and  eastern  months  of  the  Nile  lie  the  towns  of 
the  right  and  of  the  left  Leg,  Hauar-ament  on  the  Canopic  branch, 
and  Ilauar  (Avaris)  on  the  Pelusian.  Isis  builds  a  tomb  lor  each 
member.  Osiris,  abiding  in  the  underworld,  joins  himself  after 
the  burial  to  Horns,  in  order  to  aid  him  in  the  conflict  with  Typhon. 
This  conflict  followed  in  different  places,  since  Typhon  after  every 
struggle  came  to  life  again;  but  it  was  finally  crowned  with  victory. 
Typhon  here  appeals  as  the  serpent  Ape  pi.1  in  the  water,  as,  for 
example,  at  Ombos ;  sometimes  also  in  human  form,  as  on  the  portico 
of  the  great  temple  at  Philae. 

The  meaning  of  this  myth  is  obvious.  Osiris,  originally  a  God  of 
the  Dead,  under  the  influence  of  the  religion  of  Heliopolis  becomes  the 
sun,  which  every  evening  dies  beneath  the  power  of  Typhon,  the  night. 
Commiserated  by  Isis,  he  wakes  every  morning  as  Horus,  who,  as 
avenger  of  his  father,  vanquishes  the  darkness.  The  contest  takes 
place  in  the  twilight  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  men,  who  behold  only  the 
l'esult  of  the  victory, — the  rising  of  the  new  sun.  In  like  manner  the 
earth  wakes  by  night,  and  Sirius  also,  the  heavenly  warder  ;  and  the 
moon  rises  up  as  a  substitute  for  the  sun,  and  as  the  pledge  of  its  resur- 
rection. Thus  also  Ra,  the  sun-god  of  Heliopolis,  is  styled  the  soul  of 
Osiris,  since  he  brings  the  light  to  its  manifestation.  Since  the  sun  and 
the  light  are  the  original  source  of  life,  Osiris  represents  also  the 
humidity  out  of  which  light  produces  all  life:  this  finds  in  the  god 
Hapi,  the  Nile,  its  visible  expression.  Typhon,  with  his  sewnty- 
two  officials,  represents  the  seventy-two  days  of  drought,  during 
which  Isis,  the  fruitful  earth,  languishes  and  seeks  her  spouse, 
until  her  son  lias  subdued  the  demon  of  drought,  and  the  stream 
pours  forth  its  waters  anew.  In  this  manner  Osiris  finally  be- 
comes life,  Typhon  death,  Isis  nature  (in  which  both  powers    partici 

i  Darkness,  in  Coptic,  is  hof,  '  serpent ; '  aphoph  is  'giant.' 


46 


EARLIEST   EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 


pate),  and  Horns  is  the  resurrection.  Horus  the  elder  is  probably  the 
most  ancient  god  of  the  Egyptians.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that, 
before  he  came  to  personify  the  rising  sun,  he  was  originally  a  heaven 
god  who — as  Maspero  has  happily  put  it — became  transformed  into  a 
god  in  heaven.  His  eye  was  the  sun,  his  embodiment  was  the  hawk  ; 
'  a  hawk  issued  out  of  the  sun  ' — (the  heavenly  abyssus),  says  the 
Book  of  the  Dead  (lxxi.  1.  c).  His  name  'Her'  means  'the  above,' 
the  'Superior,'  the  '  Most  High.'  If  we  may  judge  by  the  coins  of  the 
nomes,  as  studied  by  Jacques  de  Rouge  ('  Monnaies  des  Nomes '),  he 
was  worshipped  as  local  deity  in  at  least  half  of  the  nomes.  As  light- 
god  he  is  identified  with  the  sun-god  Ra.  Both  are  depicted  with  the 
head  of  the  hawk.  Ra-Harmachis  is  represented  with  the  sun-disk 
and  a  serpent,  but  Horus  with  the  double  royal  crown 
upon  the  hawk's  head.  The  greatest  exploit  of  Horus 
is  his  victory  over  Set,  to  whom  he  was  opposed  as 
the  winged  sun-disk,  Hor-Behüdti.  In  this  form  he 
was  venerated  in  the  temple  of  Edfu,  for  here  was 
one  of  the  chief  scenes  of  conflict  with  Typhon  (Fig. 
12).  The  foes  (Titans)  were  cast  down  from  heaven, 
and  appeared  at  Edfu  as  crocodiles  and  hippopotami, 
but  were  overcome  by  means  of  iron  bars,  and  bound 
with  chains.  Horus  in  the  form  of  a  winged  disk 
enters  into  the  bark  of  Ra,  and  calls  to  his  aid  the 
goddesses  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  in  the  form  of 
the  two  uraeus-serpents  (which  also  adorn  the  royal  crown),  who  with 
their  fiery  breath  consume  his  foes.  In  memory  of  this  victory  the 
winged  sun-disk  is  conspicuous  over  all  temple  doors  as  a  protection 
against  evil.  Still  other  scenes  of  conflict  are  mentioned.  The  myth 
is  evidently  to  be  understood  as  relating  to  the  subduing  of  desert  lands 
through  the  construction  of  canals.  Plutarch  (120  A.D.),  who  describes 
the  Osiris  myth  as  related  in  his  day,  adds  several  features  not  found  in 
the  earlier  conceptions  ;  for  instance,  he  states  that  the  coffer  containing 
the  corpse  of  Osiris  was  carried  through  the  Tauitic  branch  as  far  as 
Byblos  in  Phoenicia.  The  Tanitic  branch  is  mentioned  because  Tanis 
under  the  Shepherd  Kings  was  a  centre  of  Typhon-worship.  Byblos 
is  given  as  the  place  where  the  body  was  found,  because  the  Adonis 
myth  originated  there,  and  was  regarded  as  closely  related  to  the  Osiris 


Fig.  12.  —  Horus 
(Edfu.) 


OSIRIS  AND   NEPHTHYS.  17 

myth.  However  this  may  be,  Osiris — 'Lord  of  Abydos,'  the  'good 
being/  '  Lord  of  life,'  '  Lord  of  Eternity' — becomes  the  type  of  perfect 
humanity.  He  is  the  Judge  before  whom  all  must  appear  after  death. 
He  is  the  Lord  of  Amenti  (the  West),  where  Maat,  the  goddess  of 
Truth,  holds  a  conspicuous  place.  On  his  head  he  wear-  the  white 
crown  of  Upper  Egypt,  adorned  with  the  two  'Feathers  of  Truth.' 
He  holds  in  his  hands  the  flail  and  the  crook,  insignia  of  supreme 
power.  Before  him  the  dead  are  brought  and,  if  not  found  wanting, 
they  become  united  in  him,  they  partake  of  his  divinity,  and  may  "go 
out  by  day  "  in  the  Bark  of  Ra. 

Nephthys,  sister  and  spouse  of  Typhon,  yet  not  hostile  to  the 
light-god  Osiris,  but  the  one  who  brought  up  young  Horus,  is  only 
another  form  of  Isis,  and  is  likewise  originally  a  deity  of  the  earth. 
It  was  said  that  Osiris  had  taken  her  in  the  dark  for  Isis,  and  had 
begotten  Anubis  from  her,  which  signifies,  according  to  the  Language 
of  myths,  that  in  some  places  she  was  worshipped  as  the  wife  of  Osiris. 
She  weeps  for  dead  Osiris,  since  she  is  the  earth,  the  mistress  of  the 
house  (nebt-ha),  who  compassionately  takes  the  deceased  under  her 
protection,  and  hence  is  styled  the  goddess  of  death.  Pier  son  Anubis 
is  the  '  ruler,'  or  '  guide '  (of  the  dead).  We  have  already  seen  (Introd., 
p.  17)  that,  in  his  form  of  Up-Uatu,  he  was  worshipped  at  the  very 
beginning  of  history.  He  is  the  god  of  mummies  and  of  embalming, 
the  guardian  of  the  tomb,  and  the  one  who  leads  in  the  supposed  path 
to  heaven  over  which  the  departed  travel.  Upon  his  jackal  head  he 
wears  the  royal  crown,  pshent.  Sirius,  who  in  heaven  watches  over 
the  dead  body  of  Osiris,  is  his  star.  As  Nephthys  is  only  a  form  of 
Isis,  so  are  also  many  other  female  deities  identifiable  with  mother-earth 
and  with  the  receptive  and  productive  forces  of  nature.  These  forms 
are  only  local  variations  of  the  same  divine  being.  They  are  so  nearly 
related  that  they  are  confounded,  and  the  same  activity  is  ascribed  imw 
to  one  and  now  to  another  of  them.  Isis  wears  the  reduced  figure  of  a 
throne  upon  her  head,  and  often  wears  a  disk  and  cow's  horns.  As 
Ilathor  she  is  represented  with  the  head  of  a  <-n\v.  She  appears  as 
Hathor  ('house  of  Horns'),  as  mother  of  Horus,  inasmuch  as  this 
being  the  child  of  the  sun,  rises  out  of  the  womb  of  the  earth,  the 
underworld.  As  goddess  of  love  and  joy,  of  music  and  feasts,  she 
appears   as  a  dancer  with   the  tambourine.      In    the   story  of  the   two 


48  HA  I! LIEST  EGYPTIAN   HISTORY. 

brothers  and  of  the  doomed  princes  (given  on  a  papyrus  belonging  to 

the  British  Museum  and  translated  by  Brugsch  and  others),  there 
appear  seven  Hathors  as  fairies  or  fates  determining  the  future.  Even 
the  cow,  Methuer,  is  the  motherly  goddess,  the  spouse  of  Tlioth,  on 
whose  horns  the  young  god  Ra  sits  and  holds  fast.  The  golden 
light,  which  in  heaven  and  on  earth  with  enchanting  play  of  colors 
accompanies  the  ascent  of  the  sun-god,  as  well  as  his  victorious  going 
down,  encompasses  the  goddess,  who  greets  the  god  in  both  parts 
of  the  heavens.  Especially  in  later  times  did  the  worship  of  Isis  and 
Hathor  become  very  popular.  Gorgeous  temples  at  Denderah  and 
Philae  are  proofs  of  this  which  still  survive.  Even  in  Rome  they 
had  a  sanctuary,  and  among  the  heaps  of  its  ruins  interesting  excava- 
tions have  been  made.  The  chisel  of  Greek  sculptors  carved  statues 
of  Isis,  and  the  picture  of  Isis  nursing  the  child  Horus  hecame  the 
lovely  original  of  the  Madonna  with  the  child.  Mut  ('mother')  is 
also  a  child-bearing  goddess;  her  sacred  animal  is  the  vulture,  of 
which  it  was  fabled  that  it  occurs  only  as  a  female  bird.  As  a 
vulture  she  hovers  protectingly  over  the  Pharaoh,  and  on  the  cenV 
ing  of  the  temple-halls  a  vulture's  crest  adorns  the  heads  of  the 
mother-goddesses.  Sue  coincides  in  several  respects  with  Nekhebt, 
who  likewise  as  a  vulture  hovers  with  her  wings  over  Osiris  and 
Pharaoh  as  well  as  over  the  source  of  the  sacred  river.  As  guard- 
ian genius  of  the  southern  country  she  is  portrayed  in  the  form 
of  a  serpent,  —  the  serpent  which  devours  noxious  creatures  in  the 
garden  where  she  lives  in  summer.  But  the  maternal  goddess  also 
lightens  the  pains  of  labor,  in  which  capacity  she  received  divine 
honors  at  Eileithyia  (El-Kab).  Neith  (i.e.,  'the  one  who  is'),  or 
Nebun,  worshipped  at  Sais,  in  the  western  Delta,  is  a  form  of  Isis.  She 
is  regarded  as  a  Libyan  goddess,  and  her  worship  goes  back  at  least  to 
the  time  of  Mena,  who  mentions  her  shrine,  and  whose  queen's  name 
was  Xeit-hotep.  The  feline  goddess — as  lioness  (Sekhet),  consort  of  Ptah 
and  mother  of  Imhotep  or  Nefer-Tum  ;  as  cat  (Bast),  the  tutelary  deity 
of  Bubastis — typifies,  in  its  various  aspects,  the  fierce  or  beneficent  action 
of  the  sun.     The  Greeks  identified  her  with  Artemis. 

Tlioth  is  the  local  god  of  the  fifteenth  nome  of  Upper  Egypt 
and  of  the  city  of  Shmun  (Ashmunen),  the  city  of  the  eight  pri- 
meval gods,  or  four  pairs  of  personified  elemental  forces.     He  is  the 


Til  or  1 1  AND   HA.  49 

moon-god,  to  whom  the  white  ibis  is  sacred,  and  therefore  he  wears 
on  his  ibis-head  the  moon-disk.  As  light-god  he  has  a  place  in  the 
sun's  bark  ;  as  the  god  of  time  he  bears  in  his  hand  the  palm-branch 
symbolizing  the  year,  and  on  it  he  records  the  most  important  events, 
the  course  of  the  moon  lying  at  the  foundation  of  the  most  ancient 
division  of  the  year.  Yet  later  his  province  as  moon-god  disappears; 
and  he  now  appears  only  in  the  capacity  of  scribe,  which  constitutes 
him  god  of  the  sciences  pertaining  to  the  priests.  These  begin  with 
the  observation  of  the  heavenly  bot  lie  s,  and  the  regulation  of  the 
reckoning  of  time.  He  is  the  author  of  all  sacred  writings,  the 
founder  of  libraries,  over  which  his  consort  Safekh  in  especial  pre- 
sides. She  is  a  kind  of  Clio,  who  records  immortalized  names  on 
the  fruits  and  leaves  of  the  sacred  persea-tree.  He  is  lawgiver,  vin- 
dicator of  souls  before  the  court  of  the  dead,  for  which  reason  that 
shrewd  animal  the  ape,  or  cynocephalus,  sacred  to  him,  sits  on  the 
tongue  of  the  balance  in  which  the  heart  of  the  dead  is  weighed. 
With  the  advance  of  mental  cultivation,  whose  protector  he  is,  there 
increased  also  the  veneration  paid  to  Thoth.  From  great,  he  became 
'twice'  and  '  thrice  great,'  and,  known  as  Hermes  trismegistus,  was 
the  centre  of  a  kind  of  theosophy  which  was  not  without  influence  in 
giving  form  to  Christianity  in  its  earliest  days. 

A  second  series  of  myths,  allied  to  those  concerning  Osiris,  origi- 
nated at  Heliopolis.  It  symbolized  the  conflict  of  light  and  darkness. 
Ra  is  the  creator  of  the  world;  his  eyes  enlighten  the  universe ;  he 
is  the  liearei'  of  light  and  the  awakener  of  all  life,  and  with  numerous 
hosts  under  the  command  of  Horns,  he  wars  against  the  serpent 
Apepi,  or  darkness.  As  young  Harmachis  (Har-em-khu,  'Horus 
of  the  horizon')  be  moves  onward  in  the  sacred  bark,  and  passes 
over  the  ocean  of  heaven  in  an  eternal  course,  attended  by  the 
Shesu-hor  or  servants  of  Horus,  the  souls  of  men  from  a  sinless 
golden  age,  which  preceded  the  existing  period  of  the  world.  One 
Horus  manages  the  rudder,  another  stands  before  him  on  the  bark 
and  watches  for  Apepi,  in  order  to  pierce  him  with  a  lance.  He  is 
Ka  as  the  midday  sun.  At  the  setting  sun  he  is  Tum,  or  the  god 
who  in  the  shades  of  the  underworld  hovers  above  the  waters,  and 
who,  as  forerunner  of  the  sun's  rising,  is  a  god  of  the  resurrection. 
At  this  point  Nut,  the  goddess  of  the  heavens,  receives  him,  and  the 
Vol.  I.    4. 


50  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 

bark  floats  in  the  stream  of  the  underworld  (the  back  of  the  dragon- 
snake,  Ape  pi),  upon  which  it  is  drawn  with  a  rope  by  spirits,  from 
west  to  east.  Here  he  rises  up  every  day  sitting  upon  a  lotus-flower, 
new-born  from  the  mistress  of  the  underworld,  Hathor,  in  the  form 
of  a  cow ;  at  the  end  of  every  solar  year  Ape  pi  is  transfixed  and  cast 
into  the  sea ;  but  the  conflict  is  continually  renewed.  Ra  is  the  same 
deity  with  whom,  on  account  of  the  universal  presence  of  the  sun, 
who  goes  down  into  the  night  of  Hades,  were  connected  very  ingeni- 
ously certain  esoteric  religious  doctrines.  This  is  ascertained  from 
the  Hymn  to  Ra,  which  was  discovered  at  the  entrance  of  the  kings' 
tombs,  and  forms  a  kind  of  introduction  to  the  sculptured  representa- 
tions of  the  inner  apartments  with  regard  to  the  course  of  Ra  through 
the  universe.  In  this  hymn,  which  has  been  translated  by  Naville, 
we  find  an  advanced  pantheism. 

The  hymn  to  Amen-Ra  in  the  temple  at  El-Khargeh,  of  the 
time  of  Darius,  is  also  pantheistic.  The  sacred  animal  of  Ra  is  the 
white  bull  Mnevis ;  Ra  is  also  represented  with  a  hawk's  head,  as 
Harmachis.  The  bird  Bennu,  a  heron  (Ardea  garzetta),  is  the  Phoenix 
of  the  Greeks.  Its  name  means  '  that  which  revolves '  or  '  turns 
back.'  It  symbolized  the  morning  sun  arising  out  of  the  fiery  glow  of 
dawn,  and  as  such  was  the  bird  of  Ra.  But,  as  the  dead  sun  was  held 
to  have  become  an  Osiris,  and  as  the  new  sun  was  regarded  as  arising 
from  the  dead  body  of  the  old — the  Bennu  was  also  sacred  to  Osiris. 
The  planet  Venus,  in  a  text,  is  called  '  the  Bennu  of  Osiris ' — or  the 
'  Star  of  Osiris.'  The  Phoenix,  as  the  type  of  resurrection,  belongs  to 
a  very  early  date.  Even  in  texts  of  the  Old  Empire  the  deceased  is 
likened  unto  a  Bennu. 

The  ram-headed  god  Khnum  (Kneph),  who  wore  a  special  crown, 
Atef,  was  the  god  of  Elephantine  (Fig.  13).  As  time  went  on,  he 
was  combined  with  Ra.  At  A  baton,  near  Philae,  the  sacred  Ram,  by 
a  play  upon  words — '  Ba'  meaning  both  '  ram '  and  '  soul ' — was  called 
'  the  soul  of  Ra.'  At  Heliopolis  he  corresponded  to  Osiris  and  was 
worshipped  as  his  soul.  Moreover,  as  mediator  between  drought  and 
fertility,  Khnum  became  the  lord  of  the  inundation  ;  and  at  the  first 
cataract,  where  the  Nile  enters  Egypt,  he  was  worshipped.  As  creator, 
it  was  he  who  placed  upon  the  potter's  wheel  the  world-egg  prepared 
for  him  by   Ptah  out  of  primeval   matter,  and  created  man.     Sebek 


l'TMi 


51 


also  (Fig.  14)  was  venerated  at  Selseleh,  in  the  region  of  the  cataract, 
and  in  the  Fayuni,  as  the  god  of  the  inundation  ;  in  Ombos  he  was 
nnit.d  with  Hathor  and  Khuns  in  a  triad;  he  is  known  by  his  crocodile 
head.  Shu  was  recognized  as  the  son  of  Ra,  the  personification  of 
wind  and  air;  he  is  the  <  upright,'  who  separates  and  raises  the  heaven- 
goddess  Nut,  each  day,  from  Keb,  the  earth  god. 


Fig.  13.      Khnum,  the  Lord  ot  hilephautine. 


Fig.  14 


Among  the  local  gods  who  came  to  occupy  a  prominent  place  in 
the  Egyptian  Pantheon  was  Ptah,  the  god  of  Memphis.  He  was  a 
creator  god,  'the  Opener/  who,  as  the  formative  power,  was  developed 
out  of  the  primeval  water,  Nun.  In  Memphis,  where  he  led  the  divine 
Triad,  he  was  hailed  as  Creator  of  the  World,  and  also  as  the  tir-t  ruler 
of  Egypt.  He  was  the  "  Creator  of  his  own  image,  lie  who  created 
himself,  who  establishes  truth,  king  of  the  two  lands,  '  >rd  of  Heaven." 
To  him  the  scarabaeus  was  sacred. 

The  sacred  scarabaeus  (khepera)  with  the  sun-disk,  the  principle  of 
light,  and  the  creative  power  who  gave  fire  to  man,  deposits  in  thi< 
original  matter  the  germs  of  all  that  should  come  into  existence.  This 
insect,  Ateuckm  sacer,  i>  a  great  beetle,  which,  after  the  subsidence  of  the 
inundation,  creeps  forth  and  rapidly  propagate-  itself;  its  habits  gave 
rise  to  the  belief  that  it  came  into  being  without  having  been  begotten  ; 
and  as  its  cg<rs  are  rolled  about  in  the  mud  and  are  hidden  in  the  ball 
thus  produced,  it  was  thought  that  it  kepi  it-  progeny  securely  in  the 
ball,  and  it  thus  became  an  image  of  the  world  containing  in  itself  the 
germ  of  all  living  thing-.      Since  the  creator  gives  form  to  the  germ- 


52  EARLIEST   EGYPTIAN   HISTORY. 

deposited  by  the  scarabaeus,  breaking  the  world-egg  of  which  heaven 

and  earth  arc  the  shells,  and  from  whose  inward  part  his  children, 
the  elements,  come  forth,  the  beetle  was  sacred  to  Ptah  ;  the  pygmy 
figures  of  Ptah-Sokari-Osiris  are  often  found  represented  with  a  scara- 
baeus on  their  heads.  The  beetle  served  as  a  symbol  of  the  sun  at  its 
meridian  ;  therefore  it  was  represented  in  association  with  the  sun-disk  ; 
and  Hor-behüdti,  as  Agathodaemon,  is  figured  as  a  winged  disk  of  the 
sun,  or  as  a  scarabaeus  with  the  disk  between  his  feet. 

The  beetle,  as  an  embodied  manifestation  of  creative  and  mascu- 
line power,  was  portrayed  on  terracotta  or  stone,  and  was  worn  as  an 
amulet  or  inserted  in  ornaments.  The  scarabaeus,  inscribed  with  the 
necessary  formulae  from  the  Book  of  the  Dead,  was  used  to  replace 
the  heart  of  the  mummy.  It  was  also  placed  among  the  wrappings 
upon  its  breast.  It  is  often  represented  in  a  bark,  with  Isis  and 
Nephthys  worshipping  at  its  side.  On  the  outer  cases  of  the  mum- 
mies these  beetles  appear  with  winged  disks  or  hawks.  On  the 
rough  surfaces  the  scarabaei  are  polished  for  the  reception  of  orna- 
ments, images  of  the  gods  and  inscriptions,  commonly  with  the 
escutcheon  or  cartouche  of  the  reigning  Pharaoh.  At  times  also  one 
finds  the  name  of  a  Pharaoh  on  specimens  of  different  ages. 

Ptah,  the  framer  of  the  world,  had  seven  architects  under  him, 
the.Kabiri  of  the  Phoenicians,  with  whose  help  he  prepared  for 
Ra  the  elements  of  creation.  As  lord  of  the  laws  of  growth,  as 
the  unerring,  intelligent  fashioner  of  all  things,  as  lord  of  the  Egyp- 
tian measure  of  length,  he  was  the  lord  of  law  and  justice.  As 
a  new-born  child  or  a  pygmy,  that  is,  as  the  god  of  the  creation 
of  the  universe,  as  the  god  that  gives  unchanging  and  eternal  life, 
Ptah  is  represented  as  a  mummy,  having,  it  is  true,  his  hands  free 
in  order  to  hold  the  sceptre,  the  rule,  and  the  ringed  cross,  the 
symbol  of  existence ;  a  cap  is  on  his  head,  such  as  is  worn 
by  smiths.  As  embodiment  of  the  fire  hidden  in  the  world,  he 
imparts,  in  his  capacity  of  Ptah-Sokari-Osiris,  to  the  sun-god  who 
has  gone  below,  and  to  the  mummy  of  the  departed,  the  power  of 
resurrection.  .Since  the  mind  of  the  deity  works  upon  matter,  and 
out  of  this  activity  a  third  existence,  a  cosmos,  arises,  there  is  com- 
monly a  triad  of  gods,  which  appear  as  father,  mother,  and  son,  in 
the  language  of  men.     Thus  Ptah,  with  Sekhet  and  Imhotep  (As- 


I'tmi.  53 

klepios),  or  Nefer-Tüm,  forms  a  trinity,  in  which  the  son  is  bul  the 
father  returning  again  to  life,  and  hence  is,  in  mystic  speech,  theconsorl 
of  the  mother.  These  triad-  spread  from  Egypl  over  the  ancient 
world:  among  the  Greeks  they  appear  in  the  mysteries,  which  are 
of  Oriental  origin;  in  the  Theogony  of  Hesiod  seven  triads  are  found, 
which,  however,  at  a  later  day  are  unknown.  Triple  deities  were 
recognized  in  the  oldest  religions  formulas  of  Italy.  There  was  the 
Q.uirinal  triad  of  Jupiter,  Juno,  and  Minerva;  among  the  Umbrians, 
Poimonus,  Vesona,  and  Tursa,  and  the  god  Cerfus  Mortius,  with 
Prestita  and  Tursa.  Etruscan  temples  had  three  cells  King  - i <  1 « •  by 
side  for  designated  groups  of  the  gods,  and  the  cells  at  the  side-  were 
to  the  middle  in  the  ratio  of  three  to  lour.  There  was  also  the  triad 
of  the  Kabiri,  Axierus,  Axiocersa,  and  Axiocersus.  The  sacred  animal 
of  Ptah  was  the  bull  Apis  (Hapi),  the  eternally  creative  power  of  the 
deity.  The  white  cow,  impregnated  by  a  ray  from  the  moon,  gave 
birth  to  him  ;  his  skin  Mas  black  ;  he  had  a  white  spot  on  his  forehead  ; 
on  his  back  a  winged  disk  or  eagle,  and  under  the  tongue  an  excrescence 
in  the  shape  of  the  beetle.  After  his  death  he  became  Osiris;  and  it  is 
in  this  form  of  Asar-Hapi  that  he  later  became  an  object  of  worship  t<> 

the   Greeks.     Under  the   name  of  Serapii whom    they  endowed  with 

some  of  the  attributes  of  Pluto  and  Asklepios — he  became  a  semi-Greek 
deity  to  the  Alexandrians,  and  his  fame  spread  far  and  wide  in  Ptolemaic 
times. 

Among  other  deities  might  also  be  mentioned  the  god  Besr  appar- 
ently belonging  to  the  land  of  Punt.1  He  goes  through  the  world 
as  a  pilgrim,  dispensing  mild  manners,  peace,  and  jollity  ;  he  appears 
also  on  mirrors  ami  objects  of  the  toilet,  as  the  toilet-god.  He  is 
always  portrayed  as  a  grotesque  dwarf  in  a  dancing  posture;  his  hands 
rest  upon  his  hips,  and  he  bears  on  his  head,  which  is  large  and  thick, 
a  lofty  ornament  of  feathers.  lie  appears  again  among  the  Phoenicians 
as  Baal  Markod  ('god  of  the  dance'). 

The  death  and  resurrection  of  Ra,  which  took  place  each  day, 
was  a  pledge  that  his  creature-  should  not  forever  dwell  in  the 
shades  of  death.      Faith    in    immortality,  or  continued   existence  alter 

1  "The  Egyptian  Ophir,"  Bays  Brugsch  i  Ktr_r.  Trans.,  vol.  i..  p.  1 1  t  .  "without 
doubt  tin- <-<>;i-t  of  the  Somali  Lund  in  Bight  of  Arabia,  but  separated  from  it  by  t he 
Bea.    — Tk. 


54  EA  RL  TEST  EG  YPTIA  S   H1ST0R ) '. 

death,  was  so  strong  with  the  Egyptians  that  the  numerous  obliga- 
tions imposed  by  the  dogmas  connected  therewith  were  fulfilled  with 
an  energy  which  seems  to  recognize  the  inflexible  character  of  natural 
law.  In  fact,  the  careful  preservation  of  dead  bodies  demanded  by 
religion  was  for  the  Egyptians  an  imperative  obligation.  The  poison- 
ing of  the  river  by  casting  into  it  the  bodies  of  dead  men  and  animals 
would  in  a  short  time  have  rendered  the  existence  of  man  impossible. 
The  Greeks  also,  inspired  in  this  respect  by  the  noblest  and  loftiest 
thought,  taught  the  continued  existence  of  the  soul,  and  burned  the 
body,  which  was  of  no  further  use.  Other  nations  believe  in  a  resur- 
rection of  the  body,  but  leave  to  God  the  formation  of  the  heavenly 
body  out  of  the  decayed  particles  of  the  corpse  ;  thus  the  Jews 
have  imagined  that  the  bodies  of  the  dead  will  be  reconstructed  by 
God  out  of  the  bone  luz  (os  sacrum).  A  higher  piety,  at  least  a 
stronger  confirmation  of  the  Egyptian's  belief  in  continued  existence, 
is  manifested  by  the  patience  and  devotion  with  which  for  thousands 
of  years  he  excavated  sepulchres,  sometimes  labyrinths  and  palaces 
of  rock,  adorned  with  splendid  decorations  (hidden  as  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night),  as  the  abode  after  death  of  kings  and  priests  and 
millions  of  the  departed.  The  belief  in  immortality  was  as  old  in 
Egypt  as  the  kingdom  itself ;  but  it  appears  in  the  most  ancient  times 
as  a  mere  continuation  of  earthly  life  in  the  grave — a  far  more  simple 
and  harmless  form  than  later,  when  a  complicated  system  of  retribution 
and  other  inventions  awakening  dread  were  connected  with  it  by  a 
priesthood  intent  upon  increasing  its  influence. 

According  to  the  Egyptian  belief,  man  was  composed  of  different 
parts  which  at  death  became  released  and  must  be  returned  to  him  in 
order  that  he  might  survive.  The  '  Kha,'  or  corpse,  written  with  the 
hieroglyph  of  a  dead  fish — the  ideogram  for  anything  putrid — must 
be  preserved  and  made  into  a  mummy — an  Osiris — when  it  became 
a  Sähü — i.  e.,  the  empty  form  of  himself  which  having  been  re- 
ceived from  the  godhead  might  return  to  it.  Besides  the  body, 
there  were  moral  and  intellectual,  as  well  as  quasi  material  parts, 
which  must  be  restored.  The  '  Ba,'  or  soul,  was  represented  as  a 
human-headed  bird  provided  with  hands.  At  death  it  flew  to  the 
gods.  While  approaching  our  own  conception,  the  '  Ba '  was  not 
immaterial,  and   its  survival  depended   upon   proper  sustenance. 


RELIGIOUS   CONCEPTIONS. 


DO 


There  arc  representations  of  the  Soul-bird  fluttering  over  the 
mummy  holding  to  its  nostrils  the  cross  (Life)  or  the  Sail  ('  net''  or 
Breath).  For  the  Breath  must  be  returned  to  the  mummy;  also  his 
power — '  Sekhem  '  ;  his  shadow  '  Khaib'  ;  and  his  intelligence — '  Kim  ' 
the  ' luminous ' — which  suggests  'the  divine  spark.'  The  heart  'Ab' 
was  also  indispensable  to  his  well-being.  But  that  which  plays  the 
most  conspicuous  part  in  the  torn!)  is  the  'Ka'  or  double.  Jt  was 
the  personality — probably  suggested  by  the  image,  which  is  limited 
neither  by  time  nor  space,  and  which  can  be  evoked  in  one's  dreams 
and  thoughts,  or  by  a  likeness.  At  death,  man  ceased  to  be  ;  his  '  Ka ' 
received  the  benefit  of  the  offerings ;  and  when  it  returned  to  the 
mummy  and  '  lived  in  its  coffin  '  they  together  enjoyed  the  same  exist- 
ence as  on  earth.  All  living  things  had  '  Kas,'  even  the  gods.  The 
name  'Ken'  was  also  essential.  It  was  man's  supreme  desire  that  his 
name  might  live.  In  early  times,  however,  it  would  seem  that  power- 
over  a  man  might  be  obtained  by  the  knowledge  of  his  name,  and 
means  were  taken  to  protect  it. 

Many  of  these  ideas  were,  no  doubt,  developed  from  a  simpler 
philosophy.  The  '  Ka,'  the  'Osiris,'  and  the  '  Sahü '  may  represent 
different  local  expressions  of  the  same  prehistoric  conception,  later  amal- 
gamated into  one  doctrine.  Contradictory  views  also  existed  regarding 
the  after-life:  While  an  elaborate  ritual  provided  for  man's  comfort 
in  his  'eternal  abode'  by  opening  his  eyes  and  mouth,  that  he  might 
see  his  possessions  and  taste  the  viands  provided  for  him,  we  find  the 
Qsirian  dead  preparing  to  till  the  fields  of  Aalu ;  or  achieving  apotheosis 
by  identification  with  the  gods  ;  or  traveling  by  day  in  the  Solar-Bark. 
Diversity  also  existed  with  regard  to  the  fate  of  the  wicked  ;  hut  what- 
ever their  preliminary  ordeals,  it  seems  tolerably  certain  that  they  ulti- 
mately became  annihilated.  If  there  was  confusion  as  to  these  matters, 
there  was  no  doubt  in  the  ordinary  Egyptian  mind  as  to  the  possibility 
of*  attaining  immortality,  if  proper  methods  were  used  :  An  ancient  epi- 
curean might  sing  :  "  Follow  thy  heart's  desire  so  long  as  thou  livesi  on 
earth  .  .  .  for  no  one  carries  away  his  goods  with  him  and  no  one  returns 
again";  but  nevertheless,  he  carefully  prepared  his  tomb;  supplied  his 
'  Ka '  with  statues  to  serve  as  artificial  bodies  should  his  mummy  be 
destroyed  ;  provided  for  its  sustenance,  real  and  artificial,  for  all  age-  t" 
come;  and  courted  popularity  in  order  that  his  fellows  might  look  after 


56  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  HISTORY. 

his  future  welfare,  feed  bis  '  Ka,'  keep  his  memory  green,  and  help  his 
'  name  to  flourish.'  When  the  end  came  and  the  funeral  rites  had  been 
performed,  the  soul  appeared  before  the  throne  of  Osiris  in  the  under- 
world. (Plate  III.1)  There,  in  the  Hall  of  the  Two  Truths 
(Truth  and  Justice),  in  the  presence  of  forty-two  gods,  each  of  whom 
presided  over  a  mortal  sin,  the  defunct  was  brought  by  Anubis  to  vin- 
dicate himself.  Maat,  the  Goddess  of  Truth,  bore  witness.  His  heart 
was  weighed  in  her  scales  against  the  feather  of  Truth  by  Horos  and 
Anubis.  Thoth,  the  divine  Scribe,  recorded  the  result.  If  not  found 
wanting,  his  heart  was  returned  to  him;  the  immortal  parts  of  his 
being  were  restored  to  him  ;  and  once  more  he  was  made  a  living  man — 
but  now  to  live  eternally.  He  seems  to  have  been  free  to  assume  what 
divine  shapes  he  might  wish.2  That  of  the  sacred  hawk,  of  the  Bennu 
(phoenix),  of  the  asp,  of  the  swallow — that  is,  probably,  of  the  gods 
of  which  these  are  the  embodiments.  This  should  not,  however,  be 
mistaken  for  the  pythagorean  doctrine  of  metempsychosis — or  the 
transmigration  of  souls — as  the  animals  or  objects  into  which  the 
beatified  soul  thus  passed  were  sacred  to  certain  gods  and  represented 
a  process  of  apotheosis,  which  apparently  could  be  undertaken  at  will. 
The  religious  views  of  the  Egyptians  may  be  studied,  not  only  in  their 
sepulchral  texts,  such  as  the  Pyramid  texts  and  the  Book  of  the  Dead ; 
but  also  in  minor  works  :  '  The  Book  of  Breathings ' ;  '  the  Book  of 
Wandering  through  Eternity  '  ;  '  The  Book  of  what  there  is  in  Hades  ' ; 
'  The  Book  of  Transformations  ' ;  the  Book  of  '  That  my  name  may 
flourish,'  and  others.     Their  high  ethical  standards  appear  in  the  125th 

1  Description  of  Plate  III. 

Plate  III.  reproduces,  in  reduced  facsimile,  a  page  from  a  papyrus  containing 
the  so-called  "Book  of  the  Dead."  The  scene  selected  represents  the  judgment  of 
the  dead  before  the  god  Osiris.  Osiris,  the  judge  of  the  Lower  World,  is  seen  seated 
upon  an  altar  in  a  temple  supported  by  columns.  Opposite,  Ma,  the  goddess  of  truth 
and  justice,  is  conducting  the  dead  man  into  the  temple.  In  the  centre  stands  a  bal- 
ance; in  one  of  the  scales  rests  a  handled  cup,  in  the  other  a  feather,  the  symbols  of 
the  heart  and  of  truth,  respectively.  Horus  and  Anubis,  the  sons  of  Osiris,  closely 
watch  for  the  inclination  of  the  balance.  Upon  it  the  dog-headed  II  a  pi  sits,  as  the 
symbol  of  measure.  Before  the  balance  stands  the  ibis-headed  Thoth,  the  secretary 
of  the  gods,  and  indicates  the  result  of  the  weighing  on  a  papyrus.  Between  him  and 
Osiris  is  seated  a  female  hippopotamus,  Amam,  called  the  Devourer.  She  acts  as 
accuser  of  the  dead  man.  Thoth  justifies  him,  if  he  has  led  a  righteous  life.  In  the 
upper  section  of  the  hall  the  dead  prays  to  the  forty-two  judges  of  the  dead,  each  of 
whom  bears  on  his  head  the  feather  of  truth,  and  has  jurisdiction  over  some  one  par- 
ticular sin,  of  which  in  the  text  the  dead  man  has  professed  himself  guiltless. 

2  '  Le  Livre  des  Transformations, '  G.  Ledrain,  Paris,  1870. 


4  THE  LOWER  WORLD, 
i.) 

(See  page  56.) 


THE  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  DEAD  BEFORE  THE  GOD  OSIRIS,  IN  THE  HALL  OF  JUSTICE  IN  THE  LOWER  WORLD 
(From  the  Papyrus  discovered  at  Thebes,  containing  the  so-called  Book  of  the  Dead.) 


c 


THE   FUTURE   LIFE.  57 

chapter  of  the  '  Book  of  the  Dead,'  which  contains  the  '  Negative  Con- 
fession' of  the  defunct  before  tha  tribunal  of  Osiris.  The  code  of 
morals  therein  revealed  includes,  not  only  the  decalogue,  hut  many 
rules  governing  good  feeling  and  gentlemanly  breeding.  Tin  staging 
of  Hades  is  represented  in  a  similar  manner  among  other  nations  ;  and 
as  opinions  concerning  the  underworld  are  often  derived  from  burial 
regulations,  the  ease  with  which  religious  ideas  are  interchanged 
renders  the  influence  exercised  by  Egyptian  conceptions  as  natural 
as  it  is  indisputable.  The  Greeks  borrowed  directly  from  the  Egyp- 
tians, as  they  themselves  acknowledged.  Diodorus,  in  describing  the 
burial  of  Apis,  draws  attention  to  this  matter,  und  says  that  the  con- 
ductor of  souls,  Hermes  (i.e.,  Thoth),  brings  the  mummy  of  Apis  to 
a  certain  place,  where  it  is  received  by  a  shape  with  the  mask  of 
Cerberus  (probably  Anubis);  that  the  ocean  over  which,  according  to 
Homer  in  the  Odyssey,  the  dead  pass,  is  the  Nile;  that  the  Aspho- 
del-meadow is  in  the  vieinity  of  Memphis  on  the  Acherusian  lake  (in 
Egyptian  called  the  "  Fields  of  Aalü  "  or  "  Aaru  "),  which  is  surrounded 
by  meadows  and  ponds  covered  with  reeds  and  lotus  flowers.  Here 
the  bodies  were  carried  by  the  Egyptians  across  the  river  and  lake  in 
a  boat  called  baris;  the  ferryman  Charon1  receives  an  obolus  tor 
the  passage,  as  the  Egyptians  placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  mummy 
small  pieces  of  gold;  furthermore,  here  stood  the  temple  of  gloomy 
Hecate  (Hathor),  and  the  gate  of  Cocytus  and  Lethe  with  its  brazen 
hinges.  In  the  Iliad  (viii.  15)  the  iron  gates  and  the  bronze  thresh- 
old of  Hades  are  mentioned ;  likewise  in  the  Old  Testament,  in 
''the  writing  of  Hezekiah  "  (Isaiah  xxxviii.  10;  Job  xvi.  1(3).  The 
Assyrians,  too,  imagined  that  before  "the  land  where;  man  seeth 
naught"  lies  a  slimy  stream,  the  Acheron  ;  and  they  held  that  this 
land,  or  rather  the  vast  palace,  is  encompassed  by  sevenfold  walls, 
and  shut  in  by  gates.  Thus  also  the  Egyptian  dead,  passing  through 
a  chasm  in  the  mountain  near  Abydos  <>n  its  way  to  Amenti,  went 
through  the  brazen  gates  of  twelve  pylons,  which  stood  for  the  twelve 
hours  of  the  night.  These  were  watched  over  by  serpents — the  guar- 
dians of  the  temple  and  the  genii  of  the  earth.  The  sarcophagi  of  the 
New  Empire  are  valuable  as  showing  the  manner  in  which  were  ex- 
pressed these  beliefs  regarding  Hades.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  entire 
1  Horus  steers  the  sun-bark  in  tin1  underworld. 


58  }'■  I  RLIEST  EG  )  I'TI.  I  V    HISTORY. 

structure  of  immortality  rested,  in  Egypt,  upon  the  preservation  of  the 
body  or  the  providing  of  substitutes.  The  Egyptians  never  conceived 
of  a  soul  independent  of  the  body.  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is 
also  foreign  to  the  Egyptian  religion  ;  but  it  readily  connects  with  the 
Egyptian  belief  in  the  possibility  of  the  soul's  reunion  with  the  pre- 
served body. 

Embalming  and  interment,  as  practised  by  the  Egyptians,  were 
most  perfectly  accomplished.  Individuals  were  so  preserved  as  to  be 
recognizable  after  thousands  of  years,  and  could  be  destroyed  only  by 
the  hand  of  violence.  The  art  reached  its  highest  development  under 
the  XVIIIth  and  XlXth  Dynasties — and  the  mummified  head  of 
King  Seti  I.  (see  Frontispiece)  is  a  fine  example  of  the  degree  of  per- 
fection attained  by  the  embalmers  of  Thebes.  It  still  preserves  some  of 
the  beauty  and  all  the  dignity  of  life.  The  discovery  that  dead  bodies 
could  be  preserved  was  probably  brought  about  by  observing  that 
bodies  buried  in  sand  impregnated  with  natron  and  other  salts  re- 
mained dry  and  incorrupt.  Herodotus  points  out  that  the  simplest 
method  of  preserving  the  entire  body  is  to  place  it  in  natron  after 
some  preceding  injections.  This  process  of  embalming  is  described 
in  detail  by  Herodotus  and  by  Diodorus. 

The  successors  of  Mena  upon  the  throne  of  Egypt  are  named 
in  the  series  of  kings  given  by  the  Sebennytic  priest  and  temple 
scribe,  Manetho.  He  prepared,  by  command  of  Ptolemy  II.  (284- 
240  B.c.),  a  history  of  Egypt  from  the  historical  books  preserved 
in  the  temples.  Of  his  work  only  fragments  and  lists  of  names  are 
extant.  These  were  preserved  partly  by  Flavius  Josephus  (born 
87  A.D.),  who  probably  did  not  derive  his  materials  directly  from 
Manetho,  but  from  Alexandrian  extracts,  and  in  part  by  the  Byzan- 
tine monk,  Gregory  Syncellus,  who  at  the  end  of  the  eighth  century 
composed  synchronistic  tables.  The  latter  availed  himself  of  extracts 
made  by  Julius  Africanus  and  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Caesarea  (who 
died  about  -340  a.D.).  There  has  also  been  preserved  from  the 
chronological  work  of  Eratosthenes,  librarian  in  Alexandria,  b.c. 
276-194,  a  list  of  thirty-eight  kings.  These  invaluable  catalogues 
of  kings  are  in  part  supplemented  and  in  part  confirmed  by  a  number 
of  inscriptions  and  other  memorials  found  at  Abydos,  Ivarnak,  and 
Sakkara  ;    by  the    Turin    papyrus,  and  by  genealogical  testimonies 


PLATE    I  \ 


r-  "••••^■j  ■■■  -■'  i'<  ■■•'■  -J.  ■:-''_--!ji'_!'-JLJi^'j::_:'  _:i  ":  '2  <^"/'j':<  ".;„•■;  -.'  "3  -i  "'_.■■-<  ■:    : 


3' 

vT  1 


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llll_         1111 


Hieroglyphic  Genealogy  or  ihe  first  eighteen  Dynasties  of  the  Kings  of  Egypt. 
Bas-relief  from  Abydoe.    Bridal  Museum,    (After  Dümichen.) 


c 


THE   KINGS   OF  EGYPT,  59 

on  the  monuments.  The  table  of  kings  known  as  the  Abydos  list 
(Plate  IV.)  exhibits  Seti  I.  with  his  son  Rameses  venerating  thru- 
royal  ancestors.  The  reader  will  lind  in  the  subjoined  illustration 
the  cartouches  or  escutcheons  of  the  following  kings:  1.  Mena.  2. 
Teta.  3.  Atet.  4.  Ata.  5.  Ilesepti.  6.  Merbapa.  7.  Sem-en- 
ptah.  8.  Kebhu.  (Nos.  1-8  of  the  First  Dynasty.)  :».  Bezau.  In. 
Kakau.  11.  Ba-en-neter.  12.  Uaznes.  1:).  Senta.  (Nos.  9  L3  oi 
the  Second  Dynasty.)  14.  Zazai.  15.  Nebka.  16.  Zeser.  IT. 
Teta.  18.  Sezes.  19.  Neferka-Ra.  (Nos.  11-1!)  of  the  Third  Dy- 
nasty.) 20.  Snefru.  21.  Khufu.  22.  Ratetf.  2:;.  Khafra.  24. 
Menkaura.  25.  Shepseskaf.  (Nos.  14-25  of*  the  Fourth  Dynasty.) 
26.  Userkaf.  27.  Sahu-Ra.  28.  Kaka.  29.  Nefer-Ra.  30.  Ra-en-user. 
31.  Menkau-Hor.  32.  Tetka-Ra.  33.  Unas.  (Nos.  26-33  of  the  Fifth 
Dynasty.)  34.  Teta.  35.  Userka-Ra.  36.  Meri-Ra.  37.  Meren-Ra. 
38.  Neterka-Ra.  39.  Meren-Ra-Mehtiemsal*.  (  Nos.  34-39  oi"  the  Sixth 
Dynasty.)  40.  Neferka-Ra.  41.  Menka-Ra,  12.  Neferka-Ra.  13. 
Neferka-Ra  Nebi.  44.  Tetka-Ra  Shema.  45.  Neferka-Ra  Klient. i. 
46.  Mer-en-Hor.  47.  Sneferka.  48.  Ra-en-ka.  49.  Neferka-Ra-Tererl. 
50.  Horneferka.  51.  Neferka-Ra  Pepi  Seneh.  52.  Neferka-Ra  A  nun. 
5:5.  Menkau-Ra.  54.  Neferkau-Ra.  55.  Horkau-Ra.  56.  Neferarka-Ra. 
57.  Nebkher-Ra.  58.  Sankhka-Ra.  (Nos.  40-58  of  the  Seventh  to 
Eleventh  Dynasties. )  59.  Sehetepab-Ra  (Amenemhat  I.),  'i't.  Khe- 
perka-Ra  (Usertesen  I.).  61.  Nubkau-Ra  (Amenemhai  EI.).  62. 
Khakheper-Ra  (Usertesen  II.).  63.  Khakau-Ra  (Usertesen  III.).  64. 
Maät-en-Ra  (Amenemhat  III.).  65.  Maä-Kheru-Ra  (Amenemhai 
IV.).  (Nos.  59-65  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.)  66.  Nebpehuti-Ra 
(Aahmes).  67.  Zeser-Ka-Ra  (Anienhotep  I.).  68.  Aa-Kheper-Ka-Ra 
(Thothmes  I.).  69.  Aa-Kheper-en-Ra  (Thothmes  II.).  7<».  Men- 
kheper-Ra  (Thothmes  III.).  71.  Aa-Kheperu-Ra  (Amenhotep  II.). 
72.  Menkheperu-Ra  (Thothmes  IV.).  7.°,.  Neb-Maat-Ra  (Amenhotep 
III.).  74.  Razerkhepern  Setpenra  (Horemheb).  (No-.  66  7  1  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty.)  75.  Ramenpehuti  (Rameses  I.).  76.  Maamen- 
Ra  (Seti  I.).  The  last  row  shows  nine  times  repeated  the  double  name 
of  Seti:  Maamen-Ru  Merenptah  Seti. 

The  table  of  kings  from  the  tomb  of  Tunury  at  Sakkara  gives 
the  following  names.  For  comparison  with  the  Abydos  lisl  we  con- 
nect the  numbers  of  the  latter  with   the  several   nam.-,  whence   it    re- 


60 


EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN  lUSTORV. 


stilts  that  the  names  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  stand  in  an  inverted 
order.  The  nanu-  begin  below  on  the  left  (see  Fig.  15):  Merbapen 
6,  Kebhu  8  (First  Dynasty);  Neterbau  9,  Kakau  10,  Baneteren  11, 
Uaznes  1-,  Sent  13,  Neferkara  (wanting  in  the  Abydos  list;  in 
Manetho's,  Nephercheres)  (Second  Dynasty);  Sekerneferka  (want- 
in«.-  in  Abydos,  Manetho's  Necherophes),  Zefk  (wanting  in  Abydos, 
Manetho's  Tosorthros),  Bebi  (Abydos,  Zazai  14),  Zeser  16,  Zeserteta 
17,  Nebka-Ra  (Manetho's  Sephuris?),  Huni  (the  same  as  19  on  Abydos 
list)  (Third  Dynasty);  Snefru  20,  Khufuf  21,  Ratetf  22,  Khafra 
23,  Menkaura  24,  four  cartouches  without  names  (Fourth  Dynasty); 
(Jserkaf  26,  Sahu-Ra  27,  Neferarka-Ra  (Abydos,  Kaka  28),  Shepses- 
Ka-Ka  (wanting  in  Abydos,  in  Manetho's  Sisires),  Khanefer-Ra  29  ;  in 
tlic  upper  row  :  Menka-Hor  31,  Maaka-Ra  (Abydos,  Tetka-Ra  32),  Unas 
33  ( Fifth  Dynasty) ;  Teta  34,  Pepi  (the  same  as  36  on  Abydos  list), 
Meren-Ra  37,  Neferka-Ra  38  (Sixth  Dynasty);  Sebekka-Ra  (a  king 
before  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  but  nowhere  else  named) ;  Makheru-Ra  65, 
Ma-en-Ra  64,  Khaka-Ra  63,  Khakheper-Ra  62,Nubkha-Ra  61,  Kheper- 
Ka-Ka  60,  Sehetepab-Ra  59  (Twelfth  Dynasty)  ;  Sankhka-Ra  58,  Neb- 
kher-Ra  57  (Seventh  to  Eleventh  Dynasty) ;  Nebpehu-Ra  66,  Zeser- 
Ka-Ra  67,  Aa-kheperka-Ra  68,  Aa-kheperen-Ra  69,  Menkheper-Ra  70, 
Aa-kheperu-Ra  7 1 ,  Menkheperu-Ra  72,  Maaneb-Ra  73,  Zeserkheperu-Ra 
Setpenra  74  (Eighteenth  Dynasty) ;  Menpehuti-Ra  75,  Maamen-Ra  76, 
Usermaa-Ra  Setpenra  (Rameses  IL).  The  fundamental  work  devoted 
to  the  restoration  of  these  tables  was  published  by  Lepsius  at  Berlin 
in  1858,  with  the  title  of  'Book  of  the  Kings  of  Ancient  Egypt.' 
Since  then,  however,  considerable  new  material  has  been  recovered. 
There  is  an  enormous  difference  of  opinion  among  competent  authori- 
ties with  regard  to  the  date  of  the  foundation  of  the  United  Empire. 
Many  hold  that  Manetho's  dynasties  reigned  contemporaneously  ;  others, 
that  he  only  recorded  such  dynasties  as  were  consecutive.  A  third  group 
of  scholars  effect  a  compromise;  and,  piecing  together  the  ever-increasing 

oa< mental   record,  regard  some  dynasties  as  consecutive  and  others  as 

contemporaneous.  The  highest  date  proposed  for  Mena  is  about  b.c. 
1777.  The  lowest  is  about  B.c.  3200.  The  latter  is  not  based  upon 
any  chronological  fact,  but  is  simply  the  minimum  date  at  which  Mena 
could   have  lived.1      Occasionally,    statements   are   discovered   in   pre- 

1  Erman  Life  in  Eg.,  L894;   Ed.  Meyer  Geech.  .Irs  Altm  /Eg.,  1887,  giving  2830 
B.c.  for  Fourth  Dynasty. 


THE   EARLIEST  KINGS. 


•  II 


served  documents  which  tempt 
scholars  to  use  them  as  fixed  points 
on  which  to  base  a  chronology. 
But  it  is  only  from  the  beginning 
of  the  New  Empire  that  firmer 
ground  is  reached.  We  may,  how- 
ever, roughly  assume  as  approxi- 
mate dates — B.c.  4000  for  Menu  ; 
from  b.c.  2500  to  2000  for  the 
Middle  Empire;  and  b.c.  1550  for 
the  New  Empire.  The  now  famous 
Palermo  Stone  is  a  valuable  guide 
for  the  early  kings  ;  and  Petrie  has 
tentatively  restored  the  First  Dy- 
nasty, comparing  the  Egyptian  and 
Manethönian  lists  with  the  monu- 
mental evidence  of  Abydos.  (See 
Introduction,  p.  15.) 

The  great  archaic  tombs  of 
Abydos  were  marked  by  two  stelae 
set  upright  to  the  east  of  each.  In 
time  these  fell.  The  nekropolis 
was  forgotten.  Nothing  is  found 
there  of  the  pyramid  period  or  of 
the  Middle  Empire.  But  with  the 
New  Empire  interest  was  again 
awakened  in  the  ancestors.  Royal 
lists  were  compiled.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  Seti's  list  at  Abydos 
is  the  most  correct  for  this  early 
period.  Offerings  now  were  made 
at  the  royal  tombs — ignorantly — 
as  appears  from  the  heaping  of 
offering's  at  Enzaza's  tomb — a  mere 
official  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty — while 
those  of  Kings  Mer-neit  and  Azab 
were   overlooked.     This    ignorance 


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62 


/•;.  I RL IKS T   EG  }  l'TI.  1 N   HISTORY. 


accounts  for  the  great  tomb  of  Zer  being  taken  for  that  of  Osiris,  whose 
granite  cenotaph  was  sei  in  it.  Priesthoods  of  Mona  and  of  Teta  con- 
tinued until  Ptolemaic  times  ;  and,  according-  to  tradition,  Teta  built  a 
palace  at  Memphis  and  caused  medical  works  to  be  written.  This  is  not 
the  only  trace  of  literary  activity  at  this  early  period.  The  sixty-fourth 
chapter  of  the  Book  of  the  Dead  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  under 
the  reign  of  Hesepti — the  fifth  king  of  the  First  Dynasty — King  Den- 
Set  ui  of  Abydos — and  the  medical  papyrus  of  Berlin  states  that  it  was 


iiiiii.iHiiiimiiiuitiiiiiMiiumiiiiiiiiiimH 


T-TT    , 


n-n 


Fh;.  10.  —  Shera  and  his  wife.     (Oxford.) 

composed  under  Hesepti  and  revised  under  King  Sent  (Second  Dynasty). 
The  tomb  of  a  librarian  of  Memphis,  in  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  has  been 
found.  This  library,  according  to  Galen,  still  flourished  in  Roman 
times,  and  was  consulted  by  Greek  physicians.  Several  of  the  early 
kings  appear  in  popular  tales  of  later  times;  for  instance,  in  the  stories 
preserved  in  the  Westcar  papyri.  Tombs  and  monumental  remains  of 
the  Second  and  Third  Dynasties  have  also  been  found  at  Abydos,  but 
their  identification  with  the  lists  is  less  clear.  A  tablet  in  Oxford, 
of  very  great  antiquity,  names  a  priest  Shera  as  presiding  over 
the  worship  of  Sent  (Fig.  L6).  Tefa  also,  the  second  king  of  the 
Third  Dynasty,  is  said  to  have  been  a  physician. 

The  most  ancient  medical  art  consisted  of  incantations;  diseases 
were  attributed  to  the  pernicious  influence  of  demons.  Only  after 
centuries  had  passed  were  drugs  employed  in  addition  to  these  formulae. 


THE    FUTURE   DYNASTY 

Zeser  (Tosorthros  of  the  Third   Dynasty)  left  a  record  as  a  greal  phy 

sician.     He  promoted   literature  and  erected  s< buildings.      \ ,d- 

mg  to  Manetho,  in   the  reig '  Boethos,  the   founder  of  the  Second 

Dynasty,  a  chasm  opened  near  Bubastis.  Petrie  regards  the  statement 
as  probable,  as  Bubastis  is  near  Abu  Zabel,  the  region  of  plutonic 
action. 

The  third  king  of  the  Second  (Thinitic)  Dynasty,  according  to 
Manetho,  established  female  succession  to  the  thru,,,.  A  Dumber  of 
Horos-names   found   inscribed  on   archaic   monuments  at   Abydos  and 

elsewhere,  although  difficult  to  identify  with  their  equivalents  on  ,1,, 
lists,  probably  belong  tu  these  dynasties.  Such  are  •  Mer-sed,5  •  Kha- 
Sekhemui,'<Per-ab-sen,'  whose  tombs  have  be,,,  found,  and  several 
others  which  appear  on  various  objects— notably  Neter-K ha,  who  is 
identified  with  the  Step-Pyramid  of  Sakkara.  The  unclassified  archaic 
King  Narmer,  and  the  great  heiress-queen  Ne-maat-hap  (Second 
Dynasty),  also  stand  out  with  historic  distinctness. 

The  first  king  of  the  Fourth  (Memphite)  Dynasty,  Snefru,  erected 
on  the  frontiers  of  the  Delta  fortresses  against  the  Asiatics  or  Amu. 
He  conquered  the  peninsula  of  Sinai,  and  set  men  to  work  the 
mines  of  Sarbut-el-khadem,  in  the  Wady-Süwik  (north-northwesl  from 
Serbäl)  in  search  of  copper  and  turquoise.  As  lair  as  the  Twentieth 
I  >ynasty  these  mines  were  worked:  and  one  may  see  to-day  a  great 
enclosing  wall  within  which  are  sixteen  pillars,  or  slabs  of  stone,  bear- 
ing inscriptions  by  the  overseers  of  the  mines,  and  making  mention 
of  the  Pharaohs  whom  they  served,  and  of  their  activity  and  exploits. 
The  same  Snefru  in  Wady-Maghara,  southwest  of  Sarbütel-khädem, 
not  far  from  the  coast,  caused  men  to  dig  for  copper,  malachite,  and 
turquoise  (which,  however,  are  impure  and  lose  color).  Snefru  is 
portrayed  on  a  relief  (which  unfortunately  is  nearly  ruined)  in  the 
act  of  slaving  with  a  battle-axe  a  barbarian  prostrate  upon  the 
ground  before  him.  His  pyramid  at  Medum  was  excavated  by  Petrie 
(1891). 

The  succeeding  Pharaohs,  Khufu  and  Khafra  (between  whom  the 
tables  of  Abydos  and  Sakkara  insert  Ratetf,  probably  an  elder  brother 
of  Khafra),  and  also  Menkaura  (Mycerinus), are  rendered  famous  by 
the  pyramids  of  Gizeh.     The  accounts  of  the  tyranny  and  cruelty  of 


64 


EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN   HISTORY. 


Cheops  (Khufu)  and  Chephren  (Khafra)  related  by  Greek  authors, 
proceeded  from  the  reflection  that  works  of  those  kings,  such  as  the 
Pyramids,  could  not  have  been  accomplished  without  severe  enforced 
service  and  abuse  of  human  strength.  It  was  not  considered  that 
many  other  rulers  who  have  erected  similar  stupendous  structures  have 
not  been  godless  tyrants.  The  monuments  bear  witness  that  both  rulers 
uriv  venerated  as  divine  as  late  at  least  as  the  Twenty-sixth  Dynasty. 
Of  Khufu,  an  ivory  statuette  found  in  190.'}  by  Petrie  has  preserved 
the  features.  It  reveals  intelligence  and  force.  Seven  diorite  and  green 
basall  statues  of  Khafra  were  found  in  a  shaft  of 
the  granite  temple  at  Gizeh  (Figs.  17  and  18). 
They  are  now  in  the  Gizeh  Museum.  The  bearing 
of  the  head,  overshadowed  by  the  wings  of  the 
divine  hawk  (Fig.  18),  and  the  dignity  of  the  pose, 
convey  an  impression  of  majesty. 

The  son  of  Menkaura,  Hor-tutef,  appears  to 
have  played  an  important  part  in  religious,  history. 
He  i-  praised  as  a  man  of  learning, 
and  it  is  reported  that  he  was  sent 
by  his  father  Cor  the  purpose,  partly 
of  increasing,  and  partly  of  restoring, 
the  temples.  Thus  it  came  to  pass 
that  he  found  in  Hermopolis  the 
thirtieth  and  sixty-fourth  chapters 
of  the  '  Book  of  the  Dead,'  in- 
scribed upon  an  alabaster 
plate  lying  at  the  feet  of 
the  deity  (Thoth)  ofthat 
city.  This  rediscovery 
of  hooks  commonly  sig- 
nifies that  the  finder  was 
the  author,  for  by  their  casual  discovery  in  the  temple  the  character  of 
a  divine  revelation  is  imparted  to  them.  The  successor  of  Menkaura, 
A.seskaf  (Asychis),  erected,  according  to  Herodotus,  several  struc- 
tures near  the  porch  of  the  temple  of  Ptah.  Diodorus  attributes  to 
bim   the  origin  of  astronomy  and  geometry,  as  well  as  the  regulation 


Fig.  17.  —  King  Khafra. 


THE    FIFTH    DYNASTY. 


of  the  service  of  the  deity,  and  styles  him  one  of  the  five  great  law- 
givers who  ordained  rules  govern  in-  transactions  in  loans. 

A  memorial  of  victory  in  honor  of  Sahura,  the  second  king  of  tin- 
Fifth  Dynasty,  still  remains  in  the  Wady-Maghara,  winch  is  so  rich 


Pig.  18.  —King  Khafra  (bust). 

in  sculptures.  This  monarch  is  portrayed  in  the  act  of  smiting  and 
killing  with  a  battle-axe  the  nomadic  Mentu  (Fig.  19).  Sahura 
founded  the  town  of  Pa-Sahura,  south  of  Esneh  (the  modern  Sahera  i. 
and  built  in  Memphis  the  temple  of  Sekhet  It  is  Dot  altogether 
certain  in  what  order  his  successors  an-  to  be  arranged,  since  the 
monuments  give  more  names  than  Manetho's  li-t.  ^  e  may  suppose 
either  that   we  have  doublets  of  gome   of   these  name-  op   the  ttionu- 

VOL.  I.      5. 


C6 


EABLIEST   EGYPTIAN  HISTOHY. 


merits,—  the  Pharaohs  being  designated  not  onty  by  their  throne 
names,  but  also  by  other  names,  as  Ra-en-nser  (Rathures)  in  Manetho 
is  the  praenomen  of  An,  —  or  that  Manetho  omitted  some  names 
which  seemed  to  him  unimportant,  perhaps  because  the  rulers  reigned 
for  a  sin nt  period. 

This  An,  like  his  predecessor  Sahura,  is  portrayed  in  Wady-Ma- 
ghära  as  a  conqueror.  Of  the  successor  of  An,  Menkau-hor  (the 
Mencheres  of  Manetho),  a  portrait  (Fig.  20)  is  preserved  upon  a 
block  of  stone  built  into  the  Serapeum,  which  probably  came  from 


Fig.  19.  —  Monument  of  King  Sahura  at  Wad y-MagMra. 


tin-  tniiil>-chapel  of  his  pyramid;  the  chapel  itself  has  not  yet  been 
discovered.  The  composition  of  the  most  ancient  book  in  the  world 
must  be  referred  to  the  reign  of  Assa,  the  last  Pharaoh  but  one  of 
the  Fifth  Dynasty;  it  is  the  papyrus  which  Prisse  acquired  at  Thebes 
and  presented  to  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  and  of  which  a  facsimile 
was  first  published  by  him.  The  manuscript  (Fig.  21)  was  written  at 
the  time  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty,  about  2450  B.c.,  and  contains  at  the 
opening  a  moral  treatise  by  a  certain  Kakemne,  who  lived  under  Snefru. 
The  last  fifteen  pages  form  a  philosophico-moral  essay  by  the  nomarch 
Ptah-hotep,  a  prince  of  the  blood,  contemporary  with  the  Fifth  Dynasty. 


PORTRAIT  OF   MENKAV  EOR. 


~ 


Via.  20.  — Bas-relief  of  King  Menkau-hor  (Meneheres) 


68 


/•:.  1 R  L I  ES  T   EG  YP  TL  I N   HIS  TORY. 


FlG.  21.  —  Facsimile  of  the  oldest  book  in  hieratic  writing,  the  Prisse  papyrus. 


It  is  a  collection  of  moral  precepts,  many  of  which  might  be  followed 
to-day.  In  substance,  style,  and  even  occasional  verbal  expression,  it 
recalls  certain   biblical   texts,  such,  for  instance,  as   Ecclesiastes,     He 


THE    SIXTH     />)  .Y.I.S7T  gg 

was  a  very  old  man:  Light  failed,  the  ears  "had  stopped,  lips  were 
mute,  taste  and  smell  were  gone";  but  he  sought  t«,  convey  his  worldly 
knowledge  for  the  well-being  of  men.  With  bis  collection  of  moral 
sayings  he  blends  profitable  rules  of  life  and  conduct  for  most  varied 
circumstances.     This  work  has  often  been  studied  and  translated. 

The  last  Pharaoh  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty  erected  a  temple  to 
Hathor  in  Memphis,  and  founded  the  town  Unas,  which  was  named 
for  him.  The  first  king  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  Aii  or  Teta  (in 
Manetho,  Othoes),  is  supposed  to  have  met  with  a  violent  death, 
being  murdered  by  a  servant.  Maspero  conceives  that  in  the  reign 
of  the  Teta  (by  Wiedemann  taken  to  be  Othoes)  of  the  monuments, 
who  reigned  in  Memphis,  there  arose  at  AJbydos  a  kin-  Aii 
(Othoes);  and  although  this  king  was  murdered,  the  royal  authority 
of  the  successors  in  the  Fifth  Dynasty,  to  which  Teta  belonged, 
passed  over  to  Ati's  son,  Meri-Ra  Pepi.  Pepi — whose  pyramid  has 
been  identified — like  the  earlier  kings,  gained  a  victory  over  the  Mentu 
of  the  Wady-Maghara,  who  were  constantly  renewing  their  attempts 
to  break  up  the  working  of  the  mines  in  that  region.  There  is  also 
an  inscription  concerning  Pepi  in  the  stone-quarries  of  Selseleh,  as 
well  as  in  those  at  Hamamät  (on  the  road  from  Coptos  tu  the  Red 
Sea),  where,  too,  are  found  inscriptions  relating  to  more  ancient  rulers. 
Pepi  undertook  the  erection  of  buildings  at  Tanis,  and  renewed  the 
temple  of  Denderah  according  to  an  old  plan  found  by  him, —  a  plan 
which  was  precisely  that  of  Khufu,  and  of  which  Thothmes  ill.  sub- 
sequently availed  himself  for  his  work  of  restoration,  it  is  said, 
however,  that  the  plan  found  by  Pepi  had  existed  before  the  time  of 
Mena.  Pepi  waged  a  war  against  Asiatics  with  regard  to  which 
an  inscription  in  honor  of  Una,  commander  of  tin'  host,  gives  more 
exact  information.  This  inscription,  one  of  the  oldest  historical 
documents,  and  in  which  for  the  first  time  negroes,  or  Nebesi,  are 
mentioned,  has  often  been  translated.  For  this  war  lai 
forces  were  raised,  among  other  places,  in  the  country  ^>(  Wawa,  from 
whence  the  Egyptians  obtained  their  silver,  an  indication  of  the  great 
extent  of  the  kingdom  under  Pepi.  The  people  attacked  by  Pepi's 
army  were  called  Amu  and  Herusha  (that  is,  •  those  living  upon  the 
sandy  shore  '),  but  their  dwelling-place  is  not  clearly  described.  <  )n 
the  so-called  poetic  stela  of  Thothmes  III.  at  Karnak,  the   Herusha 


7(1  EARLIEST  EGYPTIAN   HISTORY. 

are  spokeD  of  next  to  '  the  people  at  the  head  of  the  waters,"  that  is, 
the  lagoons  of  the  Nile.  After  five  destructive  invasions,  whereby 
cultivated  lands  and  vineyards  were  laid  waste,  the  Herusha  re- 
treated to  Takhba  (Terehbah  or  Tatepba),  whither  Una  sailed  in 
ships,  and  there  overcame  them.  As  the  highest  mark  of  distinction 
for  his  services,  Una  obtained  leave  not  to  put  off  his  sandals  in  the 
king's  palace,  and  even  in  the  presence  of  the  king.  He  was  also 
honored  with  a  dignity  not  previously  conferred,  that  of  viceroy  of 
Upper  Egypt. 

In  the  thirteenth  year  of  Pepi  the  end  of  a  period  of  the  star 
Sirius  is  reported  to  have  occurred;  this  sovereign  must  therefore 
have  begun  to  reign  in  the  year  2795  B.c.  A  second  Pepi  was  the 
son  of  the  first,  and  a  younger  brother  of  Mer-en-Ra.  Both  of  these 
are  noteworthy  for  the  length  of  their  lives.  The  second  Pepi,  ac- 
cording to  Manetho,  reigned  one  hundred  years,  and  over  ninety 
according  to  the  Turin  papyrus  (the  name  is  wanting  here).  From 
this  it  appears  that  his  elder  brother  died  a  young  man  after  a  reign 
of  seven  (in  the  Turin  papyrus  fourteen)  years,  and  Pepi  when  a 
child  succeeded  him.  The  elder  brother  was  found  in  1881,  in  the 
sepulchral  chamber  of  his  pyramid  at  Sakkara,  his  skin  having  a  natural 
appearance,  the  nose  sunken,  the  lower  jaw  missing  (see  p.  73) ;  the 
body  has  been  removed  to  the  Gizeh  museum.  The  last  prince  of  this 
dynasty  was  murdered,  having  reigned  but  one  year.  His  legendary 
sister  and  consort,  Net-akerti  (Nitocris),  caused  an  extensive  apartment 
to  be  constructed  under  ground,  and  at  its  consecration  invited  those 
who  were  principally  concerned  in  the  murder.  She  turned  in  upon 
thein  the  water  of  the  river  and  drowned  them;  thereupon  she  threw 
herself,  in  order  to  escape  revenge,  into  a  room  filled  with  red  hot 
ashes,  and  thus  ended  her  life.  Many  tales  are  related  by  the  Greeks 
concerning  her,  since  she  was  confounded  to  some  extent  with  the 
wife  of  Psammetichus  III.,  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Dynasty.  One  of 
these  stories  is  important  to  the  student  of  folk-lore :  it  presents  the 
oldest  version  of  the  story  of  Cinderella  and  the  glass  slipper.  Rho- 
dopis  ( •  the  rosy-cheeked  '), — so  was  Nitocris  called,  Manetho  giving 
her  flaxen  hair  and  rosy  cheeks  —  was  a  hetaera ;  she  was  bathing  in 
the  Nile,  when  an  eagle  carried  off  one  of  her  sandals,  which  he 
dropped  upon  the  knee  of  the  king,  who  was  then  holding  a  court  of 


SEVENTH    TO   ELEVENTH    DYNASTIES.  71 

justice  in  the  open  air.  Enraptured  with  the  beautiful  Pool  to  which 
the  sandal  must  belong,  the  king  sen!  messengers  throughout  the 
laud  in  search  of  Rhodopis,  and  made  her  his  queen. 

After  Nitocris  there  commences  a  dark  period.  The  Lists  of 
Manetho  give  only  the  total  number  of  the  rulers  in  each  dynast) 
with  the  years  during  which  they  reigned.  The  Seventh  (Memphite) 
Dynasty  continued,  according  to  Manetho,  for  only  66  days;  accord- 
ing to  another  version,  it  embraced  70  kings.  Eusebiua  (in  Syncellus) 
gives  it  five  rulers  and  75  years.  The  Eighth  Dynasty  (Memphite) 
is  reported  to  have  had  27  kings,  reigning  in  all  14<l  years.  The 
Ninth  Dynasty  (of  Herakleopolis),  whose  founder  was  the  tyrant 
Achthoes,  had  17  kings  with  409  years  (in  Syncellus  there  wen-  four 
kings  and  100  years).  The  Tenth  Dynasty  (of  Herakleopolis)  num- 
bered 17  kings,  whose  reigns  lasted  ISO  years.  Finally  the  Eleventh, 
with  which  the  importance  of  Thebes  arose,  had  Hi  king-,  and  con- 
tinued only  43  years.  The  brief  duration  of  these  dynasties  and  the 
dearth  of  monuments  encourage  the  belief  in  a  period  of  internal  -trite. 
While  the  Memphite  power  weakened,  the  princes  of  Herakleopolis 
grew  in  prosperity.  Khati  I.,  Meri-ab-Ra  (Akhthoes)  founded  the 
Ninth  Dynasty.  His  name  is  found  at  the  first  cataract.  It  is  likely 
that  this  dynasty  was  contemporaneous  with  the  early  Theban  Antefs. 
These  grew  in  power  and  rebelled.  The  kings  of  the  Tenth  Herakleo- 
politan  Dynasty  endeavored  to  .-uppress  them — as  appears  from  the 
tombs  of  the  lords  of  Siüt  who  fought  for  them.  Eventually  the  Thc- 
bans  prevailed  and  established  the  Eleventh  Dynasty.  Several  Antefs 
appear  on  the  lists  and  the  monuments.  One  of  these  bequeathed  the 
crown  to  a  vounger  brother,  who  built  for  him  a  wooden  coffin  overlaid 
with  gold,  which  was  deposited  in  Gurnah,  the  chief  necropolis  of  Thebes, 
and  is  now  in  the  Louvre;  the  tomb  of  his  wife  has  also  been  discov- 
ered in  Gurnah.  Of  this  queen  the  Berlin  Museum  pofi 
wooden  coffer  with  an  arched  cover  (Fig.  22).  In  it  there  is  a  small 
box  made  of  the  inner  bark  of  reeds,  in  which  is  a  basket  of  tine  straw 
upon  a  stand.  This  last  contains  live  alabaster  flasks,  and  one  of  ser- 
pentine,  containing  medicines.  Near  it  lie  two  spoons  and  a  small 
dish,  and  a  large  number  of  medicinal  roots.  A  gilded  coffin  of  an- 
other Antef  is  in  the  British  Museum:  and  his  silver  diadem,  over- 
laid  with  gold,  is  at  Leyden.     The  tomb  of  a  third  Antef  contains  a 


72 


/•;.  1  /,'  L I  ES  T  EG  YP  TIAN  HIS  TOE  Y. 


status  with  an  inscription  made  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  reign;  the 
coffin  of  a  fourth  Antef,  also  from  Gurnah,  is  preserved  at  Berlin. 
At  this  court  a  poem  was  composed,  passages  of  which  are  also  found 
in  the  tombs  at  Thebes.  It  commands  a  cheerful  manner  of  life, 
since  with  death  all  joy  ceases.  It  thus  illustrates  the  description 
given  by  Herodotus  of  Egyptian  banquets.     We  read,  among  other 

things,  in  this  song :  "  Lay  of 
the  house  of  king  Antef,  the 
departed,  which  is  composed 
by  the  harper.  Hail  to  the 
good  prince.  The  good  des- 
tiny is  fulfilled.  The  bodies 
pass  away  and  others  remain 
behind.  Since  the  days  of  the 
ancestors,  the  gods  (i.e.,  the 
kings)  who  have  been  before 
time,  rest  in  their  pyramids. 
There  have  they  built  houses, 
whose  place  is  no  more,  thou 
seest  what  has  become  of  them. 
I  heard  the  words  of  Imhotep 
and  Hardataf,  who  both  spoke 
thus  in  their  sayings  :  '  Behold 
the  dwellings  of  those  men, 
their  walls  fall  down.  Their 
place  is  no  more.  They  are  as 
though  they  had  never  existed.' 
Who  tells  us  how  it  goes  with 
them  ?  Who  nerves  our  hearts 
until  you  approach  the  place 
whither  they  are  gone?  With  joyful  heart,  forget  not  to  glorify  thyself, 
and  follow  thy  heart's  desire,  so  long  as  thou  livest.  Put  myrrh  on 
thy  head,  clothe  thyself  in  fine  linen,  anointing  thyself  with  the  true 
marvels  of  God.  Adorn  thyself  as  beautifully  as  thou  canst  and  let 
not  thy  heart  be  disci  »uraged.  Follow  thy  heart's  desire  and  thy  pleasures 
so  long  as  thou  livest  on  earth.  Let  not  thy  heart  concern  itself  until 
there  comes  to  thee  that  day  of  mourning.     Yet  he  whose  heart  is  at 


Fig.  22.  —  Cabinet  of  Queen  Mentu-hotep. 


TUE   ELEVENTE   DYNASTY. 


rest  hears  not  their  complaint.  And  he  who  lies  in  the  tomb,  under- 
stands not  their  mourning.  With  beaming  face  celebrate  a  joyful  day, 
and  rest  not  therein,  for  no  one  carries  his  goods  with  him.  Yea,  do 
one  returns  again  who  is  gone  thither." 

Three  kings  of  the  name  of  Mentu-hotep  are  mentioned.  One  of 
them  lived  between  two  of  the  live  Antefs,  and  his  name  is  given  upon 
the  list  at  Karnak.  Of  one  of  these  is  an  inscription,  made  in  the 
forty-sixth  year  of  his  reign;  he  is  also  shown  by  the  monuments  to 
have  been  sovereign  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.  These  kin--  have 
left  many  traces,  not  only  at  Thebes,  but  at  Koptos,  Assuan,  Sakkara, 
and  at  other  sites.  The  last  king  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty  appears  to 
have  been  Sankh-ka-ra,  who  led  a  great  expedition  to  the  land  of  Punt, 
the  coasts  in  the  vicinity  of  the  strait  of  Bab-el-Mandeb,  the  region  of 
Yemen  and  of  Somali.  An  army  went  with  him  and  many  laborers 
from  Koptos  and  Kosseir ;  they  dug  on  the  way  four  artesian  wells. 
They  finally  reached  Arabia,  and  brought  to  Egypt  the  products  of  that 
country — spices,  frankincense,  precious  stones,  and  the  like ;  a  fact 
which  gives  a  conception  of  the  power  and  enterprising  spirit  manifesting 
itself  in  these  last-named  Pharaohs.  Manetho  assigns  Ammenemes  t" 
the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  who,  on  account  of  genealogical  relation  to  the 
Twelfth  Dynasty,  has  been  commonly  placed  at  the  head  of  the  latter 
dynasty. 


Mummied  head  of  Meren-Ra  M-Kii-  i 


CHAPTER   IL 

ART   IX   THE   ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

IF  we  review  the  political  record  of  the  Old  Empire,  we  are  struck 
with  its  insignificance.  A  few  raids  in  the  South,  some  repressive 
campaigns  against  the  encroachments  of  Asiatic  tribes  on  the  eastern 
frontier,  cover  Egypt's  military  record.  If  there  were  great  wars,  they 
have  left  no  traces.  We  find,  however,  ample  compensation  for  this  in 
the  completeness  with  which  the  private  life  and  mode  of  thought  of  the 
Egyptians  is  unfolded  in  their  art  and  architecture.  The  oldest  of  the 
dated  structures  in  Egypt  are  the  great  tomb  of  Nagadah  and  the 
royal  tombs  of  Abydos.  These  architecturally  stand  as  a  link  between 
the  pre-dynastic  pit-tombs  (see  Introduction,  p.  8)  and  the  mastabas  of 
the  nekropolis  of  Gizeh.  Each  of  these  archaic  tombs  was  practically  a 
large  square  or  oblong  pit.  Some  are  as  large  as  100  X  50  cubits. 
They  are  lined  with  brick- work,  roofed  over  and  floored  with  wood, 
and  closely  surrounded  by  rows  of  small  chambers — the  tomb  of  King 
Kha-Sekhemui  (Second  Dynasty)  has  fifty-seven — which,  in  the  earlier 
examples — as  in  the  tombs  of  Zer  and  Zet — open  from  it,  but  which, 
by  King  Mer-neit,  were  built  separately  around  the  main  tomb.  By 
Den-Setui,  an  entrance  passage  and  a  stairway  were  added,  which  Qa- 
Sen  turned  to  the  north.  Petrie  has  pointed  out  that,  at  this  stage 
— i.e.,  the  end  of  the  First  Dynasty — we  are  within  reach  of  the  early 
mastabas  and  pyramids.  By  substituting  stone  for  brick-work  and 
wood,  and  by  removing  the  tombs  of  retainers  further  away,  the  type  of 
rn:i>t  aba-pyramid  of  Snefru  is  obtained.  And  the  latter  is  the  archi- 
tectural link  with  the  true  pvramid. 

The  nekropolis  of  Memphis,  in  expressive  Egyptian  language 
styled  the  'Land  of  Life'  (änkh-ta),  is  a  vast  cemetery,  which 
stretches  from  Abu-Roash,  opposite  Cairo,  as  far  as  Dashur,  south- 
west of  Memphis,  a  distance  of  ten  hours.  In  it  are  several  groups 
of  pyramids,  at  Abu-Roash,  Gizeh,  Tsawiyet-el- Aryan,  Abusir,  Sak- 

74 


TOMBS. 


40 


kara,  and  Dashur.     The  embalmed    bodies  of  millions  of  Egyptians 

rest  here  in  the  sand  and  rock  of  the  desert,  which  at  this  pint 
borders  directly  npon  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  In  external  form  pri- 
vate sepulchres  arc  rectangular  structures  extending  from  north  to 
south  with  side-walls  somewhat  inclined.  The  Arabs  call  these  sep- 
ulchres mastabah.  They  are  made  of  brick,  at  first  yellow.  Later  of  a 
dusky  color,  or  of  limestone.  The  east  side,  turned  toward  the  Nile, 
is  commonly  the  facade,  decorated  by  a  niche  near  the  north  corner; 
near  the  south  corner  is  the  entrance.  The  more  modest  mastabas 
have  sometimes  no  interior  work  apart  from  the  mummy-pit,  except 


Fig.  23.  —  A  Table  of  unwinds. 

only  a  deep  recess  with  a  tablet.     When  the  door  is  on   the  north. 
there  is  a  vestibule  in  front  with  two  square  pillars:   this  is  also  the 
case  when  the  door  is  placed  on  the  south  side,  yet  here,  too,  the  con- 
struction of  the  east  side  may  occur.      In  a  tomb  at  Gizeh  there  is  t,. 
be  seen  an  actual  column  with  a  calyx-shaped  capital,  and  quart»] 
round    moulding  below.     The  entrance  is  never  on  the  west*   side 
Within  there  is  an  apartment  or  chapel,  which,  as  a  rule,  is  adorned 
with  sculptures  and  paintings;  some  sepulchres  contain  vaulted  c 
ings  of  separate  blocks.     A  necessary  feature  is  the  tablet  built  into 
the  western  wall,  upon  which  thenan.es  and   titles  of  the  de, 
are  engraven,  as  well  as  the  ritual  which  secures  to  htm  the  enjoy- 


76 


ART  TN  THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 


in. Mit  of  ilu'  objects  set  apart  for  him  (Fig.  23);  here  the  survivors, 
mi  visiting  the  tomb,  read  or  repeated  the  ritual.  Often  before  the 
tablet  in  the  wall  stands  a  sacrificial  table  of  granite.  The  chapel  is 
also  decorated  with  scenes  of  funeral  festivities  accompanied  by  musical 
performances.  On  both  .-ides  of  the  niche  are  sometimes  placed  portraits 
of  the  deceased,  with  a  front  view  in  high-relief,  as,  for  example,  in 
the  tomb  of  Ur-khun,  built  during  the  reign  of  Neferarkara  (third 
king  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty)  in  Sakkara,  and  at  Gizeh  in  the  tomb  of 
khafia-ankh  (Fourth  Dynasty).  Another  part  of  the  interior  is  the 
serdäb,  a  hollow  place  which  for  the  most  part  is  connected  with  the 
chamber  only  by  a  hole  an  hand-breadth  wide.  Since  it  was  not 
beyond  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  the  mummy  might  be  destroyed 
or  removed,  the  Egyptians  took  care,  by  depositing  statues  of  the 
dead  in  these  serdabs,  to  provide  a  material  support  for  the  spirit. 
These  'Ka'  statues  might  be  indefinitely  multiplied.  "With  such  an 
object  in  view,  it  was  natural  that  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  exact 
reproduction  of  the  features.  Realism,  not  attractiveness,  was  aimed 
at.  We  also  understand  why  old  age  was  never  represented.  The 
portrait  upon  which  the  spirit  must  depend  in  all  ages  to  come  always 
represented  the  original  in  the  vigor  of  life.  Through  the  small  opening 
in  the  serdab  the  soul  could  glide,  and  the  stone  image  could  inhale  the 
sacrificial  vapor  of  the  offerings  to  the  dead.  In  a  sepulchre  at  Gizeh 
the  chamber  is  of  considerable  length,  and  upon  a  long  rear  wall  one 
observes  under  the  ceiling  four  square  holes,  and  below,  at  half  the 
height   of  the  wall,   four   other   slit-like   holes ;    all   these   eight   holes 


Pig.  24.       Granary  from  the  tomb  of  Ameny,  Beni-Hassan.     (After  Ma  pero.) 


open  upon  four  long  serdabs,  and  in  conformity  to  the  interior  of  the 
latter  the  slits  become  wider.  Finally,  every  mastaba  has  a  pit  some- 
times forty,  often  more  than  sixty  feet  in  depth,  which  is  excavated 
out  of  earth,  cither  from  the  external  platform  of  the  mastaba  through 


TOMBS. 


the  wall,  —  as  is  most  commonly  «lone,  -or  (as  i.,  the  richly  con- 
structed mastaba  of  Ti)  from  the  soi]  of  the  rock  chamber.  The  pit 
opens  below  into  a  passage  which  Leads  to  the  tomb;  in  a  comer  of 
the  latter  was  placed  the  stone  sarcophagus.  This  inclosed  the  painted 
wooden  coffin,  in  the  shape  of  a  mummy  with  a  human  countenance ; 
it  was  often  gilded.  In  this  coffin  lay  the  mummy.  The  entrance  of 
the  passage  to  the  tomb,  as  well  as  the  opening  of  the  j.it  upon  il„- 
platform  or  in  the  chapel,  was  walled  up  after  the  completion  of  the 
offering  to  the  dead  ;  the  pit  was  filled  with  rubbish,  among  which  in 
the  tombs  of  the  Middle  Empire  sometime-  are  found  the  fragments  of 
a  wooden  bark  in  which  the  deceased  journeyed  through  the  under- 
world. The  tomb  is  always  placed  in  the  same  axis  as  the  upper 
room  or  chapel.  The  mastaba  tombs  show  as  vet  no  amulet-  or  statu- 
ettes of  ushabtis,  but  only  two  or  three  pointed  vessels  for  water 
placed  against  the  wall,  and  also  bones  of  bulls  which  had  been 
offered  to  the  deceased  as  nourishment.  The  slaying  of  the  bull  is 
often  represented  pictorially  in  the  upper  chamber.  In  the  interior 
of  the  sarcophagus  may  be  found  furniture,  consisting  of  a  foot  sujh 
porting  a  crescent-shaped  head-rest,  such  as  it  was  the  custom  to  place 
under  the  head  when  sleeping  (instead  of  our  pillows),  and  a  num- 
ber of  vessels  made  of  alabaster.  The  coffin  (  Fig.  -■'> )  is  rectangular, 
with  perpendicular  corners ;  the  lid.  except  a  part  at  the  two  small 
ends,  is  rounded  off  in  the  direction  of  its  length:  the  lid  is  so 
arranged  that  a  part  of  its  lower  rim  fits  into  ;)  groove  in  the  upper 
edge  of  the  coffin,  and  the  seam  is  filled  with  cement  The  decoration 
of  the  stone  coffin  is  borrowed  from  the  architecture  of  the  wooden 
dwelling-house.  A  beautiful  example  is  the  syenit  ■  coffin  of  Khufu- 
ankh  (Gizeh  museum).  The  tomb  is  the  eternal  abode,  the  dwelling 
is  but  the  shelter  for  the  brief  pilgrimage  on  the  earth.  In  the  vicinity 
of  the  pyramids  at  Gizeh  tombs  are  found  which  are  not  built  up.  but 
chiselled  out  of  the  wall  of  rock  ;  they  consisl  of  several  chambers 
with  sculptures,  and  the  pit  excavated  in  the  -oil,  a  type  richly  devel- 
oped in  later  times  in  the  Theban  aekropolis.  We  may.  therefore, 
follow  step  by  step  the  evolution  of  Egyptian  sepulchral  architecture 
from  prehistoric  times  to  the  New  Empire. 

With   the  architecture  of  the  tombs  sculpture  i<  very  closely  con- 
nected.    We  have  seen   that  in  consequence  of  the  belief-  with  regard 


7s 


ART   TN    THE   ANCIENT   EMPIRE. 


to  the  relation  of  the  soul  to  the  mummy,  the  Egyptians  came  to  de- 
posit statu.-  of  the  departed,  known  as  < Ka '-statues,  in  the  serdab  or 
inner  chamber  ;  and  that  in  order  to  facilitate  for  the  soul  the  identifi- 
cation of  its  former  abode,  the  resemblance  of  the  image  to  the  living 
subject  must  be  rendered  as  exact  as  possible.  The  artist  to  whom 
wa.-  intrusted  the  making  of  these  statues  was  therefore  compelled  to 
conform  to  nature.  This  is  a  most  salutary  restraint  for  an  artist, 
since  it  guards  him  against  sinking  into  mannerism  and  an  unnatural 
treatment,     'flic  works  of  Egyptian  artists  are  therefore  distinguished 


% 


L 


r^" 


L 


mu^rn'mmm 


m0S$W^m^m 


llliii 


Fig.  25.  —  Stone  sarcophagus. 


by  tin-  highest  skill  in  portraiture,  and  by  realistic  representation. 
The  admiration  excited  by  these  ancient  specimens  of  statuary  has 
often  suggested  the  inquiry  as  to  the  kind  of  technique  adopted  by 
the  sculptor.  Although  traces  of  iron  have  been  discerned  even  in 
the  time  of  the  Fourth  Dynasty,  yet  the  manufacture  of  steel  at  that 
period  has  not  been  demonstrated.  It  is  admitted  that  by  some 
unknown  process  a  hardness  approaching  that  of  iron  was  imparted 
to  bronze.  Had  steel  been  in  use,  there  would  have  been  discovered 
in  the  oldest  pieces  of  work  very  sharp  edges  and  deep  cuttings, 
as  in  later  art  which  employed  steel;  but  there  is  no  instance  of  the 


PORTRAIT  v/'  1/7  Es 


79 


kind.  Flinders-Petrie,  after  a  thorough  examination  of  slabs  of 
stone  worked  with  the  saw,  has  proved  that  sawa  of  bronze  were 
used,  and  that  these  were  tipped  with  hard  crystals,  probably  corun- 
dum. The  investigations  of  Entile  Soldi,  directed  to  objects  of  art, 
as  well  as  scenes  upon  Egyptian  reliefs  representing  the  restoration 
of  statues,  have  brought  to  Light  the  methods  of  tin-  artist  With 
the  punch,  struck  by  long  hammers,  blocks  of  hard  stone.  Buch  ;is 
granite,  were  split,  and  were  engraved  with  figures  cut  into  the 
stone;  the  shaping  followed  with  a  pick-hammer  and  chisel,  hut  the 
latter  came  into  use  late  and  was  seldom  employed,  as  for  instance, 
in  order  to  draw  the  sharp  outlines  of  the  hieroglyphics,  as  well  as 
their  straight  and  crooked  edges.  All  granite  statues  are  polished, 
not  indeed  by  file  and  rasp,  but  by  means  of  moist  sandstone  powder, 
which  is  spread  over  them  with  a  kind  of  brush,  and  is  rubbed  over 
the  surface  by  curved  pieces  of  wood  or  by  flat  stones.  Emery  must 
have  been  imported  from  Naxos  at  an  early  «lay,  for  without  the  use 
of  this  it  is  impossible  to  account  for  many  very  smooth  suit 
The  danger  of  dislocation  in  restoring  the  more  delicate  parts,  as  the 
neck  and  the  extremities,  was  obviated  by  the  fact  that  the  artist 
did  not  separate  these  from  the  general  mass  ;  the  neck  up  to  the 
head  adheres  to  the  back  of  the  chair,  or  to  the  pillar  on  which  the 
figure  leans.  For  the  same  reason,  the  beard  on  the  chin  is  not 
arated  from  the  neck.  The  mediocre  character  of  the  granite  Btatues 
is  caused  by  the  material  and  the  technique,  us  has  been  explained  by 
G.  Semper;  whilst  wooden  figures  and  bronze  vessels,  and  even  many 
limestone  statues,  show  that  the  artists  understood  very  well  how  to 
fashion  the  extremities  separately,  and  how  to  give  the  impn 
of  physical  activity,  as  in  the  reliefs  and  pictures.  In  order  tolo 
immense  blocks  of  granite  in  the  quarry  from  the  native  rock,  the 
stone-cutters  introduced  wooded  wedges,  which  expanding  on  being 
wet  split  off  the  stone,  or  with  pointed  crowbars  they  drew  furrows 
around  the  block,  and  finally  separated  it  by  many  blows  applied  at 
the  same  time.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  sculptor  of  reliefs  not 
only  drew  lines  with  red  paint,  forming  squares  upon  the  flal  Burface 
in  order  to  outline  the  figures  in  their  just  proportions,  but  also  that 
statues  were  copied  from  models  previously  prepared. 

Herodotus  relates  that  King  M yccrinus  had   Bet  up  in  a  hall   of 


80 


A B T  IX   TU /•:  ANCl EN T  EMPIRE. 


his  palace  about  twenty  wooden  portrait>statues  of  his  wives,  and 
had  also  caused  a  hollow  wooden  image  of  a  cow  to  be  made,  in 
which  he  put  the  body  of  his  deceased  only  daughter.  Though  the 
objeci  of  these  works  of  art  is  here  erroneously  explained,  the  artistic 
development  of  Egypt  in  his  day  cannot  be  questioned. 


Fig.  26.  — Portrait  heads  of  early  date  (Sepa  and  Nesa).     Louvre. 

Ancient  works  of  art,  which  appear  to  belong  to  the  period  of  the 
Second  Dynasty,  are  the  somewhat  clumsily  executed  statues  of  Sepa 
and  his  wife  Nesa  (Fig.  26).  They  are  distinguished  by  the  fact 
that  the  lower  eyelid  is  marked  by  a  green  stripe  ;  the  palettes  and 
green  paint  found  in  the  burials  of  the  Nagadah  period  show  this  prac- 
tice to  have  belonged  to  prehistoric  times.  It  was  probably  ritualistic. 
(See  Introduction,  p.  8,  note.)  The  statues  of  Ra-hotep  and  of  Ne- 
fert  (Figs.  27,  28)  are  famous  ;  they  were  found  at  Medum  in  a  tomb 
of  the  reign  of  Snefru.  They  are  so  life-like  that  they  startled  the 
superstitious  Arabs  who  first  saw  them  into  the  belief  that  they  were 
spirits  guarding  the  tomb.  Both  figures  and  a  high  chair,  together 
with  the  seat,  are  worked  out  from  a  block  of  limestone,  a  little 
less  than  four  feet  in  height.  The  man  has  a  round  face,  hair 
cut  short,  ,i  dark,  straight  beard,  full  lips;  his  clothing  consists 
simply  of  an  apron  covering  the  upper  part  of  the  thighs;  round  his 
neck  hangs  a  cord  with  a  small  round  talisman;  the  left  arm  rests 
upon  the  thigh,  the  right  is  somewhat  raised,  and  its  closed  hand  is 
placed  upon  the  he-art;  the  legs  are  parallel;  it  is  noticeable  that 


Portrait  sta  tues. 


81 


the  second  toe  is  longer  than  the  first,  and  thai  the  small  toe  has  its 
proper  shape.  In  other  civilized  nations  it  usually  appears  misshapen 
from  wearing  a  shoe.  Nefert  has  thick  hair  above  the  eyes,  parted 
from  the  top  of  the  head;  at  the  sides  of  the  lace  artificial  hair  falls 
down  upon  the  shoulders;  the  head  is  encircled  by  a  diadem.  The 
countenance  is  full,  and  preserves  in  the  beautiful  eyes  thai  somewhat 
melancholy   expression    which  frequently  at  this  day  one  observes 


Fig.  27.  —  Statues  of  Ita-hotep  and  Nefert.    (Gizeh  Museum.) 

in  the  faces  of  Egyptian  women.  The  thick  garment  like  a  tunic, 
reaching  to  the  feet,  clings  to  the  form.  The  arms,  which  are 
hidden  by  it,  are  placed  one  above  the  other,  and  the  hands  lie  be- 
neath the  breasts.  The  neck  is  adorned  with  jewellery  richly 
wrought,  and  garnished  with  bands  of  gold. 

All  statues  were  painted.     The  naked  parts  of  the  body  in  men 
are  painted  a  reddish  brown,  in  women  a  yellow  colm  ;  the  hair  i 
always  black.     The  eyes  receive  a  specially  careful  treatment     The 

Vol.  I.      6, 


82 


.1/,"/'    TN    TUE    ANCIENT   KM  PI  HF. 


so-calied  Scribe  (Fig.  29),  from  a  tomb  of  the  Sixth  or  Seventh 
Dynasty,  who,  according  to  Oriental  custom,  is  seated  upon  the 
ground  clothed  only  in  the  gown-like  apron  (shenti),  and  who  seems 


Head  of  Ra-hotep. 


Fro.  28. 


Head  of  Xefert. 


to  be  writing  off  words  dictated  to  him  by  a  judge  or  other  official, 
is  indebted  for  the  effect  produced  —  aside  from  the  excellent  treat- 
ment of  the  parts  of  the  body  —  above  all  else  to  the  eyes.  They 
are  bordered  by  a  bronze  plate  forming  the  lids  and  lashes,  and  con- 
sist of  a  piece  of  opaque  quartz,  in 
which  the  apple  of  the  eye,  made  of 
transparent  rock-crystal,  is  inserted  by 
means  of  a  polished  metallic  pin.  Simi- 
lar eyes  has  also  the  life-like  wooden 
statue  of  Ra-em-ka  in  the  Gizeh  Mu- 
seum, the  so-called  Sheikh-el-Beled,1  or 
Town-elder  (Fig.  30) — which  repre- 
sents this  dignitary  with  a  staff  in  his 
hand.  The  head  of  his  wife  is  per- 
haps even  finer,  and  both  are  por- 
trayed in  a  manner  pre-eminently  true 
to  nature.  These  wooden  portraits  were 
covered  before  painting  with  line  linen  glued  to  them,  and   which 


Pig.  29.  —  The  Scribe  (Louvre). 


1  The  Arabs  who  were  excavating  were  struck  by  his  resemblance  to  their  town 
elder. 


PORTRAIT   STA  11  ES 


i 


was  intended  to  support  the  stucco;  litis  received  the  paint,  mid 
was  at  the  same  time  used  for  a  finer  kind  of  modelling.  The 
statue  of  Ti  is  yet  to  be  mentioned,  one  of  the  mos!  valuable 
objects  in  the  Gizeh  .Museum.  Ti  was  a  distinguished  function- 
ary in  the  time  of  An  (Fifth  Dy- 
nasty), by  birth  one  of  the  people, 
but  married  to  a  daughter  of  the 
royal  house.  The  gown-like  apron, 
the  only  garment  of  this  privy-coun- 
cillor  and  high-priest,  appears 
to  stand  out  stiff  with  starch  and 
ironing,  as  is  often  shown  in  the  rep- 
resentation of  royal  robes.  The 
naturalness  of  these  pieces  of  statu- 
ary is  so  great  that  we  are  ready  to 
believe  that  in  the  fellahs  of  Upper 
Egypt  and  their  wives  in  our  day  we 
find  their  very  models  ;  the  dress  of 
modern  Egyptian  women  consists  of 
the  same  kind  of  tunic  as  that  seen 
in  those  ancient  statues.  According 
to  Semper,  these  Egyptian  portrait- 
statues  are  not  inferior  to  the  Aegine- 
tan  in  technique,  and  far  excel  them 
in  the  lifelike  expression  of  counte- 
nance. The  tomb-statues  are  made 
of  limestone  and  wood,  and 
sometimes  of  bronze,  and 
eyes  are  inserted  also  in  the 
bronze  statues.  The  ap- 
pearance of  bronze  in  the 
time  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth 

Dynasties  is  of  importance  with  regard  to  the  history  of  this  metal 
lie  composition.      The   Egyptians   called    the   native   bronze  'dark 
IchomlJ  and  this  seems  to  have  been  impure  copper:  hut  tor  bronze 
castings,  however,  only  the  foreign  bronze,  khomt,  could  have  been 
used.     The  most  ancient  bronze  statue  in  Chaldaea,  a   canephore, 


emwMWft 


Fig.  30.      Portrait  statue  of  Ra-ein-ka. 


84  ART  IN    THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

was  found  at  AfVaj  on  the  Euphrates,  not  far  from  Bagdad,  and 
furnishes  us  with   the  name  of  a  very  ancient  king,  Kudur-mabuk. 
The  Egyptian  bronzes,  however,  are  older  by  far;  a  bronze  handle 
from  the  staff  of  Ratetf  (Fourth  Dynasty)  is  in  private  possession; 
another  of   King    Pepi    is    in  the    British    Museum  ;    Flinders-Petrie 
found  pieces  of   bronze    in    the    pyramid  of   Abu-Roash.     A    bronze 
statue  of  Pepi,  of  ancient  date   (at  Paris),   bears  an   inscription  with 
the  names  upon  it  of  the  Shasu,  Semitic  Bedouins  dwelling  northeast 
of  Egvpt.     Inasmuch  as  the  beginnings  of  civilization  coincide  with 
the  use  of  metals,  it  is  noteworthy  that  copper  is  as  ancient  as  Egyp- 
tian   civilization.1      The   tombs    of    the    earliest    dynasties    and    even 
of  prehistoric  times  yield  tools  of  practically  pure  copper.      (See   In- 
troduction, p.   14.)     However  this  may  be,  the  appearance  of  bronze 
in  Egypt  where  there  was  an  utter  want  of  tin,  of  which  an  alloy  of 
nine  per  cent,  with  copper  produces  bronze,  presupposes    intercourse 
with  a  neighboring  people  at  that  time  who  possessed  tin.     Since  it 
is  highly   probably  that  the  Egyptians  acquired  the  prepared  bronze 
by  barter,  there  must  have  been  in  that  country  the  necessary  build- 
ings for  smelting  and  forging.     This  unknown  people  also  furnished 
bronze  to  the  Chaldaeans.     Tin  is  found  in  but  few  places  on  the 
earth  at  the  utmost,  —  in  the  mines  of  Perak  in  Malacca ;  in  Banka 
and  Biliton,  near  Sumatra;  also  in  Britain  ('tin  islands'),  whence, 
according  to  Borlase,  it  was  brought  as  early  as  the  fourteenth  or  at 
least  the  twelfth  century  b.c.,  by  the  enterprise  of  the  Phoenicians, 
to  the  emporium  of  Gades  (Cadiz),  and  to  the  countries  lying  upon 
the  Mediterranean.     All  ancient  bronzes,  including  the  Brazen  Sea 
and  the  oxen  in  Solomon's   temple,  contained   tin  from  Cornwall. 
Tin  was  found  also  in  Iberia  in  the  Caucasus.     According1  to  Dio- 
dorus,  tin  was  produced  in  the  island  of  Panchaea,  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  Arabia,  but  was  not  exported.     Tin  for  the  bronze  found  in 
the  Troad  perhaps  came  from  Crete ;  it  is  now  found  in  Mount 
Sphacia.     Whether  Egypt  obtained  her  tin  from  Crete,  or  whether  it 
was  brought  to  her  overland  from  the  Caucasus  through  the  interven- 
tion of  the  Shasu,  must,  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  on  the 
subject,  remain  a  matter  of  pure  speculation.     The  original  method  of 
manipulating  bronze  was  by  incrustation  or  empaestic  ;  that  is,  a  core 
1  Petri'-  in  L904  found  an  iron  wedge  in  a  Sixth  Dynasty  deposit  (b.c.  3400). 


GENRE   PICTURES. 

of  wood  or  clay  was  covered  with  the  metal  ;  in  this  manner  bronzewaa 
handled  by  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians.  Then  followed  thehollow- 
hammered  work  (sphyrdaton),  such  as  was  practised  by  the  G 
very  ancient  times;  the  pieces  were  riveted  together,  and  at  a  later 
day  soldered.  Finally  the  art  of  casting  was  invented.  It  i-  remark- 
able that  the  oldest  Egyptian  bronzes  show  the  most  recent  step  in 
technique, — the  hollow  casting. 

Finely  carved  ivory  statuettes  found  recently  attest  Eg}  ptfs  artistic 
development  under  the  first  dynasties,  and  the  art  displayed  in  reliefs 
in  the  mastabas  of  the  Old  Empire  is  of  the  highest  order.  The  charac- 
teristic difference  between  the  execution  of  the  earlier  and  the  later 
reliefs  consists  in  this:  In  the  first  the  figures  are  made  to  stand  out 
with  a  moderate  elevation  from  a  smooth  surface.  Theban  art,  ou  the 
other  hand,  forms  hollow  reliefs  (en  creux)  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  work 
is  in  such  a  depression  that  the  plane  of  the  whole  outside  surface  is 
in  a  line  with  the  relief.  The  latter,  however,  gains  distinctness  through 
the  depressions  around  the  outlines  of  the  figure.  Besides  stone  reliefs, 
we  also  find  wooden  ones,  as  in  the  tomb  of  Hesi  at  Sakkara.  These 
probably  are  older  than  the  pyramids  of  Cheops.  Thev  serve  to  mask 
four  false  doors,  and  represent  a  scribe  who  carries  his  writing  imple- 
ments in  his  hand,  or  hanging  over  his  shoulder. 

Beside  the  statues  of  the  occupant  of  the  tomb,  there  are  frequently 
found  figures  of  servants,  who,  employed  as  when  alive,  are  intended 
to  surround  the  dead  with  the  daily  life  on  earth.  There  are  attractive 
genre  pictures, — a  naked  boy  with  a  sack  on  his  shoulder  and  a  nosegay 
in  his  right  hand;  another  is  sitting  on  the  ground,  and  thrusts  hia 
right  hand  into  a  tall  pitcher  which  he  is  holding  with  his  left  :  a  girl 
kneading  dough  in  a  vessel  placed  upon  the  ground  is  remarkably  real- 
istic ;  a  dwarf  by  the  name  of  Khnum-hotep,  inhabitant  of  a  beautiful 
tomb  at  Sakkara,  reminds  one  of  the  dwarfs  of  Velasquez. 

The  reliefs  on  the  tombs,  in  their  varied  forms,  furnish  a  glimpse 
into  the  life  of  the  Egyptian  people,  such  as  is  obtained  of  n<>  other 
people  (see  Fig.  24).  The  art  of  Telloh,  which  alone  approaches  it  in 
age — no  sculptures  of  any  serious  importance  having  as  vet  r>  en  I 
ered  at  Nippur — is  military  or  hieratic.  Even  Grecian  art.  rich  and 
varied  as  it  is,  is  not  so  manifold  as  the  Egyptian.  This  direction  of  art, 
as  has  been  shown,  received   its   impulse  from  the   religious  conviction 


86 


ART  IS    THE   A  SCI  EST   EMPIRE. 


that  the  deceased,  as  a  shade,  has  sensuous  perceptions,  especially  at 
those  moments  when  the  <  Ba '  or  the  <  Ka '  put  themselves  into  com- 
munication with  him  for  a  time,  and  that  one  is  bound  to  enliven  the 
solitude  of  the  tomb  by  reproductions  of  the  happy  earthly  life. 

It  has  already  been  remarked  that  the  human  figure  is  always 
represented  in  profile.  The  eye,  however,  is  not  fore-shortened,  but 
represented  in  its  full  length,  as  it  appears  de  face,  while  the  arms 
again  arc  portrayed  from  the  side.  The  legs  are  represented  in  pro- 
file, with  one  stepping  out  before  the  other.  In  stooping  figures,  only 
one  shoulder  is  to  be  seen ;  and  this  is  so  far  falsely  drawn  that  it  pro- 
jects in  front  of  the  neck,  for  the  artist  did  not  know  how  to  over- 
come the  difficulties  of  perspective,  which  are  doubled  in  reliefs. 
Persian  art  was  the  first  to  achieve  complete  success  in  this  respect. 
There  are,  however,  here  and  there,  correct  drawings,  as  in  the  tomb 
of  Ra-ases  at  Sakkara.  So  vast  was  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done 
that  the  laborers  were  directed  merely  to  follow  a  fixed  rule;  and 
the  evident  offences  against  perspective  were  richly  compensated 
by  the  invariably  skilful  treatment,  and  the  vividness  and  distinct- 
ness shown  in  all  movements  of  the  human  body.  The  artist's  mean- 
ing is  clear,  aside  from  the  hieroglyphic  explanations  accompanying 
the  drawings.  The  representations  of  country  life  (Fig.  31)  show 
the  plough  drawn  by  oxen,  the  peasant  leaning  upon  the  plough- 
handle,  and  the  driver  with  his  whip ;  near  by  rows  of  laborers  are 
loosening  the  soil  with  hoes,  and  the  sower  is  scattering  seed  from  a 
basket,  several  of  which  are  standing  close  at  hand.  The  reapers  seize 
their  bundles  of  corn,  and  cut  with  the  sickle;  the  grain  is  winnowed; 
linn  take  it  with  a  three-pronged  fork  or  pole  from  the  store  piled 
upon  a  frame,  and  deliver  it  to  the  women,  who  winnow  it  and 
smooth  the  rising  heaps ;  the  threshing  of  the  grain  is  done  by  the 
hoofs  of  the  asses  and  oxen.  Scribes  who  have  reeds  in  their  hands, 
and  others  behind  the  ear,  are  reckoning  up  the  results  of  the  harvest, 
sitting  before  the  closed  granaries,  from  which  heaps  of  grain  rise  up 
at  the  top;  or  they  are  registering  the  number  of  animals  in  the  herds 
of  rams,  goats,  asses,  cattle,  gazelles  (at  that  time  domestic  animals), 
geese,  rabbits  (never  hens);  and  they  are  taking  account  of  that 
which  had  been  sold,  after  careful  weighing,  from  the  produce  re- 
ceived.     They  also  dictate    punishments   for  the   idle   or  evil-doers, 


*c    <^ 


& 


S  L_ 


3    ^r 


fe 


GENRE    PICTUliES. 


*7 


who  are  dragged  forward  by  the  overseers.  Herds  of  cattle  are 
driven  to  the  watering-place ;  the  cows  are  milked,  their  Core- and 
hind-feet  being  chained  together,  or  a  person  holds  the  cow  by  one 
fore-foot.  Here  are  seen  cowherds  whose,  faces  Bhow  black  whiskers 
and  a  physiognomy  different  from  the  Egyptian  type;  and  there  is 
not  wanting  a  cow  which,  with  the  assistance  of  the  veterinary  sur- 
geon, is  bringing  forth  a  calf.  Shepherds  are  Bitting  near  their 
sheep-folds,  and  with  them  dogs  with  pointed  ear-.  We  see  also 
olive-trees  whose  fruit  men  arc  gathering.  Estates  personified  as  male 
or  female  servants,  whose  names  are  written  between  the  hieroglyphica] 
figures,  often  recur.  They  are  seen  approaching  in  Ion«;  row-,  bearing 
their  produce  on  their  head, — fruits,  liquors,  and  poultry, — which  they 
are  bringing  to  their  lord.1 


Fn;.  31.  —  Farming  scenes.     Relief  on  a  wall  in  the  tomb  of  Ti  atSakkara. 

rows,   bearing  their   produce  on  their  heads,    -fruits,  liquors,  and 
poultry,  —  which  they  are  bringing  to  their  lord.1      (  PLATE  V.  » 

Ajnong  the  trades,  bakeries  appear  in  which  dough  is  kneaded 
and  bread  or  cake  is  made:  butchers' establishments  are  very  often 
represented,  in  conne*  tion  with  the  pictures  of  offerings  of  hulls  in 
the  chambers  of  the  tombs;  the  ox  is  brought  in  by  means  of  a  rope 
placed  over  the  hack  in  such  a  manner  that  our  fore-fool  is  drawn  up. 
From  the  dead  animal,  placed  on  its  hack,  the  skin  is  stripped  off 
with  sharp  knives,  one  of  which  is  whetted  by  a  hoy  standing  near; 
and   beside   it    lie   ribs,  thighs,  and   other  parts.     Ajitelopes  also  arc 

1  Manv  of  the  scenes  described  in  this  paragraph  are  Sgun 
and  "ii  Plate  V  1- 


88 


ART   TN    THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 


offered  in  like  manner ; 
and  the  pieces  are  pre- 
sented to  the  dead, 
together  with  fowls, 
vegetables,  and  roast 
meats.  The  process  of 
wine-making  appears : 
the  grapes  are  poured 
into  a  sack  which  is 
fastened  to  sticks  at 
both  ends ;  two  men 
turn  the  sticks  in  dif- 
ferent directions  so  that 
the  sack  is  wrung  out 
like  wet  linen,  and  the 
juice  falls  into  a  tub. 
In  the  same  sepulchre 
are  also  represented  car- 
penters and  joiners  with 
all  things  fabricated  by 
them,  together  with 
their  tools,  saws,  axes, 
augers,  drills,  and 
planes.  In  the  tomb 
of  Ti  one  can  see  (Fig. 
32)  a  ship  in  process  of 
building,  a  pottery  fac- 
tory with  patterns  of  dif- 
ferent vessels,  archi- 
tects, and  glassmakers. 
Among  the  possessions 
of  the  dwellers  in  the 
mastaba  are  to  be  found 
skiffs  made  of  papyrus, 
and  large  Nile-boats ; 
the  last  provided  with 
masts,   sails,    and    mats 


EGYPTIAN  BOMB-LIFE. 

of  various  styles  and  colors  for  protection  against  the  sun,  and 
having  twenty  to  thirty  rowers  at  their  seats  on  each  Bide,  while 
six  steersmen  with  poles  stand  in  the  stern.  A  man  is  sounding  the 
depth  of  the  water  with  a  pole.  The  crew,  which  are  to  go  on  board 
the  vessel,  carry  with  them  all  that  is  necessary  for  a  fishing-expe- 
dition,—  harpoons,  poles,  rudder,  anchor;  also  supplies  of  food,  with 
small  boxes  and  poultry.  The  master  often  causes  the  men  to  steer 
him  close  to  a  thicket  of  bulrushes,  which  is  filled  with  water-fowl, 
kept  there,  and  flying  about  in  many  spots  between  the  reeds  and 
the  lotus-plants,  or  brooding  over  their  nests;  a  yellow  ichneumon, 
or  a  gray,  dark-speckled  civet,  climbs  up  the  swaying  cane-brake, 
and  steals  from  the  nest  the  young  birds  anxiously  fluttering  their 
little  wings.  The  master  catches  fish,  among  which  are  plainly 
recognized  kinds  known  in  natural  history;  the  crew  harpoon  a  hip- 
popotamus (behemoth).  Very  often  fishing  with  wicker  baskets  or 
nets  is  depicted  ;  and  when  a  great  repast  is  to  be  prepared,  <j;yc<,>-  are 
taken  with  trailing  nets  from  the  ponds  bordered  with  beautiful 
shrubs.  The  artist  follows  wholly  his  observation  of  nature,  and 
does  not  forget  to  interweave  pleasing  incidents,  as  when  those  pull- 
ing on  the  net  travel  so  far  forwards  that  on  the  slackening  of  the 
line  they  are  all  thrown  one  upon  another  on  their  hacks. 

From  the  paintings  in  the  tombs  we  may  gain  an  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  home-life  of  the  Egyptians.  The  nekropolis  in  that  happy 
time  was  not  yet  darkened  and  filled  with  fearful  phantasms  as  it  became 
in  the  later  period  of  priestly  and  bureaucratic  rule.  A  delight  in 
life  beams  upon  us  from  the  pleasing  picture  of  elegant  tables  full  of 
various  dishes, —  long  rows  of  fat  geese  suspended  on  poles;  cutlets, 
hams,  pastries,  and  the  like,  are  shown  in  the  sepulchre  of  Ti.  The 
survivors  gladden  the  shade  of  tin- dead  by  recalling  happy  days  in 
painting  or  in  marble;  perhaps  it  was  for  the  marriage  of  the  rich 
man  with  the  beautiful  lady  in  scarlet  apparel  that  the  servants  are 
bringing  to  the  slaughter-bench  wild  goats  and  antelopes  by  the 
horns,  bulls  with  ropes  around  the  neck,  struggling  calves  with  a 
gripe  at  the  throat  and  hind-quarter,  helping  them  to  a  brisker  pace. 
and  carrying  the  fluttering  fowls  by  the  neck.  The  pleasures  of  the 
table  are  heightened  by  the  spectacle  of  a  dame  with  the  accompani- 
ment of  the  harp  and    flute.      In    one    picture    people   are  amusing 


£0  .i/,"/'  IN    TUE   ANCIENT   EMPIRE. 

themselves  with  games  at  draughts  and  ball,  the  latter  a  kind  oi 
roulette,  in  which  balls  are  rolled  to  fixed  points  in  the  middle 
through  a  great  number  of  spiral  channels.  Funeral  offerings  on  a 
magnificent  scale  are  represented  in  the  tomb  of  Ptah-hotep  at 
Sakkara  (Plate  VI.).1 

We  have  yet  to  cast  a  glance  at  the  architectural  and  many- 
colored  adornments  of  these  ancients  tombs,  which,  although  they  be- 
long to  an  early  period  of  human  history,  excel  many  later  works  of 
ancient  art  in  other  countries  on  account  of  their  coloring,  without 
which  a  picture  is  only  as  it  were  a  skeleton  or  outline.  That  the 
tot ul is  had  their  origin  in  the  architecture  of  wooden  buildings  and 
carpenter  work  is  a  fact  which  at  once  strikes  the  eye.  Under  the 
upper  sills  of  the  gates  and  lattice-doors  there  is  a  heavy  cylindrical 
beam  of  stone,  in  imitation  of  the  wooden  roller  over  which  in  dwell- 
ing-houses a  piece  of  carpet  or  matting  hung,  which,  when  the  door 
was  open,  was  let  down  as  a  protection  against  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
The  deep  channels  separating  the  door  from  other  parts  of  the  wall 
are  copied  above  the  pins  with  which  the  turning  of  the  roller  is 
effected  by  means  of  a  cord.  The  bordering  of  the  door,  the  decora- 
tion of  the  lattices  and  the  walls,  so  far  as  these  are  not  occupied  by 
pictures,  show  board-  and  lathe-work,  which  is  plastered  and  painted 
in  very  bright  colors.  In  this  respect  one  is  reminded  of  the  most 
ancient  style  of  Chaldaic  decoration,  palm  branches  of  stone,  and 
high  wooden  frames  of  polished  tiles  placed  one  within  another,  cov- 

1  Explanation  of  Plate  VI. 

The  deceased  is  figured  twice,  as  his  name  shows ;  it  stands  above  his  right  arm. 

His  son  holds  his  father's  staff  by  the  right  hand,  in  his  left  a  fowl. 

<>n  the  left  division  of  the  wall,  Ptah-hotep  is  viewing  scenes  similar  to  those 
familiar  to  him  while  alive;  papyrus  plants  are  gathered  at  the  water's  edge;  young 
men  are  engaged  in  gymnastic  sports;  grapes  are  plucked,  trodden  in  the  wine-press, 
and  strained  in  a  bag;  gazelles  and  other  game  are  hunted;  a  lion,  to  which  a  heifer 
has  been  offered  as  bait,  is  attacked  by  the  hounds;  finally  fishing-scenes,  and  scenes 
where  geese  are  taken  from  a  lake. 

The  four  vertical  columns  of  hieroglyphics  inform  us  that  Ptah-hotep  had  been 
priest  at  the  pyramids  of  Kings  Assa,  Ra-en-user,  and  Hor-men-ka.  On  the  right 
division  of  the  wall,  servants  of  the  dead  priest  are  represented  in  a  procession  bring- 
ing animals  and  cattle,  to  be  used,  as  the  inscription  declares,  in  the  cult  of  the  dead. 
The  procession  is  headed  by  youths,  who  by  their  gymnastic  feats  lend  it  life;  then 
follow  greyhounds  and  dogs,  smaller  animals  in  baskets,  caged  lions,  ibexes,  ante- 
lopes,  cows  with  their  calves,  oxen,  swans  in  number  1225;  geese,  11,210,  ditto  121,200 
«twice);  finally  young  seese  111,020,  doves  121,022,  small  geese  120,000  in  number,  and 
storks.    The  numbers  are  probably  much  exaggerated. 


SEPULCHRAL  ARCHITECTURE.  \\\ 

ered  with  stucco,  as  in  the  Wuswas  nuns  at  Warka.  In  a  Theban 
tomb  of  a  Later  age  this  very  ancient  motif  is  employed  as  the  orna- 
ment of  a  frieze,  and  it  alternates  here  with  figures  which  remind  one 
vividly  of  the  Grecian  frieze  with  its  triglyphs.  Sometimes  the  imita- 
tion of  woodwork  is  very  simple,  as  in  Tenta's  tomb  at  Gizeh,  where 
narrow  depressions  are  enclosed  on  both  sides  by  borders  which  are 
barred  above  by  two  cross-planks,  so  that  the  impression  is  well-nigh 
made  of  a  small  pillar  with  a  square  abacus.  A  diagonal  beam,  Buch 
as  we  have  in  our  northern  wooden  houses,  is  never  found.  Between 
the  laths  of  the  house-wall,  flowers  were  placed  in  the  interstices,  ami 
these  appear  in  the  lattice-work  of  the  mastaba  as  two  blended  petals 
of  the  lotus  beneath  the  calyx,  an  arrangement  that  suggested  the 
idea  of  a  peculiar  kind  of  pillar  with  which  we  shall  become  ac- 
quainted. The  space  between  the  door  and  the  support  of  the  ceil- 
ing appears  embellished  with  a  matting  having  a  checkered  pattern  in 
green  and  red  colors.  The  astragals  are  blue,  yellow,  white,  ami  red, 
but  always  painted  with  a  single  color,  and  on  the  panels  are  pat- 
terns of  webbing;  for  instance,  a  double  row  of  zigzag  lines  forming 
a  lozenge-shaped  panel;  or  an  embroidery  pattern  with  similar 
motif;  a  checkered  pattern  of  ribbons  interlaced,  or  plaited  straw 
(mats),  in  checkered  and  reticulated  form  with  diversified  colors.  A 
row  of  patterns  of  five  kinds  shows  gay-colored  straw  plaiting,  as  in 
the  wall  painted  with  figures  behind  the  throne  of  Ra-ases  (reign  of 
An,  Fifth  Dynasty).  The  upper  parts  of  the  wall  also  show  vividly 
colored  cross-stripes  of  blue,  yellow,  and  green,  enclosed  by  broad 
dark  lines.  The  borrowing  from  the  embroideries  of  the  dwelling- 
rooms  is  so  naive  that  even  the  rings  are  copied,  through  which  are 
thrust  the  cords  for  holding  the  embroidery  frame,  as  in  the  tomb  of 
Ptah-hotep  at  Sakkara.  The  entire  lattice-door  is.  at  the  sides  and 
above,  bordered  by  an  astragal  moulding  on  which  the  cords  running 
hither  and  thither  are  painted,  and  which  in  all  periods  of  Egyptian 
architecture  remained  the  model  for  encompassing  the  angles  of  the 
temples  and  pylons,  and  was  also  employed  as  a  welcome  aid  in 
joiners'  work  to  cover  and  hold  together  the  seams  of  the  wooden 
corners  that  were  cut  obliquely.  The  chain  of  the  basket-maker, 
executed  by  the  smith,  is  also  imitated  in  colors  upon  the  small  inter- 
vening   spaces     between     the     side-posts.       All     lh.se     patterns,    of    an 


92  ART  IN    THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

irreproachable  taste,  which  are  naturally  connected  with  the  arts 
of  embroidery,  weaving,  and  plaiting,  appear  among  many  ancient 
peoples,  and  we  need  not  maintain  that  one  nation  borrows  from 
another.  So  is  it  with  regard  to  the  Chaldaeans,  Assyrians,  Etrus- 
cans, Greeks,  and  the  rifled  tombs  of  Ancona  in  Peru.  We  need 
only  transfer  these  stone  facades  of  the  mastabas  into  wood,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  form  for  ourselves  a  correct  conception  of  the  most 
ancient  wooden  dwellings  of  the  Egyptians. 

The  different  parts  of  the  mastaba,  and  especially  the  tomb- 
chamber,  the  pit,  and  the  place  for  the  coffin,  are  repeated  in  the 
pyramid  or  royal  sepulchre.  Here,  however,  the  tumulus,  which 
ancient  nations  built  up  to  their  heroes  and  kings,  suggests  the  type. 
The  round  tumulus  of  heaped-up  earth  was  exchanged  for  a  four- 
square pyramid  as  soon  as  men  undertook  to  construct  it  of  brick; 
since  not  a  round  but  an  angular  form  results  from  the  use  of  brick, 
and  from  the  cutting  out  of  stone  in  blocks  for  building-.  Further- 
more,  the  rectilineal  shape  made  it  easy  to  place  the  structure  in  con- 
formity with  astronomical  ideas.  The  pyramids  are  oriented  according 
to  the  quarters  of  the  heavens ;  and  when  one  considers  the  importance 
of  the  western  wall  of  the  mastaba  as  representing  Amenti  (Hades),  it 
would  seem  impossible  that  the  edge  of  the  wall  should  be  made  into 
a  curve.  This  tumulus,  as  a  pyramid,  taking  its  shape  from  the 
square  fomidation  stones,  gave  form  also  to  the  sunken  pit  that  leads 
to  the  sepulchre.  The  chamber  of  the  mastaba,  together  with  the 
chapel,  was  separated  from  the  pyramid,  and  the  east  side  of  it  was 
placed  at  some  distance.  The  pyramid,  like  the  pit  of  the  mastaba, 
was  hermetically  sealed,  and  with  regard  to  the  bodies  contained  in 
ii  no  worship  of  the  dead  was  possible.  These  temples  of  the  dead 
have  been  demolished,  and  only  in  a  few  pyramids  are  their  founda- 
tions still  discernible.  They  were  of  no  great  extent.  Theban  art 
first  removed  them  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  royal  sepulchres  which 
were  dug  in  the  mountain  ranges,  placed  them  near  the  river,  and 
erected  them  as  independent  monuments  of  vast  extent  and  splendor. 
Neither  in  the  pyramid  nor  in  the  ruins  of  the  temple  that  lay  before 
it  have  any  certain  traces  of  the  '  serdab  '  been  found.  Perhaps  men 
then  believed  the  mummy  of  the  god-king  to  be  sufficiently  safe 
from  violation,  partly  on  account  of  incessant  watchfulness,  and  partly 


THE  PYRAMIDS  OF  GIZEH. 


c)4  ART  TN    THE   ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

on  account  of  religious  fear.  The  burial  chamber  of  the  pyramid  lies 
sometimes  in  the  body  of  the  latter,  and  sometimes  is  sunk  into  the 
rock  on  which  the  building  rests;  the  former  occurs  in  the  case  of  the 
pyramid  of  Cheops,  where  the  tomb  is  plaeed  at  one-third  of  the  height 
above  the  rock  foundation.  The  latter  plan  is  followed  in  the  third, 
the  pyramid  of  Mycerinus,  where  the  main  chamber  lies  some  thirty 
feet  below  the  rocky  floor.  The  many  passages  and  apartments  of  the 
older  Pyramid  of  Steps  at  Sakkara  are  entirely  excavated  in  the  rock. 
The  Pyramid  of  Medum — the  next  oldest  to  that  of  Sakkara — was 
originally  a  square  mastaba.  Its  entrance  was  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
north  face.  To  enlarge  it,  a  coating  of  masonry  was  added  and  the 
original  mass  was  carried  upward.  This  process  was  repeated  seven 
times  until  it  became  a  pyramid  of  steps.  A  smooth  casing  was  then 
added  at  an  angle  of  11  or  14  degrees.  It  is  the  oldest  known  pyramid, 
as  that  of  Sakkara  never  received  an  outer  coating. 

The  pyramids  clearly  show  that  what  we  regard  as  the  beginning  of 
Egyptian  history  was  only  the  end  of  a  long  previous  development. 
They  are  not  masses  of  stone  roughly  heaped  up,  but  the  greatest  and 
most  enduring  structures  devised  by  man.  The  necropolis  of  Mem- 
phis contains  nearly  eighty  pyramids.  The  most  famous  are  the  three 
great  pyramids  situated  at  Gizeh  (Fig.  33).  The  largest  of  these 
occupies  a  space  on  which  two  edifices  like  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  could 
be  placed,  and  is  of  such  a  height  that  even  after  the  flattening  of  the 
top  it  exceeds  the  elevation  of  St.  Stephen's  at  Vienna  by  about  twenty- 
live  i'eet  ;  it  contains  83,000,000  cubic  feet  of  stone,  and  its  outer 
casing  of  polished  stone,  which  under  Mameluke  rule  w-as  gradually 
torn  off  by  the  Arabs  to  furnish  building-materials  for  the  neighboring 
town,  represented  7,000,000  cubic  feet  more.  The  impression  pro- 
duced by  these  structures  is  so  powerful  that  from  the  remotest  times 
travellers  have  found  no  words  in  which  to  express  their  admiration. 
The  scenery  surrounding  the  city  of  the  dead  is  also  unequalled  ;  a 
sharp  line  separates  the  green,  fruitful  land  watered  by  the  Nile  and 
its  canals,  with  its  palm-shaded  villages  and  gorgeous  Cairo,  from  the 
sandstone  plateau  upon  whose  rocky  surface  mighty  waves  of  yellow 
miikI  are  beating  in  sublime  monotone,  and  are  pitilessly  pouring  over 
the  works  of  man's  hand. 

Like  all   the  others,  the  entrance   to  the  great    pyramid  of  Khuf'u 


THE   PYRAMID   OF  Kin  ir 


(Cheops)  is  on  its  north  face.  It  was  named  Khufu-khut,  <  Khnfu's 
shining  throne,'  from  the  polished  granite  coping  which  covered  it  on 
all  four  sides,  and  whose  thickness  can  be  estimated  by  the  joints 
made  ...  the  surrounding  rocks.     Over  the  opening  there  lies  a  block 


Fig.  34.  —  Entrance  to  t 


whose  weight  has  been  reckoned  at  13,000  bundredweighl  ;  above 
it  are  two  blocks  placed  opposite  each  other  in  the  position  of 
rafters  to  relieve  the  pressure  n|»>ii  it.  A  gallery  descending  ob- 
liquely, about  100  yards  long,  terminates  in  a  chamber  in  the  pyramid, 


96  ABT   TN    THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

the  use  of  which  is  unknown.  Before  it  enters  into  the  rock,  it  comes 
to  a  spot  where  an  immense  block  of  granite  bars  further  progress. 
The  Arabs,  by  boring  into  the  mass  of  stone,  built  a  gallery  around 
this  block  which  mocked  their  efforts,  and  through  it  they  reached  an 
obliquely  ascending  continuation  of  the  first  passage.  This  space 
suddenly  expanded  into  a  hall  a  little  more  than  six  feet  wide, 
twenty-six  feet  high,  and  174  feet  in  length.  This  hall  is  con- 
structed of  square  blocks  of  polished  limestone  from  the  Mokattam 
quarries,  put  together  without  mortar,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  of 
the  five  upper  layers,  out  of  seven,  one  always  projects  above  the 
other,  whereby  the  gradual  narrowing  of  the  space  above  forms  a 
kind  of  arch.  Moreover,  since  the  joints  are  scarcely  visible,  the 
sides  of  the  stones  lying  upon  one  another  must  have  been  polished. 
On  both  sides  of  the  hall  there  are  projecting  ridges  or  panels  twenty 
inches  in  height;  in  these  holes  were  cut,  in  which  wooden  posts  were 
placed  to  support  the  rollers  arranged  beneath,  probably  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conveying  the  sarcophagus  above.  In  front  of  the  en- 
trance to  the  hall  a  horizontal  passage  branches  off  which  leads  into 
the  so-called  "  Queen's  Chamber,"  perhaps  originally  designed  for  the 
sepulchral  chamber  of  the  Pharaoh.  At  the  upper  end  of  the  great 
hall,  138  feet  above  the  foundation  of  the  pyramid,  there  follows  a 
horizontal  passage  which  widens  into  a  vestibule ;  here  were  placed 
four  portcullises  of  granite,  which  with  one  exception  have  been  de- 
molished by  the  Arabs.  This  vestibule  is  situated  directly  beneath 
the  apex  of  the  pyramid,  whilst  the  queen's  chamber  lies  north,  and 
the  king's  south,  of  the  vertical  line.  The  passage  terminates  in  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  sepulchre.  The  latter  extends  lengthwise  at 
right  angles  to  the  direction  of  the  corridor;  it  is  very  roomy,  the 
small  cast  and  west  walls  are  seventeen  feet  long,  the  two  others 
thirty-four,  with  a  height  of  nineteen  feet.  The  hall,  built  entirely 
of  polished  granite,  has  a  covering  of  nine  granite  slabs,  whose  length 
and  breadth  correspond  to  the  proportions  of  the  walls  which  they 
span.  In  order  to  relieve  the  pressure  upon  this  covering,  five 
spacesare  contrived  above  it,  of  which  the  highest,  by  means  of  blocks 
set  obliquely  upon  one  another  in  the  shape  of  a  roof,  diminish  the 
pressure  of  the  superincumbent  mass.  The  lowest  of  these  vacant 
spaces  was  discovered  in  1763,  the  others  in  1837  and  1838,     One 


THE   PYRAMID   OF  KHUFU.  '.'7 

can  enter  only  by  Lying  on  the  ground  and  crawling  into  them;  they 
are  inhabited  by  hats,  living  images  of  the  flitting  Bhadesof  the  dead 

(Odyssey  xxiv.  6).     In  the  two  uppermost  r s  the  name  of  Kim!  u 

and  Klinuin-Klitil'ii  is  found,  not  chiselled  into  the  -tour,  bul  as  a 
mark  written  with  red  paint  by  the  head  architecl  in  the  quarry  before 
the  blocks  were  put  into  position  ;  this  finally  establishes  what  was 
already  known  through  tradition.  The  sarcophagus  in  front  of  the  west 
wall  of  the  chamber  was  long  ago  broken  open,  and  i-  empty.  It  is 
to  be  added  that  Yyse  discovered  two  small  air- passives  by  which  the 
chambers  were  ventilated  while  the  lahorers  were  at  work  in  them. 
By  the  construction  of  the  outer  coping  these  passages  were  closed. 
This  coping,  according  to  Philo,  in  his  work  on  the  Seven  Wonders  of 
the  World,  was  composed  of  various  stones, — marble  (white  lime- 
stone from  Mokattam),  black  Ethiopian  stone  (basalt),  hematite 
(perhaps  porphyry),  and  green  Arabian  stone  (/•</•,/,<  mil  !<■<> );  prob- 
ably these  stones  formed  alternate  colored  layers  of  this  costly  deco- 
ration. Flinders-Petrie,  who  examined  the  pyramids  with  the  besl 
measuring-instruments,  believes  that  several  depressions  in  the 
passages  and  in  the  chambers  must  he  attributed  tu  the  action  of  an 
earthquake;  and  also  that  two  periods  in  the  construction  are  dis- 
tinguishable, the  later  of  which,  beginning  somewhere  near  the  centre 
of  the  building,  is  characterized  by  greater  negligence,  and  by  the 
use  of  inferior  material. 

To  the  pyramid  belongs  a  second  gigantic  work  of  Khut'n  :   viz., 
the  stone  causeway  which  was  constructed  from  the  Nile  to  this  spot 

in  order  to   provide   for  the  conveyance  of  the   Mocks  of  st< from 

the  quarries  at  Mokattam.  Herodotus  regard-  this  work,  which  in  hi- 
day  was  >\\\\  in  existence,  as  a  wonder  equal  to  the  pyramid-.  He  esti- 
mates its  length  as  five  stadia  (over  3000  feet),  and  its  surface  was 
made  of  polished  stone.  It  served  also  to  aid  in  the  civ,  t i < * 1 1  of  the 
second  pyramid,  while  tor  the  third  a  social  road  was  built,  which  is 
yet  preserved,  and  with  interruptions  reaches  to  the  village  ot 
Knin-el-Aswad:  it  contains  blocks  t  went  v-!ive  to  thirty  feel  in  length. 
In  front  of  the  cast  side  of  the   pyramid,  and  facing  the  southern 

half,   are    three    small    pyramids,  of    which  tl Q6    farthest    south  i* 

that  of  Hent-sen,  a  daughter  of  Khufu;  and  near  the  pyramid, 
particularly   on   its  west    side   and    north   of    the   aecond    pyramid, 

V.M..  I.      7. 


og  ART   IN   THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

are   situated  many  mastabas  of  the  period  of  the  Fourth  and  Fifth 

Dynasties. 

The  second  pyramid  was  built  by  Khafra  (Chephren),  and  was 
called  Ur  ('  the  great ').  It  stands  near  that  of  Khufu  on  the  south- 
west ;  and  was  attributed  to  him  by  ancient  writers,  such  as  Herodotus 
and  Diodoros.  In  the  ruins  of  the  temple,  near  its  east  side,  frag- 
ments  of  a  marble  mace-head  have  been  discovered  inscribed  with 
the  name  of  Khafra.  This  pyramid  appears  to  be  higher  than  that 
of  Khufu,  because  the  rocky  bottom  has  a  greater  elevation.  But 
it  is  thirty  feet  lower,  and  is  inferior  in  accuracy,  as  well  as  in  material. 
The  rock,  having  an  irregular  surface,  was  cut  away  to  level  the  foun- 
dation, and  thus  a  kind  of  passage  was  formed  on  the  north  and  west 
sides.  The  stone  here  used  constituted  a  mass  of  over  4,300,000 
cubic  feet.  The  top  of  the  pyramid  still  displays  a  piece  of  the 
polished  coping  of  stone  which  formerly  covered  the  entire  surface. 
The  lowest  course  was  of  red  granite,  and  the  entrance  passage  was  of 
the  same  material;  though  one  can  with  difficulty  conceive  that  it 
could  have  utterly  disappeared  from  such  structures  as  the  steps  of 
the  pyramids,  yet  such  an  amount  of  strength  and  time  was  expended 
on  this  work  of  destruction  as  almost  equalled  that  required  for  cutting 
out  the  stone  in  the  quarries  and  for  transportation  of  the  material. 
The  coping  appears  to  have  been  the  essential  thing  in  the  entire 
enclosure  of  the  tomb,  as  being  especially  the  bearer  of  the  names  and 
titles  of  the  ruler  at  rest  within.  The  king's  chamber  of  the  second 
pyramid  lies  in  the  rock,  but  roofed  over  with  slanting  limestone  slabs. 
The  sarcophagus  was  of  granite.  The  lid  was  secured  by  undercut 
grooves  in  which  it  slid.  It  was  held  by  bolts  which  fell  into  holes 
and  were  caught  with  resin,  traces  of  which  still  remain.  When 
Belzoni  found  it,  it  was  sunk  into  the  floor,  its  lid  lay  over  it.  Now 
the  floor  is  destroyed. 

The  third  pyramid,  only  203  feet  high  and  inferior  in  accuracy, 
was  built  by  Menkaura  (Mycerinus),  and  was  called  Her  (<  the 
high ').  The  shelving  rock  of  the  foundation  wras  walled  up  with 
gigantic  blocks.  The  wall  of  the  pyramid  was  covered  below  with 
polished  slabs  of  granite,  farther  up  with  rough  stones ;  yet  this 
royal  coping,  though  not  rent  off,  was  so  damaged  that  the  shelving 
ground    on   which    the    heart  of  the  building  was   erected    is   visible 


THE  SPHINX 


99 


well  nigh  throughout.  On  the  east  side  are  remains  of  the  tomb- 
temple.  This  was  built  of  vast  blocks,  which  were  at  first  supposed 
to  be  the  rock  itself,  until  the  mortar  was  discovered.     The  descending 

gallery  in  the  pyramid  is  lined  with  granite;  it  enters  into  the  rock 
and  shortly  becomes  almost  horizontal.  It  widens  into  a  room  which 
was  whitewashed,  and  is  obstructed  by  a  huge  block  and  three  port- 
cullises of  stone.  Under  the  apex  of  the  building  is  situated  a 
large  chamber  in  which  a  second  passage  terminates  obliquely,  and 
in  which  was  a  beautiful  sarcophagus  of  bluish  basalt  sunk  into  the  floor. 
A  pit  with  granite  projections  at  the  sides  is  exposed  to  view  j  this 
was  concealed  by  the  plaster  of  the  apartment.  It  terminates  in  a 
horizontal  gallery  which  leads  to  the  king's  sepulchre.  It-  -ides 
were  composed  of  granite  slabs  which  were  placed  as  rafter-,  and  ao 
prepared  that  they  formed  an  arched  vault  with  an  even  surface.  Tin- 
basalt  sarcophagus  was  about  35  inches  in  height,  37  in  width,  and  !•»; 
in  length.  Like  the  coffins  in  the  mastabas,  it  was  carved  in  the  form 
of  a  wooden  house  with  an  astragal  at  the  corners  under  the  light 
cornice.  The  flat  roofing  was  ornamented  like  lattice-doors.  This 
sarcophagus  was  removed  by  Vyse  and  sent  to  England.  On  its  way 
it  was  lost  with  the  ship  off  Cartagena.  In  the  upper  chamber  of  the 
Pyramid  was  found  a  wooden  coffin-lid  with  an  inscription  of  Men- 
Kau-Ra  and  part  of  a  skeleton,  probably  of  later  date.  These  are  in 
the  British  Museum. 

Themost  striking  monument  in  this  part  of  the  necropolis  is  the 
Sphinx  (Fig.  35).  Much  has  been  written  about  it.-  great  antiquity. 
It  has  even  been  attributed  to  prehistoric  times.  Such  a  view,  how- 
ever, is  not  in  accordance  with  the  evidence.      There  i-   not  a   single 

mention   or   figure  of  a   sphinx,  or   of  its    priesth 1   during   the   <>ld 

Empire.  Its  probable  date  i-  more  likely  to  be  the  period  between  the 
Old  and  the  Middle  Empire,  to  which  there  i-  a  growing  tendency 
among  scholars  to  assign  the  sphinxes  formerly  attributed  to  the 
ITvksos  period.  The  sphinx  is  the  image  of  a  god,  a  lion  couchant 
with  the  head  of  a  man.  It  is  Harmachis  or  Har-em-khu,  Bonis  on 
the  horizon,  the  rising  sun-god.  He  i-  the  symbol  of  the  victorious 
kin-,  and  therefore  bear-  on  bis  head  the  royal  insignia,  a-  do  the 
statues  of  Khafra  ;  and  he  lies  on  the  margin  of  the  desert  as  guardian 
.spirit  of  the  nekropolis.     The  iconoclastic  Arab-  have  destroyed  the 


100 


ART  IN    THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 


nose  ;  but  writers  who  saw  it  when  uninjured  extol  its  beauty.  The 
face  was  incrusted  with  stucco  painted  red.  Between  the  paws  of  the 
sphinx  Thothmes  IV.  built  a  chapel,  approached  by  a  stairway.  A 
long  inscription  relates  that  Thothmes  IV.,  while  upon  a  hunting- 
expedition,  sleeping  beneath  its  shadow,  saw  the  sphinx  in  a  dream, 
who  obtained  from  the  king  the  promise  to  free  him  from  the  sand. 
The  inscription  is  carved  on  a  grand  door  lintel  of  red  granite,  which 
seems  to  have  been  robbed  from  the  neighboring  temple  of  Khafra. 
Southeast  of  the  sphinx,  and  entirely  buried  in  the  sand,  lies  the  above- 
mentioned  granite  temple  (Fig.  36)  excavated  by  Mariette,  who  discov- 
ered it.  It  has  been  called  the  Temple  of  the  Sphinx,  but  in  reality  had 
no  connection  with  it.     It  was  probably  built  under  Khafra.     In  work- 


esso 


IA 


Fk 


The  Sphinx.    Gizeh.     (Before  the  excavations  of  Maspero.) 


manship  it  belongs  to  the  Fourth  Dynasty.  The  lower  story  inside  is 
perfectly  preserved,  and  retains  the  peculiar  recessing  decoration  attrib- 
uted to  a  survival  of  the  original  brick-  or  woodwork  used  in  early  times. 
The  massive  style  of  building,  which  reminds  one  of  the  megalithic 
monuments  of  prehistoric  times,  is  entirely  different  from  these  in  regard 
to  the  masterly  workmanship  with  which  both  the  granite  of  the  mono- 
lithic square  pillars  and  the  alabaster  of  the  architrave  and  the  Avails 


TEMPLE   OF    THE  SPHINX. 


101 


are  treated  is  unsurpassed.  A  Long  corridor  leads  from  the  wesl 
to  the  northwest  corner  of  a  hull  which  extends  from  oorth  1<> 
south,  and    contains   a  row  of  six    granite    columns    sixteen    feel    in 


Fig.  36.  — The  so-called  Temple  of  the  Sphinx  at  Gizeh. 

height.  In  the  southwest  corner  of  the  firsl  hall  a  passage  "jK-ns 
into  a  room,  from  which  six  spaces  in  two  rows,  one  above  the  other, 
enter  into  the  wall,  the  design  of  which  is  n.»t  clear.  In  the  middle 
of  the  east  wall  of  the  first  hall  a  passage  terminates  in  a  narrow 
room,  witli  which  on  both  sides  small  square  chambers  are  connected. 


102 


Art  ix  Tin:  axcu:\t  empire. 


In  this  long  room  there  is  a  well  or  subterranean  chamber  in  which 
seven  statues  of  Khafra  were  discovered.  The  great  diorite  statue  (Fig. 
17)  is  striking.  The  commanding  expression  of  the  king,  no  less  than 
the  technical  ability  of  the  artist  to  overcome  so  resisting  a  material, 
impress  one  with  his  power.  Another,  in  which  the  divine  hawk  is 
imparting  his  life  and  protection  to  the  king,  is  even  finer  in  expression. 

North  of  Gizeh  lie  the  pyramids  of  Abu-Roash,  which  are  greatly 
damaged,  and  also  those  of  Abusir.  These  are  the  burial  places  of  the 
kings  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty.  In  1898-1901,  MM.  Borchardt  and 
Schäfer,  in  the  course  of  excavations  undertaken  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Orient  Geselschaft,  examined  this  group  and  discovered  the  pyra- 
mid of  King  User-en-Ra  (Ne-woser-Re).  The  fact  that  sun-worship 
acquired  special  official  recognition  and  popular  prominence  under  the 
Fifth  Dynasty — which  claims  direct  descent  from  Ra — made  these 
excavations  of  singular  interest.  And  the  most  sensational  result  of 
the  work  at  Abusir  was,  accordingly,  the  bringing  to  light  of  one  of 
the  monuments  peculiar  to  this  time — i.e.,  a  combined  pyramid  and 
obelisk  dedicated  to  Ra  or  Ra-Harmachis — hitherto  only  known 
thr<  mgh  inscriptions  ▲  ofthat  epoch,  relating  to  priesthoods  attached 
to  their  temples.  ^L  It  is  a  pyramidal  platform  of  brick  sur- 
monnted  by  an  J^^^  obelisk.  The  accompanying  temple  «if  the 
sun-god  was  also  cleared,  as  well  as  an  older  structure  designated  by  Dr. 
Borchardt  as  the  older  palace.  Many  minor  objects  were  recovered, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  some  superb  reliefs  now  at  Berlin.  The 
pyramid  of  King  Nefer-Ka-Ra  was  also  examined,  as  well  as  many  tombs. 

The  nekropolis  of  Memphis,  situated  near  the  village  of  Sakkara,  is 
rich  in  interest.  The  monument  which  dominates  the  entire  field  of 
the  dead  is  the  Pyramid  of  Steps  (El-Haram-el-Medarraga).  (Plate 
VII.)  Manetho  says  that  Uenephes,  the  fourth  king  of  the  First 
I  >y nasty,  erected  pyramids  at  Kokhome  (or  '  the  black  bull ').  Mariette, 
who  refers  this  statement  to  the  Pyramid  of  Steps,  believed  that  we 
should  recognize  in  this  pyramid  the  most  ancient  burial-place  of  the 
Apis-bulls.  The  bones  of  a  bull  are  reported  to  have  been  discovered 
in  it  previously,  and  the  words  of  the  inscription  on  the  door,  "The  great 
god  Ra-nub,"  also  found  on  a  tablet  of  the  Serapeum  erected  later  in 
the  vicinity  and  first  used  under  Amenhotep  III.,  supports  this  view. 
The  existence  of  thirty  rock-chambers  complicates  the  problem  ;  but  they 


> 

h 
< 
J 

a 


PYRAMID   OF  STEPS  ](i;; 

may  well  have  served  for  a  n>w  of  Apis-mummies.  The  tradition  thai 
Kakau  (second  king  of  the  Second  Dynasty)  introduced  the  worship 
of  Apis,  Mnevis,  and  the  ram  from  Mendes,  mighl  be  regarded  as  in- 
dicating that  the  erection  of  this  Apis-mausoleum  and  of  similar  build- 
ings at  Heliopolis  and  Mendes  had  given  occasion  to  this  report.  Be- 
sides, the  name  Ea-nub  is  known  both  as  the  name  of  a  Pharaohand 
also  of  an  Apis.  The  pyramid  consists  of  six  inclined  ascending  steps, 
in  all  nearly  1!>7  feet  high,  of  which  cadi  retreats  -i\  and  one-half 
feet  behind  the  next;  each  also  decreases  in  height,  so  thai  the  lowest 
step  is  38  feet,  and  the  uppermost  scarcely  -!'.<  feel  high.  The  easl  and 
wot  sides  are  42  feet  longer  than  the  two  others,  so  that  the  base  forms 
a  rectangle.  The  layers  of  stone  arc  not  placed,  as  usual,  horizontally, 
but  slope  toward  the  centre  of  the  building.  The  slabs  were  broughl 
from  the  neighboring  limestone  rocks.  In  a  vertical  line  an  immense 
pit  is  open,  whose  sill  lies  131  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  plateau. 
Around  this,  and  at  different  elevations,  is  a  complicated  system  of 
horizontal  galleries,  with  not  less  than  thirty  rock-chambers,  which  are 
accessible,  not  from  the  pyramid,  but  from  pits  that  open  externally. 
It  is  worthy  of  note  that  one  chamber  is  incrusted  with  convex  cylin- 
drical sections  formed  of  glazed  pumice-stone  or  of  an  infusible  earth, 
and  in  such  a  manner  that  the  wall  seems  to  be  encircled  with  low 
pilasters  closely  joined  together.  These  are  covered  with  a  greenish- 
blue  glazing,  while  strips  of  another  color  are  drawn  over  them.  The 
pieces  of  which  these  bands  consist  are  bedded  in  lime,  and  are  made 
firm  by  an  ear  through  which  passes  a  metallic  wire.  Other  apart- 
ments are  inlaid  with  pieces  of  clay,  Egyptian  porcelain,  glazed  with 
green,  black,  red,  and  purple,  forming  a  soil  of  tile  mosaic.  Tin-  i- 
regarded  by  many  as  later  work,  although  glazing  was  done  in  Egypl 
in  prehistoric  days.  Many  indications,  however,  poinl  to  the  altering 
and  remodeling  of  the  pyramid  in  later  time-,  and  new  passages  were 
made  in  it  probablymore  than  once.'  On  the  door,  which  was  removed 
from  the  pyramid  and  is  now  in  Berlin,  are  panels  of  limestone,  and 
alternating  with  these,  glazed  tile-  inscribed  with  the  Floras  name*  x 
Kha.'  The  name  of  the  same  king  is  found  in  Sinai,  near  a  Fourth- 
Dynasty  inscription,  and  is  associated  with  Kin-  Zeserl  I'lnnl  Dynasty) 
on  an  inscription  at  Sehel.  A  gilded  skull  and  a  gilded  Bole  of  a  fool 
1  See  Petrie,  '  History  ,   etc  ,  I.,  p 


104 


ART  TN   TUE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 


belonging  to  a   mummy,  together  with   other  treasures   brought  from 
Egypt  by  Minutoli,  were  sunk  off  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe. 

Numerous  remains  of  pyramids  lie  together  in  different  groups. 
Southwest  of  the  Pyramid  of  Steps  lies  the  Pyramid  of  Unas  (last 
king  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty),  examined  by  Maspero  in  1881 ;  this  is 
named  Nofer-us  ('  the  very  beautiful ').  Northwest,  but  very  near  the 
Pyramid  of  Steps,  a  pyramid  of  stone  is  situated.  At  a  little  distance 
south  appears  once  more  a  group  of  three  great  pyramids,  of  which 
that  lyiug  farthest  to  the  southwest,  Kha-uefer  ('  the  beautiful  rising '), 
belongs  to  the  third  kiug  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  Mer-en-Ra,  son  of 
Pepi,  whose  mummy,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  found  there. 
This  is  the  earliest  royal  mummy  that,  so  far,  has  come  to  light. 
The  chamber  contained  two  sarcophagi.  It  was  broken  open  by 
grave-robbers,   who    had    driven    a   shaft   in  the  stone-work   near   the 


Fig.  37.— Mastaba-el-Faraun. 

portcullis.  The  pyramid  in  this  neighborhood,  situated  to  the  north- 
east, is  that  of  his  father,  named  Men-nefer,  '  the  beautiful  dwelling ' 
(the  same  word  as  Memphis).  The  corridors  of  this  pyramid  are 
covered  with  inscriptions,  hieroglyphics  painted  green.  The  cham- 
ber of  Pepi  consists  of  two  divisions ;  the  coping  is  a  pointed  roof 
of  huge  blocks  of  limestone,  shaped  like  rafters,  placed  upon  one 
another;  the  interior  is  painted  like  the  mighty  heavens,  in  dark 
colors  and  with  yellow  stars.  The  sepulchre  has  been  despoiled  by 
robbers.  In  1881,  before  the  opening  occurred,  Brugsch  found  some 
line  wrappings  of  a  mummy  and  one  of  the  hands  of  Pepi.  Further- 
more, Brugsch  observed  that  the  stones  of  a  more  ancient  monument, 
containing  inscriptions  and  pictures,  had  been  used  in  the  construction. 


PYRAMIDS  OF  DASHUR 


105 


In  this  vicinity  lies  the  Pyramid  of  Teta,  called  Dad-aset,  'the  very 
firm.'  The  Mastaba-el-Faraun  (Fig.  37),  'the  mound  of  Pharaoh,'  is 
the  tomb  of  Nefer-Ka-Ra,  brother  of  Mer-en-Ra,  and  was  styled  in  the 
inscriptions  Men-ankh,  'House  of  Life.'     This  structure  is  built  upon 

a  rectangular  foundation  of  great  blocks  of  freestone,  in  length  338 
feet,  in  width  236  feet ;  the  sides  have  an  Inclination,  but  this  ceases 
at  a  height  of  65  feet.  The  granite  sarcophagus  was  in  g I  condi- 
tion. The  lid  had  not  been  thrown  off,  but  was  pushed  on  tu  the  ledge 
of  the  brickwork,  prepared  in  all  these  pyramids,  between  the  sarcoph- 
agus and  the  wall,  to  hold  the  lid  until  needed  to  close.  The  walls 
of  the  sepulchral  chamber,  like  those  of  the  tombs  of  Unas,  Pepi  I., 
and   Mer-en-Ra,  are  covered  with  religious  texts — written,  however,  in 


Fig.  38.  —  Pyramid  of  Medum. 


smaller  characters.  Many  monuments  remain  of  this  reign,  which 
began  when  Nefer-Ka-Ra  was  about  six  year-  old.  At  Wadi-Maghara 
is  a  fine  stela  of  his  second  year.  His  mother  is  mentioned  promi- 
nently, with  her  titles,  as  though  formally  regent.  Ajiother  interesting 
mention  of  his  second  year  occurs  in  the  tomb  of  Herkhuf,  at  A—  nan. 
who  tells  of  a  pigmy  dancer,  'Denga,'  brought  by  that  officer  to  the 
king,  on  his  return  from  a  southern  expedition.  Nefer-Ka-Ra's  monu- 
ments are  found  at  Elephantine,  at  Koptos,  where  he  built  in  the  temple, 
and  at  the  quarries  of  Hat-Nub.  He  is  also  mentioned  in  ;i  number  of 
contemporary  tomb-. 

To  the  nekropolis  of  Memphis,  also,  belong  the  pyramids  of  Dashur, 
beyond    which    is  the   boundary  of  the  province  of  Memphis.     These 


IQQ  ART  IN  THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

pyramids  were  the  tombs  of  the  kings  of  the  Middle  Empire.  Oppo- 
site to  Dashur,  to  the  south  of  Turah,  were  the  old  alabaster  quarries 
of  the  Wadi  Gerraui — discovered  in  our  time  by  Dr.  Schweinfdrth — 
a  three  or  four  hours'  journey  from  the  valley.  Ruins  of  workmens' 
huts  announce  their  vicinity.  A  great  stone  wall,  30  feet  high,  140 
feet  thick,  and  21(3  feet  long,  dammed  the  valley  at  this  point,  storing 
water  for  the  use  of  men  and  beasts.  The  weathering  of  the  stones, 
which  is  similar  to  that  of  the  oldest  stone  monuments,  attests  the  an- 
tiquity of  this  work. 

The  Pyramid  of  Medum  (Fig.  38)  has  already  been  described  (see 
page  94).  It  was  the  tomb  of  Snefru — the  first  king  of  the  Fourth 
Dynasty — and  was  the  oldest  true  pyramid  of  the  group.  It  is  also  the 
first  that  meets  the  eye  of  the  traveler  as  he  comes  down  the  Nile  from 
Upper  Egypt,  upon  the  confines  of  which  it  stands,  opposite  to  Atfih 
(Aphroditopolis).  In  its  present  condition  it  resembles  a  tower  stand- 
ing upon  a  platform.  Hence,  the  Arabs  call  it  El  Harani  el  Kaddab, 
'  the  false  pyramid.'  Against  its  eastern  face  was  a  courtyard  and 
chambers,  forming  a  small  sepulchral  temple,  built  of  limestone.  Here 
stood  an  altar,  between  two  tall  stelse,  rounded  at  the  top,  like  those  of 
the  First  Dynasty,  but  uninscribed.  The  walls  were  perfectly  plain. 
They  were  built  in  the  rough,  but  were  trimmed  afterwards.  A  perib- 
olos  wall  enclosed  both  the  temple  and  the  pyramid.  It  was  reached 
by  a  causeway,  walled  on  either  side,  leading  up  from  the  plain.1  From 
a  neighboring  tomb  came  the  fine  statues  of  Ra-nefer  and  Nefert.  In 
that  of  Nefer-mat,  an  officer  of  Snefru,  we  are  introduced  to  a  new 
style  of  decoration — square  depressions  filled  with  colored  paste — 
which  produce  the  effect  of  mosaic  and  prepare  us  for  the  '  cloisonne ' 
technique  of  the  Twelth  Dynasty  jewels.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that, 
under  the  Sixth  Dynasty,  at  Abydos,  the  true  arch  appears  in  a  tomb 
discovered  by  Mariette.  The  arch  is  unfinished.  It  rests  upon  two 
limestone  slabs,  closed  by  a  wedge-shape  stone.  Bricks  of  ordinary 
form  are  used,  between  which  stones  are  forced.2  At  one  time  the 
Etruscans  were  regarded  as  inventors  of  the  keystone.  Subsequently, 
how  ever,  older  Grecian  arches  were  found  ;  and  others  still  more  ancient 

lSee    Flinders-Petrie    'Medum,'    1890;    also    '  History  of  Egypt,    vol.   i   (1899), 
Scribner. 

-'Sec  Perrol  and  Chipiez,  'Histoirede  I'Art,'  4,  nil.  i. 


INVENTION  OF    WRITING.  l0? 

were  brought  to  light  by  the  excavations  at  Nineveh,  where  was  dis- 
covered at  the  city  gate  of  Khorsabad  an  arch  with  a  spaa  fourteeu  to 
fifteen  feet  in  width.  None  of  the  early  Babylonian  arches  are  key- 
stone arches,  and  oowhereare  the  bricks  fashioned  bo  as  to  lit  in  the  radial 
scheme  of  the  arch  (voussoirs).  A  fine  arch  of  elliptical  form  has  been 
found  at  Telloh,  near  the  palace  of  [Jr-Nina  (b.c.  1000).  Ii  is  regular 
and  is  composed  throughout  of  the  plano-convex  bricks  typical  of  the 
pre-Sargonic  period,  the  date  of  which  is  still  a  subject  of  controversy. 
It  cannot  well  be  later  than  b.c.  3000,  however,  and  may  be  much 
earlier.  It  is  not  a  keystone  arch.  Its  top  is  formed  of  broken 
bricks  filled  into  the  space  between  the  las!  two  bricks.  According  to 
Mr.  Clarence  Fisher,  the  architect  of  the  expedition  senl  by  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  to  conduct  excavations  al  Nippur— the  site  of 
ancient  Calneh — the  arch  discovered  in  that  locality  isof  about  the  same 
size  as  the  Telloh  specimen — viz.:  30  inches  high  by  20  inches  wide 
— inside  measurement — and  is  finished  in  the  same  manner.  It  is 
rougher,  and  of  inferior  construction,  and  extend-  about  three  feet,  con- 
necting with  a  finely  built  water  conduit.  A  small  secti f  a  four- 
inch  pipe  was  found  inserted.  A  .-mailer  arch  also  occurs  al  Fara.  All 
were  outlets  for  drains. 

The  examination  of  the  buildings,  monuments,  and  other  work-  of 
the  early  empire  force-  upon  ns  the  conclusion  that  the  Egyptians  of 
the  First  Dynasty  had  already  attained  a  degree  of  culture  very  many 
centuries  removed  from  the  beginnings  of  civilization.  Indeed,  earliest 
Egypt  marks  the  close  of  a  long  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race,  the  best  legacy  of  which  is  the  ancient  Egyptian  monuments. 
The  peculiar  nature  of  the  soil  demanded  a  vast  amount  of'  labor  in 
order  to  render  possible  the  existence  and  the  subsistence  of  so  numer- 
ous a  population,  and  effected  here  a  more  rapid  advancement  than  else- 
where. Still  Egyptian  civilization,  even  at  it<  dawn,  had  so  tar  ad- 
vanced beyond  that  which  would  have  sufficed  for  the  mere  protection 
of  existence,  that  between  such  an  epoch  and  the  beginning  of  the 
dynasties  a  considerable  space  «if  time  must  have  elapsed.  This  we 
can  perhaps  estimate  by  reflecting  how  long  a  period  man  requires  in 
order  to  go  forward  from  building  a  day  lint  to  the  erection  of  an 
edifice  of  granite.  The  existence  of  a  system  of  writing  even  in  the 
most   ancient   time   so    perfected    that,   apart    from    such    improvement- 


IQg  ABT  IN   THE   ANCIENT  EMPIRE 

■\<  will  arise  in  every  human  invention,  it  remained  the  same  through 
millennium.-,  and  showed  itself  adapted  to  the  preservation  of  a  rich 
literature,  leads  us  to  conjecture  that  its  origin  long  preceded  Mena,  and 
must  be  si  >ught  for  during  the  proto-historie  period.  The  graphic  system 
of  the  Egyptians  passed  very  anciently  beyond  its  primitive  stages. 
It-  relation  to  other  systems  of  writing,  and  especially  to  the  Phoenician 
alphabet,  once  gave  rise  to  much  learned  discussion.  The  additional 
material  furnished  by  the  discovery  of  a  written  script  used  in  very 
early  time-  throughout  the  Mediterranean  area  has  complicated,  rather 
than  cleared,  the  problem  which  remains  unsolved.  Without  entering 
upon  these  difficult  inquiries,  a  brief  sketch  of  the  Egyptian  system 
may  properly  be  introduced  at  this  place. 

In  the  last  year  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  French  engineer,  in 
erecting  a  redoubt  at  Rosetta,  found  an  inscribed  black  stone,  known 
as  "  the  Rosetta  Stone"  (Plate  VIII.).  It  was  to  be  taken  to  Paris  ; 
but  after  the  victory  of  the  English  under  Nelson  it  fell  into  their 
hands,  and  is  now  in  the  British  Museum.  The  stone  consists  of 
three  divisions  :  in  the  uppermost,  which  is  more  damaged  thau  the 
others,  are  the  hieroglyphics;  then  follows  the  demotic  part,  which 
is  best  preserved,  and  below  this  the  Greek  text.  This  invaluable 
tablet  contains  a  decree  of  the  priests'  college  at  Memphis  of  March 
27,  195  B.c.,  in  honor  of  King  Ptolemy  V.,  Epiphanes,  on  account  of 
his  merits  respecting  the  prosperity  and  protection  of  the  country, 
ordering  that  a  statue,  a  shrine  of  gold,  and  an  image  of  the  king,  be 
erected  in  every  temple,  and  on  feast-days  be  adorned  and  venerated; 
that  this  decree  should  be  set  up  in  every  temple  of  the  first  and 
second  class,  engraved  upon  a  tablet  in  hieroglyphic,  demotic,  and 
Greek  characters.  As  it  was  already  known  from  the  study  of  the 
obelisks  at  Rome  that  the  specific  signs  of  the  kings'  names  appear 
enclosed  in  a  kind  of  ellipse  or  cartouche,  comparison  was  made  of 
the  names  of  the  kings  occurring  in  the  Greek  text  with  the  car- 
touches (  royal  shields)  of  the  hieroglyphic  text,  and  thus  it  was  pos- 
sible to  determine  a  series  of  signs.  Thus  was  the  key  furnished  for 
deciphering;  but  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  many  hundred  hiero- 
glyphic signs,  and  to  connect  the  known  with  the  unknown,  was  still 
a  difficult  task,  demanding  genius  and  patience.  The  Egyptian  lan- 
guage survived  even  into   the  first  Christian  century,  and  was  then 


> 
u 

< 


^    ^   »Vd  «)<     " 


HIEROGLTPHU  ]n(.» 

perpetuated  in  the  Coptic,  in  which  the  translation  of  the  Bible  and 
a  Christian  literature  have  come  down  to  us.  The  daughter  tongue 
thus  afforded  valuable  aid  in  the  translation  of  the  ancient  b 
The  merit  of  bringing  the  hieroglyphical  system  to  the  know! 
of  the  modern  inquirer,  and  thus  acquiring  again  the  art,  un- 
known since  the  death  of  the  last  priest  of  the  religion  of  ancient 
Egypt,  of  writing  and  reading  hieroglyphics,  belongs  bo  the  younger 
ChampoUion  (1790-1832). 

The  foundation  of  the  Egyptian  system  of  writing,  as  also  of  the 
Chinese,  of  the  cuneiform,  of  the  Hittite,  and  of  all  others,  is  picture- 
writing.  The  Chinese  and  the  cuneiform  lost  their  distinctness,  and 
became  conventionalized  by  abbreviation.  It  is  characteristic  of  Egyp- 
tian conservatism,  however,  that  although,  from  early  time,  the  signs 
were  cursively  rendered  for  current  use,  it  preserved  to  the  end  picture- 
writing,  so  that  the  writer  had  to  be  at  the  same  time  an  artist  The 
manner  in  which  abstract  conceptions  are  rendered  i-  remarkable  : 
'seeing5  is  naturally  represented  by  two  eye-  or  pupil-,  <2>--<£i«-oo  ; 
1  fighting '  by  two  arms,  one  of  which  is  equipped  with  a  shield,  and 
the  other  with  a  battle-axe,  QA  ;  'king'  by  a  bee,  VgC  since  it  live- 
in  a  monarchical  state.  Some  signs  are  compound  ;  for  example, 
'silver5  is  represented    by  a  crucible,  which    is    the    symbol  of  gold, 

combined   with   the   sign  of  a   white  onion    ^,  so   that    the   united 

DO* 

sign  suggests  the  conception,  'white  gold.'  It  is  common  to  hear 
'hieratic'  writing  spoken  of  as  distinct  from  hieroglyphic  writing; 
but  the  two  are  as  identical  as  are  our  own  written  and  printed  charac- 
ters. <  )ne  was  the  cursive  form  of  the  other.  Two  styles  of  '  hieratic  ' 
writing,  however,  may  be  noted.  One,  formal,  like  our  engrossing; 
the  other  a  rapid  cursive  in  which  all  the  letter-  of  a  word  are  linked 
together.  It  was  from  the  latter  that  the  Demotic  of  later  times  was 
evolved.  The  entire  list  of  some  two  thousand  hieroglyphs,  of  which 
about  five  hundred  were  in  common  use,  may  be  divided  into  three 
classes:  First,  phonetic  signs  which,  whether  alphabetic  or  syllabic, 
represent  sounds.  Second,  ideograms,  which  represent  certain  woi 
ideas,  and  which  often  serve  to  represenl  homonyms.  Third,  determi- 
natives— that  is,  Bigns  placed  after  the  word  to  indicate  it-  meaning. 
To  the  Egyptian-  writing  was  of  divine  origin.     The  god  Thoth 


110  ART  IN   THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

had  taught  it  to  the  men  of  the  Nile  Valley.  There  is  reason  to  believe 
that  in  prehistoric  times  it  passed  through  an  earlier  stage  when  it  was 
purely  phonetic.  At  least,  according  to  Erman— the  highest  authority 
od  Egyptian  philology — only  the  consonants  of  the  words  were  written, 
as  is  the  case  in  Semitic  languages,  where  the  vowels  are  added  as  a 
rule  to  indicate  the  grammatical  forms.  To  use  Erman's  own  illustra- 
tion :  in  the  Arabic  word  'qatala/  ne  killed,  the  meaning  of  'killing' 
rests  on  the  three  consonants  q  1 1.  The  vowels  representing  only  the 
active  tense.  The  passive  form  is  '  qutila ';  the  imperfect  is  '  qutl ';  the 
imperative  'qtul';  the  participle  'qätil.'  Only  the  consonants  are 
invariable,  and  they  alone  are  written.  According  to  this  system,  the 
original  Egyptian  alphabet  consisted  of  twenty-one  consonants. 

j>        I,      C,      b,     g,      d,        h,     h,     <mi,     f,       h,       t,         k,        m, 


,       „        *     "  To  these  must  be  added  two 

ii,        »,    y,       u,       k,      r,         s,       i. 

secondary   signs        ü  tt — i'  and   y.      Each  of  these  signs  stands  for  a 

i  and  y 
short  word  with  similar  sound,  from  which  it  derives  its  phonetic  value. 
Thus  a  =  t  is  probably  '  ta,'  a  loaf;  <-~=^,  d,  a  hand,  '  dot ';  a/nwa,  n  = 
water,  '  nu ';  <z>,  r,  the  mouth,  '  ro,'  and  so  on.  Only  in  cases 
when  the  vowel  was  important  to  the  correct  reading  of  the  word  did 
the   Egyptians   try  to   indicate   the   same   in   their  writing.     For  this 

purpose  they  used  three  consonants,  ^(1  y\,   i1,  i,  and  n\     Not  satisfied 

with  this  simple  system,  the  Egyptians,  even  in  prehistoric  times,  began 
to  develop  it  by  the  use  of  ideograms,  in  order  to  add  to  the  clearness 
and  brevity  of  the  writing.  These,  in  time,  often  superseded  the 
purely  phonetic  form  of  the  word.     For  instance,      □    ,  pr,  the  house, 

came  to  be  written  CTZj  ,  the  house  itself.  Many  abstract  words  could 
not  be  drawn — i.e.,   'good,'   'son,'  etc.     They  therefore   used  for  the 

purpose    homonyms.      To    write    '  nefer '    «^     =  good,    they    used  J 

'  nefer,'  a  lute  ;  and  for  'sa,'  a  son,  they  used  sa  %\*,  a  goose.  These, 
and   such  adapted  signs  practically  lost  their  original  concrete  values. 


H1ER0QLYPICS. 


Ill 


and  became  mere  conventional  syllabics — purely  suggestive  of  sound. 
As  an  illustration:  The  picture  of  a  checker-board  with  the  fig: 
ures  tüüü  is  called  men  j  but  it  expresses  also  the  syllable  men  in 
the  name  of  the  god  Amen,  A  ^a;  here  the  original  objecl  was 
lost  sight  of  and  'men'  came  to  represent  mainly  the  Byllable. 
A  word  can  be  written  in  several  different  ways;  for  example,  the 
word  änkh  ('life')  can  be  expressed  by  the  hieroglyphic  mark, 
a  cross  with  a  ring  ■¥■,  symbolizing  life;  or  this  mark  can  be 
applied  acrologically — that  is,  one  may  designate  therewith  only 
the  letter  a,  and  must  then  add  n  and  kh  Q"£*  ;  moreover,  the 
alphabetical  sign  ä  might  be  placed  before   nkh  — °  .     Again,  the 

o         o 

form  of  writing,  <1<  änkh,  kh  also  is  used, fl T"      in  which  the  middle 

sign  stands  for  the  n ;  or  finally,  a,  //.  änkh  — o^-,  wliere  the  ideo- 
gram  stands  for  kh,  and  by  itself  represents  the  sound  änkh.  Some- 
times the  first  sound  is  doubled,  that  is  to  say.  the  hieroglyphic  is 
first  given  as  a  figure,  and  then  again  the  sound  with  which  it  com- 
mences ;  for  example,  the  conception  "god**  is  rendered  by  the 
figure  of  an  axe  ],  and  pronounced  neter ;  again,  one  may  write  axe, 
t,  r,  ^J^L,,  where  in  like  manner  the  axe  represents  only  the  sound 

n;  or  axe,  ?i,  f,  r,  as  if  n  (der)  n  t  r  |  <^=>-  This  diversity  in  the 
manner  of  notation  would  be  misleading  were  it  not  limited  by  usage 
which  tori  lids  many  combinations. 

With  regard  to  the  syllabic  signs  that  have  been  mentioned  there 
is  an  additional  difficulty  to  be  considered,  in  the  fact  that  the  greater 
part  of  them  are  polyphonous,  that  is,  they  may  have  various  sound 
values.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  circle  with  a  point  O  has  the  sound 
of  ra  ('sun');  but  it  may  also,  as  a  sign  used  by  metonomy,  be  read 
hru  ('day').  Although  in  many  cases  the  connection  of  the  sentence 
leaves  no  doubt  with  regard  to  the  choice  between  such  different  sounds, 
yet  for  greater  clearness  the  so-called  phonetic-complements,  or 
supplements  by  means  of  sounds  added,  were  invented.  Thus  there 
is  a  hieroglyphic  which  originally  represented  a  metallic  bracelet  in 
spiral  form  "czf");  it  has  the  meanings  •  to  encompass;  a  fold  or  curve; 
a  pound'  (for  in  place  of  the  coined  money  of  to-day,  rings  and  other  me- 
tallic pieces,  which  were  originally  weighed,  were  used),  and  may  be  pro- 


112  ART  IN    THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

nounced  in  three  ways:  rer,  heb,  ten.  If  after  the  hieroglyphic  the 
letter  r  <:—-)  is  written,  the  combination  can  be  read  only  rev  (not 
heb  or  teii).  But  when  b  or  n  is  written  after  it,  it  can  be  read  only 
heb  "T—^)    0,  orten    c=-'  □•      Since  rev  is  a  verb,  one  finds  besides 

/WW  . 

tlu>  hieroglyphic  J\  formed  of  two  striding  legs,  which  indicates  the 
category  of  the  verb.  If  the  word  "  pound "  is  meant,  a  square 
( '  weight ')  is  subjoined  as  an  explanatory  figure.  Hence  the  syllabic 
signs  can  be  used  singly,  or  connected  with  one  or  more  alphabetic 
signs ;  and  indeed  in  the  latter  case  they  may  be  put  before,  after, 
and  between  the  alphabetical  signs. 

Very  frequently  the  hieroglyphic  figures  appear  only  as  determina- 
tives ;  that  is,  a  word  is  given  phonetically,  and  for  greater  clearness 
to  the  eye  a  picture  is  also  added  ;  for  example,  '  diseased '  is  mhi-t ; 
men,  the   syllabic  sign,  is   written  ;  n,  the   phonetic-complement,  t,  the 

article,  and  then  the  picture  of  the  determinative  of  evil :    ' '  <&=_  . 

Again,  'bread'  is  äq ;  this  is  written  with  a  swan,  the  syllabic  sign  <lq, 
to  which  is  added  the  alphabetical  sign  q,  in  order  to  secure  the  proper 
pronunciation ;  the  word  is  then  further  determined  by  the  figure  of 
a  long  loaf,  so  that  no  doubt  can  exist  either  as  to  sound  or  as  to 

meaning,  -|>  .     This  picture  of  bread  is  a  special   determi- 

native. In  addition  to  these  there  are  general  determinatives,  or  such 
as  designate  entire  categories  of  words ;  for  instance,  all  conceptions 
that  in  any  way  stand  connected  with  the  mouth,  to  which  belong  not 
only  eating  and  drinking,  but  also  numerous  other  conceptions,  includ- 
ing such  as  suggest  a  motion  of  it,  as  to  speak,  to  know,  to  judge,  etc.; 
this  determinative  is  represented  by  a  man  sitting,  who  lays  his  hand 

on  his  mouth  g) ;  for  example,  swrl,  '  to  drink,'  is  written  p  ^^  (]  & 
s,  rvy  r,  T,  determinative.  Similarly,  the  active  voice  of  the  verb  re- 
ceives as  determinative  an  arm  with  a  club,  which  is  also  the  deter- 
minative for  '  strength  '  £ r\.     Likewise  a  bark  ^^  upon  the  water 

is  employed  as  determinative  of  '  ship,'  '  navigation,'  and  '  voyage ' ; 
the  sail  3^3  determines  the  words  for  'wind,'  'coolness.'  A  roll  of 
papyrus  tied  together  ,-^-,  is  the  determinative  for  expressions  re- 
ferring to  writing,  books,  painting,  and  for  all  abstract  conceptions. 
The  Egyptian  language  itself,  such  as  we  know  it,  is  related  to  the 


LITERATURE.  I  ,.. 

Semitic  languages  (Hebrew,  Arabic,  Aramaic)  to  the  Ka-t  African  lan- 
guages (Bishari,  Galla,  Somali,  etc)  and  to  the  Berber  languag« 
North  Africa.  But  its  affinities  with  other  tongues,  whatever  they  may 
be,  are  sufficiently  distant  and  nidimentary  to  warrant  the  belief  thai 
Egyptian  belongs  to  a  philological  understratum,  and  became  separated 
from  other  linguistic  groups  at  a  period  so  remote  thai  it  acquired  its 
own  individuality,  and  early  became  crystallized,  while  the  other-  pur- 
sued their  evolution.  However  this  may  be,  the  old  Egyptian  of  early 
days  continued  as  the  literary  language  of  Egypt  well  into  the  Roman 
period.  Its  most  archaic  forms  may  best  be  studied  in  the  pyramid 
texts — sepulchral  inscriptions,  prior  to  that  epoch,  being  shori  state- 
ments or  brief  invocations.  The  so-called  'Middle  Egyptian'  is  the 
popular  language  of  the  Twelfth  or  Thirteenth  Dynasties  ;  and  the  •  late 
Egyptian '  is  the  popular  language  of  the  New  Empire.  Demotic  ig 
the  language  of  the  Graeco-Roman  epoch.  To  these  Linguistic  forms, 
long  dead  as  spoken  languages,  the  key  is  furnished  by  the  Coptic — the 
language  of  Christian  Egypt — written  in  Greek  characters.  It  only 
died  out  three  hundred  years  ago,  and  furnishes  the  only  attainable 
information  with  regard  to  the  structure  and  vocalization  of  the  mother 
tongue.  Authorities  are  divided  as  to-  the  transliteration  of  Egyptian. 
The  French  school  -till  adheres  to  its  own  system,  while  the  German 
school  is  generally  followed  by  English  and  American  scholars. 

Most  of  the  literature  preserved  is  written  in  the  hieratic  .-cript. 
Such  is  the  Prisse  papyrus,  which  date-  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  B.C. 
2500),  although  the  maxims  which  it  contains  were  written  in  the  Fifth 
Dynasty.  Many  papyrus  manuscripts  exist  containing  prose  and  poet- 
ical literature.     We  have  elegies  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty;  hymn-  to 

the  god-,  as  that  to  tin-  Nile,  composed  by  Enna  in  the  tit f  Merenp- 

tah,  some  passagesfrom  which  were  quoted  abovej  mid  to  the  Pharaoh, 
wherein  it  is  said  :  "Let  well-being,  life  and  strength  he  the  kin-'-! 
This  call  comes  to  the  ears  of  the  king,  to  the  royal  hall  of  the  friend 
of  truth,  to  the  great  heavens  in  which  he  is  the  sun.  I  bar  me,  thou 
sun,  who  liftest  up  thyself;  enlighten  the  earth  with  goodness,  thou 
sun-disk  of  men,  who  dost  fright  away  the  darkness  from  Egypt  :  thou 
art  as  the  image  of  thy  father,  the  sun-god,  who  exalteth  himself  in 
the  heavens.  Thy  rays  reach  down  to  hell.  No  place  i-  without  thy 
goodness.  Thy  speech  i-  law  for  every  land.  When  thou  art  at  rest 
Vol.  I.— 8 


2J4  ART  TN    THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 

iu  thy  palace  thou  hearest  the  speech  of  all  lands.  Thou  hast  millions 
of  ears.  Shining  is  thine  eve  above  the  stars  of  heaven,  able  to  look 
into  the  sun-disk.  When  something  is  spoken  with  the  mouth  even  in 
Hades,  it  comes  into  thine  ears.  That  which  also  is  done  in  secret, 
thine  eve  seeth  it.  ()  Ba-en-ra  Meri-Amen  ('soul  of  Ra,  friend  of 
Amen,  Merenptah,')  gracious  Lord,  creator  of  life."  Further,  we  have 
the  lament  of  Isis  and  Xephthys  over  the  dead  Osiris  (in  the  time  of 
the  Ptolemies).  A  "  Praise  of  Wisdom"  describes  the  different  occu- 
pations and  their  several  drawbacks,  in  order  to  place  the  vocation  of 
the  scribe,  that  is,  of  the  learned,  above  all  others  (composed  during 
the  Sixth  Dynasty).  Also  we  have  narratives,  preserved  in  a  late  form 
in  the  demotic  writing  of  the  first  century  before  Christ,  from  the  hand 
of  Setnau,  wherein  appear  the  dead,  who  are  called  back  into  life  by 
means  of  a  book  kept  in  seven  coffers  at  Coptos,  and  guarded  by  ser- 
pents ;  the  description  of  a  journey  into  Syria  ;  the  voyage  to  the  land 
of  frankincense  and  to  the  isles  of  the  blessed.  In  the  'History  of 
the  Two  Brothers,'  likewise  composed  by  Enna,  and  belonging  to  the 
library  of  Seti  IL,  the  wife  of  the  elder  brother  calumniates  the  younger 
brother  in  the  same  manner  as  the  wife  of  Potiphar  did  Joseph  ;  and  the 
innocent  man  is  obliged  to  flee  before  the  dagger  of  the  deceived  hus- 
band. We  commonly  associate  the  Egyptians  with  religious  fervor  and 
with  the  grave  ;  but  besides  hymns  and  epitaphs  there  also  exist  medical 
and  magical  treatises,  maxims,  fairy  tales,  official  and  personal  corre- 
spondence, reports  and  accounts,  school  texts,  epics,  popular  songs,  etc. 
The  following  is  from  a  collection  of  love  songs  (Harris  500) : 

"  The  voice  of  the  dove  speaks,  she  says  : 

'  The  world  is  light,  observe  it.'     Thou,  thou  bird  dost  entice  me. 
Then  I  find  my  brother  in  his  room,  and  my  heart  is  joyful  .   .   . 
I  will  not  turn  from  thee,  my  hand  remains  in  thy  hand, 
When  I  go  out  with  thee  in  beautiful  places." — 

And  again  : 

..."  All  the  birds  of  Arabia  flutter  over  Egypt,  anointed  with  myrrh  : 

The  one  that  comes  first  seizes  my  worm.      He  brings  fragrance  from  Arabia. 

His  claws  are  full  of  incense.      My  heart  longs  for  thee, 

That  w»   may  open  the  >nare  together,  I  with  thee  alone. 

How  beautiful  i-  he  ftrho  comes  in  the  field  because  one  hives  him." 

Among  the  sciences  fostered  by  the  Egyptians,  their  astronomy 
has  at  all  times  awakened  admiration.  Though  the  famous  Zodiac, 
constructed  at  the  temple  at   Denderah   under  the  Romans  (in  Paris 


A  3TRON03fT.  1  1." 

since  the  year  1822),  is  not  so  ancient  as  it  was  firsl  supposed  to  be, 
the  achievements  of  the  Egyptians  even  in  very  early  times  are 
highly  memorable.  The  calendar  which  we  use,  "the  most  famous 
relk-  <>!' ancient  times  that  has  exerted  influence  in  the  world,"  was 
brought  from  Egypt  by  Julius  Caesar,  and  by  him  introduced  into 
the  Roman  Empire.  While  other  nations  connected  childish  notions 
with  the  stars,  the  Egyptians  even  at  the  beginning  recognized  the 
distinction  between  the  planets  and  the  fixed  stars,  and  assigned  to 
the  former  the  names  of  the  gods,  as  we  are  still  doing.  It  appeals 
also  that  they  observed  the  retrograde  motion  of  Mars,  which  lasts 
some  seventy  days,  and  even  the  movement  of  the  earth,  that  i<.  its 
character  as  a  planet.  They  observed  the  rising  ami  setting  of  the 
stars  for  many  centuries  continuously;  and  if  one  possessed  no  further 
proof  with  regard  to  the  extent  of  their  astronomical  knowledge, 
the  numberless  dates  in  their  writings  show  what  importance  was 
attributed  to  the  careful  reckoning  of  time.  The  astronomy  of  the 
Greeks  had  its  development  at  Alexandria,  where  doubtless  Egyptian 
tables  supplied  the  basis  for  all  computations.  Among  the  fixed 
stars,  in  the  foremost  rank  stand  the  36  or  37  stars  of  the  Equator, 
which  correspond  to  the  36  decades  of  the  year;  every  second  year  has 
37,  on  account  of  the  twice  five  intercalary  days.  We  possess  cata- 
logues of  stars  in  which  are  found  among  others  Sopd  (Sothis,  Sirius, 
or  Dog-star):  Sah  (Osiris.  Orion);  Art  (the  Hyades) ;  Khan  (the 
Pleiades).  The  solar  year  contains  36")  days;  but  the  Egyptians 
perceived  that  its  proper  astronomical  length  was  36ÖJ  days.  At 
the  theoretical  commencement  of  the  year.  Sirius  should  rise  at  the 
same  time  as  the  sun  (heliacally),  and  indicate  the  beginning  of  the 
inundation.  In  the  progress  of  time  the  diff  rence  would  be  con- 
stantly increasing  between  the  astronomical  year,  that  is.  between  two 
heliacal  risings  of  the  star  Sirius  and  the  civil  year.  In  forty  years 
it  would  amount  to  ten  days,  until  at  the  end  of  the  1460th  astro- 
nomical year  it  would  include  the  civil  year  1461.  As  now  the 
commencement  of  the  civil  year  again  coincided  with  that  of  the 
astronomical  year,  the  civil  year  began  once  more  on  the  first  day 
of   the    first    month    (Thoth),    at    the    moment    of    the    heliacal    rising 

of  Sirius.  Accordingly  the  period  of  1  160  astronomical  or  1  4*51  civil 
years  forms  the  Sirius  (Sothis)  or  Dog-star  period.     Such  a   period 


116 


ART  IN    THE  ANCIENT  EMPIRE. 


ended  or  began  on  July  20,  1322  b.c.,  and  the  next  on  July  20, 
139  A.i».  In  a  tomb  at  Beni-Hassan  (Twelfth  Dynasty)  mention  is 
made  of  the  celebration  of  a  festival  commemorating  the  rising  of 
Sothis.  Since  it  was  only  in  the  two  or  three  centuries  before  or  after 
the  year  3285  that  the  heliacal  rising  of  Sirius  coincided  so  exactly 
with  the  summer  solstice  that  this  concurrence  could  be  observed,  it 
is  evident  that  this  determination  of  the  beginning  of  the  year  must 
have  existed  as  early  as  the  fourth  millennium  B.c.  At  the  present 
time,  however,  the  rising  of  Sirius,  on  account  of  the  further  recession 
of  the  equinoxes  (precession)  takes  place  two  and  a  half  months  later 
than  it  did  5000  years  ago.  With  regard  to  the  reform  of  the  calen- 
dar under  Ptolemy  III.,  Euergetes  I.  (238  B.c.),  the  so-called  de- 
cree of  Canopus  (found  at  Tanis)  gives  information.  It  sought  to 
remove  the  inconvenience  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  on  account  of 
the  difference  between  the  astronomical  and  the  civil  year,  the  reli- 
gious festivals  lost  in  the  latter  constantly  about  one  day  in  every 
four  years,  and  by  degrees  lost  the  entire  year. 


Scribe  of  Gizeh.     (After  Maspero. ) 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   MIDDLE    EMPIRE. 

DURING  the  last  period  of  the  Ancienl  Empire1  the  cenl 
government  had  been  already  transferred  to  Thebes  in  Upper 
Egypt.  From  this  point  the  Pharaohs  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty 
guided  with  a  powerful  hand  the  destinies  .it'  the  nation.  15 v  the 
successful  repulse  of  Libyan  and  Asiatic  foes,  and  of  those  also  who 
menaced  them  on  the  south,  by  means  of  long-continued  commercial 
relations  with  Arabia,  by  the  abundant  revenue  resulting  from  the 
richness  of  the  soil  of  Egypt,  —  to  which  must  be  added  the  products 
of  the  mines  in  the  Sinaitic  peninsula,  —  and  by  gorgeous  structures 
which  they  had  reared,  they  had  led  the  country  onward  to  enjoy  an 
increased  prosperity.  At  Korosko,  about  midway  between  the  firsl 
and  second  cataracts,  an  inscription  of  Amenemhat  L  has  been  found, 
which  announces  the  conquest  of  the  Nubian  Wawa,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Assuan.  Here  the  power  of  Egypl  extended  far  toward  the  South. 
We  learn  l>y  inscriptions  at  BenirHassan,  on  the  tomb  of  a  local  gov- 
ernor, that  Usertesen  III.  pushed  the  frontier  forward  as  far  as 
Seinneh  in  the  land  of  Ileh,  beyond  the  second  cataract,  and  there 
built  fortresses  on  both  steep  rocky  banks  of  the  river.  These  for- 
tresses arc  built  of  square  brick  tiles  with  beams  of  wood  embedded  ; 
they  are  high,  the  walls  on  the  ground  are  thirty  to  thirty-three  feet 
thick,  and  have  towers,  moats,  and  glacis.  Near  the  stream  stands  the 
west  fortress  immediately  over  the  precipitous  rocky  shore,  while  the 
east  fortress,  also  near  the  river,  has  a  glacis  at  the  side.     The  Latter 


1  The  reader  is  reminded  that  the  Ancient  Empire  closed  with  the  kings  <>f  tin- 
Eleventh  Dynasty,  the  history  of  Dynasties  VI.  XI.  being  somewhat  obscure.  The 
Middle  Empire  comprised  the  reigns  of  the  kings  of  the  famous  Twelfth  (beginning 
with  Amenemhat  I. )  :wid  <>f  tin-  Thirteenth  Fourteenth  Dynasties;  then  folio 
second  period  of  obscurity,  within  which  fell  the  dominion  of  the  B 
Kings,  which  continued  over  five  hundred  years.  The  New  Empire  begins  with  the 
Eighteenth   Dynasty  and  extends  through  the  Twentieth.-  Ed 

117 


118  THE   MIDDLE   EMPIRE. 

has  a  squaif  form  with  buttresses;  the  ground  plan  of  the  other  is 
shaped  like  an  L  with  the  lowest  line  near  the  river.  In  the  work 
of  Perrot  and  Chipiez  a  view  in  perspective  of  the  latter  fort  is 
given,  drawn  according  to  the  measurements  of  Lepsius  and  de  Saulcy. 
Usertesen  III.  also  set  up  a  pillar  to  designate  the  boundary,  with  an 
inscription  in  which  that  country  is  called  Aken.  Brugsch  recog- 
nized in  this  name  the  Acina  mentioned  by  Pliny,  in  the  time  of  Nero, 
as  lying  south  of  Primi  (Kasr-Ibriin,  west  of  Korosko).  Neverthe- 
less, l'.-ertesen  III.  was  obliged  at  different  times  subsequently  to  con- 
tend with  the  negroes.  His  successes  as  conqueror  secured  his  eleva- 
tion later  to  a  local  divinity,  and  Thothmes  III.  (Eighteenth  Dynasty) 
erected  for  him,  as  such,  a  temple  at  Semneh.  Amenemhat  III.  like- 
wise established  a  fortress  opposite  Pselcis  ;  there  are  found  at  Semneh 
numerous  records  of  his  time  with  regard  to  the  height  of  the  Nile  on 
the  rocks  at  that  point,  from  which  the  state  of  the  river  in  Egypt 
proper  could  be  estimated.  This  Pharaoh  gave  special  attention  to  the 
regulation  of  the  canal  works,  and  generally  of  the  waters  of  the  Nile. 
The  accounts  given  respecting  the  height  of  the  Nile  are  therefore  of 
interest,  since  they  show  that  the  Nile  rose  over  twenty-seven  feet 
higher  at  that  time  than  it  does  to-day,  for  then  it  had  not  broken 
through  the  rocky  barrier  at  Selseleh  and  lowered  its  level.  There  is 
also  a  series  of  small  monuments  bearing  the  name  of  Amenemhat  I., 
in  the  northern  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  on  the  spot  where  at  a 
later  day  the  great  temple  of  Karnak  (Thebes)  was  reared  a  group  of 
statues  and  an  altar  inscribed  in  his  name  have  been  discovered. 
Several  papyri  belonging  to  the  later  period  of  this  king's  reign,  when 
he  had  established  Usertesen  I.  as  co-regent,  are  preserved.  One  of 
these  contains  the  instructions  of  the  king  himself  to  his  son.  Others 
relate  the  interesting  experiences  of  a  shipwrecked  sailor  on  a  fabulous 
island ;  and  those  of  Sa-nehat,  an  Egyptian  nobleman  who,  probably 
for  political  reasons,  fled  to  the  land  of  Edom.  Another  tells  the  his- 
tory of  a  peasant  who  was  robbed  of  his  ass  by  a  tyrannical  officer, 
and  who  brought  his  complaint  before  King  Nebkara  (the  last  king 
of  the   Third   Dynasty). 

The  chronological  sequence  of  this  Dynasty  is  satisfactorily  estab- 
lished. Rut  its  date  is  difficult  to  determine.  Recently  Dr  Borchardt, 
basing  his    calculation    upon   an  astronomical  date  found  in  a  papyrus 


MONUMENTS   OF   THE   FAYX  1/  ]  , :, 

from  Kahun,  obtained  the  date  b.c.  1  s 7 ( ; ,  for  the  Beventh  pear  "'" 
Usertesen  III.  But  much  difference  of  opinion  -till  exists  with  regard 
to  the  matter.  Approximately  we  may  place  the  beginning  of  the 
Twelfth  Dynasty,  with  the  powerful  administration  of  A.menemhat  I., 
between  ij.c.  2500  and  2000.  The  successor  of  Usertesen  [.,  Araen- 
emhat  II.,  was  for  two  years  co-regent  ;  and  three  years  before  he  was 
murdered  by  eunuchs  lie  appointed  his  son  Usertesen  111.  to  be  bis 
own  co-regent,  of  whom  the  Louvre  possesses  a  statue  of  carnelian. 
He  has  often  shared  with  Rameses  II.  the  honor  of  being  identified 
with  the  Sesostris  of  Manetho,  of  Herodotus,  and  of  other  classics. 
Tacitus  reports  that  under  Sesostris  a  Phoenix-period  closed.  Bui 
he  means  by  this  a  Sirius-period ;  since  from  his  statement  that  the 
Phoenix-period  according  to  some  laste  500  years,  and  according  to 
others  14G1  years,  it  follows  that  one  of  these  epochs  occurred  in 
the  reign  of  Sesostris,  and  the  other  in  that  of  Amasis  (Ö72  B.C.); 
yet  these  two  rulers  do  not  lie  500  years  apart,  hut  even  still  farther 
than  a  Sirius-period, — a  proof  of  the  slight  dependence  that  can  be 
placed  on  chronological  reckonings  of  this  description.  Under  User- 
tesen III.,  whose  statue  is  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  the  building  of  the 
Labyrinth  was  begun;  it  was  completed  under  his  successors.  Hi-^ 
son,  Amenemhat  IV.,  married  his  own  sister  Sebek-neferu  (Scemi- 
ophris).  The  Labyrinth  and  Lake  Moeris  weir;  the  chief  monuments 
of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty;  and  these  works  have  been  fully  described 
by  admiring  Greek  and  Roman  writers.  Loth  are  situated  at  the 
entrance  of  the  'lake  land,'  or  Fayum,  an  oasis  in  the  Libyan  desert, 
separated  from  the  valley  of  the  Nile  only  by  rising  grounds  of  mod- 
erate elevation.  'Joseph's  canal'  (in  Arabic,  Bahr-Yüsuf)  li 
the  Nile  at  Siüt  (  Lycopolis),  and  goes  northward,  piercing  the  hills 
at  its  entrance  into  the  Fayum,  and  by  numerous  ramifications  water- 
ing; a  region  renowned  to-day  ami  in  ancient  times  for  it-  climate  ami 
the  abundance  of  its  splendid  fruit-trees,  cereals,  and  rose  gardens. 
In  the  deepest  part  of  this  depression  lie-  ;l  great  lake,  the  Birket-el- 
Kiirnn.  at  whose  southern  extremity  stands  a  temple  (in  Arabic, 
Kasr-Karün)  of  the  Roman  period;  behind  it  rise  the  mountains  of  the 
Sahara.  The  present  chief  town  of  the  Fayum,  Medlnet-el-Favum, 
lie-  a  little  south  of  the  ancient  city..)'  Pa-sebek,  or  Crocodilopolis 
(from  the  worship  of  the  crocodile,  and  of  Sebek,  the  crocodile-beaded 


120 


THE    MIDDLE    KMI'IHE. 


god  of  the  inundation);  and  a  mosque  of  the  modern  chief  town, 
with  many  Corinthian  pillars  of  marble,  was  built  out  of  material  of 
the  age  of  the  Ptolemies,  when  the  city  was  called  Arsinöe.  Farther 
north  lie  the  ruins  of  Biahmu  (Fig.  40),  in  which  search  has  been 
made  for  the  pyramids  of  which  Herodotus  speaks  as  standing  in  the 
middle  of  Lake  Moeris,  i.  e.,  two  platforms  of  stone  surmounted  by 
seated  colossi  of  Amenemhat  III.,  monoliths  of  quartzite,  thirty-nine 
feet  in  height,  some  fragments  of  which  are  now  in  the  Ashmolean 
Museum  at  Oxford.  On  the  margin  of  the  Fayurn,  north  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Bahr-Yüsuf,  lies  the  brick  pyramid  of  Hawära.  It  was  the 
tomb  of  Kiug   Amenemhat    III.      Adjoining  it   are   the   ruins   of  the 


Fig.  39.  —  Tanis  Sphinx.     (After  Maspero.) 

Labyrinth,  an  immense  building  1000  by  800  feet,  built  by  Amen- 
emhat and  his  daughter  and  successor,  Sebekneferu.  Its  axis  extends 
directly  from  north  to  south.  On  the  south  side  of  the  pyramid  there 
is  a  court,  formerly  covered,  as  is  probable,  with  colonnades,  nearly  sixty 
acres  in  extent  ;  and  on  three  sides  this  is  encompassed  by  a  bewilder- 
ing mass  of  brick  walls.  At  the  present  time  a  canal  runs  through  the 
ruins.  Herodotus  says  that  the  Labyrinth  was  vast  beyond  all  descrip- 
tion ;  that  what  the  Greeks  had  brought  to  pass  in  the  erection  of 
walls  and  of  various  buildings  would  not  equal,  if  taken  together,  the 
Labyrinth  in  cost  and  labor  ;  the  temples  of  Ephesus  and  Samos  were 
worthy  to  be  mentioned,  but  the  pyramids  surpass  all  description  ;  and 


PLATE     IX. 


f  n  1 1 1 1 1  i  i  j  t  [  w\r 


JEWELRY    FROM    DASHUR.      XII.    DYNASTY.      GIZEH    MUSEUM. 
AFTER    DE    MORGAN. 


History  of  All  Nations.  Vol.  I.,  page   120. 


THE   LABYRINTH, 


121 


any  one  of  them  outweigha  a  multitude  of  the  besi  Grecian  works, 
while  the  Labyrinth  still  excels  the  pyramids.  Hi-  description  Beeros 
less  credible  than  that  of  Strabo,  who  represents  the  Labyrinth  as 
a  royal  palace,  in  which  the  governors  of  the  Egyptian  provinces 
assembled,  t.»  each  of  whom  belonged  a  special  court-room  and  cham- 
ber; all  the  courts  were  encircled  by  colonnades,  and  the  corridors 
were  so  numerous  and  complicated  that  a  Btranger  could  nol  go  in  or 
out  without  a  guide.  The  pyramid,  examine.)  by  Mr.  Petrie,  is  peculiar  : 
The  passages  to  the  central  chamber  are  elaborately  complex,  and  pro- 
vided with  gigantic  trap-doors  in  the  roof,  leading  to  other  passages 
and  to  dumb  chambers.  The  only  access  to  the  Bepulchral  chamber 
was   obtained   through    its   roof.     This   was   funned  by  three  immense 


Fig.  40.  —  The  Ruins  ;it  Biahma. 

blocks,  one  of  which,  weighing  forty-five  tons,  was  dropped   into  place 
on  closing  the  pyramid.     The  chamber  itself  is  a  marvel.      It  is  hol- 
lowed of  one  block  "of  glass-hard  yellow  quartzite  cut  and  polished 
with  exquisite  truth."     It  is  22  l>y  8  feel    inside  and  i-  over  t\\" 
thick,  weighing  210  tons.     A  trace  of  these  building  activities  occurs  al 
Hamamat,  in  an   inscription  of  the  ninth  year  of  Amenemhal   II..  re- 
cording  that,   under  the  supervision   of  the  head  architect    I  serl 
9tones  were  brought  thence  tor  the  building  in  the  Fayum,  and  a  Bitting 
statue  of  the  kin-,  five  cubits  high,  was  carried   thence  for  the  temple 
of  Sebek.     The   Moeris   (in    Egyptian   ""  <\   'a  lake*:   or  /unit,  'the 
water  that  flows  off ')  covered  the  western  pari  of  the  Fayum;  it  !• 
at    the    Labyrinth,  and   extended  to  the  vicinity  of  Medinet,   while  it 


122 


THE    MIDDLE    EMPIRE. 


spread  far  to  the  north  and  south.  The  aim  which  Amenemhat  sought 
and  attained  by  diking  Lake  Moeris  was  to  secure  an  outflow  of  the 
water  into  this  reservoir  when  the  inundation  was  high,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  when  the  inundation  was  scanty,  to  draw  off  the  gathered 
water  from  the  lake  to  the  land  that  was  not  overflowed  ;  moreover  some 
twenty  thousand  acres  of  fertile  land  were  thus  rescued  from  the  lake. 
The  sluices  necessary  for  regulating  this  were  placed  at  Illahun  (in 
Egyptian,  la-hunt,  'the  mouth'  of  the  Moeris)  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  city  of  Pa-ra-sekhem-khafer  (the  city  of  Osorkon  I.),  by  the 
Greeks  called  Ptolemais.  These  sluices  were  arranged  to  prevent  the 
further  outflow  of  the  waters  from   the   Bahr-Yüsuf  into  Lake  Moeris, 


The  Pyramid  of  Illahun. 


and  to  cause  them  to  run  off  into  the  extension  of  this  canal  in  the 
region  of  Memphis.  At  Illahun  is  situated  the  pyramid  (Fig.  41) 
of  Usertesen  IL,  excavated  by  Mr.  Petrie  in  1889-1890.  The  lower 
part  of  the  pyramid  is  of  unmoved  rock,  isolated  by  a  deep  cutting. 
On  it  arise  walls  of  large  blocks  between  which  is  filled  in  a  brick 
pyramid.  This  consists  of  a  framework  of  brick  walls  carefully  con- 
structed, which  from  each  of  the  four  sides  run  inwardly,  and  are 
connected  within  with  two  diagonal  walls  which  cross  each  other.  The 
whole  was  then  filled  up  with  stones,  and  cased  with  great  slabs. 

Even    at    this   day    the    circuit   of    the    former    lake-basin    can    be 
accurately  determined  by  depressions  in  the  soil   and  the  remains  of 


TOMBS   AT   ABYDOS.  1  23 

ancient  dykes  at  differenl  places.  The  western  shore  reaches  from 
Crocodilopolis  to  the  modern  Tulün;  mid  the  uorthwesl  margin  forms 
with  it  an  obtuse  angle,  and  extends  to  the  vicinity  of  Sele.  In 
Gizeh  there  is  a  papyrus  containing  a  plan  of  Lake  Moeris,  together 
with  the  towns  and  temples  on  its  shores;  in  the  plan  of  the  Laby- 
rinth it  confirms  Strabo's  statement  by  specifying  with  regard  t  • 
each  room  for  what  province  of  Lower  or  Upper  Egypt  it  was 
apart.  The  same  manuscript  confirms  what  was  Long  ago  conjectured 
respecting  the  relation  of  the  myth  of  Osiris  and  Set  to  the  blessing- 
bearing  floods  of  the  Nile  and  to  the  deserl  ;  since  it  designates 
several  places  where  the  canal  was  Led  through  portions  of  the  deserl 
as  scenes  of  conflict  between  Horus  and  Set.  in  which  the  good 
by  a  victory  preserved  the  benefits  conferred  by  his  father  Osiris. 
At  the  present  time  the  water-works  at  Lake  Moeris  are  ao  Longer  in 
existence  ;  but  engineering  works  of  great  magnitude  arc  being  carried 
on  with  a  similar  purpose  by  the  British  at  Assuan  and  at  Sim. 

At  Abydos,  Mariette  found,  in  great  numbers,  private  I  »mbs 
belonging  to  the  period  of  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Dyna 
They  arc  very  much  injured,  yet  their  type  can  be  completely  estab- 
lished. They  consist  of  a  square  substructure,  com  lining  a  vault  for 
the  mummy.  Upon  this  foundation  rises  a  pyramid  which  has  a 
hollow  space  within  ;  this  inns  up  to  a  hollow,  pointed  cupola,  which 
is  formed  by  every  row  of  bricks  projecting  over  that  immediately 
below;  hence  the  vertical  section  exhibits  a  pointed  arch.  Before 
the  entrance  is  a  small  hill  used  as  a  tomb-chapel;  this  is  often 
wanting,  and  in  this  case  a  table  is  constructed  for  the  worship  of 
the  dead  in  the  wall  of  the  building,  such  as  we  have  already  Been  in 
the  mastabas  at  .Memphis.  Before  this  table  the  prescribed  cere- 
monies were  performed   under  the  open  sky.     Evidently  the  outer 

surfaces  of  the  building,  which  conn ily  is  bul  sixteen  to  twenty 

feet  high,  were  covered  with  stucco  and  painted  whit«-.  Sometimes 
the  tomb-chamber  is  sunk  into  the  soil.  This  kind  of  tomb,  with  the 
chamber  for  the  mummy  and  the  chapel,  either  it»  front  of  the  same 
or  built  upon  it   in  the  shape  of  a  shrine  with  ascending  wall 

surmounted  by  a  pyramidal  I  »p,  is  found  also  in  the  tin. :  the 

Empire  and  very  generally  at  Thebes.  In  some  Apis  tombs  of  the 
Eightheenth  Dynasty,  the  corners  arc  adorned  with  columns  ;  and  they 


124 


THE    MIDDLE    EMPIRE. 


remind  us  of  the  Lykian  type  of  sepulchre,  to  be  described  hereafter. 
The  sarcophagi  retain  the  usual  shape  of  a  ehest,  which  is  still  treated 
as  a  house  ;  and  often  its  evolution  from  wooden  architecture  is  indi- 
cated by  painted  depressions  in  the  stone.  There  are  also  sarcophagi 
in  which  the  stone  carving  exhibits  the  deceased  partly  as  he  was  in 
life,  with  rich  clothing,  and  partly  as  a  mummy,  i.  e.,  the  body  swathed 
in  mummy  wrappings  up  to  the  head,  and  the  extremities  not  visible. 
Far  more  interesting  are  the  tombs  originating  in  the  time  of  the 
Twelfth  Dynasty,  which  were  excavated  in  great  numbers  from  the 
rocks    above    Beni-Hassan    (in    Egyptian,    Panubtj    in  Greek,   Speos 


Fig.  42.  —  Rock-tombs  of  Beni-Hassan. 

Artemidos).  The  richer  of  these  grottos  consist  of  a  vestibule  in 
the  rock,  which  has  two  pillars  and  a  substitute  for  the  architrave 
and  cornice,  that  is  seemingly  supported  by  a  row  of  columns  ;  it 
opens  outwardly,  and  in  the  middle  at  the  rear  is  shown  the  entrance 
to  a  larger  hall  for  the  worship  of  the  dead.  The  ceiling  of  this  hall 
is  supported  by  scattered  columns,  and,  like  that  of  the  vestibule,  is 
often  carved  into  the  form  of  a  flattened  arch.  In  the  rear  of  the 
hall,  which  receive-  lighi  only  through  the  door,  there  opens  commonly 
a  niche  or  chamber  in  which  is  placed  the  statue  of  the  dead.  In  one 
part  of  the  hall  the  pit  descends   into  the  sepulchre.     Some  porticos  of 


BENI-HASSAN.  ,.,- 

these  rock  grottos,  at  a  distance,  forcibly  remind  the  spectator  of  Doric 

columns;  near  at  hand,  this  resemblance  is  muri,  lessened,  for  the 
columns  at  Beni-Hassan  stand  on  a  low,  round  socket,  and  have 
neither  echinus   nor,   strictly  speaking,  abacus.     Therefore,  they  have 

been  called  Proto-Doric.     Here  again  we  meel  with  a  survival  in  -i ■ 

of  the  wooden  architecture  of  primitiv.:  days.  The  pillar  was  the 
wooden  prop  that  supported  the  roof.  Where  it  rested  on  the  ground 
clay  was  heaped  to  give  it  solidity,  and  where  the  roof-beam  rested  on 
it  a  board  was  added  to  divide  the  weight.  Both  features  were  retained 
in  the  Egyptian  column  ;  they  constituted  the  round  base  and  the 
square  abacus.  The  Egyptian  column  originated  from  a  square  pillar  ; 
and  this,  diminishing  in  diameter  hut  a  very  little  from  bottom  to  top, 

is  cut  obliquely  at  the  four  corners,  so  that  a stagonal   body  results. 

The  corners  cut  in  this  manner  lessen  the  mass  of  the  pillar,  and  hence 
give  freer  admission  to  the  light.     The  original  form  of  the   pillar  i- 
still  indicated  by  a  low  quadrangular  intermediate    piece  between  the 
column  and  the  architrave,  which  is  of  the  same  diameter  as  the  column 
at  its  base,  yet   does   not  project,  like  the  Greek  abacus,  hut  lira  in  the 
same  plane  as  the  architrave.      The  latter  issmooth,  without  the  distinc- 
tion of  parts  which  characterizes  the  Doric  entablature,  and  it  p 
into  a  moulding  which  we  may  regard  as  a  cornice.     In  the  inner  hall 
of  a  sepulehre  the  octagonal  column   is  once  more  cut  oblique! 
that  it  has  sixteen  angles,  and  besides,  in  order  to  render  the  play  of 
light  and  shade  more  effectual,  the  fiat  spaces  between   tic  an 
being  somewhat  deepened  and  rounded,  were  fluted.     Two  or  four  of 
these  fluted  interspaces  were  then  brought  together  to  form  a  broad, 

smooth  surface,  in  order  that  hieroglyphics  might  I ngraved  upon 

it  in  a  vertical  direction  ;  here  the  effort  to  make  architecture  every- 
where subservient  to  figures  and  writing  destroyed  the  aesthetic 
effect  of  the  columns.  In  the  time  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  this 
pillar  appears,  with  its  sixteen  faces,  in  the  western  portico  of  the 
temple  at  Semneh,  as  also  elsewhere.  Here  a  polygonal  pillar  is 
used,  the  anterior  part  of  which  is  entirely  employed  as  a  surface  for 
inscriptions.  Above  it  is  displayed  a  mask  of  Hathor,  that  is.  the 
head  of  a  woman,  with  cow's  horns,   broad   tresses  of  hair,   and  a 

diminutive    temple   on    her    head,  in    BUch    a    manner   that    at    a  di-tanc- 

it    gives   the   impression  of  a  mummy  standing  erect   "r  that  "i   the 


126 


THE    MIDDLE    EMPIRE. 


CaryatideSj  thai  is,  of  human  bodies  bearing  up  the  architrave.1  While 
the  original  pillar,  as  it  appears  in  the  Temple  of  the  Sphinx,  and  also 
in  a  tomb  at  Sakkara,  where,  however,  a  low  socle  is  placed  beneath  to 
prevent  the  sinking  of  the  pillar,  is  transformed  into  the  column,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  pillar  retains  its  primitive  character,  and  is  covered 
with  sculptures.  Besides  the  square  socle  a  square  capital  is  added 
|  Karnak).  The  facade  is  then  adorned  with  these  columns,  the  fronts  of 
which  are  wrought  into  colossal  figures,  representing  the  royal  founder 
as  <  >siris  (Abu-Simbel).  These  figures,  however,  do  not  architecturally 
support  the  architrave,  as  do  the  Grecian  Atlantes  and  the  Caryatides 
of  the  Erechtheum.  With  these  changes  in  the  pillar  there  was  devel- 
oped a  column  which  in  the  time  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  appears 
standing  isolated,  perhaps  as  the  support  of  a  movable  piece  of  decora- 
tion ;  its  capital  lias  the  form  of  a  bell,  but  it  represents  in  stone  an 
elegant  metallic  rod,  the  head  of  which  passes  through  a  ring.  More 
richly  developed  are  the  columns  which  grew  immediately  from  the 
architecture  in  wood.  In  very  ancient  paintings  appear  representations 
of  canopies  of  wood  supported  by  wooden  posts.  These  last  are 
surrounded  by  canes  and  papyrus  stems,  which  are  fastened  together 
with  ribbons,  and  adorned  with  wreaths,  a  motif  that  is  shown  also 
in  the  mastabas,  as  before  mentioned,  while  here  between  the  rods 
of  the  lath  decoration,  the  fasciated  lotus-stems  with  their  over- 
hanging coronals  of  flowers  serve  as  ornaments  to  the  niches  and 
the  stone  sarcophagi.  Sometimes  in  such  pictures  there  are  also 
separate  flowers  tied  together  by  ribbons  under  the  masses  of  buds 
pendent  from  these  reeds,  and  their  stems  are  inserted  in  the  spaces 
between  the  several  rods,  and  their  flowers  are  blended  with  the 
calyx;  of  the  capital.  As  simple  decoration  of  one  face  of  these 
columns  this  massing  of  lotus  flowers  appears  in  the  tomb  at  Zawi- 
jet-el-Meitin  (Sixth  Dynasty).  The  imitation  of  the  flowers  with 
the  ends  of  their  leaves  turned  inwards  presents  a  conventional  de- 
sign, which,  according  to  some  authorities,  suggested  the  Ionian 
volute.  As  Egyptian  art  did  not  adopt  this  motive  in  stone,  the 
volute  remained  in  use  simply  as  a  decoration  on  a  flat  surface ; 
it  is  thus  often  seen  on  the  handles  of  mirrors  and  on  many  metallic 
implements. 

1  A-  b<  tin-  antiquity  of  the  Hathor  head,  see  Introduction,  page  9. 


BENI-HASS  I  \ 

This   covering   of    the    supporting    w len    post    was    copied    in 

stone,  and  it  formed  the  lotus  coluinu  with  the  capital  buds  which 
occurs  in  a  tomb  at  Beni-Hassan.  [nstead  of  buds,  the  unfolded 
blossoms  can  now  come  forth  as  the  coronal  of  the  reeds  wind,  arc 
hound  together,  and  then  arc  transformed  into  the  so-called  calyx 
capital,  which  takes  the  form  of  a  decided  and  beautiful  curve;  but  it 
departs  from  the  original  conception  in  so  far  thai  the  stems,  which  are 
bound  together,  have  each  ool  one  but  many  buds  at  the  top,  as  at 
Philae  and  Esneh,  where  the  capital  is  entirely  composed  of  a  great 
profusion  of  flowers.  Over  this  capital  the  early  inner  wooden  post  of 
the  prototype  is  still  visible  as  an  impost  of  stone.  The  effect  is 
confusing.  The  posts,  which  formed  the  shaft  of  the  column,  bound 
together  beneath  the  capital,  are  now  encompassed  with  a  cylindrical 
covering,  so  that  the  section  of  the  shaft  forms  a  circular  line.  Above 
the  soele,  where  the  column  .-hows  a  considerable  enlargement  (entasis), 
we  see  indications  of  the  derivation  of  the  column  from  reed  stems  in 
the  painted  bulrush  leaves  used  a-  a  decoration.  It  has  been  pointed 
out,  and  too  much  stress  cannot  he  laid  upon  it.  that  the  form-  and 
details  of  Egyptian  architecture,  as  we  know  them,  were  rarely  orig- 
inally intended  lor  the  use  made  of  them.  These  delicate  Btems,  buds, 
and  Mower-  could  never  have  been  meant  to  hi'  executed  in  stone  with  a 
diameter  of  twelve  feet  and  a  height  of  sixty  feet.  '1 'lie  entire  scheme 
of  Egyptian  architectural  decoration  betrays  its  development  from  wood 
and  brick  material. 

The  first  tomb  of  Beni-Hassan  concealed  the  mummy  of  the 
nomarch  Khnum-hotep.  The  Inscriptions  here  relate  numerous  ex- 
periences in  the  life  of  the  deceased,  ami  an'  of  great  importance  for 
the  history  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty.  The  princes  of  the  provinces, 
the  Egyptian  feudal  nobility,  had  endeavored  to  extend  their  author- 
ity, after  the  passing  away  of  the  most  ancient  ami  powerful  royal 
houses  and  during  the  decline  of  the  central  government  in  the  time 
of  the  Seventh  and  subsequent  Dynasties.  The  royal  power  was, 
however,  again  strengthened;  and  they  were  thereby  confined  to  the 
circuit  of  their  several  mmies,  and  were  obliged  to  content  them- 
selves with  lilling  the  highest  position  next  to  the  Pharaoh.  We 
learn  from  the  inscriptions  that  Khnum-hotep  was  appointed  (con- 
firmed) by  Amenemhat  I.  as  nomarch  and  hereditary   prince  of  the 


128  THE    MIDDLE   EM  PI  HE. 

sixteenth  nome.  Tins  principality  had,  however,  come  to  his  father, 
Nehera,  son  of  Sebek-ankh,  as  the  dowry  of  Beket,  his  wife,  who 
after  the  death,  without  children,  of  her  brother  Nakht,  was  the 
Innrer  of  the  dignity  of  hereditary  ruler.  The  father  of  Beket  had 
been  called  by  Amenemhat  I.  to  the  nomarchy  of  the  province  of 
Mah  (Sah);  and  under  Usertesen  I.  his  brother  had  become  gov- 
ernor of  Mena-t-khufu  (the  modern  Minieh),  a  dignity  which  belonged 
to  the  oldest  princes  of  the  house,  before  they  succeeded  their  fathers  as 
nomarchs.  Khnum-hotep  died  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  Usertesen  I., 
after  holding  the  office  for  twenty  years.  He  had  married  Kheti,  an 
heiress,  who  brought  him  as  her  dowry  the  seventeenth  nome  (Cynopo- 
lites).  His  son,  the  offspring  of  this  marriage,  who  was  named  Nakht, 
was  confirmed  by  Usertesen  II.  in  the  nomarchy  of  the  seventeenth 
province,  his  mother's  heritage;  and  he  obtained  the  dignity  of  gov- 
ernor of  all  the  provinces  lying  between  Thebes  and  Aphroditopolis. 
Ameni,  another  son,  inherited  the  Nome  of  the  Gazelle.  A  full  record 
of  his  life  appears  in  his  tomb  at  Beni-Hassan  in  an  inscription  dated 
the  forty-third  year  of  the  king.  He  enumerates  the  warlike  services 
which  he  had  rendered  to  his  king,  whom  he  followed  in  his  raids  in 
Nubia,  returning  laden  with  gold,  and  extols  the  excellence  of  his 
administration,  telling  how  he  had  cared  for  the  entire  nome,  and 
had  held  all  the  inhabitants  to  labor,  so  that  no  one  could  be  found 
who  suffered  from  hunger ;  how  he  had  sought  to  be  friendly  to 
every  one,  had  brought  sorrow  to  no  child,  had  oppressed  no  widow. 
Making  all  due  allowance  for  the  egotism  of  these  statements,  as 
well  as  for  their  grandiloquence,  their  substantial  truth  is  cor- 
roborated by  the  activity  and  industry  manifested  by  all  classes 
of  society  in  their  occupations,  as  is  clearly  and  abundantly  shown 
by  the  figured  descriptions  in  the  sepulchre  at  Beni-Hassan.  Such 
a  development  is  possible  only  in  a  flourishing  country,  and  with  a 
population  at  once  energetic  and  skilful,  and  living  under  a  peace- 
fid  rule.  Our  conception  of  the  high  degree  to  which  the  moral 
feelings  and  humanity  of  the  Egyptians  were  cultivated  is  enhanced 
when  we  compare  inscriptions  of  this  kind  with  those  by  leaders  or 
kings  of  other  nations,  who  with  rude  complacency  portray  the 
horrors  of  the,  wars  waged  by  them,  and  yet  for  this  count  upon  the 
approval    of  heaven.     The  painted  reliefs  in  the  tomb  of  Khnum- 


WALL    PAINTIN08. 


129 


YuL.    I.       1», 


130  THE   MIDDLE   EMPIRE. 

hotep  show  the  farmer  with  his  cattle  in  various  kinds  of  labor,  the 
gardener  engaged  in  setting  out  his   shrubs  and  other   plants,  the 
vine-dressers,  the  hand-craftsmen,  the  joiners,  the  currier,  the  saddler 
(with  the  semi-circular  knife  for  cutting  pieces   of  leather),  shoe- 
makers, potters,  glass-makers,  and  women  employed  in  weaving  and 
cooking.     The    remarkable    representation — now  unfortunately    much 
,1,. faced— of  the  arrival  of  a  Semitic  family  (Amu),  who  having  left 
their  home,  ask  to  be  received  by  the  nomarch  (Figs.  43,  44),  although 
it    has    frequently   been    published    and    commented   upon,  cannot   be 
overlooked  when  dealing  with  this  tomb.     The  company  is  introduced 
by  the  scribe  Nefer-hotep,  who  delivers  to  the  nomarch  a  tablet  with 
the  following  inscription  :  "  In  the  sixth  year  of  king  Ra-kha-kheper 
(Usertesen    II.)    is   the  account    rendered    concerning    the    Amu    who 
bring  to  the  princely  son  Khnum-hotep  the  mesd'emt,  a  green  paint 
for   the   eyes.     Their   number  amounts   to   thirty-seven."      The    third 
figure    in    the    painting    is,   according    to    the    inscription,    the    prince 
(Heq   Setu)    Absha.     The    second   is   Khiti,  an  officer   who    is    con- 
ducting them  before  the  nomarch,  who  awaits  them  with  dignity, 
accompanied  by  his  son  and  three  dogs.     The  chief  delivers  to  the 
nomarch  a  wild  goat  from  Sinai.     The  representation  is  important  in 
the  history  of  art ;  since  it  is  the  most  ancient  picture  of  the  Semites, 
and  shows  their  costume  in  its  peculiar  colors,  —  blue,  white,  and 
red.     The  chief  and  a  number  of  the  men,  as  well  as  all  the  women, 
wear  the  sleeveless  tunic,  which  extends  over  the  left  shoulder,  and 
leaves  the  right  arm  bare.     A  number  of  the  men  wear  merely  a 
fringed  gown  reaching  from  the  hips  to  the  knees ;  the  chief  also  has 
fringe    on    his   dress ;    the  white  woollen  stuff  of  his  coat  is  orna- 
mented with  stripes  running  vertically,  between  whose  waving  lines 
run  lines  shaped  like  bars  and  scales  separated  by  dots ;  the  white 
dress  of    a  woman  shows  also  green  waving  stripes  (meander  pat- 
tern).    Their  weapons  are   spears,  bows,   and    a   kind    of    club  or 
boomerang.     The  chief  is  barefooted,  as  also  the  women;  but  the 
bitter  have  rings  on  their  ankles.     A  man  is  playing  on  a  harp  or 
cithern  with  a  plectron  in  the  right  hand,  and  with  the  fingers  of  the 
left  hand.     The  asses  led  along  with  them  carry,  among  other  things, 
peculiar  vessels,   with   feet,  double   mouths,   and   horizontal  handles ; 
these  contained  the  mesd'emt.     We  saw  that  the  most  ancient  tomb- 


TOMB   OF   THOTH-HOTEP.  131 

statues  have  a  green  streak  under  the  eyes;  thie  unguenl  has  been 
found  used  as  early  as  the  prehistoric  period  ;  and  the  Semites  beyond 
the  isthmus  prepared  it  at  this  time.  In  the  same  tomb  appear  also 
swarthy  men  with  red  hair,  carrying  lance-,  and  boomerangs;  they 
are  performing  mock  combats;  one  of  these  men  ig  also  Ggured 
in  the  tomb  of  Set  i  I.  (Nineteenth  Dynasty).  According  to  Newberry, 
who  last  studied  Beni-Hassan  (1890j,  these  men  are  Libyans. 

Among  the  many  representations  of  Egyptian  life,  there  is  found 
in  the  tomb  of  the  nomarch  Thoth-hotep, —  the  Bon  of  Kai  and  grand- 
son of  Nehera,  that  is,  the  nephew  of  Khnum-hotep  at  Bersheh 
(Antinoe,  in  the  nome  of  Hermopolites)  the  picture  of  the  transpor- 
tation of  a  granite  statue  of  a  kino-,  in  a  sitting  posture;  it  belongs 
to  the  time  of  Amenemhat  II.  This  statue  is  placed  on  a  suit  of 
sledge,  and  is  made  fast  by  means  of  a  great  metallic,  ring  and  ropes 
that  are  drawn  in  different  directions  around  the  colossus  ;  mats  are 
carefully  arranged  beneath,  in  order  to  protect  the  polished  Burface  of 
the  granite  from  being  rubbed  by  the  cords.  By  means  of  four  ropes 
made  fast  to  a  ring  the  sledge  is  drawn  by  four  rows  of  men,  consist- 
ing of  twenty-one  (three  times  seven)  pairs,  and  one  special  pair  in 
advance  of  them  all,  thus  in  all  172  men.  The  commander  of  the 
men  who  are  at  the  ropes  stands  upon  a  knee  of  the  colossus ;  the 
cords  and  the  planks  over  which  the  sledge  is  moved,  an-  wetted  to 
prevent  their  igniting.  Seven  rows  of  eleven  men  each  may  I» 
bearing  palm-branches  in  their  hands,  thus  giving  a  festal  character 
to  the  procession.  This  recall-  a  similar  -••cue  depicted  on  a  bas- 
relief  at  Kuyunjik  (Nineveh).  Indeed,  Layard  reports  that  he  em- 
ployed this  same  method  of  transportation  in  removing  an  Assyrian 
colossus. 

To  the  time  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  belongs  the  oldest  eztanl 
monument  of  Eeliopolis,  the  city  of  IIa.  The  -canty  remain-  of 
An  (the  -On'  of  the  Bible)  lie  at  the  village  of  Afatarieh,  northeasl 
of  Cairo.  Here  in  early  time-  was  the  centre  of  the  worship 
of  the  Sun.  Tum,  the  evening  -mi  ;  Eta,  the  hawk-headed  sun 
in  the  fulness  of  its  power;  Ra-Harmachis  (' the  rising  -un'i:  Sim, 
and  Tefnut  were  the  principal  lt<  »<  1  -  -  Th--  sacred  hull  of  Ra,  Mnevis, 
with  his  black  cows;  lions  also,  beasts  with  shining  -kin.  and 
symbols  of  the  greatest    strength  of  the  sun's   heat  ;  and    finally  the 


132 


THE   MIDDLE  EMPIRE. 


bird  Bennu  (the  phoenix)  formed  the  zoological  pantheon  of  this  city 
of  the  Sun.  The  numerous  company  of  priests  connected  with  the 
sanctuary,  on  whom,  as  sons  of  Ra,  gifts  were  lavished  by  the 
Pharaohs,  maintained  also  a  school  of  a  high  order,  which  enjoyed 
a  great  renown  in  ancient  times,  and  was  resorted  to  by  many  Greeks. 
Here  Plato,  Eudoxus,  Thales,  Archimedes,  Pythagoras,  Anaxagoras, 
and  Chrysippus,  as  the  Greeks  themselves  have  testified,  derived  much 
of  their  wisdom.  Amenemhat  I.  restored  the  temple  of  Turn,  and 
founded  the  temple  of  the  Sun.  The  site  of  the  latter  is  at  this  day 
indicated  only  by  the  most  ancient  of  the  great  existing  obelisks  (sixty- 
eight  feet  high)  which  was  erected  in  front  of  the  temple  by  Usertesen 


Fig.  45.  —  Head  of  Seqenen-Ka  Ta-a-qen  (Seventeenth  Dynasty). 


I.  From  the  position  of  the  obelisk  the  conclusion  may  be  drawn 
that  it  occupied  the  space  before  the  pylon  or  gateway  of  the  temple, 
as  later  in  the  New  Empire,  and  that  the  arrangement  of  the  great 
temple  in  the  Ancient  Empire  was  the  same  as  at  a  later  period.  This 
is  also  confirmed  by  many  building-plans  that  have  been  preserved, 
in  conformity  to  which  edifices  were  erected  in  subsequent  times. 
The  Arabs  tell  also  of  numerous  other  colossal  statues,  the  products 
of  marvellous  labor.  The  polished  obelisks  (in  Egyptian  tehen,  later 
men,   'standing  erect')   were    dedicated    to   the   sun;    upon    them,   as 


OBELISKS  IN   EOTPT.  \ .;.; 

on  shining  pillars,  the  vault  of  heaven  seems  to  rest  They  are  at 
the  same  time  symbols  of  the  generative  power  of  the  Sun-god,  Amen 
in  Thebes,  Ra  in  Heliopolis.  Apparently  the  obelisks,  the  tips  of 
which  were  touched  with  gold,  were  regarded  furthermore  as  light- 
ning conductors:  »they  break  the  storms  of  heaven  "  ( Inscription  in 
the  temple  of  Edfu)  ;  and  something  similar  is  reported  of  the  masts 
with  their  pendent  streamers  upon  the  pylons.     We  have  seen  that 

there  was  one  type  of  monument   « sisting  of  a   substructure,  and   a 

short  obelisk  standing  upon  it.  Several  of  the  obelisks  which  have 
been  transported  from  Egypt  had  their  origin  at  Heliopolis  (Egyptian 
On),  around  which  centred  Sun-worship.  It  was  called  '  the  house  of 
Ra,'  Per-Ra,  and  als.»  the  'house  of  obelisks,'  '  Hat-Benben.'  In  texts 
of  the  Old  Empire,  Heliopolis  is  rarely  mentioned.  Yet  the  great 
temple  of  Ra,  which  dates  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty — if  we  believe  a 
leathern  manuscript  at  Berlin — was  not  the  first  sanctuary  there  erected, 
and  a  temple  of  Turn  was  enlarged  at  the  same  time.  Under  Ram«  ses 
III.  the  temple  of  Ra  was  at  the  height  of  its  renown,  12,963  persons 
were  attached  to  its  service.  And  Herodotos  and  Strabo  praise  the 
learning  of  its  priests  even  in  their  day.  The  obelisk  of  Usertesen 
stood  until  the  thirteenth  century.  The  same  Pharaoh  erected  the 
obelisk  of  Ebgig  (Fayum),  which  has  two  narrow  sides  and  two  that 
are  wider;  the  last  are  arched  in  the  shape  <>t"  a  roof  whose  gable  ends 
are  formed  from  the  tops  of  the  narrow  sides  rounded  off.  The  broad 
sides  do  not  present  the  usual  columns  of  hieroglyphics,  but  five  rows 
of  figures;  a  notch  at  the  summit  serves  to  tasten  a  metallic  top-piece. 
In  the  time  of  the  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Dynasties,  nearly  all  the 
Pharaohs  set  up  obelisks,  especially  at  Thebes  ami  Tanis.  At  Karnak 
there  is  a  pair  of  obelisks  erected  by  Thothmes  I.,  between  the  sanctuary 
and  the  great  pillared  hall  ;  the  one  now  overthrown  was  -till  standing 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  A  second  pair  of  similar  monoliths 
was  erected  by  his  daughter,  Hatshepsut  Makara;  but  of  the-.-  also 
only  one  is  now  .-landing.  It  i-  the  highest  (109  feet  .  although 
one  is  mentioned  which  is  -aid  to  have  measured  200  feet  (120 
cubit.-);  according  to  the  inscription  on  the  socle  seven  months 
were  expended  upon  ELatshepsut's  obelisk,  and  it  came  from  the 
quarries  at  Svene.  The  tops  were  overlaid  with  the  metal 
(electrum — gold  mixed  with  silver — but  in  this  case  probably  a  -ort  of 


13-1  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE. 

brass).     Thothmes  III.  caus.ed  many  obelisks  to  be  erected  at  Heli- 
opolis,  especially  the  two  brought  to  Alexandria  at  a  later  day,  which 
became  famous  under  the  name  of  Cleopatra's  Needles.     One  of  these 
was  conveyed  some  years  since  to  London,  the  other  was  brought  to 
New  York.     The  central  column  of  inscriptions  shows  the  name  of 
Thothmes  III. ;  on  two  sides  Rameses  II.  also  has  engraved  columns 
of  writing.     On  the   top  is    represented  the    god    Turn,   to   whom 
Thothmes  III.,  in  the  form  of  a  sphinx,  is  presenting  a  drink-offer- 
ing, with  the  words :  "  The  gift  of  fresh  water  of  the  good  god,  the 
lord  of  the  two  lands,  Ra-men-kheper  "  ('  giver  of  eternal  life,'  that 
is,  Thothmes  III.).     Beneath  the  sphinx  stands  "  the  mighty  bull, 
crowned  in  Uas  (western  Thebes),  son  of  the  sun,  Thothmes."     On 
another  side   of    the   obelisk   is   placed  the   wine-offering.     On  the 
third  side,  not  Turn,  but  Ra-Harmachis,  is  depicted  ;  and  the  offering 
consists   of   frankincense.      The    fourth   side   of    the  obelisk  repre- 
sents Thothmes  as  a  sphinx  on  the  pylon,  making  two  offerings  of 
incense.     In  1877  it  was  discovered  that  the  obelisk  now  in  New 
York  was  placed  upon  four  bronze  crabs,  only  one  of  which  remained, 
the  others  being  replaced  by  stone.      This  crab  has  a  Greek  and  Ro- 
man inscription,  according  to  which  the  obelisk  was  erected  in  the 
year  13-12  B.c.,  in  front  of  the  Caesareum,  or  Sebasteum  at  Alex- 
andria.    The    middle  column  runs  as  follows :    "  The  royal  Horus, 
wearer  of  the  crown,  king  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  the  golden 
hawk,    who    smote    the    kings    of    all   lands    that    approached    him, 
according  to  the  command  of  Ra.     Victory  over  the  whole  world, 
and  strength  of  the  sword  are  there  when  he  openeth  his  hand  for  the 
extension  of  the  bounds  of  Egypt ;  son  of  the  sun,  Thothmes  the  lif e- 
bestower."     "  The  royal  Horus,  the  mighty  bull,  crowned  in  Thebes, 
lord  of  the  diadem,  whose  kingdom  is  far  extended  as  that  of  the 
sun.     Beloved  of  Turn,  the  Lord  of    Heliopolis,   son  of   his  loins; 
Thoth  created  him,  Thothmes.     In  the  perfection  of  their  members 
they  created  him,  in  the  great  dwelling-place,  so  that  he  has  estab- 
lished an  extended  dominion  for  hundreds  of  years.      The  king  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  Ra-men-kheper,  beloved  of  Tum,  of  the  great 
god,  and  of  the  gods  of  his  circle,  bestowing  all  life,  joyfulness,  feli- 
city, immortal  as  is  the  sun."     From  Thothmes  III.  came  also  the 
obelisk  which  was  set  up,  in  the  year  1588,  before  the  Lateran  in 


OBELISKS   IN   EGYPT.  |:;/, 

Rome;  it  was  brought  by  Constantine  to  Alexandria,  and   by  Con- 
stantius  t.)  Rome,  where  it  served   in   the  spina  of  the  I  ircus 
nms.     The  second  obelisk  belonging  to  him  was  broughl  bj  Theodo- 
sius  to  Constantinople,  and  placed  in  the  Hippodrome.     A.,  ol 
of  Amenhotep  II.  is  to  be  found  at  SioD   House,  the  count 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland  at  Brentford.     From  Seti   I.  came  the 
obelisk  on  the  Piazza  del  Popolo  at  Rome,  originally  set  up  by  Au- 
gustus on. the  spina  of  the  Circus  Maximus.     From  Rameses  II.  are 
derived  the  two  obelisks  of  Luxor  (Thebes),  one  of  which,  separated 
from  its  companion,  has  stood  in   the   Place  de  La  Concorde  in  Paris 
since  1833.     This  splendid  square,  on  account  of  its  great  size,  seri- 
ously lessens  the  effect  naturally  produced  by  the  height  of  this  gran- 
ite needle,  which  was  brought  from   Egypt  and  erected  here  at  a  cost 
of  three  million  francs.      In  Tanis  eleven   obelisks  of  the   time  of 
Rameses  II.  are  lying  in  ruins  on  the  ground.      From   this  Pharaoh 
came  also  the  obelisk  in  the  Boboli  Gardens,  behind  the  I'itti  P 
in  Florence.     The  obelisk  in  front  of  St.  Peter's  in  Rome  originated 
with  Merenptah,  the  son  of   Rameses  II.     Caligula   caused   it   to  be 
carried  from  Heliopolis,  and  set  up  in  the  court  of  the  Vatican.     The 
obelisk  in  the  Piazza  della   Minerva,  which   Bernini,  in  1667,  placed 
on  the  back  of  an  elephant,  was  made   under  Ho]. Ihm  (Twenty-sixth 
Dynasty).     Augustus  ordered  a  similar  one.  of  Psammetichus  [I.,  to 
be  removed  :   it  now  stands  in  the   Piazza  di    Monte  Citorio.     In  tin- 
Piazza  Navona  is  the  so-called    Pamfili  obelisk,  and  an  obelisk  of 
Nectanebo  I.  is  in  the  British  Museum.     The  obelisk  of  latest  date 
is  the  Barberini  obelisk,  on  the   Pincian   Hill,  on   which  occur  the 
names  of  Hadrian,  of  the   Empress  Saltina.  and  of  Ajitinoiis.     The 
obelisks,  as  is  known,  are  polished  granite    monoliths,   which 
worked  out  in  the  quarry,  then  separated   from   the   rock,  and   trans- 
ported on  a  ship  to  their  position.     The  difficulty  of  setting  up  such 
a  stone  may  be  perceived  from  the  fact  that   modern  engineers  have 
been  obliged  to  avail  themselves  of  all   the  resources  of  their  art  in 
order  to  remove  and  re-erect  the  obelisks. 

The  dwellings  of  the  priests  that  encircle  the  inner  sanctuai 
Ivarnak  wert;  due  to  Usertesen  I.     They  were  restored  at  a  later  day. 
To  the  same  ruler  are  traced  also  the  fragments  of  columns  which  are 
identical  with  those  at  Beni-Hassan,  having  sixteen  fa  mite 


136  THE   MIDDLE   EMPIRE. 

statue  also  from  the  same  site  is  now  at  Luxor.  The  Middle  Empire 
was  an  era  of  great  literary  activity.  The  first  attempt  at  alliteration 
and  at  tales  of  adventure  appear.  Art  also  received  a  strong  impulse,  as 
well  as  architecture  and  engineering.  The  colossal  granite  statues,  no 
less  than  minor  works,  are  highly  finished.  In  1894,  M.  de  Morgan 
attacked  the  north  brick  Pyramid  of  Dashur,  which  proved  to  be  the 
tomb  of  Usertesen  III.  At  the  corners  of  its  peribolos  walls  were 
wells  connected  by  passages  and  burial  chambers  of  royal  personages  : 
Henut-taui,  a  '  royal  wife ' — probably  of  Usertesen  III. — and  two 
'  king's  daughters,'  Sent-s-Seneb  and  Sat-Hathor,  whose  splendid 
jewels  enclosed  in  a  casket  had  been  overlooked  by  former  grave 
robbers.  In  similar  connection  with  the  south  brick  Pyramid  of 
Dashur  Avas  found  the  burial  place  of  a  king,  Hor-aua-ab-Ra,  who  has 
no  place  in  the  official  lists  of  this  dynasty.  A  box  of  his  sepulchral 
deposits,  however,  sealed  with  the  undisturbed  stamp  of  Amenemhat 
III.,  was  found.  Near-by  was  buried  a  princess  of  King  Amenemhat's 
family,  wearing  the  asp  and  vulture  of  queens ;  and  with  her  another 
set  of  wonderful  jewels  was  found.  Pectorals,  inlaid  with  precious 
stones  and  colored  paste,  pendants,  two  beautiful  crowns  of  the  most 
delicate  and  elaborate  workmanship,  gold,  amethyst,  emerald  beads  attest 
the  splendor  as  well  as  the  artistic  goldsmithery  of  the  period.  (Plate 
IX.)  Two  large  galleys,  some  thirty  feet  long,  were  also  found.  They 
were  richly  painted  and  well  preserved.  They,  no  doubt,  are  specimens 
of  the  funeral  barges,  often  portrayed  on  the  walls  of  the  Egyptian 
tombs,  in  which  the  defunct  was  conveyed  from  the  eastern  to  the 
western  side  of  the  Nile  on  the  first  part  of  his  journey  to  '  Amenti.' 

After  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  there  follows  an  obscure  period,  which 
continued  until  the  accession  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty.  Manetho 
assigns  to  the  Thirteenth  Dynasty  (at  Thebes)  and  the  Fourteenth  (at 
Xois),  together,  136  kings;  the  Turin  papyrus  has  130-159  names  of 
sovereigns,  unfortunately  for  the  most  part  illegible,  and,  so  far  as  the 
numbers  are  preserved,  giving  brief  reigns.  In  the  Thirteenth  Dynasty 
the  name  of  Sebek-hotep  occurs  about  ten  times.  The  duration  of  500 
years,  which  was  formerly  accepted,  is  so  short  for  the  period  indicated 
that,  if  it  comprehends  only  the  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Dynasties, 
every  ruler  would  have  reigned  a  little  less  than  three  years.  The 
monuments    of    several    of    the    reigns    are    spread    over    all    Egypt. 


Tili:   HYKSOS 


137 


Furthermore,  some  kings  of  the  Shepherd  Dynasties  (Hyksos)  thai  fol- 
lowed also  left  monuments  in  all  Egypl  ;  they  therefore  could  not  have 
reigned  contemporaneously  with  the  former. 

The  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Dynasties  are  those  of  the  Hyk 
or  Shepherd  Kings.  Manetho  alone  gives  an  account  of  their  first 
appearance  and  of  their  rule;  but  the  fragments  of  his  writings  bearing 
on  this  subject  were  >i»  worked  over  by  Josephus  (who  has  pre» 
them  for  us),  through  his  desire  to  enhance  the  high  antiquity  and 
nobility  of  the  Jewish  nation,  that  for  a  long  time  they  misled  the 
judgment  of  scholars,  and  confirmed  the  opinion  that  the  Hyksos,  who 
are  named  Aatn  in  the  Sallier  papyrus,  where  their  final  expulsion  is 
alluded  to,  must  have  been  of  Semitic  stock,  a  sort  of  Bedawin  Arabs. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Hyksos  invasion  was  the  indirect  result 
of  the  Elamite  and  Chaldean  military  movements  of  the  late  third 
millennium  b.c.  But  who  they  were,  whence  they  came,  is  still 
doubtful,  although  no  historical  problem  ever  aroused  more  interest 
among  scholars.  They  have  in  turn  been  identified  with  Semite-, 
Cushites,  Mongols,  Hittites,  and  others.  To  the  Egyptians  themselves 
they  were'Shasu' — pillagers — a  word  applied  by  them  to  the  Bedawin  ; 
or  'Sheman' — strangers  (under  Queen  Hatshepsut),  or  -Aatn' — 
scourges.  They  were  nomadic  tribes  which  wert'  attracted  to  Egypt  by 
its  fertility  and  wealth,  and  in  whose  wake  it  is  probable  that  many 
different  Asiatic  tribes  followed.  Among  them,  perhaps,  the  Beni- 
[srael.  Be  that  as  it  may,  they  -wept  over  the  [sthmus,  estab- 
lished their  stronghold  at  Hat'  oar  (Avaris)  in  the  eastern  ex- 
tremity of  the  Delta,  and  thence  conquered,  or  dictated  term-  to  the 
entire  country.  That  this  had  become  possible,  although  only  after 
stubborn  conflicts  in  which  the  strangers  showed  all  their  barbar- 
ous cruelty,  confirms  the  supposition  that  the  Dynasty  <>\'  Xois, 
weakened  perhaps  by  internal  dissensions,  and  contests  of  the  feudal 
nobility  with  the  crown,  were  easily  thrust  from  the  throne.  Accord- 
ing to  the  narrative  of  Manetho,  it  was  at  the  time  when  Timacus 
(Timios)  was  reigning,  that  God,  for  unknown  causes,  was  unfavor- 
ably disposed  toward  the  Egyptians.  Suddenly  a  people  of  inglori- 
ous origin  seized  the  land,  and  conquered  it  with  little  difficulty, 
without  determined  opposition.  Tin-  rulers  were  taken  captive,  cities 
were  burnt,  and   the  sanctuaries  of  the   gods   laid  waste:   of   the  male 


138  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE. 

population  a  portion  were  slain,  the  wives  and  children  of  another 
part  were  dragged  into  slavery.  The  king  of  these  foreigners  was 
named  Salatis.  He  chose  Memphis  for  his  capital,  and  occupied  the 
towns  with  large  garrisons ;  in  Avaris  (Pelusium),  west  of  the  Bu- 
bastic-Pelusian  mouth  of  the  Nile,  he  established  a  great  encamp- 
ment, and  there  kept  his  troops  in  training.  His  five  successors, 
Bnon,  Apachnan,  Aphobis,  Annas,  and  Asseth,  reigned  for  a  long 
time ;  in  fact,  the  sway  of  these  six  Hyksos  kings  lasted  260  years. 
During  this  long  period  the  Hyksos  gradually  yielded  to  the  influences 
of  Egyptian  culture.  They  became  Egyptianized.  They  adopted  the 
protocols  of  the  Pharaohs  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  supremacy  of 
their  god  Sutekh,  these  '  princes  of  the  desert '  (Heq  Setu)  became 
known  as  '  sons  of  Ra '  and  '  divine  Horuses.'  A  mathematical  papyrus 
is  dated  the  twenty-third  year  of  Apepi  IL,  who  also  bestowed  a 
scribe's  palette  (Berlin  Museum)  upon  one  Atu.  Traces  of  Khian  occur 
from  Gebeleu  to  the  Delta  and  even  in  Crete.  A  granite  socle  in  the 
Louvre  bears  thirty-six  names  of  conquered  Nubian  provinces,  and 
inscriptions  attest  their  control  of  the  Assuan  quarries.  They,  there- 
fore, ruled  over  all  Egypt  and  held  the  Theban  princes  in  subjection. 
The  Sallier  papyrus  No.  1,  however,  shows  us  the  latter  ready  to  shake 
off  the  yoke.  A  command,  the  sense  of  which  is  obscure,  issued  by 
Apepi  II.  to  the  '  prince  of  the  south/  Seqenen-Ra,  with  regard  to  a 
certain  canal ;  and  in  which  the  worship  of  the  god  Sutekh  is  mixed 
up,  seems  to  have  precipitated  the  crisis.  The  Avar  of  independence 
followed ;  and  we  know  that  King  Seqenen-Ra  Ta-a-qen  was  probably 
killed  on  the  battle-field.  To  this,  his  hastily  mummified  body,  found  in 
1881,  bears  eloquent  testimony.  (See  Fig.  45.)  A  battle-axe  had 
opened  his  left  cheek  exposing  his  teeth  and  breaking  the  jaw.  A  second 
blow  had  fractured  his  skull.  A  spear  had  pierced  his  forehead  above 
the  right  eye,  which  is  covered  with  brain  matter  that  oozed  from  the 
wound.  How  long  he  remained  on  the  field  uncared  for  no  one  can 
tell ;  but  when  embalmed  his  features  were  set.  They  still  express  the 
rage  that  filled  his  soul.  The  brow  is  contracted  below  his  thick 
matted  hair ;  the  lips  are  drawn  over  the  gums  ;  and  the  tongue  is 
caught  between  the  teeth.  He  must  have  been  forty  years  old  when  he 
died.  Tall,  vigorous,  he  resembles  the  Berber  type.  The  fact  that  his 
body  was  preserved  seems  to  imply  victory  for  the  Egyptians — which 


THE  SEVENTEENTH   DYNASTY.  \:\\s 

Aähmes  I.,  his  successor,  brilliantly  followed  up.     A  long  and  grievous 

war  followed,  which  finally  ended  with  the  deliverance  of  Egypt  Of 
the  kings  constituting  the  Seventeenth  Dynasty,  the  names  of  eleven  are 
known;  several  names  are  supplied  from  a  very  peculiar  source,  the 
Abbott  papyrus  in  the  British  Museum.  This  contains  the  record  of  a 
suit  at  law  against  tomb-robbers  in  the  time  of  the  Twentieth  Dynasty 
(Ramescs  IX.).  After  investigations  made  by  engineers,  record  is 
made  of  the  tombs  at  Thebe — which  the  culprits  had  robbed,  and 
which  they  had  spared.  Four  tombs  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty,  those 
of  Antef-äa,  of  An-antef,  of  An-aä,  and  of  Neb-Kher-Ra  Mentu-hotep, 
were  not  robbed  at  that  time.  On  the  other  hand,  the  tomb  of  Sebek- 
em-saf  (Thirteenth  Dynasty)  and  that  of  Seqenen-Ra  1.  (Seventeenth 
Dynasty)  were  robbed.  Again,  there  were  found  to  he  unopened  the 
sepulchres  of  Seqeneu-La  IL,  of  Karnes,  of  Aähmes-sa-pa-ar,  and  of 
Amenhotep  L,  who  was  buried  by  the  side  of  the  Pharaohs  of  the  Sev- 
enteenth Dynasty.  The  gilded  sarcophagus  of  the  third  sovereign  of 
the  Seventeenth  Dynasty,  Seqenen  Ra  Ta-aa  III.,  together  with  the 
mummy,  was  found  in  the  year  1881,  at  Der-el-Bahri,  when  the  pit 
that  was  completely  filled  up  with  a  collection  of  royal  bodies  was 
laid  open,  as  already  mentioned.  A  costly  sarcophagus  of  Af.h- 
hotep,  the  consort  of  the  fourth  Pharaoh,  and  mother  of  Aähmes,  the 
founder  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  was  disinterred  by  Marietta  at 
Thebes,  and  is  now  in  the  Gizeh  Museum.  The  whole  sarcophagus, 
having  the  shape  of  a  mummy  with  face  and  wide,  opened  eyi 
gilded;  the  margins  of  the  eyes  are  encircled  with  gold:  the  white 
of  the  eyes  consists  of  quartz,  the  pupil  is  of  Mack  enamel.  Beneath 
the  painted  jewelry  around  the  neck  were  found  a  serpent  and  a  vul- 
ture, the  insignia  of  sovereignty  over  Upper  and  Lower  Egypl  ;  the 
hieroglyphics  give  the  name  of  the  queen.  The  body  was  not  envel- 
oped with  bandages,  but  only  lightly  wrapped  in  pieces  of  cloth. 
Upon  it  were  found  two  hundred  and  thirteen  ornaments,  the  head 
being  adorned  with  a  rich  diadem,  consisting  of  tu-  golden  sphinxes 
that  guarded  the  cartouche  of  AäJimes  (he,-  son,  who  had  provided 
for  her  burial).  There  were  jewels  on  the  upper  part  of  the  arm. 
bracelet-  of  gold  with  the  name  of  Aähmes  wroughl  into  the  gold 
with  pearls,  lapis  lazuli,  carnelian,  and  enamel;  a  necklace,  and  a 
representation    of   Amen   and    La.  who   are  sprinkling   Aähmes   m± 


140  THE  MIDDLE  EMPIRE. 

living  water  as  he  is  standing  in  a  sanctuary  upon  a  bark,  and 
adorned  with  golden  bees.  A  gold  chain  of  nearly  a  meter  in 
length,  with  heads  of  geese  at  both  ends,  on  which  the  names  of 
Aähmes  is  legible,  bears  a  splendid  scarabaeus,  whose  breast  and 
wines  are  woven  of  gold  threads  and  blue  enamel.  Numerous 
objects  are  between  the  linen  cloths  and  on  the  floor  of  the  sar- 
cophagus :  a  golden  poniard ;  a  hatchet  with  a  gilded  cedar  handle, 
the  edge  of  bronze  inlaid  with  gold  and  otherwise  decorated;  a  lion's 
head  of  gilded  bronze ;  nine  silver  and  gold  meter  with  the  name  of 
Karnes  (the  father  of  Aähmes),  symbols  of  nine  principal  gods  ;  a  black 
rod  covered  with  gold  plate ;  an  ebony  fan  of  similar  workmanship ; 
and  finally,  besides  many  other  jewels,  a  golden  bark  with  the  car- 
touche of  Karnes,  having  twelve  silver  marines,  and  a  steersman,  the 
ship's  captain,  and  a  third  figure  in  gold. 

Aähmes  I.,  the  founder  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  reaped  the 
benefit  of  the  efforts  of  his  predecessor.  His  part  in  the  liberation  of 
Egypt  seems  to  have  been  finally  to  drive  the  oppressor  from  the  Delta. 
Captain  Aähmes,  to  whose  inscription  at  El  Kab  we  are  indebted  for 
full  information  with  regard  to  this  stage  of  the  struggle,  fought  in  the 
war  and  commanded  the  Nile  flotilla.  His  father,  Abana,  before  him, 
had  served  under  Seqenen-Ra.  On  the  walls  of  Aähmes'  tomb  is  given 
an  account  of  the  taking  of  Hat'uar — the  last  Hyksos  stronghold. 
He  also  claims  to  have  served  in  the  southern  campaigns  under- 
taken by  Amenhotep  I.  and  Thothmes  I.,  and  in  the  Syrian  war  of 
the  latter's  reign. 

Monuments  attributed  to  the  Hyksos  have  been  found  in  great  num- 
bers at  Tanis  by  Mariette,  and  more  recently  by  Petrie.  Naville  also 
discovered  works  attributable  to  the  same  school  of  art  at  Bubastis. 
Tanis  (the  biblical  Zoan,  Arabic  San),  on  the  Tanitic  branch  of  the  Nile, 
through  which,  according  to  myth,  the  body  of  Osiris  was  carried  into 
the  sea,  had  among  its  inhabitants  in  a  remote  antiquity  Semites  (Amu), 
who  in  that  place  worshipped  their  gods.  In  the  book  of  Numbers  (xiii. 
22)  it  is  said  that  Hebron  was  built  seven  years  before  Zoan,  an  enig- 
matical declaration  which  may,  perhaps,  be  interpreted  to  mean  that 
the  Hyksos,  seven  years  before  their  irruption  into  Egypt,  where  they 
made  Tanis  their  special  residence,  had  founded  that  city  in  Pales- 
tine.    Wiedemann  supposes  here  a  connection  with  the  '  era  of  Tanis, 


MONUMENTS   OF   THE  HYKSOS.  Ill 

which  dates  from  Nubti,  the  third  king  of  the  Second  Hyksos  Dy- 
nasty, as  we  learn  from  a  monument  of  Rameses  II.  al  Tanis,  which 
speaks  of  the  400th  year  of  the  Nubti  Dynasty.  This  would  give, 
as  a  date  for  Nubti,  about  the  eighteenth  century  b.c.  Colossal 
statues  of  the  Middle  Empire  attest  it-  importance  al  thai  time. 
After  the  expulsion  of  the  Hyksos,  Tanis  was  neglected  for  a  long 
time,  but  was  again  favored  by  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty.  It  appears 
in  the  writings  of  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel  as  an  important  place.  It  was 
conquered  by  the  Assyrians,  and  in  later  times  declined  because 
other  cities  in  the  Delta  became  flourishing.  A  hieratic  papyrus 
describes  it  as  a  splendid  city,  filled  with  all  the  delights  of  life. 
The  great  temple  rose  upon  a  beautiful  terrace  ;  its  sit.-  i-  indicated 
by  the  broken  shafts  of  granite  columns,  more  than  ten  obelisks, 
sphinxes,  colossi,  and  among  them  one  of  granite  with  remains  of 
polychromy.  The  greater  part  of  these  belong  to  tin-  age  of  Rameses 
II.  Here  were  found  in  1884  the  remains  of  a  figure  in  red  granite 
of  this  Pharaoh  —  once  erect  —  supposed  to  be  ninety-eighl  feel  in 
height,  and  thus  higher  by  far  than  any  other  existing  statues.  Tunis 
is  made  interesting  to  us,  not  only  by  these  ruins,  but  also  by  the 
decree  of  Canopus  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Euergetes,  brought  to  light 
by  Lepsius,  executed  in  three  languages,  and  of  importance  for  decipher- 
ing hieroglyphics,  being  the  duplicate  of  the  copy  in  the  Louvre. 
Amoncr  the  remarkable  monuments  which  have  been  attributed  t"  the 
Hyksos  is  a  huge  sphinx  of  black  marble,  inscribed  in  the  name  of  the 
Hyksos  king,  Apepi  II.  The  face  is  very  different  from  the  Egyptian  : 
the  eyes  are  small  with  strongly  marked,  under-lids,  the  oose  i-  very 
large  and  flat,  cheek-bones  and  chin  projecting,  but  especially  notice- 
able are  heavy  whiskers  framing  in  the  face.  Maspero,  however,  think- 
that  he  has  found  under  the  cartouche  on  the  breast  of  the  sphinx  a 
more  ancient  figure  chiselled  out,  which  renders  it  doubtful  whether 
the  work  should  not  be  assigned  to  an  earb'er  date.  Three  other 
sphinxes,  preserved  in  a  fragmentary  shape,  -how  the  Bame  type  of 
countenance.  A  very  remarkable  work  represents  Nile  gods  before  a 
high,  narrow  structure,  like  a  double  altar,  on  which  fish  are  lying, 
and  from  which  fish,  waterfowl,  and  lotus  -talk-  are  hanging.  T 
lower  parte  of  the  arm-  of  the  men  lie  on  the  sides  of  the  altar,  and 
are  adorned  at  the  wrist   with   long  pendant-;  especially  striking  are 


142 


T1IK   MIDDLE    EMPIRE. 


the  heavy  beards  on  cheek  and  chin,  while  the  mustache  is  wanting  as 
on  the  sphinxes,  and  the  flowing  hair  is  parted  like  a  long  periwig  over 
the  shoulders,  and  falls  down  to  the  breast  and  behind  to  the  shoulder- 
blades.  The  work  was  long  attributed  to  the  Hyksos;  and  it  was 
thought  that  Psusennes  (second  king  of  the  Twenty-first  Dynasty)  had 
caused  his  name  to  be  engraved  on  the  statue.  But  M.  Maspero  now 
regards  it  as  belonging  to  the  Twenty-first  Dynasty.  Another  piece  of 
sculpture  belonging  to  the  Hyksos  has  been  found  in  the  capital  of  the 
Favuni,  a  statue  of  gray  granite,  with  the  same  type  of  face  as  the 
statue  at  Tanis  ;  over  the  shoulder  hangs  a  panther's  skin.  There  is 
also  a  head  in  the  Ludovisi  Villa  in  Rome,  which  is  considered  to  be 
the  head  of  a  Hyksos  king.  And  the  colossal  heads  found  at  Bubastis 
are  striking  examples  of  the  type  which  has  been  attributed  to  that 
period.  Lately,  however,  much  doubt  has  been  cast  upon  the  origin 
of  the  entire  series.  Mr.  Golenischeff  sees  in  them  works  of  the 
Twelfth  Dynasty,  while  Ed.  Meyer  regards  them  as  belonging  to 
invaders  of  Egypt  in  the  obscure  period  between  the  Seventh  and  Tenth 
Dynasties,  and  as  having  been  appropriated  by  the  Hyksos  kings.  The 
fact  remains,  however,  that  the  type  which  they  represent  differs  from 
any  of  those  with  which  Egyptian  art  has  familiarized  us.  A  type 
which,  it  is  said,  still  may  be  detected  among  the  modern  inhabitants 
of  the  lake  region  in  the  Delta. 


Hyksos  head  and  woman  of  the  Delta.     (After  Maspero.) 


BOOK  IL 


ASIA. 


143 


ASIA. 

THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  HISTORY   IN    WESTERN  AM  A 
(BABYLONIA,   SYRIA,   AND   Asia    MINOR). 


CHAPTER  IV. 
BABYLONIA. 

TEERE  is  every  reason  to  believe  thai  as  early  ai  lead  as  WOO 
b.c.  civilization  had  developed  to  a  high  degree  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  region  embraced  by  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  and  which 
may  conveniently  be  termed  the  Euphrates  Valley.  The  chronology, 
however,  beyond  2500  B.c.  is  still  so  uncertain  that  when  we  reach 
the  period  of  3000  b.c.  we  can  deal  in  very  general  statements  only. 
If  reliance  could  be  placed  upon  a  date  which  the  la-t  k i 1 1  lt  of  Baby- 
lonia, Nabonidus  (555—539  b.c.),  has  preserved  for  u~  ii e  of  bis  in- 
scriptions where  he  -peaks  of  having  found  the  foundation  -tone  of 
the  temple  to  the  sun-god  Samas  at  Sippar  that  revealed  the  name 
of  Naram-Sin  (the  son  of  Sargon),  who  reigned,  as  he  states,  3200 
years  ago,  we  would  have  a  most  important  guide  for  the  early  chro- 
nology, but  apart  from  the  suspicion,  naturally  aroused  by  the  round 
figure,  there  are  serious  difficulties  in  the  way  of  accepting  so  high  a 
date  as  3750  b.c.  for  Naram-Sin.  I'p  to  the  present,  at  all  events, 
there  are  not  enough  rulers  known  to  warrant  as  in  going  farther 
back  than  some  centuries  beyond  3000  B.c.  for  the  oldest  of  those 
whose  names  have  been  read  on  the  monuments  (and  there  are  some 
older  than  Naram-Sin),  so  that  the  figures  famished  to  Nabonidus 
by  his  scribe-  may  be  some  600  or  even  800  year-  out  of  the  way. 
At  the  same  time,  in  view  of  the  tact  that  the  oldesl  Babylonian 
inscriptions  reveal  a  developed  form  of  writing,  a  fully  organized  form 
of  government,  an  elaborate  cult,  a  flourishing  condition  of  com- 
mercial activity,  it  is  quite  Bafe  to  fix   the  beginnings  of  the  culture 

Vol.  I.     10.  L45 


14ß  BABYLONIA. 

in  the  Euphrates  Valley  at  a  period  earlier  than  4000  b.c.  The 
political  picture  unfolded  by  the  inscriptions  that  belong  to  the  oldest 
peri,,.!  is  that  of  a  series  of  states  in  the  Euphrates  Valley,  each  with 
its  own  centre,  with  now  the  one,  now  the  other  exercising  a  larger 
or  smaller  measure  of  control  over  the  others.  In  a  general  way,  it 
may  he  said  that  the  course  of  political  supremacy,  like  the  course  of 
culture,  is  from  south  to  north,  so  that  centres  like  Uruk,  Ur,  Isin, 
Lagash  (or  Shirpurla),  Larsa,  and  Nippur  represent  the  older  centres 
of  importance  as  against  Sippur,  Agade,  and  Babylon,  which  belong  to 
a  later  period  or  which  come  to  the  front  at  a  later  time,  though  it 
must  he  home  in  mind  that  this  principle  has  only  a  general  applica- 
tion and  must  not  he  too  rigidly  pressed. 

The  origin  of  the  Euphratean  culture  is  even  obscurer  than  its 
early  history.  So  much,  however,  may  be  stated  definitely  that  the 
Euphrates  Valley  appears  to  have  been  at  all  times  a  natural  meet- 
ing place  for  two  distinct  waves  of  migrations  of  peoples,  the  one 
entering  the  valley  from  the  east  and  northeast,  the  other  coming 
from  the  south  and  southwest.  The  peoples  represented  by  these 
two  waves  belong  to  different  subdivisions  of  mankind,  and  adopting 
the  common  though  unsatisfactory  nomenclature,  the  former  represent 
the  Turanian  type,  while  those  issuing  from  Arabia  are  Semites.  The 
Euphratean  culture  in  the  oldest  form  known  to  us  bears  distinct 
evidence  of  being  a  mixture  of  non-Semitic  with  Semitic  elements, 
with  such  a  preponderance  of  the  latter  already  at  the  period  when 
historical  certainty  begins  that  if,  as  seems  likely,  the  non-Semitic 
element  represents  the  older  stratum  to  which  the  beginnings  of  culture 
were  due,  its  significance  during  the  entire  historical  period  known 
to  u-  is  largely  theoretical  and  limited  to  the  traces  that  remained  of 
it  in  the  script,  in  the  language,  in  the  cult,  and  in  the  forms  of 
political  and  social  life.  At  the  same  time,  these  traces  are  not  of 
such  a  character  or  sufficiently  pronounced  to  warrant  any  attempt 
parating  the  Euphratean  or  Babylonian  culture  into  Semitic  and 
non-Semitic  components.  Granting  the  non-Semitic  origin  of  the 
culture  in  the  Euphrates  Valley,  the  Semitic  conquerors  so  thoroughly 
adopted  the  earlier  culture — including  the  script — to  their  peculiar 
method  of  thought  and  expression  and  imparted  to  it  such  a  distinc- 
tively   Semitic    character    that,   as    intimated,    the   non-Semitic   traces 


EARLIEST  RACES  IN  ASIA.  ^7 

represent  a  qua  id  it  r  neglig&tbk  in  any  general  view  of  the  civilization 
with  which  we  have  to  deal. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  all  the  Semites  came  to  the 
Euphrates  Valley  at  one  time.  Indeed,  we  may  distinguish  several 
distinct  waves  of  migrations  from  Arabia,  each  one  of  which  was 
fraught  with  political  consequences  of  a  more  or  less  violent  character, 
and  which  contributed  certain  elements  further  modifying  the  aspects 
of  the  Euphratean  civilization.  The  oldest  of  these  waves  known  to 
us  belongs  to  the  period  before  3000  b.c.,  and  evidence  of  its  strength 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  establishment  of  a  north-Babylonian  state  with 
Agadc  as  its  centre,  followed  about  2700  b.c.  by  the  supremacy  of  Ur, 
whose  rulers  indicate  by  the  title  king  of  Sinner  and  Akkad  their 
jurisdiction  over  northern  and  southern  Babylonia.  This  supremacy 
lasted  till  c.  2400  B.C.  By  this  time  the  first  migratory  wave  had 
spent  its  force,  and  there  becomes  manifest  a  disposition  of  a  return 
toward  the  earlier  condition  of  independent  states.  The  old  centres 
like  Lagash,  Isin,  Nippur  regain  their  independence  until  a  new 
unifying  force  appears,  brought  about  by  a  fresh  wave  of  Semitic 
migration.  As  a  designation  for  this  second  wave  the  name  "  Cana- 
anitic"  has  been  suggested  because  the  special  type  of  Semitism 
represented  by  it  bears  a  close  resemblance  to  that  which  we  afterward 
find  in  Phoenicia  and  in  the  interior  of  Palestine.  The  political  centre 
shifts  first  from  Ur  to  Sippar,  where  until  the  days  of  Hammurabi 
(c.  2250  B.c.)  the  members  of  the  "  Canaanitish  "  dynasty  appear  to 
have  established  themselves,  and  then  during  the  reign  of  Hammurabi 
definitely  to  the  city  of  Babylon,  which  with  some  interruptions  retains 
its  supremacy  as  the  chief  political  centre  in  the  Euphrates  Valley, 
while  its  religious  predominance  outlasts  the  political  career  of  the 
newly  formed  Babylonian  pow'er. 

While  thus  establishing  a  state  larger  in  extent  and  more  definite 
in  control  than  the  older  kingdom  of  Ur,  the  "Canaanitish"  wave 
likewise  spent  its  force,  and  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon  (as  it  is  called) 
after  furnishing  eleven  kings  who  ruled  about  300  years  is  succeeded 
by  one  that  appears  to  have  come  from  the  extreme  south,  known  as 
the  "sea  land,"  and  whose  eleven  kings  maintained  themselves  for  a 
period  of  more  than  350  years.  About  1750  b.c.  Babylonia  is  con- 
quered by  a  people  coming  from  the  east  and  north-east  known  as  the 


148 


BABYLONIA. 


Cassites.  For  576  years  these  Cassites  ruled  Babylonia,  absorbing 
the  old  culture  and  retaining,  after  some  vacillation,  the  city  of  Babylon 
as  their  political  and  religious  centre.  During  the  period  of  their 
supremacy  a  third  distinct  wave  of  Semitic  migration  enters  Babylonia, 
and  for  which  Winckler  has  suggested  the  name  "Aramaean."  Its 
most  striking  result  is  the  formation  of  a  new  political  centre  much 
farther  north,  leading  to  the  establishment  of  the  Assyrian  kingdom 
which  was  destined  to  become  the  arbiter  of  Babylonia's  fate.  Assyria, 
a  far  greater  military  state  than  any  established  in  Babylonia,  paid  the 
penalty  of  her  greater  activity  by  exhausting  her  vitality  before  her 
southern  rival,  although  at  various  periods  Babylonian  rulers  had  to 
submit  to  the  humiliation  of  acknowledging  their  dependence  upon 
Assyrian  rulers.  In  606  b.c.  Assyria  fell  by  a  combination  of  her 
enemies  in  the  south  and  east,  Babylonia  and  Elam,  aided  by  the 
advance  of  hordes  from  the  north  known  rather  indefinitely  as  Cimme- 
rians ("Scythians"),  while  a  new  Babylonian  empire  is  established  by 
the  "  Chaldaean "  Nebopolassar  in  625  b.c.  This  empire,  due  to  the 
advance  of  the  district  in  southern  Babylonia  known  as  "  Chaldaea " 
and  which  for  some  centuries  had  given  Babylonian  rulers  considerable 
trouble,  revives  though  only  for  a  short  period  the  glories  of  the  last, 
and  under  Nebuchadnezzar  II.  (604-561  b.c.)  the  past  is  even  eclipsed 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  term  "  Chaldaea "  symbolizes  for  western 
peoples  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  entire  Mesopotamia^  culture  and 
history.  Nebopolassar,  though  largely  occupied  with  making  his  rule 
secure,  found  time  to  embellish  his  capitol,  Babylon,  and  to  undertake 
the  rebuilding  of  temples  in  Sippara  and  elsewhere.  It  was  left,  how- 
ever, to  his  son  Nebuchadnezzar  II.  to  make  the  city  of  Babylon,  by 
its  palaces,  its  temples,  its  gates,  its  gardens,  and  canals,  one  of  the 
marvels  of  antiquity.  The  political  strength  of  the  new  empire  was, 
however,  soon  exhausted,  and  in  539  b.c.  Cyrus  entered  Babylon,  and 
with  scarcely  a  struggle  the  city  yielded  to  the  conqueror,  whose  coming 
meant  also  the  triumph  of  Elam  over  her  old  rival  Babylonia. 

In  so  far  as  climatic  phenomena  help  to  explain  the  origin 
of  culture  and  the  course  taken  by  it,  it  is  of  importance  to  note 
that  the  scene  in  which  this  history  of  almost  3000  years  is  en- 
acted lies  in  a  district  along  both  sides  and  between  the  two  rivers 
Euphrates   and    Tigris,    in    which    we    encounter    natural     conditions 


THE    CUNEIFORM   8CRIPT.  149 

similar  to  those  in  Egypt  Here,  too,  the  people  were  obliged  t«. 
contend  with  the  mighty  waters  with  which  the  streams,  when 
swollen  by  the  snow  melting  in  the  highlands,  destroyed  the  works 
of  their  hands.  The  waters  of  the  floods,  which  begin  in  April  and 
subside  in  June,  must  be  conducted  in  canals,  the  Bwamps  must  be 
drained,  and  the  towns  protected  b)  terraces.  This  was  especially 
necessary  in  the  southern  portions  of  the  country.  In  the  northern 
portions  numerous  streams,  belonging  to  the  system  of  the  Chaboras, 
Water  the  intermediate  country;  hut  in  the  south  the  lands  between 
the  streams  must  be  irrigated,  mostly  by  artificial  means,  from  this 
region,  formed  by  alluvial  deposits,  arose  the  oldest  Semitic  civiliza- 
tion; although  for  centuries  it  hail  been  exposed  t"  the  elements,  and 
had  been  occupied  by  nomadic  tribes  opposed  to  culture.  When 
the  tribes,  however,  made  for  themselves  a  fixed  abode,  a  desire  for 
extensive  buildings  was  awakened:  hut  these  had  to  he  built  of 
dried  or  burnt  clay  from  the  plain  on  account  of  the  entire  absence 
of  stone.  These  vast  walls  of  dried  brick  were  protected  by  a  cover- 
ing of  stucco.  This  in  turn  stimulated  an  artistic  activity,  just  as 
the  knowledge  of  surveying  and  levelling  had  occasioned  the  division 
of  the  year  and  the  observation  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  naturally  con- 
nected with  it.  The  necessity  of  recording  tin-  measurement  and 
division  of  the  fields  led  to  the  invention  of  a  writing,  which  at  first 
consisted  of  pictures,  hut  which  was  at  last  developed  into  syllabic 
script  As  the  early  records,  which  were  made  upon  the  bricl 
clay  tablets  while  they  were  still  moist,  were  scratched  with  wood  or 
metal,  the  original  pictures  lost  somewhat  of  their  distinctness.    This 

caused  the  characters  to  become  angular  and  to  have  straight  lilies; 
and  since  the  sharp  instrument  was  applied  with  great  force  the  nail- 
shaped  impressions  of  the  cuneiform  writing  met  with  in  Babylonia 
and  Assyria   resulted  (Fig.   I''»).     The   Persian   writing,  which  was 

engraved  upon  stone,  has,  however,  characters  that  are  longer  and 
slenderer,  of  a  wedge-shape,  on  account  of  the  use  of  the  chisel. 

In  the  case  of  the  cuneiform  writing  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria  it 
must  be  remembered  that,  like  the  Egyptian,  it  was  originally  pictorial 
in  character,  and  on  some  of  the  oldest  inscriptions  this  pictorial  form 
is  well  preserved,  though  not  in  the  case  of  all  the  ugns.  80  it  is 
easy  to  see  that   the  3ign   for  house,  which   finally  becomes  merely  a 


150 


Fig.  46. — A,  Inscription  of  Sargon  I.,  king  of  Agade  (old  Babylonian  characters). 
B,  Business  document  dated  in  the  5th  year  of  Darius  (420  b.c.)  (neo-Baby Ionian 
characters).  [Reproduced  by  permission  from  Clay — Business  Documents  of  Murashü 
Sons  (Philadelphia,  1904).] 

series  of  four  perpendicular  strokes  preceded  by  two  short  horizontal 
ones,  was  originally  the  picture  of  a  hut  made  of  reeds  placed  horizon- 
tally and  perpendicularly.     Various  complicating   factors  appeared  iu 


THE   CUNEIFORM   SCRIPT. 


]:,\ 


the  course  of  development  from  a  pictorial  method  of  writing  to  a 
genuine  script,  only  sonic  of  which  can  be  described  here.  The 
Babylonian  scribes,  like  the   Egyptians,  used  compound  groups  also; 

tor  example,  the  ideograph  for  vault  of  heaven  arose  from  the  group« 
for  star  and  vault,  both  of  which  hieroglyphics  mean  '  night  '  in  Egypt, 
From  the  groups  for  light  and  gold  arose  the  combined  group  for 
'silver.'  Since  every  writing  with  pictures  was  Bpoken  by  tin-  reader, 
every  picture  gradually  awakened  the  idea  of  a  definite  sound,  or  group 
of  sounds,  and  every  figurative  or  symbolic  sign,  which  had  heretofore 
been  only  an  ideograph,  received  a  fixed  pronunciation  :  thus  tin- 
sound  alone  began  to  he  represented.  The  first  step  From  the  writ- 
ing of  ideas  to  that  of  sounds  was  made  in  this  wa\  :  tie-  -.»und 
which  a  definite  ideograph  had  was  expressed  in  similarly  sounding 
words  or  syllables  by  one  and  the  same  ideograph,  although  tic- 
meanings  might  be  different;   just  as  if  one  should    use   the  -;i 

picture  for  'veil'  and  'vale.'  A  dissyllabic  word  wasalso  reproduced 
by  two  ideographs,  one  of  which  generally  sounded  like  the  first  and 
the  other  like  the  second  syllable,  as  one  would  express  'manhood' 
in  a  rebus  by  a  'man'  and  a  'hood.'  The  cuneiform  writing  of  the 
Babylonians  and  Assyrians  is  syllabic,  but  it  has  preserved  many 
ideographs  from  an  earlier  stage  of  development  If  by  means  of 
italics  we  should  distinguish  the  ideographs  from  the  words  written 
with  syllabic  characters,  an  inscription  of  Saigon  would  read  as 
follows:  'Palace  of  Sargon,  great  king,  mighty  langt  ,:'"!'  "'  ,1"' 
universe,  king  of  the  l<m<l  of  Ashur  (/<i,„l).'  Only  the  name  Sargon 
(SharruMnu),  the  expressions  'palace'  (ekallu),  'mighty'  (dannu),  and 
'universe'  (Jcishshatz)  are  represented  by  phonetic  symbols.  Theendings 
expressing  variation  in  declension  are  represented  by  phonetic  sym- 
bols attached  to  the  ideographs.  The  ideograph  for  'land/  which 
occurs  after  A-hur  as  will  as  before  it.  is  nol  t"  be  pronounced,  and 
only  indicates  that  the  name  of  a  land  precedes.  The  sign  Y>  ul,i,,M 
stands  before  Ashur,  with  the  meaning  'land.'  i-  the  ideograph  for 
'land/  'go/  and  'take.'      It  also,  however,  Btands  for  the  word  ahadü, 

'mountain,'  and   judging    from    it-    form    it    has    underg •    but    Blight 

changes  in  the  course  of  the  millennium-  covered  by  the  cuneiform 
script;  it  still  suggests  a  series  of  mountain  peak-,  so  that  the  meaning 
'mountain'  is  apparently  older  than  that  of  «  land." 


152  BABYLONIA. 

Such  a  circumstance  might  be  regarded  as  an  indication  that  the 
inventors   of  the   Babylonian  writing   came   from    some  mountainous 

district.  Various  devices  were  introduced  to  avoid  the  ambiguity 
resulting  from  the  use  of  the  same  sign  for  '  land '  and  '  mountain,' 
but  despite  this,  in  many  cases,  especially  in  names  of  temples,  where 
the  sign  in  question — to  be  pronounced  kur — frequently  enters,  a  doubt 
remains  as  to  the  interpretation  to  be  preferred. 

The  name  of  the  city  Babylon  was  written   upon  the  bricks  of 

Nebuchadnezzar  in  ideographs,      li,  I   ^j^-  ►  |     J  T  Xjl^ •     These, 

which  were  originally  pictures,  are  signs  of  'Gate  of  (the)  god  of 
(the)  region ';  this  group  of  pictures,  according  to  their  phonetic 
value  in  Sumerian,  should  be  pronounced  kä-an-(ra)-ki.  The  As- 
syrians,  however,  said  bdb-ilu  ('gate  of  El'),  and  wrote  in  phonetic 

symbols,  XH~~T tÖLLfP  ^M"  KjS^ >  ba-bi-lu-(M).  They  allowed  the 
last  sign  to  remain,  but  did  not  pronounce  it,  since  it  only  shows 
that  the  name  of  a  district  precedes.  In  the  writing  of  polysyllabic 
words,  a  principle  similar  to  that  in  the  Egyptian  prevailed.  The 
sign  that  indicated  'shine'  was  pronounced  ar  in  the  non-Semitic  (Su- 
merian) language ;  but  the  same  sign  was  used  in  the  name  Artax- 
xerxes,  although  the  first  syllable  of  this  had  nothing  to  do  with 
'  shine.'  The  second  ideograph  in  the  name  of  Babylon  means 
'  heaven,'  or  '  god '  (dingir,  an) ;  but  in  the  name  of  the  land  Mitanni 
(iiii-i-it-t<i-an-ni)  it  represents  only  the  sound  an.  In  this  syllabic 
writing  there  is  the  disadvantage  that  frequently  the  signs  were  very 
different  for  the  different  forms  of  one  and  the  same  word ;  for 
example,  in  Assyrian  '  mistress '  is  be-lit,  written  V  -*~^»  (be-lit), 
but  the  plural,  be-li-e-ti,  is  written  >-<  »— ^-£?TT  ^Ty  ^T^  > 
so  that  only  the  first  sign  remains  the  same.  'I  place'  is  ashkun 
t  J  Z  ^tLj  tTT?  ((ixh-hi-un)  ;  but  '  we  place '  is  nish-kun  *  ry  ^ff 
►^p^n^H (ni-ish-kttn),  so  that  the  singular  and  the  plural  of  the  same 
stem, shakd n ",  consist  of  very  different  signs.  If  we  compare  with  this 
state  of  things  the  Hebrew  or  Arabic,  in  which  only  the  consonants 
of  the  root  are  brought  before  the  eye,  and  there  remain  unchanged 
in  all  the  inflections,  while  the  vowels  are  not  indicated  at  all  or 
only  by  small   points  placed   over  or  under  the  consonants,  we  recog- 


THE   CUNEIFORM    SCRIPT  , 

LOo 

nize  that  the  writing  of  the  Hebrews  and  Arabians  was  adapted  to 
the  genius  of  their  language.  The  Babylonian*  certainly  did  not 
invent  their  own  writing,  but  musl  have  derived  it  from  a  people 
who  formed  their  language  very  differently,  and  for  whom  the  diffi- 
culties mentioned  did  not  exist,  inasmuch  ae  the)  appear  to  luve 
expressed  the  varying  shades  of  thoughl  by  prefixes  and  suffixes, 
without  any  internal  change  of  the  word.  The  Babylonians,  bow- 
ever,  continued  to  employ  this  complicated  writing  as  a  hieratic  one; 
and  not  till   later  times   did   they    begin   to   use  to  a   limited   extent 

as  endorsements  upon   legal   records  or  up bjects  in  common  ose, 

like  weights,  the  Phoenician  writing,  which  had  begun  to  spread 
about  800  b.c. 

Another  clement — the  use  of  phonetic  complement — oughl  to  be 
mentioned,  since  it  favors  the  idea  that  the  cuneiform  writing  was 
adopted  by  the  Semitic  settlers,  and  was  not  an  original  invention  on 
their  part.  Since  it  was  possible  to  pronounce  one  and  the  same 
ideograph   in  different    ways,   there  could    always    be  a   doubl    which 

pronunciation  was  intended   by  the  writer.     The  picture  of  the  r I 

disk  of  the  sun,  which  was  represented  in  the  older  form  of  the  characters 

by  a  parallelogram  <^"\.  because  made  l>v  a  stylus  in  the  clay,  or 
in  the  abridged  form  ^S[  ,  could  have  differenl  pronunciations  accord- 
ing to  its  ideographic  meaning;  for  example,  sham-ski,  'sun,'  and  Hmu, 
'  dav.'  These  two  word-  could  be  more  exactly  expressed  by  placing 
after  the  first  word  the  syllable  shi,  and  after  the  second   urn  ;  thus 

^ST^T^ — j,  sham-shi,  aj£i  [.  dm-um.  It  does  not  follow  from  this 
that  ^T  has  the  phonetic  value  sham,  <»r  tf,  for  in  these  cases  it  has  no 
phonetic  value,  hut  rather  represents  a  meaning.  On  the  other  hand, 
sometimes  it  is  used  nol  to  represenl  the  meanings  'sun,'  or  'day, 
but  as  the  phonetic  symbol  of  a  large  number  of  syllables  other  than 
those  mentioned,  such  as  id,  tarn,  par,  bir,  khiah,  lakh,  zal.  However, 
such  a  polyphonous  character  has  only  one  phonetic  value,  if  u  is  used 
as  a  simple  syllable,  thai  is,  consists  of  a  vowel  and  consonant,  or  a 
consonant  and  vowel  ;  if  the  character  mentioned  forms  with  the 
character  mu  the  syllable  mvi  (mu-vt),  it  musl  be  pronounced  ui,  not 
also  tarn,  />"/•,  etc. 


j54  BABYL0X1A. 

A  complete  discussion  of  the  cuneiform  writing  cannot  be  given 
here;  but  one  other  peculiarity  should  be  mentioned,  which  occurs 
also  in  the  old  Armenian,  Pehlevi,  or  Parthian-Sassanian,  Japanese, 
and  other  languages  :  this  is  the  occurrence  of  one  sound-value  for 
another.  The  Assyrian  language  has  foreign  words  derived  from 
the  old  Sumerian,  or  Akkadian.  The  Assyrians  retained  the  foreign 
character,  but  substituted  an  Assyrian  word.  It  is  just  as  if  we  should 
read  '  in  an  instant'  when  'in  a  moment'  is  written,  or  as  the  English 
write  <l,  which  was  originally  the  sign  for  denarius,  but  read  'penny.' 
Thus  the  word  for  'overflow,'  'blessing,'  is  written  by  means  of  two 
signs  with  the  phonetic  values  khc-uun,  but  which  are  to  be  read  in 
Assyrian  as  nukhshu. 

The  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  themselves  felt  the  difficulty 
and  frequent  ambiguity  of  this  system  of  writing.  They  therefore 
prepared  syllabaries,  which  fortunately  have  been  discovered  in 
Nineveh  in  the  library  of  clay  tablets  of  king  Asurbanipal,  and 
are  now  in  the  British  Museum.  Many  of  these  have  been  published 
in  two  series  of  cuneiform  texts  issued  by  the  British  Museum,  and 
by  means  of  these  syllabaries  the  phonetic  values  and  meanings  of 
almost  all  the  signs  used  in  the  text  have  been  determined  or  confirmed. 
These  syllabaries,  prepared  by  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  scribes  thou- 
sands of  years  ago  as  a  practical  means  of  teaching  the  language  and 
the  script  to  the  students  of  those  days,  still  serve  their  purpose  to-day, 
and  have  been  invaluable  in  unlocking  the  secrets  of  Babylonian  lexi- 
cography, besides  proving  of  great  help  in  the  decipherment  of  the 
texts.  Various  kinds,  consisting  of  two,  three,  and  four  columns, 
are  to  be  distinguished.  In  some,  the  syllabic  values  and  what 
appears  to  be  the  names  by  which  the  series  are  known  are  furnished, 
the  sign  itself  being  placed  in  the  second  column  with  the  syllabic 
values  in  the  first  and  the  name  in  the  third  column.  Others  furnish 
the  syllabic  values  and  the  word  or  words  for  which  the  sign  stands, 
while  another  class  is  formed  by  a  combination  of  syllabic  and  ideo- 
graphic values  together  with  the  name.  In  a  general  way,  we  may 
safely  assert  that  the  phonetic  value  of  the  ideograph  must  represent 
the  word  which  the  inventors  of  the  writing  used  for  it  in  their 
speech.  If  the  character  d  means  'penny,'  but  is  an  abbreviation  for 
denarius,  a  people  which  used  denarius   in   their  language  must  have 


THE   <  im:  1 1  ORM  S<  RIPT. 

introduced  d.     So  the  ph itic  values  of  the  Assyrian  ideographs  must 

belong  to  a  language  in  which  the  sound  of  the  ideograph  corresponded 
with  the  meaning.  Of  this  view,  which  required  the  presence  in 
Babylonia  of  a  people  not  related  to  the  Babylonians  or  Semites  in  lan- 
guage, acute  and  learned  critics  have  arisen,  who  regard  the  non-Semitic 
or  Sumerian  elements  of  the  cuneiform  writing  as  simply  an  hieratic 
or  cryptic  form  of  the  Assyrian.  A  long  controversy  has  been  v 
among  Assyriologists  in  < ■> -i u i<  iction  with  this  question,  which  involves, 
not  only  the  origin  of  the  cuneiform  writing,  but  also  the  origin  of  the 
culture  that  arose  in  the  Euphrates  Valley.  The  leader  of  the  anti- 
Sumerian  party,  which  contends  for  tin-  Semitic  origin  of  the  script,  is 
Prof.  Joseph  Halevy  of  Paris,  who  has  defended  hi-  views  with  pro- 
found learning  and  greal  acuteness  of  reasoning,  lie  has  gained  from 
time  to  time  adherent-,  bul  the  greal  majority  of  scholars  have  per- 
sistently clung  to  the  view  that  we  must  perforce  assume  the  existence 
of  a  non-Semitic  language  al  the  bottom  <>f  the  phonetic  values  attached 
tu  the  cuneiform  characters,  and  tin-  supposition  carries  with  it  the  con- 
clusion that  the  inventors  of  the  cuneiform  writing  were  not  Semites.  <  >n 
the  other  hand,  thanks  to  Halevy  and  hi-  followers,  a  reaction  ha-  been 
brought  about  against  the  extreme  views  formerly  held  by  the  adherents 
of  the  Sumerian  theory,  who  claimed  that  the  entire  syllabary  was  non- 
Semitic.      There   can    he    loubt,   indeed,    that    many    of'  the   phonetic 

value-  of  the  signs  represent  truncated  Semitic  word-.  Tim-,  if  the  sign 
which  is  read  rabü,  'great,'  has  the  value  gal,  it  i-  impossible  t"  discon- 
nect this  from  a  Semitic  -tent  djaUa,  which  occurs  in  Arabic  in  the  sense 
of  'great,'  and  in  the  same  way  there  are  at  least  one  hundred  syllabic 
values  that  represent  parts  of  genuine  Semitic  word-  or  stems,  h 
follow-,  therefore,  thai  if  the  Semite-  adopted  the  cuneiform  writing 
from  a  non-Semitic  people,  they  also  adapted  the  system  so  thoroughly 
to  their  purposes  as  to  give  the  syllabary  to  a  large  extent  a  Semitic 
character;  and  it  must  also  be  admitted  that  many  of  the  texts  which 
appear  t<>  he  '  Smnerian '  in  form  represent  translations  or  rather 
transliterations  of  Semitic  texts  into  the  older  'ideographic'  method 
of  composition.  Such  factors  complicate  the  problems  connected  with 
the  study  of  the  origin  and  development  of  this  carious  -> 
and   it   is  not  possible,  on  account  of  our  lack  of  knowl<  solve 

them  all;  and  it  will  perhaps  never  be  possible  to  separate  the  ..on- 


1 56  BABYLONIA. 

Semitic  from  the  Semitic  elements  in  the  culture  that  developed  in  the 
Euphrates  valley,  but  the  existence  of  Sumerian  cauuot  be  doubted  in 
view  of  the  hundreds  of  genuine  bilingual  inscriptions  that  have  been 
found,  in  which  the  syntactical  constructions  in  the  one  text  differ  in  toto 
from  those  which  characterize  a  Semitic  language.  It  is  claimed  by 
manv  scholars  that  dialectic  differences  have  been  discovered  within 
Sumerian  itself.  The  two  chief  dialects  recognized  derive  their  names 
Sumerian  and  Akkadian  from  the  country  Sumer,  or  Southern  Baby- 
lonia, and  Akkad,  or  Northern  Babylonia.  The  older  Sumerian  dialect 
is  spoken  of  in  the  texts  as  the  '  women's  language.'  The  term  has 
not  yet  been  satisfactorily  explained,  but  meanwhile  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that  '  women's  languages '  are  found  elsewhere.  Thus  the 
women's  language  in  the  South  American  and  Polynesian  languages 
is  caused  by  taboo,  which  prescribes  that  certain  words  are  to  be 
changed,  or  omitted  altogether ;  thus  the  women  among  the  Chiquitos 
are  allowed  to  use  only  the  feminine  forms  of  the  pronouns,  while  the 
men  use  both  the  masculine  and  the  feminine.  A  special  study  of 
these  dialects  was  made  by  Prof.  Haupt,  who  has  shown  that  the 
Sumerian  often  has  m  where  the  Akkadian  has^;  thus  ma?  and  gal 
('to  be'),  or  m&r  and  ger,  'foot';  ng  and  mm  are  also  interchangeable, 
as  in  dingir  and  dimmir  ('  god  ').  This  appears  to  show  that  the  name 
Sumer,  which  may  have  been  Sungir  in  the  older  dialect,  is  the  same 
as  the  Shinar  of  the  Bible,  the  region  in  which  Babel,  Erech,  Calneh, 
and  Accad  were  situated. 

Between  the  mountains  and  the  northern  portion  of  the  Persian 
Gulf  there  is  an  extended  plain,  which  was  in  part  covered  by  the  sea 
even  within  historic  times.  Formerly,  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  as 
well  as  the  rivers  of  Susiana,  emptied  their  waters  into  the  gulf  by 
separate  mouths,  without  uniting  with  one  another.  The  country 
along  the  coasts  of  Khuzistan  and  on  the  Shatt-el-Arab  was  called 
Gambul  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions,  and  the  principal  city  Sapi-Bel, 
while  the  region  in  which  Susa  was  situated,  toward  the  mountains, 
was  called  Cissia.  Toward  the  north  and  east  were  the  Luristan 
Mountains,  among  which  Cassites  dwelt,  who  bore  the  same  name 
as  the  mountains,  and  of  whose  language  some  traces  have  been 
preserved ;  still  farther  north  the  Guti  lived.  Antigonus,  in  late 
antiquity,    on    his   way    from    Eulaeus,   near    Susa,   to   Ecbatana,    was 


obliged   to  go  through  Cassite  territory.     These    people  •■■  had  a 

town  od  the  site  of  the  present  Mai  Amir,  which  was  called  [dhaj 
in  the  Middle  Ages.  There  are  several  mounds  of  ruins  at  this 
point  of  the  plain,  one  of  which  is  as  high  as  that  at  Susa,  and  dates 
from   the  old    Persian    period.      In   the  surrounding    rocb   there  are 

caves,  one  of  which  contains  tw< lossal   figures  cut   in  the  rock,  as 

well  as  a  cuneiform  inscription  of  thirty-three  lines  in  the  language 
spoken  in  this  district,  and  to  which  the  name  Elamitic  or  old-Elamitic 
is  now  generally  given.  Inscriptions  arc  also  found  in  the  valleys 
and  ravines  through  which  the  main  road  from  Susiana  leads  south- 
ward.    The  Atabegi  road,  a  very  ancient   one  paved  with  large  stones, 

ascends  from  the  plain   into  the  i intainsj  ;it  Telät   the  mad  divide-, 

and  one  may  branch  off  for  Ispahan  and  Persepolis.  This  road 
was  restored  in  the  Middle  Ages,  as  its  name  shows.  A-  early  as 
the  so-called  Diadochi  there  was  a  paved  road  in  the  Klimax  Megale 
('great  stairway ')  leading  from  Susa  t<»  Persis;  hence  it  cannot  have 
been  built  later  than  the  time  of  the  Achaemenides.  Numerous  ruin- 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Mai  Amir  have  been  described  by  de  Bode,  but 
most  of  them  date  from  the  time  of  the  Sassanids. 

Supplementing  the  inscriptions  of  Mai-Amir,  but  belonging  to  a  con- 
siderably older  period,  are  numerous  brick-  and  tablets  found  of  recent 
years  at  Susa,1  which,  containing  dedicatory  inscriptions  of  Elamitic 
rulers,  chiefly  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  and  r< rds  of  com- 
mercial transaction-,  have  made  it  possible  to  distinguish  various  periods 

in  the  development  of  the  language  spoken   in  Elam  and  Burr iding 

district.  The  first  attempt- at  a  decipherment  of  the  text-  of  Mai-Amir 
were  made  by  Sayce  and  Guyard,  but  their  results  have  been  considera- 
bly modified  by  the  researches  of  Hüsing,  who,  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  Heinrich  Winkler,  is  inclined  to  place  the  old-Elamitic  lan- 
guage in  the  Caucasian  group,  and  also  maintains  that  there  is  a 
relationship  between  Elamitic  and  the  language  spoken  by  theCassites, 
The  later  form  of  the  Elamitic  i-  represented  in  the  monuments  of  the 
Achaemenides,  who  accompanied  their  Persian  inscriptions  with  a  Baby- 
lonian and  what  we  may  call  a  Susianian  or  neo-Elamitic  translation, 
and  which  ha-  been  deciphered  through  the  labors  chiefly  of  Norris, 
Oppert,  and  Weissbach.     The  kin--  mentioned  in  them  belong  t-  both 

- 


158 


BABYLONIA. 


PLATE    IX.-.I. 


Monument  of   Naram-Sin,    King   of  Agade,  with   Superim- 
posed Inscription  of  Sutruk-Nakhunte,  King  of  Elam. 


History  of  All  Nations,  Vol  I.,  page  159. 


SI  SIA  VIA  \    EMPIRE  ,  v, 

very  early  and  late  periods.     Thus  Sargon   II.  (721    705  B.c.)  speaks 

of  one  of  then,  Sutruk-Nakhunte,  and  of  him  (c.    i . ,  many 

monuments   have   been   found   al   Susa,     II«'  calls  himself  the  - f 

Khallutush  and  the  fcworite  of  the  chief  god  of  Susa,  I wn  as  Shu- 

shinak.  It  was  this  ruler,  it  appears,  who  brought  the  remarkable 
scries  of  inscriptions  found  on  monuments,  as  well  as  the  code  of 
Hammurabi  from  Babylonia  as  trophies  to  his  capital  at  Susa,  where 
they  were  found  by  the  French   Expedition   in  1897    1902;  on  one  of 

these  monuments,  a  handsome  stele  of  Naram-Sin  (before  3 1 

this  same  Sntriik-Xakhniite  has  added  an  inscription  stating  thai  be 
brought  this  monument  which  originally  recorded  Naram-Sin'e  vic- 
tories from  Sippar.    (Plate  IX.     A.) 

As  a  result  of  these  excavation-.,  supplementing  those  conducted  by 
Dieulafoy  in  another  part  of  the  city  of  Susa  which  contained  the  palaces 
and  remains  of  the  Persian  or  Achaemenidian  period,  we  non  know 
that  a  close  contact  existed  from  the  earliesi  days  between  Elara  and 
Babylonia,  and  we  can  follow  the  history  of  Elam  in  a  general  way  from 
before  3000  b.c.  The  old  king  of  Agade,  Naram-Sin,  and  various  rulers 
of  the  Ut  dynasty,  devoted  themselves  to  the  embellishment  of  the  tem- 
ples to  the  gods  in  Susa.  Babylonian  deities  are  nut  with  Inn'  by  tin- 
side  mC  Elamiticgods  and  goddesses.  The  Elamitic  rulers  of  this  early 
period  are  not  called  kings  on  their  inscriptions,  but  patent,  a  title 
which  indicate-  a  dependency  upon  Babylonia.  Almut  2300  b.c., 
however,  the  Elamites  made  themselves  free,  and  from  this  time  on 
their  ruler-,  setting  up  their  inscriptions  in  their  own  language,  claim 
to  he   kings.     The  time  came,  though    not    for  almosl   a   millennium, 

when  the  Elamites    in    turn  overran    Babylonia   and    earri.d    away  some 

of  her  splendid   monuments,  including,  besides  those  already   refi 
to,  a  statue  of  the  goddess  Nana,  which  the  Assyrian  king   Lsurbanipal 
boasts  of  having  recaptured  1635  years  later.      I'm  though  after 'J 
Elam  did  not  have  anything  t"  fear  from  the  Babylonians,  :i  formidable 
foe  arose  in  the  Cassites,  who,  coming  from  a  district  t"  tin    east  and 
northeast  of  Elam  proper,  brought   Elam  :i-  well  a-   Babylonia  nnder 
their  subjection.     In   Babylonia  the  Cassite  rule  lasted  for 
(,..  1780-1200  b.c.),  and   Elam   likewise  does  not  appear  to  have  had 
any  independent   ruler-  till  the  close  of  tin-  period.     When,  bow« 
her  independence  was  regained  ßhe  rapidly  rose  in  power  and  Mice 


](3()  BABYLONIA. 

in  maintaining  herself  for  five  centuries  even  against  the  onslaughts 
of  the  mighty  Assyrian  empire;  even  Sennacherib,  although  he  was 
victorious,  did  not  conquer  the  country.  The  conquest  was  not  accom- 
plished till  the  time  of  Asurbanipal,  who  was  almost  the  last  Assyrian 
king.  Esarhaddon,  the  son  of  Sennacherib,  conquered  the  Dakkuri, 
a  Chaldaean  people  who  dwelt  upon  the  borders  of  the  desert  of 
Babylon  and  made  incursions  into  the  Babylonian  territory,  captured 
their  leader,  and  burned  him  alive ;  he  subjugated  also  Bel-ikisha 
of  Gambul,  which  was,  as  has  been  mentioned,  the  part  of  Elam  in 
the  lowlands,  and  fortifying  his  principal  city,  made  it  a  bulwark 
against  Susiana.  Nevertheless,  this  same  prince,  in  the  year  650 
B.c.,  was  an  ally  of  Urtaki  of  Elam  against  Babylon.  When  Asur- 
banipal came  to  the  throne,  in  668,  Elam  was  afflicted  with  a  famine, 
and  Elamites  fled  to  Assyria.  Although  the  Assyrians  received 
them,  and  gave  them  protection  till  the  return  of  rain,  Urtaki 
began  hostilities  against  them  upon  the  advice  of  his  general  Marduk- 
shum-ibni ;  he  secured  the  aid  of  the  prince  of  Gambul  and  an  Assyr- 
ian governor  in  Chaldaea.  Asurbanipal  approached,  and  the  allies 
took  to  flight.  In  the  following  year  Urtaki  took  his  own  life; 
and  Bel-ikisha,  f r<  >m  his  concealment  in  the  marshes,  engaged  in 
plundering  Elam,  which  had  become  Assyrian.  Later  he  was  taken 
prisoner,  and  put  to  death.  Asurbanipal  made  a  second  expedition, 
and  chastised  Gambul,  destroying  its  chief  city. 

Susa,  the  ancient  royal  residence,  was  also  the  real  capital  of  the 
empire  in  the  time  of  Persian  sovereignty,  and  did  not  decline  until 
the  neighboring  cities,  Gondi-Shahpur,  Sinister  (Sosirate),  and  also 
Ctesiphon  had  become  powerful ;  coins  are  still  extant  which  were 
struck  in  Susa  in  709.  The  ruins  of  the  city  form  a  mound,  largely 
composed  of  bricks,  which  is  three  miles  and  a  half  in  circumfer- 
ence ;  and  it  is  within  this  area  that  the  successful  excavations  of  the 
Frenchmen  Dieulafoy  and  de  Morgan  have  been  conducted.  Reserv- 
ing an  account  of  the  former's  work  until  we  reach  the  Persian  empire, 
upon  which  it  exclusively  bears,  let  us  come  to  Babylonia  and  Chaldaea 
proper,  where  the  first  ancient  site  to  be  thoroughly  explored  was, 
Telloh,  situated  on  a  branch  of  Shatt-el-Hai,  not  far  from  Zerghul. 
With  rare  devotion  the  French  consul  at  Basra,  M.  Ernest  de  Sarzec, 
spent  no  less  than  twenty  years  (1877-1000)  at  these  mounds,  and  to 


MUOHEIR,   OR    i  ft  ]r>] 

him  we  owe  our  first  definite  knowledge  of  the  construction  of  an 
ancient  Babylonian  city.  Telloh  represents  8hirpurla  or  Lagasb,  the 
importance  of  which  at  one  time  maybe  gleaned  from  th< 
of  several  distinct  quarters,  each  with  its  own  special  patron  deity. 
Beneath  the  remains  of  a  palace  of  Seleucidian  days,  de  Sarzec  came 
across  a  series  of  nine  magnificent  statu«-  of  diorite  covered  with 
inscriptions  in  the  old  Babylonian  Btyle  of  cuneiform  writing.     These 

statues  represented  a  fai is  ruler  of  Shirpurla,  whose  name  was  Gudea 

(c.  2800  b.c.),  who,  however,  no  Longer  occupies  an  entirely  indepen- 
dent position,  but  owes  allegiance  to  the  Ur  dynasty.  The  chief 
sanctuary  at  Shirpurla  was  known  as  E-ninnu,  *  House  of  Fifty/  and 
was  sacred  to  N"in-girsu,  who  is  identical  with  the  god  generally  known 
as  Ninib.  Two  large  cylinders  of  Gudea  containing  accounts  of  bis 
deeds,  are  of  inestimable  value  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  history  of 
this  early  period,  while  the  discovery  of  an  exceedingly  extensive  business 
archive,  containing  upwards  of  30,000  tablets  recording  temple  and 
private  business  transaction-  from  a  period  that  may  be  roughly  defined 

as  c.  3000  to  2300  b.c.,  illustrates  the< imercial  activity  of  th 

A  feature  of  the  temple  area  was  a  stage-tower  of  -even  Btories,  known 
as  E-pa,  '  the  summit  house.'  A  large  Dumber  of  clay  cones  and  stat- 
uettes with  entire  inscriptions  were  found,  and  among  the bjects  a 

tablet  representing  CJr-Ninä,  a  ruler  older  than  Gudea,  aiding  in  the 
construction  of  a  sacred  edifice,  and  accompanied  by  hi-  eight  children 
and  chief  officers,  is  noteworthy  (Plate  XVI.);  and  -till  more  remark- 
able is  a  monument,  unfortunately  only  partially  preserved,  furnishing  a 
pictorial  illustration  of  the  campaign  of  E-annatum  against   the  Gish- 

banites,  his  victory  over  his  enemies,  and  the  burial  of  hi-  own  warriors 

who  fell  in  battle.     A.coompanying  the  monument  i-  an  inscriptioi 
ting  forth  the  details  of  the  campaign.    (Plate  XIII.)    The  excava- 
tions at  Telloh  an'  now  being  continued  l»y   M.  Cros. 

At  some  distance  —nth  of  the   Euphrates  i-  the  min   Mugheir,  the 
ancient    Ur,  winch  in  high  water   form-  an   island  (Fig.    Iv  •       I  he   rum 
is  about  half  a  mile  in  diameter,  and  consists  of  a  collection  of  hillocks 
composed   of  rubbish.     These   arc   Burrounded    by   numerous 
which  form  an  oval   around  them.     Mugheir,  which  means 
with  bitumen,'   is   made   of   bricks   united   with   bitumen.     It    i- 
largest  northern   ruin,  on  a   hill   about    BeYfJDtj    fee«    high.      Like 
Vot.1.    iL 


162 


BABYLONIA. 


Babylonian  structures,  it  is  placed  with  the  angles  toward  the  four 
cardinal  points.  Rarely  is  a  building  placed  with  the  sides  toward 
these  points.  Therefore  it  was  not  customary  to  remove  the  corner- 
stone ;  and  later  kings,  when  they  restored  a  building,  gave  the  assur- 
ance in  inscriptions  that  it  had  not  been  disturbed.  These  records 
in  regard  to  the  building  were  inscribed  upon  ellipsoidal  bricks,  which 
were  built  into  the  corner  of  the  temple.  The  long  side,  toward  the 
southwest,  is  198  feet  long,  and  has  nine  pilasters,  while  the  short 
side,  toward  the  northwest,  has  only  six ;  the  other  sides  are  as  yet 


Fig.  48.  —  Ruins  of  the  Temple  of  Mugheir  (Ur). 

uncovered.  The  lower  story  is  twenty-seven  feet  high  ;  and  its  top 
is  reached  by  a  stairway  eight  feet  wide,  which  ascends  within.  The 
second  terrace  is  16  feet  high,  119  feet  long,  and  75  feet  broad. 
This  is  not  placed  centrally  upon  the  lower  terrace,  since  it  is  much 
nearer  the  northwest  side  than  the  southeast ;  it  contains  a  vaulted 
passage-way,  and  is  covered  on  top  with  the  debris  of  bricks,  vessels, 
and  lamps.  A  second  stairway  with  balustrades,  leading  from  the 
lower  terrace  to  the  top  of  the  second,  occupied  the  whole  of  the 
southeast  side.  Here  we  have  a  typical  example  of  a  temple  in 
stages  (zigguraV)  \  the  first  staircase  was  within,  in  order  that  the 


EXCA  VATI0N8    M    l  R  (,;.; 

line  of  the  wall  might  not  be  broken;  die  Becond  und  third  story 
were  reached  by  a  stairway  which  was  without  upon  the  ten 
Upon  the  bighesl  storj  the  little  shrine  was  situated,  Dot  in  the 
middle  of  the  rectangular  spare,  bul  nearer  the  northern  end,  for  the 
stairway  required  more  room  at  the  southern  end.  The  brick  coating 
of  this  temple  of  the  moon,  called  E-gieh-ehirga]  in  the  inscriptions  of 

Nal idns,  is   ten   feci    thick  ;  the   massive  interior  consists  of  burnl 

and  dried  bricks.  Taylor  found  an  inscription  at  the  south  corner 
and  duplicates  of  it  at  the  other  corners.  The  Arabians  assert  that 
half  a  eentniy  ago  a  chamber  still  existed  on  the  top  of  the  second 
story;  and  this  is  also  indicated  by  the  enamelled  I. rick-  which 
formerly  adorned  the  interior  of  it,  and  which  lie  scattered  about 
Upon  the  bricks,  imbedded  in  the  bitumen,  i-  -tamped  the  inscription: 
<Ur-gur,  king  of  l'r,  builder  of  the  temple  of  Sin  (the  moon).'  This 
kin-',  as  well  as  other-  of  the  l'r  dynasty,  i-  well  known  to  n-  from 
inscriptions  found  at  Nippur,  over  which  these  rulers  once  claimed 
control  and  where  they  were  actively  engaged  in  rebuilding  ami  enlarg- 
ing the  ziggurat  or  stage-tower  in  honor  .if  Bel.  The  bricks  "l'  the 
upper  story  of  the  ziggurat  at  [Jr,  which  were  laid  in  a  cement  composed 
of  lime  and  ashes,  hear  the  inscription  ;  •  Dungi,  the  mighty  hero  king 
of  Ur,  king  of  Sumer  and  Akkad.'  The  sanctity  of  tin-  /i:_rLrurai  i- 
illustrated  by  the  anxiety  of  the  last  king  of  Babylonia,  Nabonidus 
(555—539  b.c.),  to  re-tore  it.  The  reign  of  ür-gur  is  probably  to  be 
assigned  to  about  '_!7<>o  b.c.  Bricks  found  in  Warka,  Senkereh,  ami 
Zerghul  also  hear  his  name  as  well  a-  that  of  other  members  of  this 
dynasty,  which  is  noteworthy  a-  representing  the  oldest  attempt  in 
the  Euphrates  Valley,  so  far  a-  known  to  us,  of  the  establishment  of  a 
kingdom  uniting  all  of  north  and  south  Babylonia  under  one  rule, 
several  centuries  this  empire  maintained  itself,  though  it  would  appear 
that  the  ruler-  during  thi- time  represented  Beveral  dynasties,  Ham- 
murabi's policy  of  uniting  uorth  and  south  Babylonia  was  in  a  measure  a 
continuation  of  that  pursued  by  the  kin--  of  I  lr.  <  opposite  »he  soul 
end  of  the  temple  of  l'r  was  a  Becond  building  with  projecting  « 
adorned  without  with  perpendicular  i  The  bricks  have  the  name 

of  Ishme-Dagan,  meaning  'Dagan  has  heard/ stamped  upon  them,    tie- 
mains  of  beams  of  the  roof,  made  of  the  palm-tree,  -till  exist.     x 
the  centre  of  the  ruin-  i-  a  large  mound  with  graves,  provided  with  a 


l,;i  BABYLONIA. 

system  of  drainage.  The  graves  of  different  families  are  separated  from 
one  another  by  long  strips  of  masonry.  The  dead  bodies  lie  upon  a 
pavement  eight  feet  below  the  surface,  and  have  over  them  a  cover 
of  clay  shaped  like  a  dome,  or  oval  like  a  boat.  The  body  always 
rests  upon  one  side,  with  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand  reaching  into 
a  copper  vessel,  which  contains  the  food  for  the  dead,  and  is  sup- 
ported by  the  left  hand.  Usually  an  inscribed  cylinder  rested  upon 
the  arm.  In  the  graves  of  the  women  ornaments  of  gold  and  copper 
were  found,  agates,  rings  for  the  ears  and  toes,  bracelets  and  shells. 
The  successive  layers  of  brick  project,  and  approaching  each  other 
at  the  top  form  the  vault,  while  the  ends  are  closed  by  a  wall.  The 
whole  ruin  was  a  great  city  of  the  dead,  for  there  are  no  traces  of 
dwellings.  There  is  also  an  inscription  of  King  Gungunu,  son  of 
Isme-Dasran.  The  latter  is  also  the  name  of  one  of  the  oldest  rulers 
of  the  city  of  Ashur  (c.  1850  b.c.),  a  fact  of  importance  for  the  extent 
at  one  time  of  the  cult  of  Dagan.  The  date  of  the  Assyrian  Isme- 
Dagan  can  be  fixed  by  a  statement  in  an  inscription  of  Tiglath-Pileser 
I.,  living  in  the  twelfth  century  B.c.,  that  he  restored  a  temple  which 
was  built  641  years  before  by  Samsi-Adad,  a  governor  of  this  city, 
and  a  son  of  Isme-Dagan.  In  the  southeastern  portion  of  Ur,  Bur- 
Sin  seems  to  have  erected  buildings  ;  and  he  is  also  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  Xippur  and  Abu-Shahrein.  In  this  last  place,  covering  the 
site  of  the  ancient  city  of  Eridu,  two  stages  of  a  temple  of  Ea  are  ex- 
posed to  view  ;  and  on  the  southeast  side  is  a  marble  stairway.  There 
is  evidence  that  a  shrine  existed  upon  the  second  terrace ;  for  various 
ornaments  have  been  discovered,  such  as  agates,  alabaster,  marble,  small 
gold  plates,  and  copper  nails  with  gold  heads  for  fastening  the  gold 
plates  to  the  shrine.  At  the  foot  of  the  staircase  stand  two  columns 
composed  of  alternate  layers  of  sandstone,  obtained  from  the  neighbor- 
ing hills,  and  marble  slabs.  The  columns  thus  formed  are  incrusted 
with  several  layers  of  clay.  Among  the  ancient  relics  are  numerous 
longish  clay  cones,  whose  bases  are  enamelled  with  different  colors. 
They  were  embedded  in  the  cement  of  the  wall  with  the  bases  ex- 
posed, so  that  they  furnished  an  ornamentation  of  various  colors ; 
besides,  there  are  knives  made  of  flint  for  cutting  inscriptions,  chisels 
of  stone  with  straight  edges,  and  of  clay  with  semi-circular  edges, 
stone  rivets,  also  flat,  pear-shaped  punches  made  sharp  at  the  edge 


.\\<  u:\  V  SITES 

\>y  means  of  flint  and   benl  adzes  of  burnl  clay.     The  use  of  -and 
and  granite  in   the  construction  of  ziggural   of  Eridu   Lb  quil 
tional   in  the  buildings  of  ancient   Babylonia.     In  Tel-el-Lahn,  which 
is  three  hours  south  of  Suq-esh-shujuch,  clay  coffins  were   found,  con- 
sisting of  two  jars  fastened  together  with  bitumen.     The  mound 
ghul,  situated  near  Nasshajet  on  the  left  lank  of  the  Shatt-el-Hai,  and 
the  mound  El-Hibba  sb  miles  distant,  are  noticeable  chiefly  as  forming 
an  ancient  necropolis,  the  exploration  of  which  in  1887  by  two  Gi  rman 
scholars  lias  thrown  much  light  upon  the  Babylonian  methods  of  burial. 
About  twenty  miles  further  south  upon  the  Euphrates  stands  Senkereh, 
the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  Larsa,  and  one  of  the  chief  centres  of  sun- 
worship  in  Babylonia.    The  temple  at  this  place,  dedicated  to  the  worship 
of  Samas,  and  known,  like  thai  at  Sippar  (see  page  170),  as   E-barra, 
1  the  brilliant   house,'  dates  hack  to  the  old  kingdom  of  LJr,  and  while 
Larsa  played  an   important   political   part   lor  a  limited   period  only,  it 
was  one  of  the  last  places  to  succumb  to  Hammurabi  in  hi-  attempt  to 
mute  the  old  states  of  northern  and  southern  Babylonia  under  one  rule. 
Nebuchadnezzar  [I.  built  the  surrounding  wall  and  the  upper  portion  of 
the  temple,  and  from  the  inscriptions  of  Nabonidus,  the  last  king  of  Baby- 
lonia who,  in  his  devotion   to  the  temple-  in  the  old  religious  centi 
the  country,also  restored  the  sacred  edifice  at  Larsa,  we  learn  that  Ham- 
murabi (e.  2250  b.c.)  and  the  Cassite  ruler  Burnaburiash  (c.  1  150 
were  among  those  who  devoted  themselves  in  earlier  day-  to  the  en! 
mein  of  the  same  temple  and  tower.     Numerous  clay  tablets  that  turned 
out  to  be  business  contracts  were  found  in  portions  of  the  mound  where 
the  dead  were  buried,  from  which    it  would  appear  that   after 
period,  when  the  city  had  perhaps  been  abandoned,  the  site  wi 
a  necropolis. 

Farther  up  the   Euphrates,  upon  the  left   bank,  i-  an  elevation 
about  six   miles    in  circumference,   which    i-   surrounded 
during  the   larger  pot   of  the   year,     upon    I  the   imp 

ruins  of  Warka,  or  link,  called    Erech   in  the  Bible,  and  known  to 
Greeks,   who  were  acquainted  with   the  astronomical   school   t 
as   Orchoe.     Near  the  centre,  is  the  chief  ruin.   Buwarijeh,  • 
mat  "  bo  called,  because  reeds  were  th< 
the  bricks  against  the   weather.     The  walla 
in  many  Babylonian   buildings,  by  pila  mented  w 


166 


BABYLOXIA. 


Upon  it  is  the  stage-tower  and  temple  of  the  goddess  Nana.  Several 
names  are  preserved  in  inscriptions  :  that  of  Ur-gur  (2700  b.c.)  of  the 
Ur  dynasty  is  found  on  bricks  on  the  southeast  side ;  that  of  Singashid, 
who  ruled  somewhat  later,  is  inscribed  on  the  foundation  of  the  shrine. 
The  second  building,  west  of  the  first,  is  called  Wuswas,  said  to  have 
received  its  name  from  a  negro,  who  searched  for  treasures  here, 
and  disappeared  in  a  mysterious  manner.  It  encloses  a  rectangle 
650  feet  long  and  500  feet  broad.  In  the  eastern  part  of  this  is 
a  court  with  two  gateways,  and  to  the  north  is  also  a  smaller  one. 
The  southwestern  portion  of  the  building,  which  was  perhaps  built 
by  Nebuchadnezzar,  exhibits  a  very  ancient  style  of  panel  orna- 
mentation (Fig.  49) ;  it  is  derived  from  the  work  of  a  joiner  or 
carpenter,  as  seen  upon  doors,  for  example  on  a  stone  door  at  Sidon. 


The  upper  part  of  the  facade  has  narrow  but  tall  niches ;  many  of 
these  consist  really  of  two  or  three  niches,  one  within  the  other, 
decreasing  in  size  as  they  recede  from  the  surface.  Under  these 
are  groups  of  seven  vertical  half  cylinders  in  imitation  of  a  block- 
house. In  the  somewhat  broad  spaces  on  either  side  of  each  group 
of  niches  and  half  cylinders  are  depressions  extending  to  the  top 
of  the  wall,  and  like  the  niches  having  two  different  depths.  This 
facade,  incrusted  with  stucco  two  inches  thick,  has  been  repeatedly 
copied  from  the  original  woodcut  given  by  Loftus.  The  tower 
wifli  stages,  at  Khorsabad,  dating  from  the  eighth  century,  is  a 
good  example  of  this  style. 

Reliefs  in  Nineveh,  which  represent  houses  and  towers,  re- 
peatedly give  this  style  of  ornamentation.  The  Sassanian  palace 
of  Firuzabad  in  Persis  has  only  single  depressions  in  the  face  of  the 


WARKA.  167 

wall;  on  both  sides  of  the  pilasters,  however,  double  oi 
the  top  by  an  arch.     Tak-Kesra  in  <  tesiphon,  dating  from  the  sixth 
century  after  Christ,  has  something  similar.     In  Asasif,  near  '11 
is  a  long  wall,  enclosing  graves   belonging   to   the   Twenty- 
Dynasty;  it  presents  an  alternation  of  two  vertical  depressions  and 
of  two  similar  ones  surrounded  1>\  a  depression   receding  from  the 
surface  like  a  frame,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  niches  described 
previously.     This  style  of  decoration  is,  however,  mel  with  in  the 
time   of   the   pyramids  in   the   facades  of    the  mastabas.     Th< 
another  building  which   is  ornamented   with  the  clay  cones,   which 
have  red,  white,  and  black   bases,  arranged   in  lozenges,  zigzag,  and 
in  straight  lines.     Near  Wuswas  stands  a  kind  of  a  tower,  which 
is   decorated    differently;    it   has    the   appearance    of    wickerwork; 
between    several    layers   of   tiles   arc    three   rows  of  jars  embedded  in 
cement  with    their   liases,  which   arc    pointed,   in    the  wall  and   tin- 
openings  outward. 

Warka  is  the   largest   necropolis   in  Chaldaea;   to   it    the  «lend 
bodies  were  brought  tor  burial  from  all  directions,  even  as  late  as  the 
time    of  the    Parthians.     Several  style-  of   coffins  are  here  found; 
some  like  those  in   Mugheir,  others  consisting  of  two  jars  or  urns 
with  their  mouths  cemented   together,  and  others  still  of  a  peculiar 
kind,  made   of   clay  and   resembling  a   slipper,   or  more  exactly  the 
swaddling-clothes  of  a  child.     (('('.  Plate  XV.,  sarcophagi  of  this 
form,  from   Nippur).     The  glazing  on  the  outside  is  green  (oxide 
of  copper)  and  on  the  inside  blue.     The  threads  are  carefully  imi- 
tated.    That   these  graves  belong  to  a  late   period   is  shown  by  the 
Parthian  decoration  on  the  surface  of   the  garments,  also  by  the  I' 
tlnan  coins  found  near  the  coffins,  and  by  small  figures,  as  for  exam- 
ple of  a  reclining  warrior,  some  of  which  have  a  Grecian  char.: 
The  collins  are   placed  above  one  another  in   greal   numb«  i 
separated  only  by  thin  layers  of  sand.     Loftus,  who  conducted  ex< 
tions  at  Warka   in   1854,  also   found  --me  terra-cotta  figurines,  some 
inscribed  clay  cones,  and  to  the  east  of  Buwarijeb  some  forty  con! 
tablet-    with    the   name-   ..I'   Nabopalassar,   Ncbuehadi..  .    \  iU.ni.lu-. 

and  Cambyses.     He  also  found  eight  tablets  containing  many  im] 
sions  of  seals,  representing  very  varied  objects,  and  cuneiform  writing, 
in  which  Greek   names,  like  Seleucus  and   Antiochus,  occur.     At   the 


1(38  BABYLOMA. 

same  place  was  a  vaulted  tomb  with  an  Himyaritic  (South-Arabian) 
inscription. 

To  the  northeast  is  Bismya,  where  Dr.  Banks  is  conducting  exca- 
vations for  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  which  have  already  resulted 
in  the  excavation  of  an  exceedingly  ancient  temple  with  a  statue  of  a 
ruler  who  appears  to  belong  to  an  earlier  period  than  any  as  yet  discovered. 
(  Plate  IX. — B.)  There  are  still  other  extensive  ruins  here,  some  of 
which  have  been  hastily  examined,  and  others  only  seen  from  a  distance. 

To  the  north  is  Nuffar,  the  Assyrian  Nippur ;  it  is  situated  at  the 
point  where  the  Shat-en-Nil  is  lost  in  the  Affej  marsh.  The  canal, 
which  branches  off  from  the  Euphrates  near  Babylon,  formerly  ran 
beyond  this  marsh,  and  emptied  into  the  Shat-el-Kahr.  The  most  con- 
spiciious  feature  of  the  imposing  series  of  mounds  at  this  place  is  a 
cone-shaped  eminence  rising  to  a  height  of  about  ninety-five  feet,  and 
called  by  the  natives  Bint-el-Amir  ('  Daughter  of  the  Princess ').  An 
examination  of  the  ruins  was  made  by  Layard  in  1851,  but  it  was  left 
for  an  American  expedition  to  explore  them  thoroughly. 

In  1888,  Dr.  J.  P.  Peters,  at  the  time  connected  with  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  organized  an  expedition,  and  for  two  years  directed 
excavations  at  Nippur.  The  funds  for  the  expedition  were  provided 
by  a  number  of  public-spirited  citizens  of  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Peters' 
work,  especially  during  the  second  year,  was  eminently  successful,  and 
was  continued  by  J.  H.  Haynes  as  director,  to  whose  endurance  we 
owe  most  of  the  discoveries,  including  that  of  the  temple  archive,  made 
at  N  ippur.  With  an  interval  of  only  two  years  Haynes  continued  the 
excavations  alone  until  1900,  in  which  year  he  was  joined  for  a  few 
months  by  Prof.  H.  V.  Hilprecht,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
To  this  institution  belongs  the  credit  of  having  unearthed  one  of  the 
oldest  and  largest  temple-aveas  in  ancient  Babylonia,  and  the  inscrip- 
tions and  discoveries  made  in  the  mounds  throw  much  light  on  the 
oldest  period  of  Babylonian  history. 

The  material  results  of  these  labors  of  Peters  and  Haynes  at  the 
mounds  may  be  summed  up  as  follows  :  Upward  of  50,000  clay  tablets 
of  various  sizes  have  been  taken  out  of  the  ruins  from  that  section  of 
the  temple  area  which  harbored  the  archives,  both  the  official  business 
records  of  the  temple  organization,  the  judicial  archives  in  which  copies 
of  contracts,  commercial  transactions,  and  judicial  decisions  were  de- 


PLATE     IX— tf. 


Oldest  Statue  found  in   Babylonia.       Um  ago 

Expedition  at  Bismya.) 


History  of  AU  Nations,  Vol   1  . , 


PLATE     X 


A r-< •  1 1  i>r  i.nr  ni    Brick   laid  In  clay  mortar'  (Nippur). 
|  1  c>- 1  •  t  <  •<  1 1  it  <  -i  I  bj  permiuHionfroni  Hilpi,ecbt,0/d  Babylonian  Inscriptions,  chiefly  from  Nippur."] 
i  /  ,  page  189, 


PLAT  E    XI 


Ekur,  the  Temple  of  Bel  at  Nippur.     (First  attempt  at  a 
restoration  by  Hilpreeht  and  Fisher.) 

[Reproduced  by  permission  from  Hilpreeht,  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands, 
Philadelphia,  1902.] 

1.  Stage-tower  with  shrine  on  the  top.  2.  The  temple  proper.  3.  "House  for  honey,  cream, 
and  wine."  4.  "Place  of  the  delight  of  Bur-Sin."  5.  Inner  wall  (Imgur-Marduk).  6.  Outer 
wall  (Nimlt-Marduk). 


History  <tf  AU  Nations,  Vol  I.,  page  169 


PLATE    XII 


Inscribed  Bas-relief  of  Naram-Sin. 
Vations,  Vol.  I  .  pagt  169. 


PLATE    XIII 


Eannatum's   Campaign  against  the  Gishbanites. 
History  of  All  Nations,  Vol,  l.,page  161. 


PLATE     XIV. 


North  western  Facade  of  the  first  stage  of  Ur-Gur's  Ziggurat  (  Nippur). 

[Reproduced  from  Hilprecht,  Old  Babylonian  Inscriptions,  chiefly  from  Nippur.] 
History  of  All  Nations,  Vol.  L,  page  169. 


EXCA  VATIONS   AT  NIPPI  1; 


posited,  und  tlu-  literary  collections— the  incantation  texts,  hymns, 
ritualistic  texts,  and  astronomical-astrological  computation — winch  in 
the  course  of  many  centuries  were  gathered  by  the  priests  of  Bel.  tn 
addition,  about  20  Bo-called  door-sockets  with  inscriptions  of  the 
Babylonian  rulers  extending  from  the  earliest  period  well  down  into 
the  rule  of  the  Cassites  in  Babylonia,  Sargon  [.and  bis  boh  Naram-Sin 
(see  Plate  XII.)  are  represented  by  numerous  bricks  stamped  with 
their  names  and  titles,  and  particularly  noteworthy  i-  a  long  inscription 
of  Lugalzaggisi,  who  belongs  to  a  .-till  earlier  period  than  Sargon,  and 
which  has  been  skilfully  pieced  together  by  Prof.  Hilprecht  ..in  of  a 
large  number  of  vase-fragments.  Beneath  the  sanctuary  remains  of  a 
remarkably  constructed  arched  (Plate  X.)  tunnel  have  been  found 
which  apparently  served  for  purposes  of  drainage.  The  construction 
is  interesting  as  the  oldest  specimen  known  of  the  true  arch  in  archi- 
tecture. Its  date  cannot  he  accurately  fixed,  hut  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  it  belongs  to  the  period  before  Naram-Sin.  Votive 
inscriptions  to  Bel,  Belit,  Ninib,  Nusku,  dating  chiefly  from  the  <  assite 
period  (c.  1780-1200  b.c.),  furnish  the  proof  for  die  devotion  to  the 
cult  of  Nippur  shown  by  these  foreign  rulers,  and  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania's  Expedition  has  satisfactorily  shown  that  the  sanctity 
of  Nippur  was  maintained  up  to  the  Assyrian  period.  Asurbanipal 
-626  B.c.)appears  among  the  restorers  of  the  ziggural  or  Btage-tower 
of  IM,  and  in. Iced  after  the  conquest  of  the  Euphrates  Valley  by  the 
Greeks,  Nippur  continued  to  play  a  role,  though  the  ..Id  temple  of  Bel 
and  the  stage-tower  are  converted  int..  a  Parthian  citade.  and  replaced 
by  Parthian  palace-.  From  what  has  been  -aid  it  will  have  become 
clear  that  the  chief  work  ..f  the  Nippur  expedition  ha-  been  confined 
to  the  temple  ana,  and  within  tin-;  area  to  the  Btage-tower,  which 
appears  to  date  hack  to  the  day-  of  Sargon.  (PLATE  \I\.  '1  he 
accompanying  plan  of  restoration,  on  the  basis  of  the  excavations  at 
Nippur  (Plate  KL),  will  furnish  a  general  idea  of  the  tempi« 
known  from  the  chief  Banctuary  a-  K-kur  —  i.< ..  'Mountain  House.' 
Of  the  epigraphies!  material  two  volumes  of  historical  and  votive 
inscriptions  have  been  published  by  Prof.  Hilprecht,  and  two  volumes 
of  business  documents  of  the  Persian  period  (c  •">" 
Pn.f.  A.  T.  clay,  of  the  university  of  Pennsylvania,  forming  part  of 
:,  series  issued  by  that  institution. 


170  BABYLONIA. 

Farther  north,  where  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  approach  the 
nearest,  arc  several  large  places  in  ruins.  The  most  prominent  of  these 
is  Babylon,  which,  although  dating  back  beyond  the  days  of  Hammu- 
rabi (c.  2250  B.C.),  and  perhaps  in  existence  already  in  the  days  of 
Sargon  (c.  3000  b.c.),  was  so  thoroughly  rebuilt  after  its  destruction  by 
Sennacherib  (689  B.C.)  that  an  account  of  the  ruins  and  excavations 
here  may  be  postponed  till  we  reach  the  neo-Babylonian  empire  (Vol. 
II.,  p.  128).  The  modern  ruin,  Tel-Ibrahim,  is  probably  Cutha,  which 
is  often  mentioned  in  connection  with  Babylon  and  Borsippa.  It  is 
situated  northeast  of  Babylon,  on  the  Habl-Ibrahim  canal;  this  con- 
nect- the  canal  El-Muth,  which  flows  along  the  road  from  Bagdad  to 
Babylon,  with  the  Shatt-en-Nil.  Shalmaneser,  as  the  Bible  relates 
(2  Kings  xvii.  24,  30),  carried  from  here  to  Samaria  certain  colonists 
who  worshipped  the  god  Nergal,  a  destructive  war-god. 

On  the  canal  Habl-es-Süq,  or  Nahr-Malka,  which  connects  the 
Euphrates  with  the  Tigris  at  Seleucia,  is  the  ruin  of  the  celebrated  city 
Sippar,  now  called  Abu-Habba,  According  to  Berosus,  the  god  Ea 
here  announced  to  Xisuthrus  (i.e.  Khasisatra,  'the  very  wise  one')1 
the  approach  of  the  Deluge,  and  commanded  him  to  bury  the  tablets 
containing  the  divine  law  and  the  oldest  memorials  of  men.  The 
mounds  here  measure  1422  yards  long  by  875  yards  wide,  or  about 
250  acres,  of  which  about  39|  acres  are  taken  up  by  the  temple  area 
alone. 

There  was  another  city  of  the  same  name  near  by,  and  to  distinguish 
between  the  two,  the  one  was  called  Sippar-sha-Samas,  '  Sippar  of  the 
Sun-god ';  the  other  Sippar-sha-Anunit,  or  '  Sippar  of  the  goddess 
Anunit.'  The  identification  of  the  place  was  due  to  Hormuzd  Rassam, 
who  began  excavations  here  in  January,  1881,  and  soon  came  across 
inscriptions  of  Xabonidus,  the  last  king  of  Babylonia,  in  which  he  tells 
us  of  his  finding  the  foundation  stone  of  the  old  temple  E-barra  or 
E-babbarra  ('  brilliant  House  ')  sacred  to  the  Sun-god  at  Sippar,  bearing 
the  name  Naram-Sin,  and  of  his  satisfaction  in  coming  upon  a  founda- 
tion stone  of  the  temple  E-ul-mash,  dedicated  to  Anunit, — a  form 
of  Ishtar, — with  the  name  of  the  Cassite  ruler  Shagarakti-shuriash 
(e.  L300),  i hough  the  latter  could  not  have  been  the  first  builder  of  the 

1  One  of  the  epithets  of  the  hero  of  the  Babylonian  Flood,  generally  known  as  Ut- 
nivpishtim  (see  p.  188). 


.§, 


Z- 

-   I 


Tili:   f:  \r.)  i  ONIAN   Sl  V  QOD  171 

sanctuary.     In   a    hall   containing  a    large  altar   he   found   und.  • 
fl°or  an  earthen  chest.      In  the  chest   laj  a  tablet  made  by  Kabupal id- 
din  (c.  880-840  b.  c),  a   cuneiform   inscription   and  a  representation 
of  the  Sun-god,  having  a  long  beard  and  a  high   tiara,  in  a  long 
menl  with  wavy  folds,  sitting  upon  a  sorl   of  Btool   (Fig.  50  ,     H< 
under  a  bcUdaehino,  which  rests  upon  wooden  columns.     Upon  th< 
of  the  stool  Gilgamesh,  the  hero  of  the  great  Babylonian  epic,  and  bis 
companion    Eabani,   are    represented    in    relief;    from    the  baldachino, 
which  serves  also  for  the  sky,  two  gods  are  lowering  the  disk  of  the 
sun  by  cords  upon  an  altar.     The  inscription  over  the  image  of  Samas 
run-:  'Image  of  Shamash  the  greal  lord  who  dwells  in  E-barra  at  - 
par.'     A  worshipper — probably  the  king  himself — is  being  led  into  the 
presence  of  the  god  by  a  priest,  and  behind  the  worshipper  is  a  per- 
sonage intended  perhaps  also  to  represenl  a  priest     Before  Shamash 
stands  an  altar  on  which  the  sun-disk   rests,  held  by  means  of  ropes 
by  two  attendants.     The  inscription   itself,  alter  recording  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  former  image  of  the  Sun-god  from  bis  temple  during 
a  period  when  nomadic  trihes  ravaged  parts  of  Babylonia,  commends 
Nabupaliddin  for  hi-  efforts  in  having  a  new  image  mad.'  alter  ancient 
models  that    fortunately  were  found.     The  king  also  bestows  rieh  . .tar- 
ings of  food-stuffs  ami  garments  for  the  service  "!'  Samas  and  for  the 
support  of  the  priests  in  attendance  at  the  temple  of  Sippar.      Rassam 
was  fortunate  enough   to  find  a  part  of  the  business  archives  of  the 
temple  with  several   thousand  tablets  containing  records  ■■:'  com  mi 
transactions.    The  work  of  Rassam  was  continued  in  1894  in  a  ra< 
by  an  eminent    Kreuch   scholar,  Vincent  Scheil,  win«  concentrated  his 
labors  on  the  temple,  and  more  particularly  on  that  portion  of  it  which 
contained  the  archive-.     A    series   of  rooms,  in  which  numei 
labaries  and  other  texts,  clearly  Berving  a  purpose  like  modern  text- 

I k-  for  teaching  the  cuneiform  script  and  Ian-  S  beil  concluded 

represented  the  ancient  scl 1  of  the  temple     Tombs  of  various  p-  riods 

were  also  found  in  other  portions  of  the  mound,  Bom<  in  winch  the 
dead  were  placed  in  large  jars,  others  containing  coffin*  of  slipper 
and  bath-tub  Bhape,  similar  to  those  found  at  Nippur  -■•  Plati 
XV.),  while   in   some  cases   vault-   were  built   to  .-..main   the  human 

remains. 

1    Si   •  164. 


172 


BABYLONIA. 


East  of  Bagdad  is  situated  Tel-Mohammed,  where  Layard  found 
Babylonian  bronzes  and  utensils  of  clay.  Hit  (Is)  on  the  Eu- 
phrates, celebrated  for  its  bitumen,  which  was  used  as  a  cement  in  the 
buildings  of  Babylon,  serves  as  a  natural  boundary  between  Chaldaea 
(Babylonia)  and  Assyria ;  north  of  a  line  running  from  this  point 
to  Samarra  on  the  Tigris  the  country  is  slightly  undulating,  while 
south  of  it  is  a  plain  of  alluvial  formation,  once  the  bed  of  the  sea. 
In  this  plain  are  numerous  mounds  of  ruins  still  unexplored,  where 


Fig.  50.  —  Adoration  of  Samas.    Tablet  from  iSippara  (after  Perrot). 

long  ago  there  was  a  dense  population  and  fruitful  cornfields  of 
great  extent,  and  along  the  river  fine  groves  of  palms.  To-day  the 
date-palm  extends  no  farther  up  the  Euphrates  than  Anah ;  and  the 
country,  traversed  by  Arabian  shepherds,  has  become  a  desolate 
tract  through  a  lack  of  irrigation  and  by  reason  of  robber  hordes. 
Above  the  ruins  rises  in  each  case  a  tower-like  temple,  and  we  can 
picture  to  ourselves  its  former  appearance  by  means  of  the  remains 
still  at  hand  and  by  the  Assyrian  reliefs.  It  is  generally  a  shape- 
less mass;  for  the  upper  portions  have  fallen  in,  and  destroyed  its 
distinctive  features,  and   the   rains   have    also   washed   away   much. 


BABYLONIA  V    TEMF  17', 

Although  there  were   pipes    and  channels    to  carry  off  the   w 

yd,  unless -real  care  was  exercised,  tin-  verj  severe  th ler  storms 

injured    the    outside    covering,    and    theo    the    moisture   desto 
(lie    inside,   which    was   made  "I"  crude  bricks.     Diodorus,    upon    the 
authority  of  Ctesias,  reports  that  the  temple  of  Mardulc   in   Babylon, 
which     Nebuchadnezzar    built,    was    ruined'in    this  a    in 

the  Persian  period;  ami  Strähn   represents   that   it  was  completely 
destroyed  in  the  time  of  Augustus. 

The  st}'U'  of  the  buildings  was  determined  Largely  by  tin-  char- 
acter of  the  materials  which  were  available.  Since  stone  could  be 
obtained  only  from  a  great  distance,  it  was  used  only  for  ornamental 

work,    such    as    statues,     the    facing    of    the    walls   ami   dooi 
To  strengthen   the    building,  ami    to  resist  the  Lateral  pressure, 
strong-    brick    walls    were    built    with    arches.      The  abundance   of 
metals  found  in  the  mountain  range  on  the  other  Bide  of  the   I 
which  was  rich  in   silver,  copper,  iron,  and   lead,  was  the  cause 
style  appropriate  to  metal  :  not  only  the  architectural  portions  oi  the 
interior  of  the   palace,  hut  even   the   furniture,  was  covered  with  ;i 
Layer  of  metal.     The  furniture  was  mad.'  of  «rood,  and  then  metal 
plates  were  fastened  on;  and   this  style  of  applied  metal  work  con- 
tinued to  be  dominant  even  after  the  practice  of  casting  metals  had 
come  in  vogue.     Kven  the  columns  were  designed  more  for  furniture 
than  for  architectural  purposes;   for  they  did  not 
of  architrave  and   roof,  hut   as  pillars  of  pavilions  and  holdei 
censers  and  garlands.     Tables,  chairs,  baldachins,  and  chari 
similarly   treated.     It  was  very  different   in   Egypt;  for  there  the 
character   of    th.-    wooden    furniture   was  determined    by   tl 
the   cabinet-maker,    whereas  the  articles  in   metal,   as  elm 
n,,!    exhibit   the   influence   of    the    old    repom*e\    work,  but   had   a 

Btyle  determined  by  the  fact   that   the  metals  W 

The  Babylonian  temples  proper,  as  well  as  the  -• 
massive  terrace:  and  therefore  in  the  case  of  the  latter  the  staii 
or  inclined  ways,  which  1-d  to  the  upper  dun..-,  were  placed  npoa  the 
outside.     An  altar  stood  at   the  fool  of  the  tower,  and  on  the  l<:. 
story  th.re  was  a  -mall  Bhrine.     There  was  no  uniformity  in  the  nam- 
berofthe  stages;  sometimes   th.re   were  three,  corresponding  t..  the 
three  divisions  of  the  oniverse,  sometimes  ßve,  a-  in  Oalah, 


j  74  BABYLONIA. 

of  the  five  planets;  and  sometimes  seven,  as  in  Borsippa,  where  the 
sun  and  moon  were  added  to  the  preceding  five.  In  the  tower  at 
Mugheir  the  ascent  was  made  by  staircases,  in  the  tower  at  Khorsabad 
by  a  spiral  inclined  way.  At  present  there  remain  at  Khorsabad  only 
four  stories ;  but  the  panel  and  pilaster  ornament  is  still  preserved,  also 
the  balustrade  of  the  inclined  way  and  the  coloring  of  the  stories. 
V.  Place  represents  the  order  of  the  colors,  beginning  at  the  bottom, 
to  be  white,  gray  (black),  red,  and  blue. 

The  palaces  in  Chaldaea  do  not  furnish  us  a  clear  idea  of  their 
appearance,  since   they  are  so  much  in  ruins ;  but  as  Assyrian  art 

is  derived  from  Babylonian,  we  can 
think  of  the  Babylonian  princes  as 
living  in  palaces  similar  to  those  of 
Assyria,  although  in  Babylonia  the 
stucco  walls,  with  frescoes,  took  the 
places  of  the  alabaster  slabs  which 
lined  the  walls  in  Nineveh.  Perhaps 
the  ruins  of  Arban  on  the  Chaboras, 
which  are  older  than  those  of  Nimrud 
(ninth  century),  exhibit  the  transi- 
tion. The  portals  on  both  sides  of 
Fig.  51. — Head  of  Gudea  from  a  statue 

found  at  Telloh  (Shirpurla).         the    palace    are   covered    with    stone 

tablets,  on  which  winged  bulls  are 
chiselled  in  archaic  style.  The  walls,  which  were  built  of  dried 
bricks,  are  destroyed.  A  lion  found  in  the  centre  of  the  mound 
resembles  the  Hittite  lion  at  Ancyra,  which  will  be  spoken  of  later. 
Hittite  art  is  a  branch  of  the  Old  Babylonian,  not  of  the  Assyrian. 
The  heads  of  the  sphinxes  have  thick  lips  and  broad  noses  ;  quartz 
and  metal  are  inserted  to  represent  the  pupils  of  the  eyes.  The 
clay  coffins  found  in  Arban  resemble  the  Babylonian,  although  the 
inscription  on  the  winged  bulls  found  there  is  written  in  neo-Assyrian 
characters.  The  Egyptian  scarabaei  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  which 
Layard  here  found,  were  secured  in  the  expeditions  of  Thothmes  and 
Amenophis,  rather  than  later  by  exchange  in  trade.  It  was  later  than 
this  that  the  region  on  the  lower  Chaboras,  where  Arban  is,  was 
conquered  by  the  Assyrians,  and  apparently  by  governors  partially 
independent. 


PLATE    XVI. 


Ur-Nina  and  his  Family. 


History  oj  4«  Notion«,  Vol  l.,pagt  >'■'■■ 


BABTLONIAN  SCULPTURE 


We  obtain  an  excellent  idea  of  the  oldest  sculpture  from  the  ol 
found  bydeSarzec  inTello:   namely,  the  reliefs,  and   from  th,     I 
ofkingGudea.    (Compare  Plates  XIII.  and  XVI.,and  I 
That  they  belong  to  the  earliest   times   is  shown   by  the   very  ancient 
cuneiform  writing,  arranged   in  vertical  columns,  as  in   Efeypt,  and  l.v 
the  names  of  the    kings   mentioned   in   it     The  statues  are  mad 
the  hardest  diorite  from  the  coun- 
try Magan,  which  is  to  be  sought,  gjfjl 
as  Winckler  has  shown,  in    Ara- 
bia.    Of  the  heads  only  two  have 
been    found,  and  on   these  unfor- 
tunately the  inxe  is  injured.      The 
eye.  as  compared  with  the  almond- 
shaped  Assyrian,   may    be   called 
round,  while  the  brows  are  st  rongly 
arched.      There  is  no  beard  ;  and 
the   head   is  shaven,  and  covered 
with    a   close-fitting    cap.    which 
has   a   turban-like    brim,    and    is 
shown   to   he  a  wig  by  its   rows 
of    round    ringlets.       The    bands 
are  longer  than  the  Assyrian,  and 
are     made    with    great    care.       A 
long  garment,  reaching  to  the  feet, 
leaves  the  right  arm  bare.     Lof- 
tus  found  similar  statues  of  black 
basalt  at  Sam  man  and  the  neigh- 
boring Jocha.     "With   this   statue 
of  the  older  period  may  be  com- 
pared   the    Assyrian   art    in   the   statue  of  the   god    Nebo,    found    in 
Nimrud    (Fig.   53).      The   Bitting   statue   of    Gudea   holds    upon    \\- 
lap  a  detailed   architectural    plan  ;    beside   the    tablet  a  metal    stylus 
is    represented,    Buch    as    was    u^-A  for   writing    in   clay,  and    on    th<- 
front    edge    of   the    plan    is    a     measuring-scale    divided     into 
parts )    this     is    of    very    great     importance     for    met 
inscription,   which    is    placed    at    the    lower    part,    at    tl 
on  the  hack  of  the  Btatue,   begins:    'In   the  tempi«      I    N 


from  Telloh 


IT« 


BABYLONIA. 


king,  is  erected  the  statue  of 
Gudea,  governor  (patesi)  of  Shir- 
purla,  who  has  built  the  temple 
of  E-ninnu.  1  ha  of  drink,  1 
ha  of  food,  \  ka  of  flour,  |  ka 
of  crushed  (?)  barley  shall  con- 
stitute the  fixed  offerings.'  These 
offerings  were  to  be  made  to  the 
statue  of  the  ruler  to  whom  in 
this  way  divine  honors  were  ac- 
corded ;  and,  indeed,  we  find  in 
the  days  of  the  later  rulers  of  Ur, 
Gudea  designated  as  a  god,  just 
as  the  sign  for  god  appears  in 
an  inscription  of  Sargon  I.  be- 
fore the  ruler's  name,  as  well  as 
before  the  names  of  quite  a 
number  of  the  members  of  the 
Ur  dynasty.  Upon  the  right 
bank  of  the  Tigris,  above  its 
junction  with  the  Little  Zab,  at 
Kalah  Shergat  (Assur),  a  sit- 
ting statue  of  Shalmaneser  II. 
(859-825)  was  found,  which 
is  similar  to  these  oldest  Chal- 
daean  statues.  Still  the  Assyr- 
ians do  not  seem  to  have 
developed  this  type  any  fur- 
ther. These  statues  remind 
one  of  those  of  the  Sacred 
Way  of  Branchidae,  near  Mile- 
tus, which  date  from  about  the 
year  536  b.c.  The  Egyptian 
statues  of  this  kind  are  supe- 
rior to  the  Chaldaean  and  Io- 
nian; for  the  former  represent 
Fig.  53. —  Statue  of  the  god  Nebo,  found  at 

Nimrnd.    Limestone.    (British  Museum.)        the  body  naked,  while  the  latter 


BABYLONIAN   ABT. 


177 


have  a  garment  reaching  to  the  feet,  which  is  very  still,  and  without 
folds.     This  same   defecl  causes  the   numerous  Babylonian 
ures  to  have  a  clumsy  appearance,  especiallj  as  the  heads  an 
large.     The  bach  of  these  clay  figures  was  flat,  as  they  were  made 
in  a  mould  consisting  of  <>nl\  one  piece;  while  the  Assyrian 
formed  in  a  double  mould,  or  were  modelled  \>\  hand.     Then 
also  Babylonian  bronzes,  of  which  a  basket- 
bearer,  found  at  Bagdad  and  now  preserved 
in  the  Louvre,  is  especially  interesting  <  Fig. 

54).       It  holds  the  basket    upon  its  head   with 

both  hands,  only  the  Lower  portion  of  the 
figure  is  clothed  with  a  kind  of  a  case,  which 
is  ornamented  not  with  designs,  bu1  an  in- 
scription of  Kiidiinnabiik,  an  Elamite  king 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  etc.  De  Sarzec 
found,  in  cubical  sockets,  and  packed  in 
sand,  remarkable  earthen  rivets,  with  figures 
of  the  god  Bel,  of  a  basket-bearer,  and  of  an 
ox.  Articles  of  this  sort  were  placed  in  the 
sand  under  the  thresholds  of  houses,  and  on 
graves,  in  order  to  avert  evil.  Of  later 
origin  are  the  Babylonian  «lay  statuettes 
of  the  mother  goddess  Iditar,  who  i-  repre- 
sented sometimes  as  placing  the  hands  upon 
the   breast,   and   sometimes   as   suckling   a 

child.      The    statuette-,  of    the  goddess,  with 

a  tiara  and  a  long  fringed  garment,  are  ruder 
and  more  infrequent  There  i>  a  Babylo- 
nian clay  figure  of  this  goddess-mother. 
The  mother  holds  in  her  arms  her  child, 
which  rests  it-  little  head  upon  her  breast  i  : 
which  arc  only  four  or  five  inches  high,  ana  especially  a« 
with  the  dead,  and  are  therefore  frequently  met  with  in  \V 
other  cemeteries.     Thej   gave  rise  to  a  wide) 

works  of   art.    which    exhibited    the   same    indecent 
the  rites  of  tins  goddess.     Schliemann  discovered  in  the  second 
at    Ilissarlik.  a  lead    idol   of   the   same 
Vol.  I.     13. 


phom 


178 


BABYLONIA. 


llittite  mark  of  the  swastika  upon  the  private  parts.     Similar  figures 
were  found  in  Cyprus  by  Di  Cesnola,  and  in  graves  in  Attica  and 
the  Cyclades.     The  Greek  sculptor  was  the  first  to  transform  the 
vulgar  attitude  of  the  Asiatic  Venus  into  one  of  gracious  modesty. 
From  the  twelfth  and  later  centuries  we  have  a  number  of  stone 
reliefs  of  Babylonian    origin.     Among    these    is    a    representation    of 
Marduk-nadin-akhe,  now  in    the    British    Museum    (Fig.    50).      This 
Babylonian  ruler  conquered  Tiglath-Pileser  in  the  year  1112  b.c., 
though   subsequently  he  was    obliged    to    succumb   to 
the    Assyrian    king.      He    is    crowned    with    a    tiara, 
cylindrical     in    shape,     upon    which    a    tree    pattern 
appears  to  be   embroidered   between   two   sphinxes ; 
around  the  top  runs  a  crown  of  feathers,  and  at  the 
bottom  a  band  with  rosettes.     The  clothing  consists 
of  a  double  tunic,  of  which  the  under  one  has  long, 
close-fitting  sleeves,  and  reaches  with  its  fringe  down 
to  the  feet;  the  outer  one  is  thrown  over  the  shoul- 
ders like  a  mantle,  and  extends  with  its  border  of 
tassels  nearly  to  the  knee.     Both  garments  are  richly 
embroidered  with  rosettes,  sacred  trees,  rows  of  half- 
circles,  and  a  network  of  hexagonal  form.     The  king 
has  two  daggers  in  his  girdle,  two  long  arrows  in  his 
right  hand,  and  a  bow  in  his  left.     The  shoes,  which 
envelop  the  feet  and  look  like  felt  slippers,  together 
with  the  garment,  which  resembles  a  sort  of  dressing-gown,  prevent 
the  figure  from  having  a  royal  appearance. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  later  glazed-tile  work,  the  lion  recently  found 
in  Babylon  (Plate  XVII.)  may  serve  as  an  example.  It  dates  from 
the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar  II.  (604-562  B.  a). 

Babylonia  is  highly  important  for  the  history  of  the  art  of  engrav- 
ing precious  stones,  since  thousands  of  seals  in  hard  half-precious 
stones  were  manufactured  by  Babylonian  lapidaries.  In  the  East  it 
has  never  been  customary  to  subscribe  one's  name,  but  to  use  a  seal, 
formerly  upon  clay  and  wax,  now  also  with  ink.  Some  of  these 
Babylonian  seals  are  cylinders,  which  were  rolled  over  the  clay  or 
wax  by  means  of  a  copper  axle,  and  others  are  stones  set  in  rings. 
Great  numbers  of  the  seals  themselves  and  the  clay  impressions  have 


Fig.  55. —  Statu. 

ette  of  Ishtar 

and  child. 


> 

X 

w 

< 
J 
Ol 


BABYLONIAN  A  irr. 


179 


been  found;  and  on  them  we  find  the  nam.-  of  the  owner  and  of  I. 

father,  and  often  of  the 
god  honored  by  him. 
There  is  an  impression 
in  clay  of  a  double  seal 
w  hich  is  highly  interest- 
ing ;  one  of  these  seals  is 

Assyrian,  and    the  other 

that  of  Pharaoh  Sabaco 
(Fig.  57).  These  seals 
may  have  belonged  to 
an  agreement  struck  be- 
tween Eg\]>t  and  Assyr- 
ia. In  the  seals  the 
writing  is  reversed,  and 
should  be  read  in  the 
impression  or  in  a  look- 
ing-glass; but  there  are 
talismans  with  direct 
writing.  Among  the 
Babylonians,  as  the 
priest-physician  mut- 
tered sacred  formulas  to 
avert  sickness,  so  cer- 
tain stones  were  thought 
to  have  the  virtue  of 
warding  off  certain  evils: 
hematite  was  a  safeguard 
against  hemorrhage;  to- 
paz against  hemor- 
rhoids; while  the  dia- 
mond prevented  the 
execution  of  plans  of 
murder,  preserved  tin' 
reason,  and  repelled  wild 

animals ;   agate   averted 

i  p. 
danger,     and     brought  •„ . 


130  BABYLONIA. 

power  and  reputation ;  amethyst  gave  wisdom  and  prevented  drunk- 
enness. All  the  ancients  believed  that  stones  had  a  certain  secret 
power,  especially  if  mystic  figures  were  also  engraved  upon  them. 
In  the  Middle  Ages  there  were  books  treating  of  stones,  and  this 
superstition  is  preserved  even  to  recent  times  in  medical  books. 
These  talismans  were  worn  next  the  body  as  amulets,  being  sus- 
pended about  the  neck,  just  as  is  the  custom  to-day  among  the 
Arabs  and  in  Southern  Europe.  The  ancient  Greeks  received  their 
cut  stones  from  Egypt  and  Babylonia.  The  first  attempts  that  the 
Greeks  and  Etruscans  made  to  imitate  Asiatic  work  were  rude. 
Success  crowned  their  efforts  only  a  short  time  before  Alexander. 
Except  in  the  case  of  seals  containing  the  names  of  rulers,  it  is 
impossible  to  determine  exactly  the  age  of  the  cylinders,  since 
they  are  undated,  though  the  general  style  and  the  character  of  the 

writing  furnish  a  relative  chronology. 
The  oldest  are  made  largely  of  black 
serpentine  or  of  black  and  green 
jasper;  also  of  hematite,  which  was 
a  favorite  in  all  periods,  because  it 
was  so  easily  Avorked.  They  are 
easily  recognized   by  means    of  the 

garments,    which   are   wrapped    spi- 
Fig.  57.  —  Seals  of  the  Pharaoh  Sabaco  n  j     ,,        « 

and  the  King  of  Assyria.  ral1^    ar0Und    the     %ures>    as    UPon 

the  cylinders  of  Ur-gur  and  Dungi, 

kings  of  the  Ur  dynasty,  which  are,  however,  preserved  only  in 
copies.  The  invention  of  the  turning-wheel  or  lathe,  furnished 
with  a  drill,  divided  the  Assyrian  work  into  two  periods.  In  the 
first  the  hand-drill  was  used,  which  was  turned  by  means  of  a 
handle,  while  the  stone  remained  still.  To  make  a  straight  line, 
holes  were  drilled  at  the  ends,  and  a  connecting  line  was  drawn  by 
means  of  a  diamond  point.  After  the  introduction  of  the  wheel, 
the  precious  stone,  fastened  in  a  wooden  handle,  was  held  by  the 
left  hand  in  contact  with  a  small  wheel,  which  was  set  in  rapid 
motion  by  a  large  wheel  moved  by  the  foot.  The  tools  for  engrav- 
ing were  fastened  to  the  little  wheel ;  and  the  stone  was  cut  more 
or  less  deeply,  according  as  it  was  moved  forth  and  back.  The 
instruments   used   were   a    burin   with    round   point,    and   saw,   or 


BABYLONIA  V   QLYP1 


181 


sort  of  file  with  a  sharp  point     By  means  of  Ü  hand  the 

tool' was  moistened  from  time  to  time  mth  diamond  du 
olive-oil;  formerly  emery   was   used,      h   was  impossible  to  make 
curved  lines  before  the   use  of  the  wheeL     The  new    Babylonian 
stones  exhibit  more  life ;  a  house  or  a  tree  indicates  il,  ,,,„1. 

The  art  of  engraving  stones  reached  its  highes«  point  in  tl, 
period.     The  red  carnelian  was  no*  used  for  the  first  time,  bul 
yeUow  not  till  h.tcr  under  the  Sassanids.     The  Persian  cum 
writing  upon  them  Bhows  that  the  stones  belong  to  this  period  .  and 
other  characteristics,  such  as  the  drapery,  and  the  turban  instead  of 


Fig.  58.  —  Cylinder  of  Mushexib-Ninib  (London,  British  M 

the  tiara,  distinguish   them   from  the  Babylonian.     The  Babylonian 
work  differs  from   the  Assyrian   in   representing  the  forms  a*  more 
slender,  and  in  not  betraying  the  life  and   movement  bo  well.     A 
sitting  goddess,  t<>  whom  another  person   is  conducting  a  woman, 
is  frequently  seen  < n>   the   Babylonian  cylinders;  the  turbans  < 
have  two  bent  horns.     The  objects  represented  on  the  - 
various.     Gilgamesh,  the  Babylonian  Hercules,  is  eery  common,  -tr.m- 
gling  the  lion,  '>r  as  a  winged   genius  grasping  by  die  Deck  outi 
('cruel   birds  of  the  wildern«  --.'    Lamentations   iv.  3);  this   is  I 
on   the  jasper  of    K  in_r   CJrzana  of    Muaurir,   south  of    Van.      The 
chief  god  of  the   later   pantheon,    Bel-Marduk,  in   contest   with   the 
dragon;    Sin.   the   moon-god,    riding   upon   a    bull;    A-dad    wit' 
thunderbolt,   [shtar,  and  other  deities;  and  offering 


182  BABYLONIA. 

figured.  The  sacred  tree  is  especially  frequent,  resembling  at  once 
the  palm  and  a  kind  of  pine.  Associated  with  this  are  winged  genii,  or 
bulls,  and  worshipping  kings,  as  is  shown  upon  the  cylinder  of  Mushe- 
zib-Xinib  (Fig.  56),  whose  name  is  found  in  Arban  ;  and  surround- 
ing these  are  winged  horses,  goats,  and  imaginary  animals.  This  tree 
reappears  as  the  Persea  tree  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Hauma,  or  paradise 
tree,  of  the  Persians,  which  gives  perpetual  life,  the  Tübä  and  Sidret- 
el-muntahä  of  the  Arabians,  and  was  employed  in  all  imaginable 
ways,  upon  furniture,  dress,  weapons,  and  religious  reliefs.  With 
endless  variations,  as  a  motive  for  decoration  it  extended  over  Asia, 
and  by  means  of  Arabian  craftsmen  was  carried  to  Sicily  and  the 
rest  of  Europe.  Even  in  antiquity  it  came  through  Hittite  art  to 
Greece,  where  it  appeared  first  in  the  celebrated  lions  ov^r  the  gate- 
way of  the  citadel  at  Mycenae.  Later,  cones  containing  the  seal 
in  their  bases  took  the  place  of  the  cylinders.  Intaglios  were  used 
much  more  than  cameos.  There  is  a  cameo  of  Sargon  II.  from 
Khorsabad,  and  in  the  Vaini  Cabinet  one  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
(Fig.  59)  ;  the  head  of  the  latter  is  given  in 
profile,  with  a  round,  low-crested  helmet.  One 
is  reminded  somewhat  of  the  helmet  in  the 
sculpture  at  Bayazid ;  the  head  also  resembles 
that  of  Seleucus  I.,  represented  on  his  silver 
coins  as  Heracles.  The  technique  strongly 
suggests    Greek   art.      It   cannot  be    regarded 

Fig.  59.— Seal  of        as  a  modern  forgery,  since   it   was   discovered 
Nebuchadnezzar.  .  .. 

long  before    the  cuneiform    script  was  known 

to  the  modern  world.     It   is    barely  possible,  however,  that  it  was 

made  a  short  time  after  Alexander,  when    the    cuneiform  writing 

was  still  used. 

The  deities  in  whose  honor  the  great  ziggurats  or  stage-towers  had 

been  built  were  in  part  the  same  which  the  Semites  worshipped  in 

other  lands ;    but  there  long  persisted  a   primitive  belief  in  many 

demons,    coming    from    earlier   times,   which    was    being    transformed 

into   polytheism.      The  characteristics  of  this  belief  in  spirits  can  be 

ascertained    partly   from   the   names  of  the   higher   beings,   and   from 

the    use,    in    the    ancient    incantation    rituals   which  we    have   in   late 

Assyrian  copies,  and  partly  from  the  fact  that  those  beings  represent 


RELIGION. 

religious  ideas  different  from  those  with   which  we  are  familiar  in 
Semitic  religions.     The  Semitic  influence  subsequent 
this  foreigD  element,  or  assimilates  it;  for  n  is  generally  true  thai 
gions  which  fail  to  advance  fromabelief  m  spirits  and  specta 
overpowered  by  the  more  highly  developed  on. 
in  the  ease  of  the  Kheta  |  Hittites),  among  whom  only  Sj  rian 
mentioned.     This   con-Semitic  people  anciently  bad   its  own   peculiar 
beliefs,   which    perhaps   only   bad   to  dp   with   spirits  of   the  air  and 
mountain  goblins,  beings   similar  to  the   Dactyli  and  Telchines  of  the 
Greeks,  like  those  still   found   in  Caucasian   fairy   tales.     Winn   they 
came  into  contact   with   the  Syrians,  and   became  acquainted   with  a 
religion    which    was    more    perfect    and    more    imposing,    their    own 
superstition    may   have   seemed    so   childish    that   they   left    it   to  the 
common   people,  while  they  adopted  the  foreign   religion  as  the  official 

one. 

There  are  numberless  evil  spirit-  in  the   Babylonian- Aseyriau    re- 
ligion, which,  dwelling  in  the  air,  upon    the  earth,  and  under  the  earth, 
cause  misfortune,  bring  on   the  pestilence  (Ira),  produce  oil  manner  of 
diseases,  take  up  their  abode  in  the  possessed,  and  cause  bad  dream«. 
These   numerous    spirits   could   not    he   warded  off  except    by   mighty 
power-,  whose   friendly  aid   must  be  secured  by  worship.     At  the  head 
of  these  stands  a  triad  composed  of  Aim.  god  of  the  heavens;   Kn-lil 
or  lie],  god  of  the  world  inhabited  by  man  ;  ami  Ea,  god  of  the  « 
These  three  gods,  originally  local  deities  whose  worship  was  a 
with    certain    centres,  Ann    with    I'ruk.   Bel  with    Nippur,  and    I",  i    with 
Eridu,   underwent    a   symbolizing   process  through   the  theoloj 
ancient    Babylonia,  who  developed  an  elaborate  coemological-astrolopail 
system   based  on   the  general   principle  that   the  events  on  the  earth  ore 
paralleled  by  occurrences  in   the  heavens.     A   second  triad  was  com- 
posed of  Sin,  the   in -god;    Samas,   the   sun-god;    A.dad,   th. 

of  the  thunder-storm;  while  at    time-    [shtar   i-  associated   with   this 

triad  and   Nin-lil  or  Belit  or   Nin-khar-eag,  the  < sort  of  En-lil,  i- 

added  to  the  first   triad.     Of  the  other  chief  gods,   Ninib   i 
the  morning  or  spring-time  Bun  and  N.  rgal  the  noon-day  and  sumnx 
solstice  sun.     The  latter   i-  also  chief  of  the  world  of  th.-  dead  and 
the  god  of  destruction  and  of  war.     In  many  of  the  incantation 
which  were  compiled  into  elaboran  M      luk  who,  as  the  • 


184 


BABYLONIA. 


Fig.  60.  —  Daemon,  or  Genius,  with  Eagle's  Head.    (London,  British  Museum.) 


i:\  iL  SPIRl  i 

god  of  Babylon,  becomes  the  bead  of  the   pantheon,  is   introduced  as 
the  mediator  between  man  seeking  relief  from  the  evil  spiril 
who    is    vi.wcd    as   the  god    of  mankind   par   excellence.     Froi 
Marduk   seeks  advice   when    invoked    by   sufferers,  and    thi 
generally  involving  purification  rites  with  various  other  oeremoni 
also  bound  nj>  with  the  recital  of  certain  magic  formulas.      In 
rituals,  the  chief  pari  is  played  by  Girru,  the  god  of  fire,  the  guardian 
of  the  hearth  and  of  the  family,  who  is  invoked  as  the  one  without 
whom  no  sacrifices  to  the  gods  can  l>e  brought,  since  fire  consumes  1  ii< 
sacrifice.     In  his  name,  therefore,  magic   rites  and   formulas  an 
scribed;  for  fire,  both   in   nature  and   in   the  hands  of  man,  is  a  most 
effective  instrument.     A  religion  can  nave  no  grand  ceremonial  which 
has  not  given  definite  forms  t<>  it-  gods;  in  thai  case  the  religious 
will  consist  mainly  of  incantation-;   representations  of  the  demon* 
thrown  into  the  fire,  and  .it  the  same  time  wishes  are  expressed  that  the 
evil   influence  may   be   destroyed    as    the  object    was   burned.     G 
numbers  of  such  magical  series  and   rituals  have  been  found  in  Assur- 
banipal's  library  and  published.      At  the  entrances  of  cities  and  pa 
it  was  customary  to  place  winged  bulls  and  lions  with  human  heads, — 
representations  of  the  most   powerful  daemons, — which  should  Berve  to 
prevent  the  other  destructive  spirits  from   entering,  frightening  them 

by  their  fearful  appears ((Figs.  60,  61).     As  a  specimen  of  one  of 

diese  incantation  formulas  the  following  may  Buffice: 

The  Utukku1  of  the  field,  the  Utukku  >>f  ih<-  mountain, 

The  Utukku  of  the  Bea,  the  Utukku  that  Bits  in  pi 

The  bad  Shedu,  the  shining  Shed/u, 

The  evil  wind  thai  knows  no  f«-:i r. 

The  bad  Utukku,  which  has  torn  the  -kin  from  ■  man, 

By  the  -pirii<  of  heaven  and  earth  !><■  ye  foresworn. 

The  Utukku  thai  seixee  bold  of  man, 

The  Ekimmu*  thai  aeiaee  bold  of  man, 

The  Ekimnui  thai  creates  evil, 

The  Utukku  thai  en  atee  evfl. 

Frequently  attache,]  to  these  formulas,  however,  are  most   impi 
sive    prayers    to    gods    and    goddesses    which,   full   of   loft} 
conceptions,  illustrate  the  survival  of  primitive  ritee  and   beliefs 
beyond  the  age  which  had  outgrown  them. 

1  Name  of  a  class  of  daemon* 

1  Shade  of  the  dead  -conceived  as  a  daemon  or  evil  apirit 


186  BABYLONIA. 

The  cosmological  legends  and  the  mythological  traditions  of  the 
Babylonians  are  also  preserved  in  Assyrian  copies,  which  have  been 
brought  in  thousands  of  fragments  from  the  library  in  Nineveh, 
and  deposited  in  the  British  Museum.  It  has  been  necessary  to  ex- 
ercise great  care  in  arranging  and  combining  these,  since  they  had 
fallen  from  an  upper  story  in  Nineveh,  and  had  broken  in  pieces, 
and  were  in  great  confusion.  There  are  several  accounts  of  the 
Creation  ;  and,  besides  many  other  legends,  there  is  also  an  account 
of  a  destructive  Flood,  which  appears  to  be  older  than  the  accounts 
of  creation.  The  translations  are  in  many  points  still  uncertain.  The 
story  of  the  creation  begins  as  follows  :  "  When  above  heaven  was  not 
named,  and  below  the  earth  had  no  name  (the  name  is  the  sign  of 
existence),  there  was  Apsu  ('the  deep')  the  primaeval  begetter, 
Mummu  (the  son  of  Apsu  and  of)  Tiamat  ('  the  waters '  or  <  seas ')  the 
mother  that  bore  them  all — their  waters  were  united.  No  field  was 
formed,  no  marsh  was  seen.  When  none  of  the  gods  were  in  existence, 
none  bore  a  name  and  destinies  were  not  determined  ;  then  the  gods 
were  created  in  the  midst  of  heaven ;  Lakhmu  and  Lakhamu  were 
called  into  being  .  .  .  ;  The  gods  Anshar  and  Kishar  were  then 
created  (according  to  Damascius,  Assorus,  and  Kissare,  '  the  upper  and 
lower  space ') ;  and  long  days  afterward  .  .  .  the  gods  Ami,  Bel,  and 
Ea  .  .  .  (according  to  Damascius,  Anos,  Illinos,  and  Aos  or  Ao)." 
The  story  passes  over  into  an  account  of  two  conflicts,  one  with  Apsu 
and  Mummu  in  which  Ea  is  the  hero,  and  a  second  and  much  more 
significant  one  in  which  Marduk  overcomes  the  great  monster  Tiamat, 
the  symbol  of  primaeval  chaos,  pictured  at  a  time  when  the  waters 
covered  everything  and  were  in  unrestrained  control.  After  the  over- 
throw of  Tiamat,  order  is  established  in  the  universe,  the  dry  earth 
appears,  vegetation  ensues,  and  man  is  created.  This  creation  myth, 
related  in  a  series  of  seven  tablets,  and  consisting  of  about  1000  lines, 
bears  a  sufficient  resemblance  to  the  Biblical  story  of  creation  to 
warrant  us  in  tracing  both  to  a  common  source.  Even  in  the  present 
entirely  transformed  form  of  the  old  tale  as  found  in  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  there  are  certain  features  that  point  to  Babylonia  as  the 
original  scene  of  action,  and  the  same  applies  to  the  Biblical  story  of 
the  Flood,  where  the  Babylonian  system  of  metrology  is  the  basis 
of  the  measures  of  Noah's  ark.     The  Babylonian  story  of  the  Flood  is 


on  '■■  i  V/-V//  epic 


introduced  incidentally  in  connection  withagreal  epi. 

tablets  detailing  the  achievements  of  a  Bemi-mythioal  bei     G       m<  -I, 

who  lives  alife  full  of  strange  adventures,  and  to  whom 


Fig.  61.  —  Winged  Daemon  in  an  « offering.   Alabaster  r.-ii.-f  from  Ki 
in  [eel  in  height.    (London,  British  Museum  I 

personage,  stories    belonging  t>>  others  (in   some 
tached.  and   who   is    broughl    into  connection   with   other  myths  thai 
were  currenl   in   Babylonia.     He  exercises  a  tyrannical  rule  in  Trnk. 
Inn  :i  rival   Ea-bani,  especially  created  b)  the  goddess   Arum  t<> 


jgg  BABYLONIA. 

Gilganiesh's  audacity  and  power,  becomes  his  intimate  friend.  To- 
gether they  proceed  against  Khumbaba,  who  is  appointed  as  the  watch- 
man over  a  sacred  cedar  forest.  Khumbaba  is  slain,  and  Gilgamesh's 
next  adventure  is  with  the  goddess  Ishtar  who  has  fallen  in  love  with 
him.  The  hero  rejects  Ishtar's  suit,  and  in  her  rage  she  asks  her  father 
Ami,  the  god  of  heaven,  to  send  a  divine  bull  to  kill  Gilgamesh  and 
his  friend.  Instead,  however,  the  bull  is  killed.  The  pair  return  to 
Uruk  and  are  received  with  demonstrations  of  joy  as  heroes.  So  far 
the  six  tablets  of  the  epic.  The  second  half  of  the  epic  is  sad  and 
sombre  in  character.  Ea-bani  is  stricken  with  disease  and  dies.  Gil- 
gamesh bewails  his  friend,  and  begins  a  series  of  wanderings  in  which 
lie  encounters  lions  and  scorpion-men,  enters  a  wonderful  park  and 
reaches  the  sea.  The  goddess  Siduru-Sabitu  at  first  tries  to  hinder  the 
approach  of  Gilgamesh,  but  yields  to  the  hero's  threats,  and  after  a  long 
dialogue  between  the  two,  in  which  Gilgamesh,  fearing  lest  Ea-bani's 
fate  may  also  be  in  store  for  him,  asks  how  he  may  proceed  to  a  certain 
Ut-napishtim,  who  alone  of  human  beings  has  escaped  death.  The 
goddess  tells  him  to  reach  his  goal,  which  after  much  difficulty  he 
attains.  Face  to  face  with  Ut-napishtim,  Gilgamesh  inquires  how  he 
came  to  secure  immortal  life,  and  in  reply  Ut-napishtim  tells  the  story 
of  a  great  flood  which  the  gods  had  brought  on,  and  from  which  he  and 
his  wife  were  saved  through  the  intervention  of  Ea.  Ut-napishtim 
and  his  wife  try  by  various  magical  manipulations  to  impart  to  Gilga- 
mesh the  power  to  resist  death,  and  finally  direct  him  to  a  plant 
"  Restorer  of  the  aged  to  youth,"  which  grows  at  the  bottom  of  the 
water.  Gilgamesh  secures  the  plant,  but  on  his  way  to  Uruk  comes  to 
a  cistern,  at  which  he  halts  to  wash  himself.  A  serpent  comes  and 
snatches  the  plant  out  of  Gilgamesh's  grasp.  The  hero's  fate  is  thus 
sealed.  He  returns  to  Uruk  and  must  look  forward  to  death.  In 
the  last  tablet  of  the  epic  we  once  more  find  Gilgamesh  wandering,  this 
time  to  find  out  what  has  become  of  his  friend  Ea-bani.  The  god  Ea 
grants  him  a  sight  of  Ea-bani's  shade,  and  from  the  latter  he  learns  of 
the  sadness  and  gloom  that  prevail  in  the  world  of  the  dead.  An 
honorable  death  and  proper  burial,  however,  secure  for  the  dead  at  least 
rest  and  comfort,  while  he  who  is  unburied  and  for  whom  no  one 
provides  endures  hunger  and  discomfort.  The  same  gloomy  view  of 
the  life  after  death  appears  in  the  story  of  Ishtar's  descent  into  the 


Tin: 


lower  world,  a  nature   myth    based  on    the  change  of  season* 
goddess  is  represented  as  proceeding  to  the  «  land  when, 


return': 


"To  the  house  of  darkness,  the  dwelling  of  b-kalla, 

To  the  house  whence le  issues  who  bason  i  entered  it, 

To  the  toad  whence  there  is  no  return  when ■«■  i,  I, ,.  been  trodden, 

To  the  house  whose  inhabitants  are  deprived  of  light, 

The  place  where  dust  is  their  nourishment,  their  food  clay; 

They  have  no  light,  dwelling  in  darkn 

They  are  clothed  like  birds  in  garments  of  feat! 

Over  gate  and  bolt  dust  is  scattered." 

Ishtar  passes  through  seven  gates,  leaving  some  of  her  garments  and 
ornaments  at  each  until  when  she  reaches  the  nether  world 
entirely  naked.  This  pari  of  the  story 
symbolizes  decay  of  vegetation  ;  while  the 
second  half,  in  which,  after  being  sprinkled 
with  the  waters  of  life,  she  passes  through 
the  seven  gates  again,  receiving  at  each 
the  apparel  and  ornaments  she  had  lefl 
there,  and  emerging  in  her  lull  glory, 
marks  the  return  of  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer season.  The  religious  literature  oi 
the  Babylonians  abounds  in  Buch  stories, 
in  which  myths  of  a  popular  origin  and 
other  tales  are  taken  up  and  made  the 
medium  for  illustrating  doctrines  and 
views  developed  by  the  priests  in  the 
various  religious  centres  of  the  Euphrates 
Valley. 

A  Fish-god,  who  is  represented  on 
monuments,  is  none  other  than  Ea,  and 
he  again  is  identical  with  Oannes,of  whom 
Berosus  relates  a  myth  which  makes  Ea- 
Oannes  the  deity  who  Instructed  mankind 
in  all  the  arts  and  gave  then,  laws  and  laid  the  foundation  of  I 
Ionian  civilization  (Kg.  61).  The  Babylonian  godfl  m 
potent  in  opposing  the  hostile  forces  of  natare,  and  wen  wore! 


190  BABVLOXIA. 

in  order  that  their  aid  might  be  secured.  The  Assyrians,  however, 
were  warlike  in  their  character,  and  were  constantly  busied  with  mili- 
tary preparations  ;  and  therefore  most  of  their  gods  had  a  warlike  stamp. 
The  seven  planets  were  the  abode  of  the  great  gods :  Mercury,  of  Nebo, 
the  Babylonian  Hermes  ;  Venus,  of  Ishtar  ;  Mars,  of  Nergal ;  Jupiter, 
of  Marduk;  Saturn,  of  Ninib  ;  the  moon,  of  Sin;  and  the  sun,  of 
Shamash.  This  belief,  however,  was  not  a  popular  superstition,  but  an 
integral  part  of  an  astronomical  and  astrological  system  devised  by  the 
priests,  of  which  the  outcome  is  to  be  seen  in  the  extensive  reports, 
records,  and  calculations  of  movements  and  phenomena  of  the  heavenly 
bodies — the  sun,  moon,  and  stars — found  in  Asurbanipal's  library  at 
Nineveh.  On  the  basis  of  this  system  an  elaborate  science  of  oracular 
lore  and  portents  grew  up.  The  fact  that  there  were  seven  planets 
gave  rise  to  the  sacredness  of  the  number  seven,  to  the  division  of  the 
week,  which  is  a  quarter  of  a  month,  into  seven  days,  and  to  the  seven 
chief  demons.  Every  hour  of  the  day  has  a  planet  as  its  tutelary  god, 
as  also  every  day  has  that  planet  that  marked  its  opening  hour.  This 
is  the  origin  of  the  names  of  the  days  of  the  week  that  are  now  used 
by  us,  the  names  being  derived  from  the  gods. 

Numerous  allusions  in  religious  texts,  of  which  some  illustrations 
have  above  been  given,  reveal  to  us  the  views  held  by  the  Babylonians 
in  regard  to  existence  after  death.  They  conceived  of  a  shadowy 
existence  in  the  next  world,  similar  to  that  which  other  Semites  held. 
Such  beliefs,  however,  as  we  find  alluded  to  in  the  story  of  Ishtar's 
journey  to  the  better  world,  did  not  prevent  the  rise  of  a  more  earnest 
religious  feeling  and  of  true  reverence  for  the  gods,  as  is  manifest  in 
the  numerous  hymns  which,  though  frequently  forming  part  of  incanta- 
tion rituals,  are  not  only  couched  in  impressive  and  fervent  diction,  but 
also  marked  by  elevated  thought.  The  flower  of  the  Babylonian- Assyrian 
religious  literature  appears  in  the  so-called  penitential  psalms,  some  of 
which  are  worthy  of  a  place  by  the  side  of  Biblical  religious  poetry. 

As  far  back  as  our  history  extends,  the  Semites  dwelt  near  the 
Sumerians  and  Akkadians,  and  it  must  have  been  in  an  earlier  period 
that  these  latter  had  exclusive  possession  of  the  land.  It  is  generally 
supposed  that  the  Semites  originated  in  southern  Arabia,  and  this  view 
is  now  gaining  the  preference  among  scholars  over  the  one  which 
advocated  Mesopotamia  as  the  original  abode. 


CHRONOLOQl  .,,, 

Among    the   Semites  we   may  distinguish   two   broad   and 
divisions,— -the  southern  and   the  northern;  to  the  former  I 
Arabians,  with  numerous  nations  and  races;  and  the  latter« 
several  groups,  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians,  the  Aram* 
retained  the  name  of  Syrians),  and  the  people  of  Canaan.    The  northern 
Semites  were  conquered,  and  carried  away  in  auch  large  mm, I, 
first  by  the  Assyrians,  that  they  Lost  their  peculiarities  of  i 

through   the  c [ue'sl  of  [slam   the  territory  of  the  Arabic  Ian. 

was  extended  over  the  north  Semitic  Lands,  bo  that  on] 
and  there   not  subject  to  Mohammedanism,  like  th<    N 
Mandaeans,  preserved  the  Aramaic  language.     The  Chaldaean  popu- 
lation of  Babylonia  is  the  result  of  the  union  of  the  S 
the  oldest  inhabitants  oi  the  land:  and  it  would  seem  that  the 
had  the  greater  influence  in   the  earlier  periods,  while  in  the 
Babylonian  empire  Mesopotamia  can  be  regarded  as  a  Semitic  land. 
Many   names   of  the   earliest    rulers  are   Semitic,   while   others 
Sumerian.     The  inscriptions  furnish  many  names  of  kings, 
whom  it  is  impossible  to  arrange  chronologically  with  any  •  • 

Berosus,  a  priesl  of  Bel,  win»  was  born  at  Babylon  about  bu 
and  win)  in  the  time  of  Aiitioehns  Soter  (  280   263  i  w  rote  appan 
in  Greek  a  work-  upon  Babylonian  history,  is  supposed  t<>  have  made 
use  of    old    records.     Vitruvius,  Seneca,    and    Pliny    mention    him 
only  as  an  astronomer.     Eusebius,  whom  we  have  already  be 
acquainted  with  as  the  one  who  preserved  the  fragment*  tho, 

quotes  from  the   Babylonian  history;   he  thus  not,  however,  kn«>w 
it  in  its  original  form,  but  only  through  an  extract  oi    \ 
hist  U-.  win  i  lived  in  Rome  in  the  time  of  Sulla.     Since  other  osi 
quotations  from   Berosus  are  made  only  through  Ü 
fragments  in   Eusebius  and  Josephus  that  treal  of  the  i  reation 
mythology  are  not  a  reliable  source.     The  fragments  • 
Eusebius,  however,   contain,  in  addition,  a  list  of  Babylonian  V 
likewise   probably  derived   from  Alexander  Polyhist 
cited  in  various  works,  and  has  given  rise  to  ing< 
It  he-ins  with   the    mvthical    kings,  who  were   both   l>efore  and 
the  Hood,  and  whose  reigns  are  arranged  chronologically.    The  I 
before  the   flood   reigned    182,000  thai   is  tweh 

.,•,/,-,■, a  saw  being  3,600  years,  or  twelve  solar  i 


192  BABYLONIA. 

between  two  complete  returns  of  the  equinoxes.  The  others  reigned 
39,180  years,  or  twelve  periods  of  1805  years,  or  lunar  periods  of 
22,325  synodical  months  (21,660  years  or  361  sosses),  together  with 
twelve  Sothis-periods  of  1160  years  (17,520  years  or  292  sosses). 
The  time  from  the  flood  to  the  birth  of  Abraham  is  292  years  (origi- 
nally sosses),  and  there  are  361  years  from  that  time  till  the  end  of 
Genesis,  making  in  all  653  years  instead  of  sosses,  which  would 
make  39,180  years.  Then  follow  the  seven  historical  dynasties  ;  but 
the  chronology  of  these  is  not  certain,  since  the  duration  of  two  is 
not  given.  The  only  two  established  dates  are  B.c.  717,  marking  the 
beginning  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty  and  also  the  era  of  Nabonassar,  and 
539,  which  marks  the  end  of  the  Seventh  Dynasty,  coinciding  with 
the  capture  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus. 

In  the  inscriptions  chronological  data  are  occasionally  given, 
which  assign  some  of  the  old  rulers  to  a  definite  period,  but  com- 
plete reliance  cannot  be  placed  upon  them.  The  Babylonians  had  a 
system  of  reckoning  time,  and  had  fixed  the  length  of  the  year,  but 
they  had  no  long  period  like  an  era.  They  reckoned  their  years 
from  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  their  kings  or  from  some  impor- 
tant event.  On  the  other  hand,  we  find  for  a  considerable  space  of 
time  perfectly  reliable  chronology  indicated  by  the  Assyrian  limmu, 
or  eponymous  years.  Every  year  received  the  name  of  a  high 
officer,  a  city  prefect,  and  one  that  of  the  king.  In  one  place 
the  list  mentions  the  eclipse  of  the  sun  which  occurred  June  15, 
763  B.c. ;  and  by  means  of  this  date  we  can  complete  the  series  of 
years  forwards  and  backwards,  from  893  to  666.  Moreover,  the 
years  from  the  26th  of  February  (1  Thoth),  747,  the  era  of  Nabo- 
nassar, to  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies,  are  made  entirely  certain  by  the 
so-called  Canon  of  Ptolemy  (the  geographer),  who  lived  in  the  first 
half  of  the  second  century.  This  important  record  was  derived  from 
the  tables  which  were  added  to  the  Almagest,  an  astronomical  work, 
in  order  that  the  eclipses  mentioned  in  it  might  be  easily  taken 
into  account.  From  Nabonassar,  who  probably  introduced  the 
reckoning  of  time  by  solar  years,  the  canon  gives  twenty  Babylonian 
kings,  ten  Persian,  thirteen  Ptolemies,  and  the  Roman  emperors 
down  to  its  own  time,  with  the  exact  number  of  years  of  each  reign. 

Lists  of  the  early   Babylonian  rulers,  arranged  according  to   the 


ce^es  in  which  the  rulers  lived,  «rill  be  found   in  the  recent   hi«, 
of  l;"-«',v  :'"<1   Radau,  l.nt   i„   many  ,,..,„,.,.  , }, —  i;_,.  ,,,.  Bti„ 
regarded  as  provisional,  and  will  be  modified  and  extended  bj  fu 
discoveries  and   researches.     I.   ig  not  worth  the  while  I 
Lists,  though  ii  may  be  of  interesl   to  Bupplemenl  the  general 
the  earlier   periods   of    Babylonian    history   at    the   beginning  of    this 
chapter  by  further  data   selected    here  and    there   from   the  histo 
records  now  at  our  disposal. 

A  Babylonian  ruler  of  Elamitic  origin  i-  Kudurmal.uk,  boo  of 
Simtishilkhak  j  he  calls  himself  king  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  (south  and 
north  Babylonia),  ruler  of  Martu  or  •  Westland '  and  of  Kmutbal,  that 
is,  Susiana.  This  would  indicate  thai  he  extended  his  sway  o 
He  had  a  son  Eriaku  (or  Rim-Sin),  who  succeeded  to  the  empire  of  bis 
father.     With  this  should  be  connected  the  aarrative  preserved  in  I 

xiv.  1—10,  which  is ■  of  th«'  later  elements  of  the  Pentateuch.     The 

kings   Ajnraphel  of  Shinar,  Arioch  (Eriaku)  of  Bllasar  (Larsa),  Ched- 
orlaomer  of    Elam,   and   Tidal,    king  of    the  < ■•  > i i 1 1 1  (who   have   been 
idcntifieil  with  the  Guti,  north  of  the  Cossaeans),  made  war  with  the 
kings  <>t'  Bera  of  Sodom  (this   name  is  .-till   applied   to  the  mountain 
CJzdum  at  the  southwestern   corner  of  the   Dead  Sea  .  Birsha  ol 
morrah,  Shinab  of  Admah,  Shemeber  of  Zeboiim,  and   with  the  king 
of  Bela,  which   is  there  called   /oar.     They  did  this  in  order  to  bring 
them    into   subjection ;    for   these  had   rebelled  against    Chedorlaoi 
who  had  subdued  them  twelve  years  earlier.     The  Canaanitish  i 
were   defeated    in   the   vale  of  Siddim    (which    i-    probably   the   mod 
southern   portion  of  the    Dead   Sea.  where  there  are  marshy   lowlands 
covered    at    times    with    water),   and    their   cities   were    captured    and 
plundered.     Amraphel  may  be   identical  with  the  famous  Hammurabi, 
though  this   is  by   no  mean-   certain.     Chedorlaomei  at  of  the 

god   Lagamar')  was,  perhaps,  an  ally  of  Kudur-mnl.uk:   Lagamai 
the  name  of  a  goddess,  which  Asurbanipal  captured  ii   9 

Of  this  important  period  in  which  Kudur-nial.uk  lived  we  DOW 
have  eon~i.lrral.le  .lata  through  the  historical  and  votive  inscription* 
of  his  contemporary  Hammurabi  (c.  2250  b.<  ,  .  through  official  l< 
of  this  same  ruler  and  of  oth.r  members  of  the  dynasty  t-.  which  be 
belonged,  and  through  a  mos!  valuable  chronicle  which,  - 
served,  records  many  event-  in  the  n  igns  of  the  first  ten  member*  of  this 
v.u..  I.    13 


194  BABYLONIA 

so-called  first  Babylonian  dynasty.  It  was  still  customary  in  the  (lavs 
of  this  dynasty  to  use  as  a  date  some  event  in  the  reign  of  the  king, 
and  since  this  method  is  followed  in  the  business  documents  of  this 
period,  of  which  now  many  hundreds  are  known,  it  is  clear  that  the 
chronicle  in  question  was  drawn  up  to  serve  as  a  guide  in  determining 
the  year  to  which  a  date  in  a  business  document  refers.  So,  for  exam- 
ple, it  is  from  this  chronicle  as  well  as  from  the  corresponding  indica- 
tions in  no  less  than  four  contract  tablets  that  we  learn  of  the  conquest 
of  Emutbal,  over  which  Kudurmabuk  once  claimed  control  in  the  thirty- 
first  year  of  the  reign  of  Hammurabi.  As  a  specimen  of  such  a  method 
of  dating,  an  example  from  one  of  the  tablets  in  question  may  serve  : 

"The  year  of  Hammurabi  the  King,  in  which  with  the  help  of 
Anu  and  Bel,  he  established  his  good  fortune  and  his  hand  subdued 
the  land  of  Emutbal  and  Rim-Sin  (or  Eri-aku  the  son  of  Kudur- 
mabuk) the  king." 

Ordinarily,  however,  the  dating  formula  is  much  briefer.  Thus  in 
a  document  of  the  reign  of  Sin-idinnam,  the  contracting  parties  swear 
by  the  name  of  the  god  of  Ur  and  of  the  king  Nur-Adad  ;  and  the  date 
is  expressed  as  follows  :  "  Month  Tebet  (December),  of  the  year  in 
which  he  adorned  with  gold  a  high  throne  for  the  god  Shamash."  In 
the  contract  tablets  dating  from  the  time  of  Rim-Sin,  who  built  a 
fortification  around  the  city  Larsa,  together  with  a  tower,  and  also 
constructed  and  restored  several  temple  buildings,  the  capture  of  the 
city  Apirak  is  mentioned  ;  thus,  "  Month  Tishri  (September),  thirtieth 
day,  in  the  nineteenth  year  after  Apirak  had  been  captured  by  the  ruler 
Rim-Sin,  who  is  still  alive."  This  event  was  of  sufficient  importance 
to  mark  the  beginning  of  an  era.  The  site  of  Apirak  has  not  yet 
been  determined ;  but  it  was  apparently  important  that  a  dynasty 
should  possess  it,  for  it  is  announced  that  Naram-Sin,  one  of  the  oldest 
rulers,  captured  Apirak.  The  capture  of  cities  like  Kish  and  Dur-Ilu 
in  Babylonia  is  used  in  the  same  way  to  indicate  a  date.  Upon  one 
tablet  the  year  is  mentioned  in  which  the  Tigris,  the  river  of  the  gods, 
was  connected  with  the  sea ;  that  is,  a  canal  was  constructed  connecting 
it  with  the  Persian  Gulf.  The  building  of  temples  was  also  used  as  a 
basis  for  dating,  and  thus  by  merely  placing  dates  together  we  obtain 
considerable  historical  material  for  this  early  period. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  when  we  pass  beyond  the  age  of  the  first 


vi/.'."  \    AND    NA  RA  M-S1N 


dynasty  which  ruled   in  the  city  of  Babylon   our  knowledge  should  be 
less   precise,  for  even   to  the   Babylonians  of   later   tim<  irlier 

period   appeared    in   a   half-legendary    light     This   \  tided 

from    the  story  about   Sargon    I.  found   on   a  tablel   of  A*urbanipa)'ii 
library,  in  which  we  find   the  Bame  motif  as  in  the  stories  about  M 
( !yrus,  and  Romulus.     The  tablet  so  far  as  pn  -•  I-  ■ 

••  I    am    Sargon    the    mighty   king,   the    king  of    \ 
My   mother  was  of  uoble  birth  (?) ;    my   father  was  unknown.       M  . 
father's  brother  used  to  dwell    in  the   highlands,  ami   my  oativ< 
was  Azupiranu,  which  lies  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrafc  -.     My  mother, 

of  noble  birth  (?), iceived  me,  and  bore  me  in  Beeret     She  put  me 

in  a  basket  of  sAur,  and  closed   up   the  opening  with  bitumen.     She 
cast   me  into  the  river,  which   did  m>i   flow  over  me  [71.     The   river 
carried    me  along  to   Akki,  the   irrigator.     Akki,    the   irrigator,  t.x.k 
me    up.     Akki.  the    irrigator,    reared    me   as    his   child.      Akki.  the 
irrigator,   made   me  a  gardener.     WTiile    I   acted  as  gardener,    l-litar 
showed  me  favor.     Forty-five  years(?)  I   ruled  over  the  black-h 
race  (i.e.,  the  Babylonians):   I  .  .  .  axes  of  bronze,  .  .  .  :   [I  ruled]  the 
upper   land,  I    governed    [the   kings]  of  the   lower   land.  .   .  ." 
remainder  of  the  inscription   is  incomplete,  and  hardly  intelligible:  it 
seems  to  refer  to  the  conquest  of  Dur-ilu  on  the  borders  of  Elai 
of  Dilmun,  the  island  city  in  the  Persian  Gulf. 

Again,  events  in  Sargon's  reign    became   f>r  later  times  th< 
for  ili''  interpretation  of  omen — an  indication  likewLse  of  the  " sym- 
bolical "  aspect   acquired   by  the  remote  age   in  which   he  was   pi 
This  tablel   that    recounts   the  deeds  of  Sargon  i.s  divided   into 
sections,  each  of  which   gives  at    the   beginning  the  condition   of  tin- 
moon.      From  thi^  we  learn  that  Sargon  made  an  expoditioi 
Elam,  and  thai  in   an  expedition  which  lasted  three  y<  irs,  I. 
the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.     Re  also  repulsed  an  enei 
besieged   him  in   Agade,  and  al   last  the  kingdom 

from  which  he  carried  1 ty  back  to   lii-  capital.      II 

Sin,  i-  called  "  King  of  the  four  regions"  1 1 j ►•  •  1 1  ai 
w.i-   found  in  Babylon,  and  which  i-  described  as  a  pico  nl   b 
n  i  Arabia). 

1  A  phnwe  in 
kn-.w  from  the  inacri| 


196  BABYLONIA. 

Next  to  Sargon,  the  name  t1  -\i  made  the  deepest  impression  upon 
the  memories  of  the  Babylonians  was  that  of  Hammurabi — the  sixth 
member  of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon — who  ruled  for  forty-two  years 
(c.  2300-2250  b.c.).  It  was  under  Hammurabi,  preeminent  alike  as  a 
military  leader  and  statesman,  that  Babylon,  the  origin  of  which  may 
indeed  go  as  far  back  as  the  days  of  Sargon,  rose  to  political  supremacy. 
From  this  time  the  title  "  king  of  Babylon "  generally  replaces  the 
older  one  of  "  king  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  "•  and  amid  the  frequently 
changing  fortunes  of  the  succeeding  fifteen  hundred  years,  the  city  of 
Babylon  with  only  rare  intervals  and  short  interruptions  maintained 
itself  as  the  centre  of  the  entire  Euphrates  Valley.  The  union  of 
Euphratean  states  thus  brought  about  ■  by  Hammurabi  was  of  a  more 
permanent  character  than  the  earlier  one  represented  by  the  Ur  dynasty, 
and  even  after  it  was  dissolved  through  the  rise  of  the  independent 
state  of  Chaldaea  in  the  extreme  south,  its  effects  were  felt  throughout 
the  period  of  Babylonian  history ;  and  when,  after  the  fall  of  Assyria, 
a  Chaldaean  dynasty  succeeded  in  erecting  the  neo-Babylonian  empire, 
not  only  was  Babylon  chosen  as  the  political  centre,  but  the  example 
of  Hammurabi  evidently  influenced  the  neo-Babylonian  kings,  notably 
Nebuchadnezzar  IL,  who  even  imitated  in  his  inscriptions  the  style  of 
the  cuneiform  characters  current  in  Hammurabi's  days. 

Besides  a  large  number  of  tablets  from  Hammurabi  to  his  officials 
and  to  contemporary  chieftains,  and  of  inscriptions  which  enable  us  to 
penetrate  even  into  the  details  of  occurrences  during  his  long  reign, 
in  which  he  succeeded  in  making  all  of  Babylon  and  Elam  subject  to 
him,  we  have  records  of  his  many  undertakings,  such  as  the  cutting 
of  canals  for  the  internal  improvement  of  the  country,  and  of  his 
activity  in  embellishing  the  temple  of  Marduk  and  of  other  gods 
worshipped  in  Babylon.  Most  precious  of  all,  however,  is  a  mag- 
nificent monument  of  diorite,  over  seven  feet  high,  found  in  1902 
by  the  French  expedition  at  Susa,  and  which  proved  to  be  an  elab- 
orate code  of  laws  set  up  by  Hammurabi  for  the  government  of  his 
empire  (Fig.  63).  The  monument  stood  originally  in  the  temple  to 
Shamash — the  sun  god — at  Sippar,  and  was  carried  as  a  trophy  to 
Elam  probably  by  Sutruk-nakhunte,  of  wliom  we  have  spoken  above 
(p.  159).  The  design  at  the  top  shows  Hammurabi  in  an  attitude 
of  adoration  before  the  sun  god — who  is  the  god  of  justice  and  right- 


4>v  .. 


Pio.  63.      King  Hammurabi  of  Babylon  b 
s 


WAR. 


197 


.    r 

Fig.  til.      An  Armenian  town  stormed;  r< 

I  after  i  ayard.) 


198  BABYLONIA. 

eousness  par  excellence — and  in  accord  with  this  sentiment  Hammurabi 
in  the  body  of  the  inscription  calls  himself  king  of  righteousness, 
impelled  by  consideration  for  the  welfare  of  his  subjects  to  draw  up 
laws  that  might  ensure  justice  to  all  and  to  establish  peace  and  security 
throughout  the  land.  The  laws  themselves,  consisting  of  about  300 
paragraphs,  represent  a  combination  of  customs  derived  from  primitive 
days,  with  regulations  that  are  the  outcome  of  more  advanced  social 
conditions.  While  the  punishments  meted  out  for  offenders — theft, 
fraud,  assaults — are  exceedingly  severe,  great  precautions  are  taken 
against  miscarriage  of  justice.  Parental  authority  is  recognized  as 
paramount,  but  the  son  is  protected  against  an  unwarranted  exercise  of 
tins  authority,  and  similarly  the  wife  is  protected  against  neglect  on  the 
part  of  her  husband.  The  lex  talionis  is  in  full  force,  but  the  era  of 
"blood-avenge" — so  characteristic  of  primitive  Semitic  society^is 
past.1 

The  exact  relationship  of  this  code  of  Hammurabi  to  the  Penta- 
teuchal  codes  has  not  been  ascertained,  but  so  much  is  clear  that  con- 
ditions prevailing  in  Babylonia  as  reflected  in  Hammurabi's  code,  as 
well  as  specific  stipulations,  exercised  considerable  influence  on  the 
Hebrews  and  on  their  leaders,  to  whom  we  owe  the  Hebrew  codes 
embodied  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  that  date  from  various  periods  from 
the  ninth  to  the  fifth  centuries. 

The  dynasty  to  which  Hammurabi  belonged  was  succeeded  about 

c.  2150  b.c.  by  a  series  of  eleven  rulers  who  appear  to  have  come  from 

the  extreme  south  of  Babylonia,  known  as  the  "  Sea  land,"  and  to  have 

secured  control  of  the  city  of   Babylon.       A  more  serious  change  is 

represented   by   the  Cassite   invasion  of  Babylonia,  which   took    place 

about  1780.     Of  the  36  kings,  extending  over  a  period  of  576  years 

— as    a    Babylonian    chronicle    informs    us — only   about    a    dozen    are 

known  to  us  through  inscriptions — chiefly  boundary  stones  and  small 

votive  tablets — but  our  knowledge  of  the  period  is  somewhat  enlarged 

by  the   records  of  rulers  of  Assyria,  which   during   the   reign  of  the 

Cassites  forges  to  the  front,  while  the  archaeological  interest  of  the  last 

king  of  Babylonia,  Nabonidus,  prompts  him  to  mention  several  of  the 

1  For  a  full  translation  of  the  code,  see  Johns,  "The  Oldest  Code  of  Laws  in  the 
World"  (Edinburgh,  1902),  also  in  the  same  author's  "Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
Laws,  Contracts,  and  Letters"  (New  York,  1904),  and  K.  F.  Harper,  "The  Code  of 
Hammurabi"  (Chicago,  1903). 


CAS8ITE   EULER8.  199 

Cassite  rulers  whose  nam.-  he  finds  .>n  records  of  the  templea  which  he 
i-  engaged  in  enlarging  and  rebuilding. 

At  first  the  relations  between  the  Cassites  and  Assyrians  seem  to 
have  been  friendly,  though  if,  as  has  been  supposed,  the  district  of 
Kliani  whence  Agumkakrime  brings  back  the  captured  Btatue  of 
Marduk  and  his  consorl  Sarpanit,  is  a  pari  of  Assyria,  it  would 
that  hostilities  had  broken  out  between  the  south  and  the  uorth  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  Afterward,  however,  we  hear  of  treaties  and 
alliances  between  the  Cassite  and  Assyrian  rulers  in  the  days  of  Kara- 
indash  and  Burnaburiash  I.,  while  a  little  later  (c.  1500)  a  Cassite  king, 
Kara-eharda-di,  marries  Muballit-sherua,  the  daughter  of  the  Assyrian 
king  Ashur-uhallit.  The  alliance,  however,  was  also  fraught  with 
danger,  for  when,  after  the  murder  of  Kara-chardash,  unsettled  condi- 
fcions  prevailed  in  Babylonia,  it  was  through  Ashur-uballit's  interference 
that  (e.  1400  b.c.)  his  great-grandson,  Kurigalzu  II..  was  placed  on 
the  throne.  Bel-nirari,  the  successor  of  Ashur-uballit,  begins  the 
hostile  attitude  toward  the  south  which  finally  had-,  under  Tukulti- 
Xinih  I.  (c.  1300),  in  the  practical  subjection  of  Babylonia  to  Assyria, 
A  revolt  against  Tukulti-Ninib  in  Assyria  is  followed  by  the  temporary 
decline  of  the  Assyrian  power,  but  when  a  new  period  of  strength  and 
military  glory  sets  in  under  Tiglathpileser  [.  (c.  1130),  Babylonia  too 
is  involved,  and  soon  thereafter  the  Cassite  rule  comes  to  end,  and 
dynasties  of  various  origin,  though  more  or  less  under  control  of 
Assyria,  followed,  until  in  the  eighth  century  the  ruler-  of  Babylonia 
became  practically  viceroys  in  the  service  of  Assyrian  kings, 


CHAPTER   V. 

SYRIA   AND   ASIA   MINOR. 

BEFORE  we  begin  to  describe  the  struggles  of  the  Egyptians 
with  the  various  peoples  of  Syria,  it  will  be  well  to  speak  of 
the  geographical  and  ethnographical  characteristics  of  the  latter  coun- 
try, as  well  as  to  give  some  of  the  more  salient  points  in  its  history. 
In  order  to  present  the  subject  connectedly,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
touch  upon  many  things  which  really  occurred  later  than  these  strug- 
gles. It  will  also  be  necessary  to  discuss  the  oldest  Assyrian  his- 
tory later,  although  it  is  connected  with  events  touched  upon  at 
the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter. 

Syria  is  the  country  lying  between  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  the 
Arabian  Desert,  and  the  Euphrates  River.  It  is  traversed  by  moun- 
tain ranges  running  north  and  south,  which  touch  Mount  Taurus 
iu  the  north.  The  chief  rivers  of  the  country  run  in  the  valleys 
between  these  mountain  ranges.  As  the  land  is  the  highest  at  the 
centre,  some  of  them,  as  the  Orontes,  flow  to  the  north,  and  some, 
as  the  Litany  and  Jordan,  to  the  south ;  the  Orontes  flows  through 
Coele-Syria,  and  after  passing  Antioch  empties  into  the  sea;  the 
Litany,  turning  to  the  west,  flowing  through  a  valley,  enters  the 
sea  north  of  Tyre.  At  the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon  are  three  foun- 
tains, whose  waters  unite  with  smaller  streams,  and  form  the  Lake 
Hüleh,  from  which  the  Jordan  flows  into  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret, 
or  Sea  of  Tiberias  (Fig.  65).  The  Jordan,  soon  after  leaving  this 
lake,  enters  a  broad,  barren  valley,  which  has  a  tropical  climate.  At 
first  it  is  a  small  volume  of  water ;  but  its  waters  are  soon  increased 
by  the  Yarmuk,  which  comes  from  the  region  of  Bozrah,  and  by  the 
Jabbok,  which  flows  through  Gilead,  rich  in  forest  and  grass.  The 
waters  of  the  Dead  Sea,  into  which  the  Jordan  empties,  are  increased 
by  still  other  streams,  as  the  Arnon  in  Moab  (Fig.  66).  East  of 
the  Jordan  the  land  is  well  watered,  but  on  the  west  it  is  to  a  large 

200 


GEOGRAPH! 


201 


extent  barren  and  unfruitful.  The  race  of  Lot,  whom  the  genea- 
logical history  of  the  Bible  represents  as  the  nephew  of  Abraham, 
must  he  located  in  Moab.  Lotan  was  a  chieftain  in  the  mountains 
of  Edom(l  Chron.  i.  38 ;  Gen.  xxxvi.  20).  The  well-known  legend 
of  the  sensual  conduct  of  Lol  musl  have  arisen  out  of  hatred 
felt  toward  Moab,  who  was  s;ud  to  be  a  descendant  of  Lot;  the 
pillar  of  salt  into  which  his  wife  was  transformed  stands  above  the 
Dead  Sea  at  its  southwestern  extremity,  at  I  /dum  (  Fig.  67  }.  This 
lake  is  remarkable  from  the  fact  thai  us  waters  are  strongly  impreg- 


Fig.  65.      Lake  Tiberias,  or  Gennesaret 

uated  with  minerals  ;  and  <>n   this  account   uo  fishes  can  live  in  it. 
It  varies  greatly  in  depth,  being  in    its   northern    portion    1,082 
deep,  while  in  the  southern  portion  it  is  less  than   1"  feet     Its  Bur- 
face  is  nearly  1,300  feet  below  tin-  level  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  narrow  strip  of  land  lying  along  the  shore  oi  th.-  Mediter- 
ranean, between  it  and  the  mountains,  is  yerj  fertile,  being  visited 
by  frequent  rains.  The  Philistines  occupied  the  southern  portion, 
—  a  warlike  people  who  emigrated  from  the  island  Caphthor,  prob- 
ably Cyprus,  and   lived  in  a  confederacy  of  u-  ander  princes 

(Seranim).     Three  of  these  cities  were  on   t! ast,  with 

th.-  temple  of  Zeus  Mamas,  that  is,  -our  lord:"  Ashdod,  with  a  tem- 
ple of   Dagon;  and   Ascalon,  with   the   temple  of    Derceto   and  her 


202 


SYRIA    AND    ASIA    MINOR. 


daughter  Astarte.  In  the  interior  were  Ekron,  now  called  Akir, 
east  of  Jebna  (Jabneel),  and  Gath,  probably  the  modern  Tel-es- 
Safie,  situated  between  Beth  Jibün  and  Ekron. 

Farther  north  along  the  coast  dwelt  the  Phoenicians:   they  oc- 


Fig.  66.  —  Mouth  of  the  river  Arnon,  or  Mojib. 


cupied  the  fruitful  region,  bordered  by  splendid  forests  and  moun- 
tains abounding  in  metals,  which  extends  from  a  point  in  the  north 
opposite  Cyprus  to  Carmel  on  the  south  ;  Carmel  is  the  boundary  of 
the  plain  of  Jezreel,  through  which  the  river  Kishon  flows.     The 


rinn:  skia  vs. 


original  home  of  the  Phoenicians  is  still  a  matter  of  uncertainty. 
Herodotus  preserves  a  tradition  thai  they  came  from  the  Erythraean 
Sea  (Persian  Gulf).  This  is  possible  only  mi  the  supposition  that 
centuries  were  occupied  in  the  migration,  and  that  it  was  aided 
by  colonics  established   for    purposes    of    trade.     The  Greek  name 


; 


Fig.  67.     The  salt  oolamnsal  i  Baum. 

of  the  people  (  Phoenices)  Beems  to  luve  been  derived  from  phoinix, 
the  date  palm.  Their  native  name,  Poeni,  or  Puni,  was  used  by 
t|„.  Romans  to  designate  the  Phoenician  Carthaginians.  They  must 
,„,,  be  confounded  with  Punt  named  ou  Egyptian  monument«,  which 
designates  the  district  along  the  southeastern  coast  of  Arabia  and  the 
corresponding  strip  on  the  African  coast  whose  inhabitant!)  established 


204  SYRIA    AND   ASIA    MINOR. 

a  close  intercourse  between  Africa  and  Arabia.  The  langnage  of  the 
Phoenicians  became  the  prevailing  speech  of  the  country.  It  is  identi- 
cal with  the  Moabite,  Hebrew,  and  other  dialects  of  Palestine.  The 
Phoenician  religion  is  a  type  of  the  old  Canaanitisli  nature  worship, 
modified  by  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  elements.  The  sun,  moon,  and 
planets  were  worshipped,  being  regarded  as  living,  intelligent 
forces,  having  the  power  to  influence  the  will  and  fate  of  men. 
The  male  creative  power  of  the  sun  is  personified  by  Baal,  while 
Ashtoreth  represents  the  productive  power  of  the  universe.  The 
scorching  heat  of  the  sun  is  represented  by  Moloch,  who  is  portrayed 
as  a  bull,  or  as  a  man  with  a  bull's  head.  The  wild  boar,  which  is 
made  furious  by  the  summer's  heat,  is  sacred  to  him  ;  he  is  there- 
fore only  a  form  of  Baal,  and  they  sought  to  appease  him  by  burn- 
ing children  alive.  The  Phoenicians  had  the  idea  that  the  angry 
god  should  receive  the  best  of  their  possessions  as  a  sacrifice ;  and 
this  primitive  rite  prevailed  among  them,  notwithstanding  their 
high  culture,  even  till  a  very  late  period,  as,  for  example,  in  Car- 
thage. Similar  sacrifices  were  offered  to  Moloch  by  the  Ammonites 
and  Jews :  Solomon  built  a  shrine  to  Moloch  upon  the  Mount  of 
Olives  (1  Kings  xi.  7)  ;  Ahaz  caused  his  son  to  be  offered  up  (2 
Kings  xvi.  3)  ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  time  of  Josiah  that  the  service 
of  Moloch  was  abolished  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom  (2  Kings  xxiii. 
10 ;  Jeremiah  vii.  31,  32).  Baal  was  worshipped  under  many  forms, 
as  Baal  Shamirn,  or  '  god  of  heaven ' ;  Baal  Hamon,  or  '  Sun-god ' ; 
Baal  Berith,  or  '  god  of  the  covenant '  (at  Shechem)  ;  also  as  Baal 
Gad,  or  'god  of  good  luck.'  This  god  was  worshipped  at  the 
foot  of  Hermon,  and  therefore  was  also  called  Baal  Hermon.  In 
Ekron  of  the  Philistines  he  was  called  Baal  Zebub,  '  the  god  that 
wards  off  flies.'  Other  names  were  derived  from  the  places  where  he 
was  worshipped,  as  Baal  Peor  from  Mt.  Peor  in  the  northern  part  of 
Moab ;  Baal  Meon,  from  a  place  (likewise  in  Moab)  now  called 
Main,  where  stone  altars  are  found.  The  name  of  the  god  appears  in 
composition  in  many  Jewish  names,  as  Baal-iada,  a  son  of  David  (1 
Chron.,  xiv.  7),  though  in  the  parallel  passage  (2  Sam.  v.  16)  El-iada 
occurs,  in  which  El  is  substituted  for  the  objectionable  Baal.  It  would 
appear,  therefore,  that  at  one  time  the  Hebrew  god  Jahveh  was  also 
known  as  Baal. 


ASTARTE.  205 

Another  deity  was  Astarte,  the  Hebrew  Ashtoreth,  honored  U\ 
•all  the  Syrian  peoples  as  the  productive  power  of  nature,  the  Assyr- 
ian Ishtar,  the  Arabian  Attar,  win,  is  represented  also  as  a  male, 
and  is,  therefore,  androgynous,  as  the  god  is  represented  with  the 
attributes  of  the  goddess  and  the  reverse,  symbolized  al  the  festivals 
by  tlir  exchange  of  garments  (cf.  Dent.  wii.  5).  This  goddess  was 
called  Derceto  by  the  Philistines,  and  was  honored  as  Atargatia  in 
the  celebrated  temple  at  Hierapolis  (Membidj)  near  the  Euphrates. 
The  lion  is  sacred  to  her;  and  she  Is  represented  as  standing  upon 
one,  or  in  the  form  in  which  she  appears  anion--  the  Greeks,  as  riding 
in  a  wagon  drawn  by  a  lion.  Her  worship  was  attended  with  licen- 
tiousness, and  her  women  turned  over  their  ill-gotten  gains  to  the 
temple  treasury.  Such  temple  slaves  are  frequently  mentioned  in 
the  Old  Testament,  and  were  distinguished  by  their  peculiar  attire. 
The  Phoenician  merchants  and  sailors  had  such  women  everywhere 
in  their  colonies.  The  symbol  <>!'  Astarte  (Ashtoreth)  was  the 
asherah,  a  trunk  of  a  tree  with  a  meaning  similar  to  the  'idol  '  of 
1  Kings  x\.  1:'),  a  priapus,  like  the  emah  of  the  Babylonians 
(Jer.  1.  38).  The  animals  sacred  to  her  are  those  distinguished  for 
their  generative  power, —  the  ram,  he-goat, 
doves,  and  fishes.  In  the  temple  of  Aphro- 
dite, at  Paphos  (Fig.  68),  a  cone-shaped  stone 
siood  between  two  pillars  in  a  cells  ;  before 
it  there  was  a  cage  for  doves,  and  a  fish-pond 
in  each  of  the  two  courts.  Such  a  house  lor 
doves  is  still  preserved  in  the  temple  of  Gozzo, 
where    there   are   several    rows    of   rectangular      kl-.  <:-.      ironxe 

holes,  one   above    the   other,  for    the  doves  :    in         Paphos.     Empe 

racalla  (211  217  i.D.  , 

front    of   it    there    was   a    hendi   or   stone    table 

on  which  the  food  was  strewn.  A  coin  of  Antoninus  Tins  repre- 
sents such  a  dove-house;  the  fish-pond  is  also  often  seen  on  coins 
of  Cyprian  cities.  Tin'  festivals  of  Ashtoreth  were  accompanied  by 
many  Btrange  rites  which  her  devotees  practised  in  an  ecstatic  state 
amid  the  din  of  drums,  cymbals,  and  pipes.  The  goddess  herself, 
according  as  the  ecstasy  or  remorse  that  attends  Bensual  ex< — ••-  had 
sway,  was  viewed  either  as  the  voluptuous  or  as  the  chaste  goddess, 
Did,.,  or  Elissa,  in  Carthage,  the   pure  Artemis,  goddess  of  the 


206  SYRIA   AND  ASIA   MINOR. 

chase,  or  the  Magna  Mater,  at  Ephesus.  The  Amazons,  who  were 
hostile  to  men,  were  her  servants,  and  danced  in  arms  at  her  fes- 
tivals. 

The  Phoenicians  had  another  god,  Melkarth,  or  Baal,  of  Tyre,  called 
also  Cadmus,  and  by  the  Greeks  identified  with  Hercules,  a  mediator 
between  the  world  and  the  real  Baal;  mythically  viewed  as  the 
champion  of  the  god.  Out  of  ruin  he  brings  new  life,  destroys  the 
injurious  influences  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac  (the  Labors  of 
Heracles),  and  tempers  the  winter's  cold  and  the  summer's  heat  (that 
is,  kills  the  lion).  During  the  winter  he  remains  asleep,  or  is  far 
away  in  Gades,  near  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  where  was  his  resting- 
place  (1  Kings  xviii.  27).  He  was  a  god  who  wandered  over  the 
earth,  established  Phoenician  colonies,  and  delivered  them  from  de- 
structive forces.  He  was  the  first  to  wear  the  purple,  and  to  direct 
the  affairs  of  nations ;  he  appeared  as  Minos  in  the  Phoenician  colo- 
nies. Herodotus  saw  a  temple  to  him  in  Tyre,  in  which  were  two 
columns  of  gold  and  emerald  (green  glass)  ;  and  in  Gades  there  were 
two  columns  of  bronze  in  his  temple  ;  the  god  himself  had  erected 
for  his  own  honor  pillars  in  the  mountains  of  Calpe  and  Abyla,  and 
the  Phoenician  workmen  of  Solomon  placed  the  pillars  of  Jachin  and 
Boaz  before  the  temple. 

Tammuz,  who  was  called  Zerach  ('  the  appearing  one ')  in  north- 
ern Syria,  was  worshipped  in  Byblus.  He  is  a  god  of  spring,  a 
beautiful  youth,  who  is  killed  while  in  his  prime  by  the  boar  of 
Ares,  and  is  mourned  by  Baaltis  (Baalat) ;  he  is  also  known 
as  Adonis — a  title  which  has  the  force  of  '  lord.'  The  Adonia  were 
celebrated  in  the  month  which  was  named  after  him.  The  boar 
symbolizes  the  summer's  heat  and  the  rainy  season,  during  which 
the  sun  is  not  seen.  The  river  of  Byblus,  the  Adonis  (Nahr-Ibra- 
him),  becomes  swollen  in  the  autumn ;  and  its  waters  are  colored 
by  the  red  soil,  which  indicates  Adonis's  death  in  the  mountains. 
The  image  of  Adonis  was  carried  about  and  bewailed  by  women 
with  the  lamentation  hoi  adon  we  hoi  Jiodoh,  '  Woe  Adonis,  woe 
his  splendor.'  They  prepared  the  Adonis  gardens,  consisting  of 
vessels  filled  with  quickly  fading  flowers ;  but  upon  the  approach 
of  spring  the  resurrection  of  the  god  was  celebrated  with  many  ex- 
cesses.    In  the  plain  of  Jezreel,  at  Hadadrimmon,  south  of  Megiddo, 


PHOENICIAN   GODS.  207 

where  a  lamentation  for  Adonis  Likewise  was  made,  this  lamenta- 
tion was  transferred  at  a  Later  time  to  King  Josiah,  who  fell  there 
in  608  b.c.  (Zech.  xii.  11  ;  2  Chron.  \\w.  -J."»,  cf.  Ezek.  viii.  1  \ ,. 
A  Later  version  of  the  Osiris  myth  joined  Adonis  with  Osiris,  and 
represented  the  dead  body  of  the  Latteras  driven  about  in  a  chest, 
but  at  last  found  by  Isis. 

The  different  gods  of   the   Phoenicians,  as  worshipped  in  their 
cities,  arc  grouped  together  in  the  sacred  aumber  of  Beven,  as  <  !abiri, 
( '  the  greal  ' ).     They  are  called  also  Titans,  or  children  of  Kl.  Bene 
Elohlni,  represented  as  elementary  or  cosmogonic  spirits  in  the  form 
of  children.      Eshmun    is  added   as  an  eighth  ;  and  all  are  called   chil- 
dren   of   Sidduk,    Mhc    righteous,'    that    i-,    of    Baal    Shamim.      The 
Greeks,    who   found    their    worship    in    Lemnos,    Samothrace,    and 
Rhodes,  regarded  them  as  children  of  the  sun-god,  or  of  the  Egyptian 
Ptah-Hephaestus,  and  adopted  into  their  own  worahipwith  the  mys- 
teries of  the  Cabiii,  secret  teachings  in  regard  to  the  idea  of  life  after 
death,  which  treat  of  the  discovery  of  the  wandering  goddess  of  the 
moon  Ashtoreth  by  Melkarth,  and  of  the  marriage  of  the  two.     The 
chief    of    the   Cabin    was   Chusor,    the   director  of    the    world,    the 
inventor  of  navigation  and  of  the  manufacture  of  iron.      His  image  i> 
represented    upon   the  coins    as   Hephaestus,   with    hammer,   tongs, 
and  leathern  apron.      Chusartis,  or  Harnionia,  the  personified   law  or 
ThaurÖ    (Hebrew    Torah),    is   a    female    (alma:     she    is   alike    moon- 
goddess,  or  Ashtoreth,  and  spouse  of  Melkarth.  or  Cadmus.     There- 
fore this  Cadmus  was  also  reckoned  among  the  Cabiri.      He  broughl 
writing    to    the    Greeks,    taught-    them    the   'science    of    mining,    and 
established    marriage    after    he    had    found     Harmonia.      The    god 
Eshmun  of  Sidon  unite-  in   himself  the  qualities  of  the  seven  others. 
He   is,  in   the  myth,  their  chief,  or   Adon;  in   philosophic   conception 
the  order,   the   cosmos,  of  the  other-.      Upon    Phoenician   coins   eighl 
rays  encircle  his  head,  and.  Like  Aesculapius,  he  hear-  a   snake,  which 
on   account    of   its   annual    change  of  -kin    i-   the    symbol    of  recovery 
from  disease. 

Philo   Byblius       who  in  the  second  century  of  the  Christian 
translated  an  historical  work  of  Sanchuniathon,  claimed   to  he  Phoe- 
nician, fragments  of  which  have  keen   preserved   by   Eusebius 
garded   Gebal,  the    Byblus  of  the  Greeks,  now   called   Jebei,  a-  the 


208  SYRIA    AND   ASIA    MINOR. 

oldest  city  of  Phoenicia.     Near  the  little  city  is  a  Phoenician  bury- 
ing-place.     Near  Kassuba,  not  far  from  the  sea,  Renan  discovered 
the  foundation   of  a  great  temple,  probably   that  of   Adonis,   and 
besides,  in  different  places  in  the  vicinity,  many  gravestones  with 
steplike  ornaments,  grottos   containing  beautiful  stone  sarcophagi, 
Egyptian  antiquities,  the  winged  disk  of  the  sun  formed  in  Phoeni- 
cian style,  and  peculiar  funnel-shaped  wine-presses   provided  with 
stone  covers.     The  temple  of    Baalat    is   represented  upon  a  coin  of 
Macrinus,  217-218  A.D.(Fig.  69).     There  is  a  court  open  to  the  sky, 
in    which    arises   a   pyramid   or  cone ;   also   a 
porch  containing  an   altar  for  offerings  with 
its  flame  of  fire.      Upon  a  stele  of  King  Jehu- 
melek   (first    half    of    the   fifth  century)   this 
brazen   altar  (mizbach)   is    mentioned,  as  well 
as   the    pyramid  ;    the    space    where  this    was 
entered    from    the    porch   by   a   golden    door 
Flthe6^  By°biusC0Em-      (Patach^  with  golden  uraeus-serpents  (art)  on 
peror  Macrinus  (217,      the  sun-disk  (ateri)  above  the  door.     Unfortu- 
nately the  goddess  is  represented  here  wholly 
as  Egyptian,  as  Isis-Hathor,  and  not  as  Phoenician. 

Passing  southward,  before  one  reaches  Beirut,  he  must  cross  the 
Nahr-el-Kelb  ('  dog's  river ')  with  its  bridge.  The  paved  way 
among  the  .rocks  above  the  sea  was  constructed  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Marcus  Aurelius,  who  died  180  A.D. 
Still  higher  up  is  an  older  path,  which  is  adorned  with  ancient  sculp- 
tures, both  Egyptian  and  Assyrian.  The  Egyptian  tablets  are  all 
flat  at  the  top,  and  the  Assyrian  rounded.  The  first  tablet,  as  one 
comes  from  Beirut,  was  cut  by  Rameses  IL,  who  made  short  ex- 
cursions into  Syria  in  the  second  and  fourth  years  of  his  reign,  before 
the  great  war  against  the  Hittites  broke  out.  The  second  tablet  is 
supposed  to  be  that  of  Asur-rish-ishi ;  the  third  that  of  his  son, 
Tiglath-Pileser  I.  (about  1130  B.c.).  Higher  up,  where  this  older 
path  enters  the  Roman  road,  is  the  fourth  tablet,  facing  the  north- 
west, of  Asurnazirpal,  the  builder  of  the  northwest  palace  at  Nimrud, 
and  as  a  companion  to  this  is  the  tablet  of  Shalmaneser  II.,  both  of 
which  date  from  the  ninth  century,  B.c.  The  sixth  and  eighth  tab- 
lets were  the  work  of  Rameses  IL,  while  the  seventh  was  made  by 


BEIRUT. 


20!) 


Sennacherib.  His  son,  Esarhaddon,  caused  the  Last  to  be  cut  in  670 
b.c.,  after  the  conquest  of  KingTirharkaof  Egypt  The  road  ascended 
from  the  coast,  passing  over  Lebanon  to  the  smith  of  the  celebrated 
cedar  groves  in  the  vicinitj  of  Bsherre  (Fig.  70),  and  then  con- 
tinued northward  in  the  valley  of  the  Orontes.  In  the  uppei  n 
of  the  Nahr-el-Kelb  are  the  nuns  KalatrFakra,  two  graves  in  the 
form  of  pyramids.  One  of  these  is  now  merely  a  heap  of  stones, 
but  the  other  is  preserved.  The  base  of  the  pyramid  has  vertical 
faces;  but  above  the  structure  is  broken  into  steps,  and  ends  at  the 


Fig.  tu.     Cedars  of  Lebanon. 


top  with  a  platform  twenty-five  feet  square,  which  is  adorned  with  a 
moulding.    The  interior  contains  the  grave  and  long  galleries.    There 
are   pyramids  similar  to  this   in   Greece,   between   A.rgos   and 
damns,  ai  Lessa  wesl  of  the  latter,  at  Cenchreae  upon  the  Isthmus, 
and  upon  the  Laconian  coast  opposite  the  island  Elaphonesus. 

The  city  of  Beirul  is  situated  upon  a  magnificent  bay,  with  the 
snow-capped  heights  of  Sannin  rising  behind  it.  It  is  mentioned  along 
with  Gebal  (Gubla)  in  the  Tel-el-Amarna  Tal. In-  (c.  II""  B.c. 
acquired  prominence  under  Roman  rule;  to-day  it  i-  th<-  busiest  port 
of  Syria.  The  only  thing  thai  recalls  its  antiquity  is  the  foun- 
dation and  fragments  of  the  columns  of  a  temple  near  the  convent 
Vol.  I.    ii. 


210  SYRIA    AND   ASIA    MINOR 

(Der)  El-Kaa  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  situated  above  the  Nahr- 
Beirut  in  a  ravine ;  an  inscription  says  that  the  temple  was  sacred 
to  Baal  Markod,  the  lord  of  the  festival  of  dancing. 

Sidon,  now  called  Saida,  was  the  chief  of  the  Phoenician  cities 
from  the  seventeenth  to  the  twelfth  century.  It  appears  to  be  older 
than  its  rival  Tyre,  and  it  founded  Aradus  in  the  eighth  century.  The 
political  and  commercial  importance  of  Sidon  made  the  name  at  one 
time  a  designation  for  Phoenicia  in  general.  The  city  had  two  har- 
bors between  the  mainland  and  a  rocky  promontory  and  cliffs  for- 
merly built  up  with  large  blocks  of  stone.  The  southern  one  was 
the  Egpytian ;  but  to-day  the  Arabian  boats  use  only  the  northern 
one,  the  entrance  of  which  is  guarded  by  a  citadel  belonging  to  the 
Middle  Ages ;  this  is  upon  a  cliff,  which  is  joined  to  the  mainland 
by  a  bridge  with  nine  pointed  arches.  The  oldest  sepulchres  of  the 
necropolis,  situated  southeast  of  the  city,  are  entered  by  shafts  ten 
or  twelve  feet  long,  in  the  walls  of  which  holes  are  cut  to  aid  in 
descending.  Below  are  several  chambers,  but  they  are  seldom  con- 
nected. The  arched  grottos,  entered  by  means  of  steps,  and  having 
rectangular  cavities  for  the  bodies,  are  of  a  later  date.  Besides  the 
richly  sculptured  sarcophagi,  they  contain  mummy-like  chests  made 
of  stone,  after  Egyptian  models.  An  example  of  this  work,  with  an 
inscription,  was  found  in  1855,  and  is  now  in  the  Louvre  ;  it  is  the 
coffin  of  king  Eshmunazar  II.  (Fig.  71),  son  of  Tabnit  and  of  Am- 
Astarte,  daughter  of  Eshmunazar  I.  and  priestess  of  Astarte.  He  died 
in  386  b.c.,  after  a  reign  of  fourteen  years.  In  the  inscription  he  says, 
among  other  things,  that  the  lord  of  kings  (i.e.  Artaxerxes  Mnemon) 
gave  to  him  as  a  reward  for  his  deeds  Dor  (north  of  Caesarea),  Joppa, 
and  the  land  of  Dagon  in  the  plain  of  Sharon.  Magnificent  sar- 
cophagi of  the  Greek  period  have  also  been  found  at  Sidon.  (Plate 
XVII. — A.)  Upon  the  sea-shore  near  where  the  dead  are  buried  are 
mounds  of  muscle-shells,  which  accumulated  from  the  manufacture 
of  purple.  One  of  these,  nearly  400  feet  long  and  25  to  30  feet 
high,  consists  of  the  shells  of  the  murex  trunculus.  These  shell-fish 
were  opened  by  a  blow  upon  the  side  with  an  axe,  treated  with  salt, 
and  macerated.  The  coloring  material  consisted  of  azure  cyanic 
acid  and  red  purple  oxide,  yielding  an  amethyst  purple.  The  wool 
was  colored  by  being  brought  into  contact  with  the  color-glands  in 


PLATE    XVII  I 


Sarcophagus  of  the  Greek  Period   found  In  Sidon 


SIDON. 


211 


the  throat  of  the  fish.  Other  mounds  are  formed  of  the  shells  of  the 
murex  brandaris  and  purpura  haenuutoma.  The  former  were  caught 
in  the  Adriatic  Sea,  ami  furnished  the  yellowish-red,  or  Tyrian  pur- 
ple; the  latter,  the  Bo-called  Graetulian  purple.  The  manufacture  "i 
Sidonian  glass  was  carried  on  in  Sarepta  (Sarafend),  smith  of 
Sidon.  Nearer  Sidon,  in  the  mountains  above  the  Nahr-Senlk,  a. 
stairway  330  feet  long,  cut  in  the  rock,  leads  toacastle  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  near  which  is  a  rock}  grotto,  formerly  a  temple  of  Ashtoreth, 
and  now  a  chapel  to  the  Virgin  Mary. 


The  >arcophay 


In  the  year  b.c.  "ill  a  portion  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Sidon,  in 
consequence  of  party-strife,  left  the  city,  and  established  thema 
at  Arvad  (Aradus),  now  called  Rufid,  which  controlled  a  considerable 
territory  along  the  shore,  ami  had  great  importance  in  the  time 
of  the  Seleucids.  Upon  the  hewen  rocks  along  the  Bhore  arc  the 
remains  of  the  Phoenician  wall-.  Between  the  shore  an. I  the  island 
there  was  a  spring  of  fresh  water,  which  was  collected  in  a  bell- 
like receiver  and  conducted  above  the  Burfaoe  of  the  sea  by  a 
copper  pipe.     Somewhat   farther  south   along   the  shore  i-   Marathus, 


212 


SYRIA   AND  ASIA   MINOli. 


now  Amiit,  already  in  ruins  in  Strabo's  time.  Among  the  numerous 
Phoenician  monuments,  a  temple  (El-Maabetl)  is  prominent,  having 
the  form  of  a  cube,  open  in  front,  and  covered  with  a  large  stone  ; 
it  is  in  a  court,  which  is  enclosed  upon  three  sides  by  rock,  and 


Fig.  72.  —Sepulchral  Monuments  at  Amrit. 

which  once  formed  in  part  a  holy  pond,  with  the  ark,  or  theba,  of 
the  deity.  The  necropolis  east  of  the  temple  contains  a  large  num- 
ber of  graves,  still  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  which  have  been 
sunk  into  the  rock,  and  are  generally  surmounted  by  a  large  cippus, 
or  monument  (Fig.  72).     By  means  of  stairs  or  inclined  passage- 


QUA  VE-MONUMl  ■_•].; 

ways,  one  reaches  a  chamber,  into  which  From  the  rear  one  or  ■• 

what  long  rooms  open  aa  receptacles  for  the  dead.     Somel 

the  chamber  is  connected,   by  means  of   a   shaft,  with   r is  still 

Lower  down.  One  ol  these  monuments  has  a  square  base,  on  which 
rests  a  pedestal  with  so-called  Roman  contours;  from  tin- 
cylindrical  column  about  -!1  feet  high,  which  is  rounded  off  at  the 
top,  and  around  which  runs  an  Assyrian  moulding  resembling  Btair- 
cases.  At  each  of  tin-  four  corners  of  tin-  pedestal,  there  stands 
forth  the  forward  part  of  a  lion,  which  is  Grecian  in  Btyle.  Tin- 
date  of  the  monument  cannol  lie  determined,  as  there  is  no  inscrip- 
tion.    There   is   no  doubl    that   the  meaning  of  this  column  is  the 

same     as    that    of     the     phallus    stones    upon    the    Tantalis    -ras. 

Smyrna,  ami  upon  the  mound  of  Alyattes  at  Sardis;  it  was  to 
give  expression  to  the  thought  that  new  lit,-  springs  from  the  mould 
of  the  grave.  Similar  monuments  are  found  in  Etruria,  as  at  Tar- 
quinii,  and  upon  the  island  .Minorca  (the  Talayot);  from  the  round 
towel's  arose  the   \\ an   t bs,  Such  as   that    of  (   aecilia    Metella    and 

of  the  Tossia  family  (St.  Helena)  in  Rome,  and  that  of  Theodoric 
in  Ravenna;  on  the  other  hand,  the  tomb  of  Esther  in  Hamadan  is 
similar  to  that  of  Amrit.  Different  styles  are  represented  in  other 
tombs:  some  have  a  square  base,  from  which  arises  a  cylindrical 
or  a  cubical  pediment,  both  capped  with  a  pyramid.  (Fig.  78.) 
This  is  illustrated  in  the  '  Tomb  of  Absalom,'  at  Jerusalem,  which 
is  adorned  with  Ionian  columns,  Dorian  architraves,  and  Egyptian 
cornices.  These  architectural  types  often  repeat  themselves  in 
distant  lands  and  times.  Another  example  is  Been  in  the  tomb 
of  ii  sheikh  in  Ua-A/ani,  in  Assyria.  In  this  case,  Upon  a  large 
Cubical  stone,    rots  an    octagonal  one,  from  which    rises  a  cylindrical 

surmounted  by  a  fluted  pyramid.  In  other  cases  the  pyramid 
rests  immediately  upon  a  Large  cube,  which  contains  an  upper 
and  a  lower  chamber  with  niches.  This  arrangement  is  tin- 
as  is  seen  on  the  pyre  of  the  coins  1. 1  Tarsus,  on  the  *  Tomb  ol 
Zachariah,'  at  Jerusalem,  and  on  the  tomb  of  Mashaka,  which  is 
adorned  with  an  encircling  row  of  columns.  This  type  can  be 
traced   hack   to   Egyptian   1 lels,  such   as  are   preserved   upon  the 

heights    west    of    Thehcs.      Still    other    tombfl  re:    and     the 

space  within,   which   is  reached    by  deep  openings  on  thi 


21  I 


SYRIA   A XI)  ASIA    MINOR. 


is   contracted  at  the  top  into  a  flue,  and  is  covered   with   a   stone 
slab. 

The  city  of  Tyre  arose  later  than  Sidon.      It  was  called  in  He- 
brew, Tsör:  in  Egyptian,  Tar  as  early  as  an  inscription  of  Thothmes 


Fig.  73.  —  Tomb  at  Amrit. 

III.;  in  Latin,  Tyrus  (from  the  Greek),  and  Sarra ;  and  its  present 
name  is  Cur.  Since  the  name  means  '  rock,'  the  first  settlement 
must  have  been  upon  the  island,  and  not  upon  the  mainland,  which 
has  been  regarded  as  the  site  of  the  older  town,  but  which  is  by  no 
means  rocky.     Therefore  the  Papyrus  Anastasi,  from  the  time  of 


GllA  Vi:   MONI  Ml  \  i  21*) 

Ramesea  II.,  km. us  only  of  the  island  town.  King  Hiram,  son  of 
Abibaal,  is  said  to  have  connected  the  double  island  with  the  main- 
land by  a  dyke  and  an  aqueduct  The  small  outer  island,  upon 
which  a  temple  stood,  forma  now  th<  southwestern  portion  o!  the 
island  town.  I " |»< .n  the  large  island  was  the  royal  citadel,  the 
temples  of  Baal  (Agenor),  and  of  Ashtoreth,  and  the  market-place. 
I  pon  the  highest  point  stood  the  temple  of  Melkarth.  The  town 
was  besieged  at  difierenl  times,  once  without  success  l>v  Shalmai 
II.:  but  Nebuchadnezzar,  alter  a  thirteen  years'  Biege,  captured  and 
destroyed  it  in  585  b.c.  Alexander  destroyed  the  town  upon  the  main- 
land, using  tlu-  ruins  to  construct  a  dyke  aboul  •J""  feel  wide,  with 
which  he  approached  the  island-town  and  besieged  it.  This  dyke 
was  gradually  increased  by  alluvial  deposits,  and  the  island  became 
permanently  united  with  the  mainland.  Antigonus  also  besieged  it 
fifteen  months.  The  harbor  is  the  old  Sidonian,  or  northern  one: 
old  remains  of  buildings  with  large  blocks  can  still  l>e  seen.  An 
amient  aqueduct,  which  furnished  the  city  on  the  mainland  with 
water,  can  be  traced  as  far  south  as  Ras-el-Ain,  where  there  is  a  large 
reservoir.  Beyond  thisaqueducl  are  mounds  formed  from  the./ 
of  an  old  suburb  and  the  numerous  ruins  of  a  burying-place.    On  the 

road  to  the  southeast,  toward  (ana.  are  many  ancient  remains  ;    and  at 

the  distance  of  an  hour  and  a  quarter  from  Tyre  is  the  '  Tonil»  of 
Hiram'  (  Kabr-Hiram,  Fig.  74).  This  tomb  is  undoubtedly  Phoenician; 
the  base  consists  of  large  blocks  about  thirteen  feet  long,  upon  which 
rests  an  immense  flat  stone.  Upon  this  rests  the  sarcophagus,  which 
is  closed  li\  a  large  stone,  making  the  whole  aboul  twenty  feet  high. 
In  front  of  this,  steps  lead  into  a  rectangular  chamber  in  the  rock. 
whose  cross-section  represents  an  irregular  oval. 

At  quite  a  distance  south  of  Tyre,  the  promontorj  Ras-en-Xaku- 
rah, 'the  Staircase  of  the  Tyrians,'  c\ tends  out  into  the  sea. 

this  Kenan  found   ruins  of   a  citadel,  which  received   the  name  I   nim- 

el-Awämid,  -Mother  of  the  Columns,' on  account  of  its  Grecian  col- 
umns.     Some    sphinxes   were    found    here,  and  also  stone  coffins, 
of  which  is  rectangular  and  about  six  feel  long;  on  the  front  side  is 
a  small  altar,  and  the  cover   is   shaped   like  a  roof,  with  horns  at    the 
four  corners.     Other  coffins  have  the  form  of  mummiei  long 

StOlie    receptacles,  showing    the    outline    of    the    head    and    shoold 


216 


SYRIA    AND  ASIA    MINOR. 


these  coffins  resembling  a  human  form  are  not  older  than  the  time 
of  the  Achaemenid.es  and  Macedonians.  An  inscription  which  has 
been  much  discussed  states  that  Abd-elim,  son  of  Ma  tan,  the  son  of 
Abd-elim,  the  son  of  Baal-Shomer,  made  a  tomb-door  in  fulfilment 
of  a  vow  to  Baal-Shamim. 

If  one  proceeds  southward  along  the  shore  he  comes  to  Ecdippa, 
;i  town  mentioned  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions,  and  then  to  Acca 
(Acre,  or  Ptolemais),  at  the  northern  end  of  the  plain  of  Megiddo, 
which  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  Carmel.     Under  the  Persians  and 


Fig.  74.  — '  The  Tomb  of  Kins  Hiram  '  of  Tyre. 


the  Diadochi  the  town  flourished,  but  it  did  not  attain  its  greatest 
prosperity  till  the  time  of  the  Crusades.  Sailing  around  the  prom- 
ontory, one  comes  to  Tantüra,  the  ancient  Dör,  the  last  Phoenician 
town;  its  ruins,  though  of  no  great  importance,  extend  quite  a 
distance  along  the  shore. 

The  Phoenicians,  having  even  in  early  time  directed  their  atten- 
tion to  navigation  and  trade,  secured  wealth  and  power.  In  the 
large  cities  kings  ruled  with  the  aid  of  counsellors  selected  from 
the  oldest  families,  and  of  an  influential  order  of  priests.  The  cities 
became  the  centres  of  business  in  the  trade  carried  on  with  the  East, 
which  introduced  both  Phoenician  and  imported  goods  and  products 


COM  \IEHCJ  217 

into  the  interior  of  Asia.     The  Phoenicians  wereassured  of  thi 
passage  of  the  caravans  by  means  of  agreements  »nth  the  rulers,  and 
warehouses  were  established  along  ihr  roads.    The  Phoenicians 
aided    in    this    by   the   facl    thai    in    man}    cases   ihr    roads    p 
through  the   territory   of  related    peoples.     The)    furnished   purple 
woollen  goods  to  the  whole  ancienl  world,  and  tin-  manufactun 
was  so  prominent  among  them  that  they  an-  s;.i<l  to  have  invented  it. 
In    Egypt  there  are   very  ancienl    representations   of   glass-making 
(grotto  of  Beni-Hassan ),  and  glass  vessels  have  been  found  in  gi 
dating  even  from  the   Fifth   Dynasty.     Ii  is  reasonable  to  mi; 
that  a  people  like  the  Phoenicians,  who  were  in  ihr  lnd.it  of  seeing 
slag  constantly  in  the  preparation  of  ores,  should  even  in  very  early 
times  discover  glazing  for  their  pottery,  and  then  should  make  ■_ 
itself.     The  Egyptians  of  the   Eighteenth    Dynasty  mention  among 
their  booty  Mesopotamian  glass}  flux,  khesbet,  or  artificial  lapis  lazuli. 
Dr.  Schliemann  discovered    in   the  second  city  of    Hissarlik  and   in 
.Mycenae  glass  halls  and  buttons  of   Phoenician  and  Egyptian  manu- 
facture; and  Phoenician  glass  halls  have  been  found  even  in  the  pile- 
houses  of  Switzerland  and  among  the  old  Britons. 

The  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  even  as  far  wesl  as  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar,  were  occupied  by  Phoenician  colonies  and  trading- 
stations,  which  hail  the  greatest  influence  upon  the  Bpread  of  the 
early  Asiatic  culture.  The  Phoenicians  hail  warehouses  in  the  lvj\|>- 
tian  delta  in  Tanis.  Mendes,  Bubastis,  >ai>.  ami  Memphis.  Their 
first  effort  at  colonization  whs  in  Cyprus,  which  was  celebrated  in 
all  antiquity  for  its  abundance  of  wood,  metals  (especially  copper), 
fruit-trees,  and  vines:  it  was  also  very  active  in  trade,  and  ex- 
ported its  carpets,  clothing,  leather-work,  and  ointments  everywhere. 
Although  the  island  was  subsequently  colonized  l»\  the  Greeks,  and 
experienced  various  vicissitudes,  yel  recently  very  ma: 
have  been  opened,  which  have  revealed  wonderful  treasun 
fcorical  and  artistic  work,  in  \ri\  rarly  times,  Paphos  was  founded 
hv  citizens  of  Byblus ;  and  >iih>n  and  Tyre  likewise  aent  out  colo- 
nies.     Larnaka  stands  upon  the  necropolis  of  Citium.     In  the  Bible 

( '\prus  is  called  Kitt  im  :  and  there  Di  (  oiiola  found  more  than  2 

graves,  most  of  them  belonging  to  the  last  four  centuri  •    the 

Christian  era,  a  Phoenician  and  a  Greek  temple:  in  the  former 


218  SYRIA    AND   Asia    MINOR. 

fragments  of  marble  vessels  and  bowls  with  inscriptions  of  consecra- 
tion to  Melkarth  and  other  gods;  also  a  marble  coffin  with  a  head  in 
high  relief,  Egyptian  alabaster  vases  with  Phoenician  inscriptions. 
In  Dali  (Idalium),  15,000  graves  were  found,  mostly  Phoenician, 
with  thousands  of  figures  in  terra-cotta,  belonging  to  a  very  early 
period.  In  Golgi,  also,  there  was  a  necropolis  containing  two  ruined 
brick  temples;  in  one  of  these  were  found  about  a  thousand  statues 
of  Egyptian  work  and  bas-reliefs  of  Assyrian.  At  Salamis  no 
remains  of  antiquity  were  found ;  since  its  materials  were  used  for 
the  construction  of  Constantia  and  Famagusta,  in  the  time  of  the 
Lusignans.  In  Curium,  upon  the  southern  coast  of  the  island, 
Di  Cesnola  discovered  a  treasure-house  with  several  underground 
chambers,  from  which  he  obtained  an  incredibly  rich  treasure,  which 
had  probably  been  secreted  there  in  time  of  war ;  it  is  now  deposited 
in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  at  New  York.  It  contains  all  kinds 
of  valuable  works  made  of  silver,  gold,  bronze,  precious  stones,  ala- 
baster, and  clay,  which  the  Phoenicians  manufactured  in  Egyptian 
and  Assyrian  style.  This  furnishes  the  richest  information  in 
regard  to  this  transitional  tendency  in  art. 

Hittites,  also,  as  well  as  Phoenicians,  formed  a  portion  of  the 
population  of  Cyprus.  This  is  embodied  in  the  Greek  tradition, 
which  tells  of  the  coming  of  Cinyras,  son  of  Sandacus,  from  Cilicia. 
This  Hittite  population  becomes  of  great  importance  in  the  history 
of  the  culture  of  the  island  ;  and  it  may  be  that  they  gave  it  a  writing, 
which  existed  beside  the  Phoenician,  and  was  employed  by  the  Greeks, 
in  Cyprus  after  the  eighth  century-  In  it  the  word  basileus  ('  king') 
was  not  written  with  the  eight  letters  forming  the  word,  but  with 
five  syllabic  signs,  ba-si-le~v(e\-s(e) ;  in  the  genitive,  basi-Ie-vo-s^e). 
The  Hittite  monuments  of  the  mainland  have  hieroglyphs,  or  picture- 
writing,  which  has  not  been  deciphered.  It  is  supposed,  however, 
that  the  alphabet  of  the  Cyprian  Greek  inscriptions  may  have  been 
derived  from  those  hieroglyphs.  Fifty-five  characters  have  some 
resemblance  to  them,  though  no  conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  this 
circumstance  until  the  Hittite  inscriptions  shall  have  been  satisfactorily 
deciphered. 

After  the  occupation  of  Cyprus,  the  Phoenicians  settled  in  the 
islands  of  the   Aegean  Sea  and   upon  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  where 


COLONIES.  219 

they   exchanged    their   manufactures    for   Blaves,  skins,  and 
worked  the  mines,  and  collected  the  snails  which  furnished   the  pur- 
ple.    This  intercourse  was  of  incalculable  importance  to  the  (in 
who  at  the  beginning  of  the  colonization,  about  the  twelfth  century 
B.c.,  were  still  in  a  primitive  Btate,  but  who  were  also  very  qui 
adopt   new   conditions.     Thus    both    in   the   arts  and   in  trade  the 
Greeks  became  acquainted  with  the  products  of  a  culture  cenl 
old,  and  copied  them,  and  were  enabled  to  interchange  their  thoughts 
by  means  of  the    Phoenician   writing.     The   Phoenician  mythology 
also  played  an  important  part  in  the  religious  belief  of  the  G 
indeed,  it  can  be  shown  that  Phoenician  sculpture  on  metal   howls 

was  the  occasion  of  the  composition  of  mythological   | ms  by  the 

Greeks. 

There  were  also  Phoenician  colonies  in  Crete,  at  Itanos,  I.,  ben, 
and  Araden.  The  coast  of  Sicily  was  dotted  with  their  trading- 
stations,  as  Catana,  Ortygia  (Syracuse),  Pachynus,  Camarina,  Mi 
or  R-üs-Melkarth  (Heraclea  Minoa),  Mazara,  Metya,  Eryx,  Makhanath 
(Panormus,  now  Palermo).  The  Tyrian  cities  of  the  wesl  coast  as 
well  as  Selinus,  Himera,  and  A.grigentum,  were  subject  t"  Carthngi1 
(from  c.  410).  This  circumstance  brought  on  the  Punic  war-,  in  which 
two  mighty  powers,  Carthage  and  Rome,  contended  with  one  another. 
The  struggle  was  between  the  Semitic  Orient,  under  the  Leadership 
of  one  of  the  greatest  of  soldiers,  and  the  ancient  Graeco-Roman  civi- 
lization, whose  overthrow  would  have  caused  incalculable  conse- 
quences in   the  history  of   Europe. 

The  Phoenicians  at  a  very  early  period  occupied  the  islands 
Malta  and  Gozo,  also  Sardinia,  which  became  partially  subject  to 
Carthage;  they  even  went  beyond  Gibraltar,  and  founded  Gadea 
(Cadiz);  and  in  company  with  the  Iberian  Turdetani  and  the  Libyo- 
Phoenician  agriculturists  established  a  civilized  empire  in  southern 
Spain,  in  the  rich  valley  of  the  Baetis.     This  was  fi  '       thage 

in  the  third  century,  and  after  long  struggles  yielded  to  Rome. 

Sidon  and  Tyre  established  numerous  colonies  in   Airii 
Leptis,  Hippo,  Hadrumetum,  Ruspina,  Thapsus,  Utica,  and  especially 
Carthage.     These,  in   turn,  extended   their  influence  to  coasts  still 
more  distant  and   into  the   interior  of  the  land,  establishing  many 
towns,  until  Africa  from  Cyrene  t«.  the  Atlantic  Ocean  became  Bub- 


■2-20  SYRIA   AXD  ASIA   MINOR. 

ject  to  them.  They  had  commercial  intercourse  even  with  Cornwall 
in  England,  which  furnished  the  countries  bordering  on  the  Med- 
iterranean with  tin,  and  amber  was  brought  by  them  from  the  shores 
of  the  Baltic. 

The  influence  of  the  Phoenician  colonies  was  not  limited  to  the 
extension  of  intellectual  culture  of  various  kinds.  The  Phoenicians 
brought  with  them  from  the  Syrian  coast  to  Europe  plants  designed 
for  use  and  ornament.  Victor  Helm  has  shown  that  the  flora  of  the 
countries  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean,  especially  Italy,  is  totally 
different  from  that  prevalent  originally.  This  people  succeeded  in 
acclimatizing  in  more  northern  countries  a  great  number  of  excellent 
fruit-trees  and  nut-bearing  plants,  which  belonged  to  the  sub-tropical 
region  extending  to  the  34th  degree  of  latitude.  The  cypress,  intro- 
duced at  an  early  period  from  eastern  Iran  into  Babylonia  and 
Canaan,  the  pomegranate,  laurel,  myrtle,  olive-tree,  fig,  vine,  —  ori- 
ginally an  Armenian  plant,  —  cedar,  quince,  crocus,  and  numerous 
evergreen  plants  were  carried  beyond  the  Phoenician  settlements  to 
the  west  and  north.  These  plants  were  connected  in  the  mythology 
with  the  gods,  who  were  likewise  wholly  or  in  part  of  Asiatic  origin ; 
and  these  wanderings  of  the  plants,  as  well  as  the  colonization,  were 
treated  mythologically,  in  that  they  were  represented  to  have  been 
effected  by  the  sons  of  beneficent  gods.  Asiatic  plants  even  from 
other  portions  of  Asia  continued  to  spread  long  after  the  Phoeni- 
cians gave  place  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Animals  also  accom- 
panied their  masters  as  they  journeyed  over  the  sea;  only  the  donkey 
need  be  mentioned,  which  betrays  its  Phoenician  origin  in  its  name 
( asinus). 

The  tribes  or  clans  who  inhabited  Palestine  before  the  advent 
of  the  Israelites  are  enumerated  many  times  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  lists  vary  considerably,  however,  in  the  number  of  names 
included.  That  in  Gen.  xv.  18-21  contains  ten,  and  even  then 
omits  one  (that  of  the  Hivites)  found  in  nearly  all  the  others. 
Several  give  only  five  or  six.  That  which  is  perhaps  the  oldest  of 
all  names  '  seven  nations '  —  Canaanites,  Hittites,  Hivites,  Perizzites, 
Girgashites,  Amorites,  and  Jebusites  (Josh.  iii.  10  ;  cf.  Dent.  vii.  1). 
Our  knowledge  concerning  them  is  very  scanty  and  fragmentary. 
The  Jebusites  were  a  small   but   energetic    and  warlike  clan,   who 


PALESTINIAN    TRIM  221 

maintained  their  independence    until    the    time    oi    David.      Their 
stronghold  Jebus  is  repeatedly  Identified  with  Jerusalem  (Jud.  L  21  ; 
xix.  10).     Until  recently  .Jehus  was  supposed  to  be  the  older  name 
of  Jerusalem;  but  the  Tel-el-Amarna  tablets,   discovered  in    1887, 
show   that    the    latter  name,    in    the   form    Urusalim,   is    the    more 
ancient     When  those  tablets  were  written,  about  a  centurj  l> 
the  exodus,  Palestine  was  subjecl  to  the  king  of  Egypt, and  ruled  h\ 
satraps  <>r  viceroys  of  his  appointment,   who  sometimes  were  the 
native  princes.     Such   was  evidently   the  governor  of  Urusalim,  of 
whom  a  number  of  Letters  to  the   Egyptian  sovereign  are  preserved 
in  these  tablets.     There  is  no  trace  of  Jebus  or  Jebusites  in  them; 
whence  it  follows  that  the  Jebusite  possession  of  Jerusalem  was 
future.     When  and  how  it   began,   it   is  impossible  to  sa\  ;  but   it 
lasted  several  centuries.     The  Jebusites  al  last  succumbed  to  David 
el  Sam.  v.  6  ff.),  and  seem  to  have  become  incorporated  into  Israel 
(Zech.  ix.  7).     Concerning  the  Girgashites,  we  only  know  that  the} 
dwelt  west  of  the  .Ionian.     They  appear  in  only  a  few  of  the  lists, 
and  would  seem  to  have  been  of  small  importance.     The  Hivitesare 
met  with  in  more  places  than  one       at  Shechem,  Gibeon,  and  at  tho 
foot  of  .Mount   Hermon.     If,  as  many  think,  their  name  originally 
signified  -dwellers  in  tent-towns,'  it  had  certainly  become  Inappro- 
priate  long   before   we   meet   with   them.      The    Perizzites  are   the 
1  villagers,'    peasants   dwelling    in    unfortified    places.      The    name 
would   suggest   a    peaceable   people,  devoted    to  agriculture.      The 
Ilittites  are  named    in   all   the  lists,  hut  are  little  heard  of   Othei 
One    of    David's   'mighty   men,'   who   shamefully  betrayed    Uriah, 
whose  wife  became  the  mother  of  Judah's  royal  line,  and  Ahimelech, 
one  of  David's  companions  when  hiding  from  Saul,  are  both  si 
Hittites.     The  narrative  of  the  late.  Bo-called    priestly,  writei 
p.    \~:\)  concerning  tin-   purchase  of  a  sepulchre  by  Abrahan 
hihits  the    Hittites.   or  -Sous  of    Heth.'  as  settled   inhabitants 
district  near   Hebron.      Whether  that  was  in   part   their  Location   i> 
a  (piesti if   less    interest  than   another  which    scholars   find   it  diffi- 
cult to  answer   satisfactorily.      This  concerns  the  relation   oi 
Hittite   tribe  to  the  North  Syrian  peoples  of  somewhat  advanced  civi- 
lization, and  bearing  what  appears  t<>  1»-  the  s;1 name,  known 

from  Egyptian  and  Assyrian   inscriptions,  and   through  raonui 


222  SYRIA    AND  ASIA    MINOR. 

of  their  own  (cf.  below,  pp.  226  ff\).  Were  the  Palestinian  Hittites 
a  division  or  offshoot  of  this  great  Syrian  nation?  That  view  is 
favored  b}-  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  in  which  the  name,  with- 
out any  closer  definition,  seems  clearly  to  be  applied  to  the  larger, 
far  more  powerful  group  (1  Kings  x.  29 ;  2  Kings  vii.  6).  But  it 
is  opposed  by  the  fact  that,  so  far  as  we  know  at  present,  the  two 
peoples  did  not  speak  the  same  language.  The  Palestinian  Hittites 
are  classed  by  the  table  of  nations  in  Genesis  (x.  15-18)  among 
the  descendants  of  Canaan,  Sidon  being  the  elder  brother  of  Heth. 
They  must  therefore  have  had  the  same  general  family  marks,  and 
have  spoken  the  same  language,  as  the  Phoenicians,  which  we  know 
was  very  nearly  identical  with  Hebrew.  The  proper  names  of 
Hittites  found  in  the  Old  Testament — Ephron,  Zohar,  Uriah,  Ahi- 
melech,  Beeri,  and  Elon  (the  fathers  of  Judith  and  Basemath,  wives 
of  Esau)  —  agree  with  this,  being  all  of  decidedly  Semitic,  in  fact 
Hebrew,  type.  On  the  other  hand,  although  t  it  is  impossible  at 
present  to  determine  the  actual  ethnic  relations  of  the  Syrian  Hit- 
tites, it  is  tolerably  clear  that  they  were  not  Semites  nor  spoke  a 
Semitic  tongue.  All  things  considered,  the  most  plausible  con- 
jecture is,  that  the  Palestinian  Hittites,  having  long  been  separated 
from  the  main  body,  had  become  Semitized,  or  what  is  the  same 
thing  Canaanized,  and  yet,  contrary  to  what  usually  happens  in  such 
cases,  had  retained  their  separate  clan  existence  (like  some  remnants 
of  Indian  tribes  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  United  States),  leading 
later  times,  oblivious  of  their  true  origin,  to  include  them  among 
the  Canaanite  tribes.  The  two  remaining  names  of  our  list,  Canaan- 
ites  and  Amorites,  are  both  used  as  collectives,  to  denote  the  whole 
pre-Israelite  population,  —  the  former  by  one  (J),  the  latter  by  two 
others  (E  and  D)  of  the  chief  writers  whose  works  form  the  basis 
of  the  first  six  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  by  later  writers 
after  them.  Primarily,  however,  both  names  must  have  denoted 
particular  tribes.  No  writer  would  include  either  one  or  two  names 
of  the  whole  in  an  enumeration  of  the  parts,  unless  they  were  also 
j »art-names.  But  the  difficulty  in  many  places  of  determining 
whether  the  names  are  intended  to  carry  the  larger  or  the  more 
limited  sense,  makes  it  nearly  impossible  to  gain  any  information 
concerning  the  particular  tribes.      Reasonings  based  on  etymological 


I;  1.1. A  TlOXSHIl' 

interpretations  are  frequently  precarious  and  misleading;  and  there  is 
uothing  to  justify  the  view  formerly  held  that  Canaanite  meant  «low- 
lander'    and    that    Amorite    signified    'mountaineer/    tl gh    such   a 

distinction  agrees  with  statements  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  Amo- 
rites  are  said  to 'dwell  in  the  mountains/  and  the  Canaanites  '  by  the 
sea  and  by  the  side  of  Jordan'  (Num.  xiii.  29).  No  doubt  the  two 
tribes  illustrated  the  general  rule-  of  history  :  the  lowlander,  especially 
when  seated  by  the  sea,  always  surpasses  the  highlander  in  all  the  arts 
and  pursuits  of  civilization. 

Far  more  important  than  anything  we  can  learn  concerning  the 
individual  tribes,  is  the  fact  that  they  were  all  members  of  one 
approximately  homogeneous  group  of  nations,  the  same  to  which 
the  Phoenicians  and  the  Israelites  themselves  also  belonged.  Ac- 
cording to  the  Genesis  table  of  nations,  Sidon  (the  representatä 
the  Phoenicians)  and  the  llittites.  the  Jebusites,  the  Amorites,  the 
Girgashites,  the  Unites,  and  others  who  d<>  not  concern  us  here, 
were  all  descendants  of  Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham.  This  statement 
asserts  what  we  may  call  the  homogeneity,  i.e..  the  essential  like- 
ness, notwithstanding  all  diversities,  of  the  tribes  specified.  h 
seems,  indeed,  to  go  hack  of  the  tact,  and  to  explain  its  existence 
upon  the  theory  of  physical  descent  and  kinship;  but  that  is  mere 
form.  At  all  events,  the  simple  fact  of  homogeneity,  however  broughl 
about,  is  all  we  here  need:  ami  as  to  that,  all  the  evidence 
ble  at  this  late  date  is  favorable  to  it.  All  these  tribes  Bpoke  a  com- 
mon Language.  Their  religion,  notwithstanding  marked  differences, 
resulting  from  different  degrees  of  culture  and  peculiar  historical 
or  local  influences,  was  essentially  the  same.  Their  political  consti- 
tutions and  institutions  had.  in  general,  the  same  character.  And 
all  this  applies  to  the  Israelites  also,  except  in  BO  far  as  their  religion 
was  nearer  the  nomadic  type.  It  is  true,  the  table  derives  them,  not 
from  Canaan  the  son  of  Ham,  but  from  Shem ;  but  this  unwarranted 
separation  of  the  Hebrews  from  the  Canaanitish  group*  i-  di 
political  history,  which  is  illustrated  in  the  curse  pronounced  upon 
•Ham  fche  father  of  Canaan'  by  Noah  as  related  at  the  clo« 
Chapter  IX.  of  Genesis  (w.  25-28).  The  curse  originally  appl* 
Canaan,  and  when  the  term  Ham  came  into  use  as  a  kind  of  ethno- 
1  purgatory,  Canaan  wa-  made  a  *  son '  of  Ham.     Incontestable 


2-2-i  SYRIA    AND  ASIA    MINOR. 

facts  warrant  the  inclusion  of  Phoenicians,  Canaanites,  Israelites, 
Aramaeans,  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  and  other  less  prominent  peo- 
ples, into  one  great  group  of  nations,  distinguished  from  all  others 
by  many  common  features ;  and  that,  while  it  is  convenient  to  call 
them  Semites,  it  is  not  intended  thereby  to  assert  that  all  must  have 
sprung  from  a  common  ancestry.  It  follows  that  the  Israelites, 
when  they  entered  their  promised  land  as  permanent  settlers,  did 
not,  like  the  settlers  of  North  America,  come  into  contact  with  bar- 
barous tribes  of  entirely  alien  speech  and  wholly  strange  institutions 
and  manners.  They  encountered  a  civilization  whose  radical  char- 
acter was  like  their  own,  only  in  most  respects  much  farther  ad- 
vanced. Their  own  religion  was,  indeed,  greatly  superior ;  but  in  its 
central  features  so  recently  received  as  to  be  scarcely  more  than  put 
on,  while  that  of  the  people  of  the  land  was  akin  to  what  had  been, 
and  so  far  as  the  mass  of  the  people  was  concerned,  practically  still 
was  their  own.  These  are  facts  of  great  significance,  and  explain 
much  in  their  subsecpuent  history. 

The  Canaanites  were  not  the  aborigines  of  Palestine.  The}" 
were  preceded  by  a  people  of  large  stature  and  strength,  who  were 
known  to  the  Israelites  as  Rephaim  and  Anakim.  The  list  in  Gen. 
xv.  19-21  names  only  the  former,  probably  because  it  was  a  general 
term  including  the  latter.  The  English  version  sometimes  obliter- 
ates the  name  Rephaim  by  rendering  it  'giants'  (cf.  Deut.  ii.  11, 
iii.  11,  13).  They  appear  to  have  been  most  numerous  on  the  east 
of  the  Jordan,  but  were  also  found  on  the  west  side.  The  Emim, 
Zamzummim,  Zuzim,  were  clans  or  local  communities  of  them.  Of 
their  race  relations  nothing  can  be  stated  with  certainty.  The  Israel- 
ites seem  to  have  come  into  contact  with  mere  remnants  of  them. 
The  feelings  of  mystery  and  awe,  and  the  legendary  exaggerations 
that  pervade  Israelitish  references  to  them,  look  more  like  the  out- 
come of  stories  told  about  them  by  the  Canaanites,  than  of  Israel's 
own  experiences  transformed  by  tradition.  These  earlier  popula- 
tions may  have  been  largely  absorbed  by  the  Canaanites,  or  they  may 
have  faded  away  before  their  superior  civilization. 

The  list  in  Genesis  speaks  also  of  Kenites,  Kenizzites,  and  Kad- 
monites.  The  last  named  are  mentioned  nowhere  else,  unless  it  be 
in  Gen.   xxv.  15  (Kedemah).     Their  name  signifies  '  Eastrons,'  and 


ED0M1  1 

may  denote  Ishmaelites  (cf.  Gen.  xw.  6).     Two  [shraaelil 
Nebaioth  and  Kedar,  were  at  borne  in  northern  Arabia.     The  Keniz- 
zites  were  an  Edomite  tribe,  a  clan  of  which,  represented  by  Caleb, 
the  companion  of  Joshua  (Num.  \x.\ii.    L2),  and  OthnieJ  t In-  deliv- 
erer of   Israel    from    Mesopotamian  oppression   (Jud.  iii.  9  f.), 
Incorporated  Into  the  tribe  of  Judah.     The  interesting  Kenite  clan 
also  called   Kain  (Jud.   Lv.    11,  R.  V.  margin),  is  by  some  Old    I 
tament  passages  connected   with   the   Midianites,  an  Aral»  fcrib 
considerable  attainments  in  the  arts  of  civilized  lit'«-.     Other  aol 
(1  Sam.   xv.   6;   Num.   xxiv.   21    f.)  suggesl   relationship  with  the 
Amalekites,  an   old  and    prominent    Bedouin  tribe    of    the   Sinaitic 
peninsula.     Perhaps  the  greater  weight  of  critical  opinion  favors  the 
latter  view;  but  a  decision  is  difficult.     The   Kenites  were  nomads. 
According  to  [sraelitish  tradition,  Moses  married   int<>  the  ehm.     A 
part  of  them  cast  in  their  fortunes  with   Israel,  and  entered  Canaan 
with  them.     We  meet  them   in   the   pasture  Lands  of  the  south  of 
Judah  as  late  as  the  time  of  David.     At  an  earlier  day  some  of  them 
are  found  far  to  the  north,  near  Kadesh-Naphtali.     They  had  adopted 
both  Israel  and  the  religion  of  Israel,  and  were  passionately  attached 
to  one  and  the  other.     For  one  part  of  this  statement,  see  Jud 
eh.  iv. ;   the  other  depends  mi    the  accuracy  (which   there  is  n<>  sutli- 
cient   reason  to  doubt)  of  2  Chron.   ii.  55,  according  to  which  the 
Rechabites  of  later  days  were  Kenites  (cf.  2  Kings  x.  15  ff.).     There 
is  nothing  t<>  show  that  either  of  these  three  tribes  or  clans  held  lands 
in  Canaan  before  the  advent   of  the   Israelites,  as  the   G 
seems  to  imply.     The  list  is  of  a  comparatively  late  date. 

The  immediate,  permanent  neighbors  of  Israel,  besides  th<    1' 
nicians  and   Philistines,  already  spuken  of  <  pp.  201  ff.), 
nations,  who  were  in   possession  of  their  respectivi 
before   Israel's  settlement   in  Canaan.     The  Edom  ipied  the 

mountainous  region  between  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  (in  nah. 

Their  country,  ill  adapted   for  agriculture,  made  them  a   peopli 
hunters,  traders,  and  marauders,  quite  after  the  type  of  their  re] 
ancestor  Esau.     Of  their  religion  nothing  is  known  with  certainty; 
yet  there  is  some  reason  t"  believe  that  it   resembled   tl 
Israel    (in    its    popular   form)    more   nearly   than    any    oth 
Moabites,  on  the  contrary,  were  devoted   to  th<   I 
Vol.  I.     !•">. 


226  STRIA    AND  ASIA    MINOJi. 

cinn  religion,  in  its  softer,  sensual  form,  though  not  without  occa- 
sional recourse  to  its  severer  features,  as  exhibited  in  human  sacrifices 
(2  Kings  iii.  27).  Their  land,  the  northern  boundary  of  which 
varied  at  different  times,  lay  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
It  was  mountainous,  suitable  for  pasture  ground,  yet  also  largely 
arable,  fruitful,  and  fairly  well  watered.  The  Mesha  stone  with  its 
inscription,  belonging  to  the  ninth  century  before  Christ  (discovered 
in  1868),  evinces  a  good  degree  of  literary  culture  among  the  Moa- 
bites of  that  early  day.  The  Ammonites  were  near  relations  of  the 
Moabites.  Their  territorial  possessions  are  less  certainly  definable. 
They  seem  never  to  have  touched  the  Jordan  or  the  Dead  Sea,  but  to 
have  lain  east  and  northeast  of  Moab.  Rabbath-Ammon,  the  capital 
city,  was  situated  near  the  southernmost  sources  of  the  Jabbok,  in  a 
district  suitable  for  agriculture.  The  main  body  of  the  people  were 
keepers  of  herds  and  flocks.  They  were  less  civilized  than  the  Mo- 
abites, and  in  religion  leaned  more  to  the  severer  form.  Their  Baal 
was  Milcom,  or  Moloch,  the  most  terrible  of  all  the  Semitic  gods,  to 
■whom  human  sacrifices,  especially  children,  were  offered. 

Farther  to  the  north  and  northeast  we  meet  the  Aramaean  Sem- 
ites, holding  the  broad  plains  that  stretch  from  Mount  Hermon  and 
Iturea  (Jetur  and  Geshur),  by  way  of  Damascus,  to  the  Euphrates 
and  beyond  it  into  Mesopotamia,  where  a  fusion  took  place  with 
earlier  inhabitants  of  the  land  between  the  two  great  rivers.  Only 
in  later  days  did  the  Aramaeans  spread  also  into  the  Lebanon  region 
and  the  Taurus  lands,  where  formerly  the  Hittites  and  their  allies 
bore  sway.1 

Concerning  the  Hittites,  to  whom  we  are  thus  led  back,  very 
many  and  reliable  notices  are  contained  in  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 
inscriptions.  The  former  name  them  Kheta,  the  latter  C'hatti.  The 
conjecture  that  the  inscriptions  of  Hamath  on  the  Orontes  were 
Hittite  memorials  has  been  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  hieroglyphic 
writing  similar  to  that  in  Hamath  was  found  in  excavations  at 
Jerablus  on  the  Euphrates,  which  Assyrian  inscriptions  declare  to 
have  been  the  site  of  Carchemish,  the  chief  city  of  the  Hittites.  A 
similar  style  of  writing,  subsequently  discovered  upon  monuments  in 

:  The  six  paragraphs  preceding  (pp.  220-226),  on  the  Palestinian  tribes,  are  by 
Rev.  Professor  I'.  FT.  Steenstra.  and  replace  material  in  the  German  original. 


THE    UITTITES 

Syria  and   Ana   Minor,  has  led  to  the  inference  thai   the  U»rm    Hittite« 
was    employed    t  <  >    denote  groups  of   peoples    who   spread    i 
and   a   greal    pari  of  A.sia    Minor.     The   fad    thai    the  Assyrians  did 
not    succeed    in   getting   lasting    possession   of  the   righl    bank   of  the 
Euphrates  until   after  BeveraJ   centuries  of  conflicl    goe*  to  prove  the 

existence  of  a    large    Hittite    kingdom.      Egyptian    m iments  prove 

thai  the  Pharaoh-  also  regarded  the  conflicl  with  the  Kheta 
matter  of  grave  importance,  and  the  Tel-el-Amarna  tablets  dating  from 
the  fifteenth  century  show  thai  at  this  time  the  Hittites  already  played 
a  considerable  role  in  Syria.  Some  of  the  Hittite  monuments  are 
accompanied  by  inscriptions,  so  thai  we  have  become  acquainted  with 
the  characteristics  of  Hittite  art,  ami  are  enabled  to  recognize  it 
when  we  come  across  monuments  without  inscriptions.  A  brief  review 
of  some  of  these  antiquities  will  give  the  nadir  a  clearer  idea  of  the 
extent  of  the  power  of  this  group' 

Ilaniath  on  the  <  >rontes  is  the  most  southerly  place  wh< 
monuments  have  been  found.     This  city  was  at  the  head  of  a  small 
kingdom  extending  from   the  water-shed   between   the  Orontes 
Leontes  to  Jisr-hadid,  where  the  Orontes  turns  westward.     Burck- 
hardt  was  the  first    to  make   known  (in  1  s  1  _  |  the  five  inscriptions 
imbedded   in  the  wall  of  the  bazaar.     The}   are   now    in  Constanti- 
nople, and  casts   were   brought   to   England   in    1863.       Burton  and 
Drake  gave  an   incomplete  copy  of  them.     Wrighl  and   Ward 
the  first  to  call  them  Hittite. 

At  Aleppo  a  stone  was  found  built  into  the  mosque,  upon  which 
was  a  figure  with  a  partially  effaced  Hittite  inscription  consisting  ol 
two   lines.      Carchemish,  now    called   Jerablus,  lat   36     ■•".   formed 

with    its    walls    the    half    of    a    circle,    which    was   < pie  ted    by   the 

curved  line  of  the  Euphrates.     The  citadel  is  in   the  northern  part 
*.n  an  elevation.     Fragments  of  Hittite  sculpture  were  found  hi 
a  lion  and  human  figures,  among  whieh  was  a  very  well  pre» 
of  a  king.     Hi-    shoes    are   turned    up   in    front,  which    i-  a    marked 
characteristic  of   the   Hittite  attire,  a-   well  as  of  the   Etrurian.     The 
nine  inscriptions   from  Carchemish,   now    in   the   British   Museum,  are 
still   among  the   -t    important   of   the   Hittite   remains,  though  dis- 
coveries <'f  inscriptions  elsewhere  have  added  material   for  the 
of  the  Hittite  language. 


228  SYRIA    AND   ASIA    MINOR. 

Birejik  (Assyrian  Tel-Barsip)  is  farther  uj)  the  Euphrates  than 
Carchemish,  at  an  important  crossing,  where  the  road  through  Meso- 
potamia begins,  used  in  the  time  of  the  Parthians  as  also  to-day. 
The  paved  slope  and  artificial  elevation  of  rock,  upon  which  the  cita- 
del stands,  are  of  Hittite  origin.  Within  are  arched  passages;  even 
in  Pococke's  time  (1740)  this  was  equipped  with  catapults  and  other 
Roman  instruments  of  defence.  There  is  a  stone  in  the  British 
Museum  with  the  figure  of  a  praying  king,  having  the  high  Hittite 
tiara,  from  which  a  wig  descends  behind,  and  shoes  with  pointed 
toes ;  over  the  whole  the  winged  disk  of  the  sun. 

Marmier  found  a  relief  in  Rum-Kalah,  a  neighboring  place.  It 
represents  a  man  with  a  long  robe,  tightly  bound  with  a  girdle,  hold- 
ing a  kind  of  club  in  the  right  hand,  while  a  cylindrical  object  (per- 
haps a  wallet)  is  suspended  from  the  arm;  the  left  hand  holds  an 
object  which  has  not  yet  been  explained;  perhaps  a  sort  of  shep- 
herd's flute. 

Still  farther  north  is  the  territory  of  Kummukh  (Commagene), 
the  chief  city  of  which  in  later  times  was  Samosata.  This  city  had 
control  of  a  road  which  crossed  the  Euphrates  at  this  point,  on  its 
way  from  southeastern  Cappadocia  to  Edessa  and  Haran  (Carrhae). 
In  the  southern  portion  of  this  kingdom,  which  was  closely  connected 
with  that  of  the  Hittites,  was  Doliche,  now  called  Dulluk,  north  of 
Aintab.  Gargar  is  an  inaccessible  cliff  on  the  Euphrates,  where  the 
river  breaks  through  a  rocky  gorge  with  great  force.  There  is  a 
footpath  cut  in  the  rock,  and  in  a  niche  the  relief  of  a  king  with  an 
inscription.  Farther  in  the  mountains,  on  the  Kiachta  River,  at 
Nemrud-Dagh,  is  a  monument  with  a  Greek  inscription,  erected  by 
Antiochus  of  Commagene  in  honor  of  his  ancestors  and  of  certain 
gods,  including  the  patron  goddess  of  the  district.  Near  by  the 
Bolan-su  is  crossed  by  a  Roman  bridge,  which  has  an  inscription 
of  Septimius  Severns,  in  which  the  river  is  called  Chabinas.  In 
Marash,  Puchstein  found  four  reliefs  and  a  lion,  some  of  which 
had  inscriptions;  and  farther  south,  in  Saktshe-gözü,  a  lion-hunt 
upon  three  smoothed  rocks.  Inland  from  Alexandretta,  which  is 
on  the  bay  of  Issns,  sculpture  was  found  upon  the  rocks  by  an  Eng- 
lish officer.  This  region  belonged  to  the  Patinai,  allies  of  the  Hit- 
tites,  as  did  also  the  region  of   Arpad,   now  called   Tel-Erfad,   north 


///  /  ii  ri    \i<>  xi  \i i;\  r> 


<>i  Aleppo,  where  stones  are  met  with  having  ornament*  like  tin 

( 'aivlit'iiiisli. 

The  largest  monuments  are  in  Cappadocia.     Vlilid  (Melitei 
the  southeastern   portion  of  this  district,  where  the  Tabal,        I 


Fig.  70      Sphlnn  of  the  Pala< 

reni,  anciently   lived.      Here   in    .1    ravim 
(Tochma-su),   which    flows   into   the    Euphrates     I    M 
naka,  now  called  Gurun,  where  there  are   two   II  I 
The  Cappadocian  sculptures  have  .1  somewhat  different  »I 


230  SYRIA    AND   ASIA    MINOR. 

those  in  Carchemish,  in  that  the  attire  «lifters  more  from  the  Baby- 
lonian, and  there  is  more  movement.  Between  Amasia  on  the  Iris, 
where  there  are  ancient  royal  sepulchres  in  the  steep  mountain-side 
above  the  city,  and  Amisus  on  the  coast,  Ramsay  found  two  stones 
with  rude  sculptures,  representing  a  king  with  servants  in  Hittite 
dress,  while  prisoners  in  Phrygian  dress  are  conducted  before  him. 
There  is  a  cuneiform  writing  above  the  scene ;  the  characters  of  the 
inscription  upon  a  second  stone  are  wholly  unknown.  Sehrader  has 
shown  that  the  first  representation  is  in  imitation  of  a  knoAvn  relief 
in  Kouyunjik  (Nineveh),  upon  which  Jewish  prisoners  from  Lachish 
are  being  conducted  before  Sennacherib.  Not  far  to  the  northeast 
of  Alaja,  where  there  is  a  Hittite  tomb,  is  the  village  Euyuk.  It 
has  a  gateway,  with  a  wall  fourteen  feet  long  on  each  side.  The 
doorposts  (Fig.  To)  are  monoliths  twelve  feet  high,  representing 
sphinxes  with  wings,  the  claws  of  lions,  and  human  heads,  whose 
locks  are  arranged  as  in  the  Egyptian  masks  of  Hathor.  The  reliefs 
cut  upon  the  lowest  course  of  the  wall  are  a  god,  having  an  altar 
before  him,  and  a  priest  bringing  a  goat,  followed  by  three  oxen;  also 
a  man  with  a  stringed  instrument,  a  snake-charmer,  a  flute-player, 
and  two  men  with  the  plan  of  a  palace.  There  is  a  remarkable 
double-headed  eagle  carved  upon  the  inside  of  the  eastern  door-post 
(Fig.  76).  It  is  the  bird  of  the  Thunderer,  originally  the  winged 
lightning  or  thunderbolt,  as  wielded  by  the  god  Bel-Mardnk,  and 
as  represented  also  upon  the  Greek  coins  of  Eli's  and  Sicily.  The 
Seljuks,  after  their  conquest  of  Cappadocia  and  Lycaonia,  in  1217 
A.D.,  adopted  this  ancient  symbol,  and  stamped  it  upon  their  copper 
coins. 

Boghaz-keui  is  situated  upon  the  road  from  Adaja  to  Juzgat, 
southwest  of  Alada  and  north  of  Nefez-keui,  which  is  thought  to  be  the 
city  Tavia.  It  is  a  village  lying  3,150  feet  above  the  sea,  on  the  site 
of  the  ancient  Pteria,  which  Croesus  destroyed  upon  the  approach  of 
the  Persians.  The  ravine,  through  which  a  stream  flows  that  empties 
into  the  Halys,  expands  near  this  village  into  a  plain.  The  mountains 
remain  near  the  river  on  the  right  bank;  but  on  the  opposite  side 
they  recede  toward  the  north  in  terraces,  which  were  occupied  by  the 
ancient  city.  The  walls  are  high  upon  the  mountain,  and  have  a  cir- 
cumference of  from  three  to  three  and  one-half  miles.      Near  the  little 


///  III  II.     MONUMENTS. 


river  the  ground-plan  of  n  building  |  palace)  can  still  h 

it  oonsists  of  a  large  hall  about   89  feel   long  and  7o  le,  in 

front  of  which  is  a  double  porch  with  three  gateways.     About  thirty 

r scan  be  distinguished,      upon  the  side  awa}  from  the  town,  a 

broad  stairwa)  led   to  a  platform   160  feet   long.      I:  ol   thi> 

structure  are  often  sixteen  to  twenty  fe<  i  long,  and  are  dovetailed 
together  like  wood-work,  instead  of  being  placed  side  by  side  as  in 
Persepolis.     The  stone  is  marble  (limestone),  but  the   porch   i 


(■'ii ;  76,      Double  Eagle  on  the  Door-pogta  of  the  Pi 

chyte  or  basalt.     The  upper   portion   of  the   walls,  which 
probably  of  sun-dried    brick,  were  destroyed  by  Croesus.      A    throne 
ornamented  with    lions   was  found    upon   the   platform.     An  under- 
ground room  extends  from  the  brook  toward   the  t  I 
to  the  west   has  hern  prepared   for  a  walk:   to  the  south  a  portion  of 
the  wall  of  rock  has  l.eeii  cut  at  a  Blight   inclination,  - 
divided    into   sections    by   means   of    ten    bands    with    ; 
Upon  the  side  of  the  hill  away  »Vom  the  brook  are  tl 
ancient  fortifications;  within  and  without  the  wall 


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.i    im  i  irr  religio 


234  SYRIA  AM)  ASIA   MINOR. 

points  occupied  by  walls,  and  the  wall  was  also  protected  by  a  trench 

and  a  sloping  glacis.  Within  arc  passages,  which  open  into  the 
trench.  One  of  these,  under  the  highest  part  of  the  enclosing  wall, 
consists  of  five  courses  of  rough  stones.  These  project  from  both 
sides;  and  the  space,  which  is  closed  at  the  top  by  inserted  blocks, 
has  the  appearance  of  a  vault  having  straight,  instead  of  curved, 
sides.  A  very  similar  passageway  is  found  in  Tiryns;  the  Cyclo- 
pian  walls,  which  are  frequent  in  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  and  Etruria, 
and  served  for  walls  and  substructions  of  long  rows  of  buildings, 
were  perhaps  of  Hittite  origin.  This  Hittite  citadel  was  destroyed 
more  than  2-100  years  ago ;  but  there  are  natural  caves  in  the  rocks, 
called  Jazili-Kaja  ('  inscribed  rock '),  which  are  just  as  remarkable. 
They  are  about  forty  minutes  distant  from  the  citadel,  and  have  their 
entrance  upon  that  side.  The  rocks  surrounding  this  space  form  a 
perpendicular  wall  80-50  feet  high.  A  rock  projecting  from  the 
eastern  wall  marks  the  entrance.  Immediately  upon  entering,  one 
rinds  himself  in  the  broadest  part  of  the  room.  Near  the  ground  a 
seat  has  been  hewn  out,  which  is  still  visible  in  some  places.  Upon 
a  smoothed  surface,  some  feet  from  the  ground,  are  sixty-five  figures 
in  relief  (Figs.  77-83)  ;  the  largest,  representing  the  chief  persons, 
are  five  feet  high,  their  attendants  three  and  a  half  feet,  and  the  rest 
only  two  and  a  half  feet.  The  whole  design,  which  is  a  very  re- 
markable one,  is  covered  with  a  yellowish  stucco.  There  are  two 
processions,  which  start  at  the  entrance,  and  meet  at  the  rear  of  the 
room,  the  one  passing  around  to  the  right  and  the  other  to  the  left. 
The  procession  upon  the  right  consists  of  women,  all  of  whom  wear 
long  garments  fastened  about  the  waist  with  girdles,  ear-rings,  and 
high  mural  crowns,  from  which  long  hair  falls  down  behind.  There 
is  only  one  male  figure.  The  woman  heading  the  procession,  and  at 
the  rear  of  the  hall,  stands  upon  a  lion,  as  do  Ishtar  and  Atargatis; 
and  by  her  side  the  forward  part  of  a  leaping  gazelle  or  chamois  is 
visible.  Pier  left  hand  is  extended,  and  contains  an  ornament  re- 
sembling a  plant.  The  Hittite  inscriptions  show  that  this  is  the  ideo- 
graph or  hieroglyph  representing  her  name.  She  wears  beak-shaped 
shoes,  as  Juno  of  Lanurium  had  calceoli  repandi.  Behind  this  god- 
dess follows  a  god,  who  stands  upon  a  leopard  (?),  just  as  the  Cilician 
Sandon  is  represented  upon  the  coins  of  Tarsus  as  standing  upon  a 


11  ITT  ill:     \lo\T  \H   \  i  s 

lion.     The  god,  as  well  as  almosl   ..II   the   human   li- 
high,  pointed,  fluted   tiara,  which  rises  from  a  Borl  oi   h   Um  helmet 
This  is  also  worn  by  later  princes  of  Cappadocia  and  Comma 
such  as  Ariaramnes  of  Cappadocia,  Mithradates  oi  Commagene,  and 
Saiues  of  Samosata.     His  dress,  as  well  as  that  of  the  remaining  male 
figures,  consists  of  a  short  robe  (apron);  in  his  lefl  hand  he  holds  a 
double  axe  with  a  cross  at   the  end,  and  in  his  right  a  Btaff  en 
at  the  end.    The  hilt  of  a  llittii«-  sword  is  seen  at  his  side.     In  front 
of  him  is  the  hieroglyph   representing  his  name.     Behind  him  are 
two  women,  under  whom  the  eagle  with  two  heads  is  poised.     Some 
of  the  women  that  follow  also  cany  in  their  hands  characters  repre- 
senting their  names,  and  the  resl  hold  bent  staves  turned  downward. 
In  the  corner  next  the  entrance,  that  is,  at  the  end  oi   the  j 
of  women,  is   a    priest  :   one  can   determine    this   l>v  means   of   the 
litnus  which  he  holds   in  his  Left  hand,  pointed  downwards.     The 
occurrence  of  this  in  Asia  Minor,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lydia,  and 
among  the  Roman-Etrurian  augurs,  as  well  as  much  else,  shows  the 
connection  of  Asia   Minor  with    Etruria.      lie  wears  a   mantle 
his  under-garment,  thrown  back  over  his  shoulder,  and  a  tight-fitting 
cap,  like  that  of  the  Kheta  on  the  Egyptian  sculptures.      He  >• 
upon   a    mountain,  and    holds    in    his    right    hand    a    peculiar  symbol, 
which  can  scarcely  be  a  hieroglyph  indicating  his  rank  or  office.     It 
consists  of  a  .somewhat  reduced  temple  or  shrine,  with  a  winged  disk 
of   I  unite  style  for  its  covering;  above  which  there  is  still  another; 
and  upon  the  sides  are  the  supporting  columns,  with  volutes  clearly 
marked;  within  these  end-columns  are  two  high  objects,  which  may 
be  regarded   as  caryatides;  and   in   the  middle   the   representation  of 
the   goddess,  with  wings    instead    of   arms,  can    be  seen.      Tl 
sentation   is  repeated,  hut  on  a  >mallcr  scale.     Turning  now  to  the 

opposite  side,  to    tin-    procession    of    men.  at    the  end   we  find  a   ; 
above  whose  head   is  the  winged  disk:   in  his  right   hand   the  lituus. 
and  in  his  left  the  hieroglyph   indicating  deity.     This  procession  is 
more  varied    than    that   of   the  women.      The    figures    ate    in   pi 
except    that   we   have  a   front  view  of   the   breast  and   should.-: 
order  that  there  may  be  a  fiver  movement  of  the  arn  ! 

of   the  women    are  entirely   in    profile,  so   that    of    the  right   arm  onl\ 
the  hand  is   visible;  and  the   left  arm.  which   is  raised,  the 


236  SYRIA  AND  ASIA    MINOR. 

breast.  The  male  figure  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  who  there- 
fore meets  the  goddess  in  the  rear  of  the  hall,  is  standing  with  his 
feetupon  two  slaves.  He  has  a  beard,  and  carries  a  club  in  his  right 
hand.  He  is  shown  to  be  a  god  by  the  hieroglyph  held  in  his  left 
hand.  A  horned  animal  is  springing  forth  near  him.  Behind  him 
are  two  figures  standing  upon  a  rock,  which  are  also  bearded,  as  well 
as  the  last  one  before  the  priest.  This  one  has  wings;  and  upon  the 
upper  part  of  the  tiara,  or  of  the  high  helmet,  cone-shaped  points  like 
the  shairetana  of  the  Egyptian  art.  A  group  of  thirteen  running  or 
darning  youths  remind  one  strongly  of  the  Egyptian  groups  which 
accompany  the  sitting  colossal  figures  as  they  are  transported.  At 
quite  a  distance  in  front  of  the  rocky  hall,  in  a  recess  of  the  rock, 
are  two  human  figures  with  the  heads  of  a  dog  and  a  Hon,  and  ap- 
parently with  wings,  perhaps  to  frighten  demons  away  from  the 
procession.  Southeast  of  this,  and  adjoining  it  in  a  somewhat  long 
rocky  chamber,  are  twelve  armed  warriors  cut  in  the  rock,  and  oppo- 
site them  a  Mylitta,  curiously  carved ;  upon  her  head  is  a  high  tiara ; 
her  shoulders  consist  of  lions'  heads,  her  sides  and  belly  are  formed 
by  two  outstretched  lions  with  head  down;  and  the  body  terminates 
like  a  Greek  Henna.  In  front  is  a  god  (Fig.  84),  who  holds  in 
his  extended  right  hand  a  hieroglyph,  resembling  a  child  with  a  large 
head,  and  whose  left  arm  is  thrown  about  the  neck  of  a  priest,  who 
reaches  up  to  his  shoulder.  He  is  conducting  this  priest  into  the 
presence  of  the  goddess.  Above  the  figures  at  the  right  is  the 
winged  disk.  It  is  difficult  to  conjecture  what  gods  are  represented. 
The  goddess  related  to  Astarte  maybe  Anat,  the  goddess  of  Kadesh ; 
and  the  god  Rezeph,  or  the  Phoenician- Hittite  war-god,  who  is  called 
Baal-Sutekh  in  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  Hittites  and  Egyp- 
tians, which  is  to  be  mentioned  later. 

Cappadocia  was  probably  the  place  from  which  the  Hittite  power 
spread.1  The  country  is  called  Ivhammanu  in  the  Assyrian  inscrip- 
tions: but  in  the  northeastern  section  of  it  there  lived  the  Kaskai, 
and  in  the  direction  toward  Melitene,  the  Mnskai.  Later  the  Phry- 
gian-Armenian races  crowded  in  from  the  west,  and  drove  back  the 


1  Professor  W.  M.  Ramsay  maintains  that  the  Hittites  merely  inherited,  but  did 
not  originate,  the  art  of  Cappadocia,  and  that  the  ancient  people  of  Cappadocia  were 
accordingly  of  a  very  different  stock.  —Ed. 


ill  ill  1 1;    HONl  '■; 


Muskai,  together   with    the   TabaJ   in    Milid,  toward   the   nortln 
where   thr  ancienl    writers   became  acquainted   with   them 
mountain  tribes  under  the  nam.-  of  <  olchians,  Mo»  In,  and    I 
Other   Hittite  races  dwelt  farther  south,  as  far  as  the  <  ilici 
an«!  even  Cicero  mentions  a  part  of  the  Tabal,  under  the  name    I 
barani,  in  Pindenissus  on  .Mt.  Ajnanus,  above  the  b  I 


In  Kaisariyeh  (Mazaca),  at  the  foot   ot    Erjisli-dagh   i  \    ■ 
Ramsay  found  five  clay  tablets  with  Cappadocian  cum 
together  with   ;i  scarabaeus  and  a  terra-cotta  whorl,  aimil 
represented  in  Schliemann's  Ilios  as   No.   1490.     I      ' 
and  Guillaume  found  a  lion  built  into  the  wall  ol 


238 


STRIA  AX  J)  ASIA    MINOR. 


the  gutes  of  Angora,  which  is  like  the  one  discovered  by  Layard  in 
Arban.  In  Gianr-Kalesi,  nine  hours  southwest  of  this  place,  upon 
the  old  road  from  Cappadocia  to  Pessinns  and  Sardis,  there  are  Cy- 
clopian  walls  made  of  polygonal  stones,  prepared  upon  the  surface 
and  at  the  joints;  and  upon  the  rocks  below  are  two  Hittite  warriors 
(Fig.  85).  These  are  on  the  very  ancient  military  road  leading  to 
the  western  part  of  Asia  Minor.  A  second  road  farther  south  ran 
westward  from  Cilicia,  upon  which  also  Hittite  monuments  are  found. 
The  so-called  tomb  of  Sardanapalus,  at  Tarsus,  is  perhaps  of  Hittite 


Fin.  85. —  Cyclopean  Avail  at  Giaur-Kalesi,  with  two  Hittite  warriors  in  relief. 

origin.  Ancient  Tyana,  now  Kiz-hissar,  in  Cataonia,  whence  the 
descent  was  made  over  the  Cilician  passes  to  Tarsus,  was  built, 
according  to  Strabo,  upon  a  terrace,  by  Semiramis  :  and  it  was  there- 
fore in  existence  even  in  the  Assyrian  period.  Ramsay  discovered 
inscriptions  which  were  not  in  raised  relief  like  the  rest,  but  sunken. 
Southwest  of  here,  between  Tshifteh-khan  and  the  silver  mines  of 
Bulghar,  is  an  inscription  almost  effaced  by  the  weather:  and  near  it, 
in  relief,  are  a  god  and  two  small  figures  with  an  inscription.  In 
Bulghar-Maden  itself,  Davis  found  some  hieroglyphs.  He  also  dis- 
covered the  great  relief  in  Ivris,  three  hours  southeast  of  Cybistra, 
or  Heracleia,  on  the  borders  of  Lycaonia.     The  place  lies  under  the 


RELIEF   FROM    1 1  /. 

chain  of  the  Bulghar-dagh,  in  a  ravine  watered  In 

abounding  in  fine  nut-trees.     There  is  a   bridge  from   I  i   the 

stream;  and  a  canal  runs  along  at  the  foot  oi  a  rock,  w\ 

front  bears  the  relief.     About  eight  or  nine  feel  from  the  w     ■ 

figure  twenty  feet  tall  <  Fig.  86),  the  god  of  Cilicia.      II 

upon  his  chin;  and  his  head   is  covered  with  a  pointed  bat,  around 

which  twigs  with  projecting  points  are  wound.      Iliv   garment 


Fi<  el  from  I 

not  reach  the  knees;  the  legs  are   very  muscul 

ares;  the  shoes  are  high  and  pointed,  like   those  no\i   used  I 

natives.       In  his  Left  hand,  which  is  uplifted,  the  ;,r<<d  h< 

of  wheat  with  bearded  heads;  in  hi^  right  hand  a   vine  with   i 

of  grapes;  he  is  like    Aptuchos,  the  Libyan  g<  tility,  up 

carnelian  in   the   Deraidoff  collection,  and    Baal  U)  I 

coins  of  Tarsus,  with  the  legend  Baal    larz. 

grain  and  the  face  are  hieroglyphics.     The  smaller  figure  h 

god  is  a  |)riest(?),  who  is  holding  his  hand   t«>  his 


^40  STBIÄ   AND  ASIA   MINOR. 

adoration.  He  has  a  beard,  «hoes  with  pointed  tips,  and  a  long  gar- 
ment girt  at  the  waist,  which  has  the  Hittite  pattern  of  squares  with 
points  in  the  centre.  The  mantle  covers  the  left  arm,  and  hangs 
down  at  the  side ;  and  on  the  edge  of  the  skirt  in  front  there  is  a 
tassel.  Behind  him  are  four  lines  of  hieroglyphics.  Lower  down, 
just  above  the  water,  there  is  a  third  inscription.  Not  far  from 
h  lis,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Frahtin,  other  Hittite  sculptures  have 
been  found. 

In  Iflatun-Bunnar,  in  Lycaonia,  west  of  Iconium,  near  Lake  Bei- 
shehr  (Lake  Carillis),  there  is,  upon  a  building  constructed  with 
large  blocks  of  stone,  a  group  of  ten  figures ;  one  of  these  is  that 
of  a  god  wearing  a  small  hat,  to  the  right  of  whom  is  a  goddess, 
who  has  her  hair  dressed  in  a  peculiar  manner,  like  the  sphinx  of 
Euvuk.  On  the  road  from  Chonos,  south  of  the  ancient  Colossae, 
to  Isbarta,  north  of  Sagalassus,  is  Lake  Jarishli.  Upon  this  lake,  on 
the  site  of  ancient  Lysinia,  are  sculptures,  which  are  probably  of 
Hittite  origin.  Only  a  short  distance  west  of  this,  at  Kara-atlu, 
are  two  weather-beaten  figures.  Hittite  sculptures  seem  to  have 
been  found  also  northeast  of  Cibyra. 

From  Sardis,  where  the  two  great  roads  mentioned  come  to- 
gether, only  one  continues  to  Smyrna.  The  influence  of  Hittite 
power  and  culture  reached  even  this  place;  for  here  are  the  sculp- 
tures of  the  so-called  Sesostris  and  Niobe  (Cybele),  which  have 
been  known  since  the  earliest  times.  The  figure  of  Sesostris  has 
improperly  received  this  name  through  the  influence  of  Herodotus 
(ii.  106).  Half  an  hour  south  of  the  road  running  from  Smyrna 
to  Sardis,  and  southeast  of  Nimfi  (Nif),  in  the  Karabel  ravine  be- 
tween Nif-dagh  (Olympus)  and  Mahmüd-dagh  (l)racon),  there  is 
the  figure  of  a  Hittite  prince  in  relief  represented  as  walking  in  the 
direction  of  Ephesus.  It  is  high  up  on  the  face  of  the  rock,  in 
a  shallow  niche,  which  becomes  somewhat  contracted  at  the  top. 
Here  we  have  the  pointed  tiara,  the  short  robe,  and  the  peaked 
shoes.  The  left  hand  is  extended,  and  holds  an  upright  spear;  the 
risrht,  a  bow:  and  the  hilt  of  a  short  sword  is  visible  in  front,  in  the 
girdle.  There  are  hieroglyphics  in  front  of  the  face,  which  Sayce 
has  copied.  Ten  minutes  distant,  and  just  above  the  path,  is  a 
second  figure,  very  much  injured,  upon  a  rock  between  the  present 


Ill  II  111-:   MONUME  ■  ••  I  1 

road  and  the  small  river  Karasu.     It  resembles  the  other,  onh  there 
is  less  energy  of  movement;  its  face  is  turned  toward  -  This 

figure  appears  to  be  the  one  described  bj    Herodotus;  but,  as  the 

present  road  runs  behind  the  rock,  Humann  was  the  first  to  dii 
it  in  187Ö.  At  Ali-agha,  in  the  plain  of  the  Hermus,  southe 
tli«'  ancient  Cyrene,  is  a  pre-Hellenic  fortification  with  Cyclopian 
walls;  and  near  it  is  a  relief  similar  to  the  one  ai  Nimfi.  Farther 
<>n  are  the  mounds  known  as  tin-  Tombs  ol  Tantalis;  they  are 
round,  and  an-  surmounted  with  pyramids.  Texicr  describes  one 
which  was  constructed  in  this  way:  walls  radiate  Crom  (he  centre 
to  the  circular  enclosing  wall,  and  the  intervening  Bpaces  arc  filled 
with  refuse  stones.  The  chamber  is  vaulted  over  with  a  pointed  arch; 
but  this  is  not  constructed  with  keystones,  hut  is  hewn  out  of  the 
ruck.     The  stylobate  of  the  tumulus,  the  chamber,  in  fact  the  whole 

character  of  the  tomb,  are    the  same   which    the    cemeteries   at    < 

or  Tarquinii,  in  Italy,  exhibit.  Near  Magnesia,  on  Mount  Sipylus, 
is  a  figure  of  Cybele,  which  is  probably  the  oldest  work  "f  art  in 
Minor;  but  it  has  been  greatly  injured  by  the  weather,  and  its  artis- 
tic qualities  have  been  almost  concealed  by  incrustation.  It  is  more 
than  twenty  feet  high,  and  is  in  a  sitting  posture,  like  the  Athena 
in  Troy  (Iliad,  vi.  -'.i~i  ).  The  figure  is  cot  in  relief,  like  those 
previously  described,  hut  half  round.  This  peculiarity  may  indicate 
that  here  in  a  vciy  ancient  Lydian  kingdom,  from  which  tl  I 
tradition  has  preserved  the  names  of  Tantalus  and   Pelops,  and  which 

later  developed  into  the   kingdom  of  Sardis,  we  have  forms  of  A\\ 

differing  somewhat   from  the  Hittite.     This  city  upon   Mount   S 

lus.    in    whose    circuit    these    monuments  are    found,    w 

Tansanias    says,    by    a    divine    judgment,    and    swallowed    up    in    the 

marshy  lake  of  Saloe.     This  stagnant   body  of  water  is  two  hours 
distant  from    Magnesia,  and   the  statue  of   Cybele  is   visible  about 
a  hundred  feet  above  its  surface.      The   throne  of  Pelops  is  said   to 
stand  above  the  statue;  and  Humann  there  found  remains  ol  tic    I 
talids,     -rock  houses,  and  cisterns  shaped  like  bottles.     Th< 
southern  block  of  stone  has  been  hewn  out  in  the   ahap 

enough  to  form  a  seal  for  a  man.     h  i-  i  laimed  that  the  t 
.f  the  goddess  Cybele  still  shows  that  it  had  a  diadem  a: 
head.     Dennis  discovered  hieroglyphs  on  the  if:' 
Voi .  i.    ia. 


242  SYRIA   AND  ASIA   MINOR. 

the  head.  Gollob  distinguished  two  other  inscriptions  under  the 
Hittite  one ;  namely,  a  cartouche  of  Rameses  II.,  and  a  second  Hit- 
tite  inscription.  The  Egyptian  characters  are  not  made  very  cor- 
rectly ;  but  their  existence  here  indicates  that  the  coast  of  Asia 
Minor  had  begun  to  feel  the  Egyptian  influence,  and  causes  us  to 
assign  this  work,  with  some  probability,  to  the  time  of  the  Pharaoh 
mentioned;  that  is,  to  the  fourteenth  century  B.c.  About  1600  feet 
eastward  is  a  vast  fissure  (Turkish,  Jarikkaja,  '  the  rent  rock'),  more 
than  three  hundred  feet  wide  in  places,  whose  walls  rise  five  hun- 
dred feet  high.  This  is  the  Achelous  of  the  Iliad  (xxiv.  616), 
where  Niobe  mourned  after  being  changed  into  a  stone.  It  has 
been  thought  that  the  figures  of  Cybele  and  of  Niobe  were  one  and 
the  same,  but  Pausanias  speaks  of  two.  One  is  that  of  Cybele,  the 
Mother  of  the  Gods,  upon  the  rock  of  Coddinus,  near  Magnesia, 
which,  according  to  Pausanias,  is  the  oldest  sculpture  found  on  Grecian 
soil,  and  which  Broteas,  the  son  of  Tantalus,  made ;  the  other  is  the 
fio-ure  of  Niobe,  which  near  by  looks  like  a  natural  stone,  but  at  a 
distance  appears  to  be  the  bowed  form  of  a  woman  weeping.  Upon 
the  northern  slope  of  Sipylus,  about  ten  minutes  east  of  the  figure 
of  Cvbele,  is  a  cone-shaped  stone  (phallus)  with  a  niche  on  both  sides, 
which  also  belongs  to  the  pre-Hellenic  period.  Of  special  interest  are 
two  Hittite  inscriptions  found  in  Babylon,  an  inscribed  bowl,  and  a 
magnificent  stele  of  diorite  found  by  the  German  Expedition  in 
August,  1899,  with  a  picture  of  the  Hittite  storm  god  Teshup,  together 
with  an  inscription  of  a  little  over  six  lines.  The  monument  must 
have  been  carried  to  Babylon  as  a  trophy  from  some  Hittite  centre. 
(Plate  XVII.— B.) 

Besides  the  monuments  which  have  been  referred  to,  and  which 
are  still  in  position,  and  none  of  which  are  later  than  the  eighth  cen- 
tury, because  the  Hittite  kingdom  was  at  that  time  destroyed  by  the 
Assyrians,  there  are  many  smaller  antiquities,  more  particularly  seal 
cylinders.  Especially  worthy  of  mention  is  an  embossed  seal  (Fig. 
87),  made  from  a  thin  plate  of  silver  in  the  form  of  a  segment  of  a 
sphere  ;  it  was  attached  to  the  hilt  of  a  staff  or  dagger.  This  came 
to  light  in  Smyrna,  but  disappeared  again  after  an  electrotype  copy 
had  been  made  for  the  British  Museum.  On  each  side  of  the  figure 
of  the  Hittite  prince  are  six  hieroglyphs,  corresponding  to  one  an- 


PLATE    XVII.      fl 


Hittite  Monun 

■ 


Ill  111  //:   8EALS. 


other  and  having  the  same  meaning,  which  is  evidently  reproduced 
in  the   Assyrian  cuneiform   writing  running  around  th<   i  I  I 

begins  opposite  the  Left  hand  with  the  perpendicular  wedge;  thii 
wedge  indicates  thai  a  proper  name  follows;  the  three  following 
wedges  read  tar,  the  next  nine  qu,  then  dim  follows,  expressed  l>\ 
live  wedges,  then  me  is  expressed  by  a  vertical  wedge  with  a  small 
out-  upon  its  side:  the  next  six  form  the  ideograph  for  4 king/  the 
next  three  w  itli  their  points  together  mean  •  land  ; '  the  next  five  read 
er;  then  the  syllable  me  occurs  again;  and  the  last  are  e.  The 
meaning  of  the  whole  is  Tarkudimme,  king  of  (tiie)  land  Erme.  From 
this  one  would  judge  that  the  I  unite  characters  within  the  field 
should  be  interpreted  as  follows  :  the  head  of  the  animal  represent* 
Tarku;  the  figure  under  it  dimnu  ;  tin-  obelisk  would  indicate  'king'; 
the  double  mountain, 'land';  and  the 
two  remaining  characters  would  he 
er-me.  The  first  part  of  the  name 
of  the  killer  appears  to  he  thai  of  a 
god,  Tarku ;  and  this  occurs  also  in 
Tarkhulara,  the  name  of  a  king  of 
Gurgum,  and  in  Tarkhunazi,  that  of 
the  king  of  Meliddu.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that  this  Ilittite  name  ap- 
pears several  time-,  even  in  late  an- 
tiquity ;  ihr  example,  in  the  time  of 
Augustus  there  lived  the  princes  Tar- 

condimotus    and    Tarcondarius.      Plutarch    mentions    a    Tan lemus. 

A    tribe  in   Mylasa   in  Caria  was  called  Tarcondareis ;  and   there  was 
a  Tarcodimatus,   bishop  of   Aegae    in   Cilicia.     The   land    Ernie   was 

perhaps  that  of  the  Arimi,  wl Strabo  locates  in  southern  Cilici 

the  lower  Calycadnus.  While  certain  conclusions  n>  be  drawn  fi 
study  of  this  seal  are  of  considerable  importance,  they  do  not  buA 
solve  the  mystery  of  the  Ilittite  script. 

Various  work-  of  a  Ilittite  character  have  been    found.     In  the 
brick  library  of   Asurbanipal  at    Nineveh,  eight   clay   imprei 
Ilittite  seals  were  found,  hut   four  of  them  are  identical.     'II..-  pre 
ence  of  these  in   the   Assyrian  capital  can  1-  explained  by   the  mar- 
riage of   the    Assyrian    king  with   the  daughter  of   - 


Fig.  K7      Seal  "i   fan 


1>44  SYRIA    AND  ASIA   MINOR. 

Cilicia.  Also  eighteen  clay  impressions  of  seals,  which  Schlumberger 
secured  in  Constantinople,  should  be  mentioned.  Upon  one  of  these 
there  is  a  god  upon  a  lion,  having  in  his  right  hand  a  bow,  as  in  the 
relief  of  Nimfi ;  there  are  also  five  stone  seals  in  Berlin.  A  large 
number  of  hematite  cylinders  were  found  in  Cappadocia,  the  Taurus, 
and  Northern  Syria,  which  have  figures  resembling  those  in  Boghaz- 
keui.  In  Naples  there  is  a  gold  seal-ring  with  the  figure  of  a  Hittite 
warrior  raising  up  a  hare.  Di  Cesnola  found  a  seal  in  Cyprus,  con- 
taining a  figure  resembling  that  of  Nimfi,  which  represents  a  gazelle 
contending  with  a  dog,  and  a  hunter  thrusting  his  spear  into  the 
neck  of  the  gazelle ;  the  inscription  upon  one  side  consists  of  two 
Hittite  hieroglyphs,  that  upon  the  other  of  the  two  Cyprian  syllabic 
signs  ja  and  po.  Various  antiquities  from  Asia  Minor  have  Cyprian 
characters,  and  these  cannot  therefore  be  regarded  as  Hittite  memori- 
als ;  still,  they  show  that  the  Greeks  as  well  as  Lycians,  Carians,  and 
others  before  the  adoption  of  the  Phoenician  alphabet  made  use  of  a 
script,  —  called  by  some  '  Asian,'  —  which  is  derived  from  the  Hittite 
hieroglyphs.  This  was  employed  a  long  time,  especially  in  Cyprus. 
The  letters  which  were  lacking  in  the  Phoenician  alphabet  were  sup- 
plied in  the  writing  of  Asia  Minor  from  the  '  Asian ; '  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  lines,  running  alternately  from  left  to  right,  and  right  to 
left  (bvmtrophedori)  is  Hittite,  as  the  hieroglyphs  upon  the  stones 
of  Hamath  clearly  show.  It  also  appears  that  a  mystical  sign,  which 
Mas  widely  diffused,  and  which  has  been  designated  by  a  Sanskrit  word 
swastika,  is  of  Hittite  origin.  It  consists  of  a  cross,  the  four  ends  of 
which  are  bent  toward  the  side.  It  is  thought  that  it  really  repre- 
sents the  oldest  means  of  striking  fire ;  namely,  two  pieces  of  wood, 
which  were  rubbed  at  their  intersection  by  a  third,  until  the  wood 
ignited.  As  in  the  mythological  picture-language  conceptions  were 
frequently  united,  so  the  generation  of  fire  is  united  with  fertility, 
life,  and  good  fortune.  Countless  examples  of  this  sign  are  found 
upon  vessels  in  Asia  Minor  and  in  the  Greek  islands,  also  upon  ob- 
jects from  Schliemann's  Troy.  The  sivastika  occurs  much  later  in 
India ;  it  passed  thence,  with  Buddhism,  to  Tibet  and  Eastern  Asia, 
even  to  Japan,  where  it  forms  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  Daimio  family 
Hachisuka. 

The  eastern  portion  of  Asia  Minor  was  occupied  by  Hittites  and 


MONUMENTS   TN    PHRYQIA,  245 

cognate  peoples,  who  in  the  earliest  period  ruled  the  whole  peninsula. 
The  Lydian  dynasty  of  the  Heraclidae  seem  to  have  been  o\  llittitu 
origin.  The  western  portion,  however,  gradually  passed  from  uudei 
their  influence,  because  independent  kingdoms  arose  which  became 
hostile  to  Asia«  especially  after  tin-  Ilittite  kingdom  was  desti 
by  the  Assyrians,  and  after  the  Median  power  spread  beyond  Ar- 
menia. The  chief  people  of  western  Asia  Minor  were  the  Phrygians, 
who  crossed  over  the  Hellespont  from  Europe.  The  monuments 
found  in  Phrygia  probably  belong  to  the  llittin-  period,  for  Greek 
art  had  not  yet  made  its  influence  felt  bo  far  inland:  but  they  are 
later  in  time,  for  the  inscriptions  upon  them  are  in  a  writing  derived 
in  tin-  eighth  century  B.c.  from  the  Ionian,  and  containing  also  some 
Phrygian  characters.  Here  belong  the  monument  called  I >«•  li k.- 
tash  ('the  excavated  stone'),  at  I  lannanjik,  upon  the  Rhyndacus; 
and  the  graves  at  Doganlu,  south  of  Dorylaeum  (Eski-Shehr),  upon 
one  of  which  (Fig.  ss  )  is  the  nana-  of  Midas.  At  the  latter  place 
is  an  entire  citadel,  which,  together  with   its  approaches,  is  cut  out 

of    the  solid    rock.      These    n nnieiits  show  a  close  connection  with 

the  Cappadocian.     The  outside  of    the  tomb  presents  a   large  tl.it 

facade,    ahove    which     runs    a    geometric    embroidery    pattern.      The 

pediment  is  also  flat,  ami  ornamented  with   rows  oi   squares,  and  is 

crowned   at   the    top  with    spirals.      These   decorations    were   colored, 

as  appears  on  the  Deliktash.     This  latter  is  covered  in  man)  places 

with  stucco,  and  shows  still  black,  red,  and  white  coloring.     The 

cap-piece  of  the  door  was  adorned  with    led    rings,  and  its  under  side 

is  decorated  with  beautiful  foliage.     The  facade  has  the  appearance 
of  a  wall  hung  with   Phrygian  carpets.     There  appears  t..  be  a  door 

at    the   bottom    near   tin'  ground;    hut    it    is    not    a    leal    one.  for    the 

entrance  is  from  the  top.  But  the  opening  of  the  shaft  is  cono 
by  the  growth  of  plants,  so  that  it  has  been  found  only  in  the 
of  a  single  grave. 

The  ancients  affirm  that  the  Mv-dans,  who  w.-iv  ;,  w.mik. 

the   north   of   Lydia,  spoke  a  Language  between  the   Phryg 
Lydian.     Although   the  statements  of  th<    G        -  upon  Lingu 

matters   cannot    he    relied    upon,  since   they   did    not    treat   ol    t1 

lationshipof  Languages  upon  scientific  principles,  yet  this 
perhaps  be  regarded  as  correct,  as  it  i  1  by  tie- 


246 


STRIA   AND  ASIA   MINOR. 


position  of  the  people.  The  Carian  language  is  also  believed  to  be 
related  to  the  Lydian,  although  the  Carians  in  many  respects  occu- 
pied a  peculiar  position.  Cognate  with  the  Lydians  and  Carians 
were  the  Leleges,  to  whom  many  Cyclopian  walls  and  pre-Hellenic 


Fi<;.  «8.  — The  Tomb  of  Midas. 


fortifications  are  ascribed.  Adjoining  the  Lydians  are  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Troad ;  adjoining  the  Phrygians  are  the  Bithynians, 
the  Mariandyni  and  Paphlagonians,  who,  like  them,  came  from 
Thrace.  The  Thracians  built  the  lowest  city  of  Hissarlik,  the 
pottery  and  stone  remains  of  which  are  the  same  as  those  discovered 
in  the  so-called  Hill  of  Protesilaus   on  the  European  shore  of  the 


LYCIA  VS 


247 


Hellespont,  which  belong  to  the  stone  age  of  the  Ajryan  race.  The 
Phrygian  is  an  Aryan  language,  which  is  connected  on  the  one  hand 
with  the  Thiacian  and  Lithuanian,  and  upou  the  other  with  the 
Armenian.  Ii  is  probable  thai  the  Cappadocians,  whose  Dame  does 
not  appear  till  the  inscriptions  of  the  Achaemenides,  is  thai  portion 
of  the  Aryans  which  conquered  the  old  Hittite  Khammanu.  h  can 
be  assumed  tint  many  [ndo-European  peoples  entered  into  \ 
Minor  even  in  very  ancient  time,  jn-t  as  the  Cimmerians  did  later. 
mingled  with  the  earlier  inhabitants,  and  adopted  the  culture  of  Asia 
Minor.  The  origin  of  the  Lycians,  whose  native  name  was  Termil, 
is  wholly  uncertain.  Greek  tradition  -ays  that  they  are  related  t<>  the 
Rhodians  and  Cretans.  Their  numerous  inscriptians,  many  of  which 
have  a  Greek  translation,  show  that  the  language  was  nol  Indo- 
European.  Their  civilization  became  later  wholly  Hellenized;  and 
only  their  language,  and  the  rock  architecture  of  the  graves,  which 
will  be  treated  of  later,  are  pure  Lycian. 

Asia  Minor  lay  at  the  centre  of  the  ancient  world,  and 
adapted  to  commerce  because  it  is  washed  on  three  sides  bj  the 
sea;  its  rieh  soil  and  line  climate  fitted  it  to  be  the  home  of  an  early 
civilization.  The  lack  of  a  great  river,  or  of  a  large  plain,  such  as 
Mesopotamia  and  Egypt  possessed,  prevented  the  formation  of  a 
central  power,  to  unite  the  different  nations  and  the  countries,  which 
are  to  some  extent  separated  by  mountains  difficult  to  i 

The  chief  significance  of  Asia  Minor  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  was  the  transmitter  pf  the  civilization 
and  culture  of  Asia  to  Greece  and  thus  to  Europe. 

until,  however,  the  Hittite  inscriptions,  of  which  we  now  have 
some  thirty  of  a  substantial  character,  besides  single  Hittite  signs  on 
many  seal  cylinders  or  clay  impressions  of  seals,  -hall  have  been  satis- 
factorily deciphered,  many  of  the  problems  presented  by  the  history 
of  Asia  Minor,  and  more  particularly  the  relationship  of  the  various 
groups  in  this  district  to  one  another,  cannot  be  solved.  Despite  some 
progress  made  in  the    letermination  of  some  signs  and  in  tl 

pictorial    interpretation,  chiefly    by   Save,..    Jensen,   and    M- —  r-hmidt. 

the  key  to  the  language  has  nol  yet  been  found  A  solution  pro| 
by  Jensen  in  1894  has  nol  bed,  accepted  by  scholars,  and  one  proj 
by  Sayce  in  1903  still  remains  to  be  tested 


BOOK   III. 


EGYPT  AND  WESTERN    ASIA. 

THE  NKW"    EMPIRE    IN    EGYPT   AND  THE   RISE  0 

ASSYRIA. 


240 


EGYPT  AND  WESTERN    A  STA 

THE    .\'i:\V    EMPIRE    l\    EGYPT    AM»  THE    RISE   OF 

ASSYRIA. 


CHAPTEB    VI. 

THE   RELATIONS   OF   THE    NEW    EMPIRE   TO   SYRIA. 

THE    Egyptians    in    earlier  times   had    business    relations    with 
foreign    peoples,   and    were  also    often    obliged    I  :<■  in 

war  with  Libyans  and  roving  Asiatic  races.  The»  wars,  however,  had 
for  their  main  object  the  defence  of  Lower  Egypt.  Onl)  toward 
the  smith  was  the  kingdom  extended  by  conquest.  W  ith  the  Eigh- 
teenth Dynasty  there  sei  in  weightier  campaigns  against  the  gi 
powers  in  Asia  to  vindicate  Egypt's  greatness,  and  to  enrich  the  land 
by  spoils,  as  well  a-  to  gain  workmen  for  the  great  architectural 
works  from  the  captives  taken  in  war.  Aähmes  (Amasis  [.),  the 
first  king  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  (seventeenth  to  fifteenth  cen- 
tury B.c.),  had,  with  the  aid  of  the  Ethiopians,  driven  forth  the 
Hyksos.  The  Inscription  on  the  grave,  already  referred  to  (p.  1  V 
the  king's  namesake,  <  faptain  Aahmes,  found  at  El-Kab,  gives  full  dV  tails 
of  the  Biege  of  Avaris,  the  Hyksos1  fortress.     We  learn  from  it  that 

the    attack    was    made    botfc     by    land    and    water.        ■■  W  ■ 

Avaris,  and   I   had   to  fighl   on  foot  before   lli-   Holii 

raoh ).     I  was  conveyed  on  board  the  ship  Kha-en  Menn<  fer(*  K 

in  .Memphis-):  we  foughl  on  the  canal   Pazet-ku 

won    i   a   prize.     I  carried   off  a  hand,  which  was  commui 

tlll.  chronicler  of   the   king.     For  my   valor  the   golden   chain 

given  me \    fighl    took   place  at   Takem,  south    i  I     ' 

Where  I  captured  a  man  alive.     I  went  into  the  «  him 

with  me.     To  avoid  the  stive,,  of  the  citj   I  with  him  thi 


252         THE   RELATIONS    OF   THE   NEW   EMPIRE    TO   STRIA. 

water.  .  .  .  We  took  Avaris.  I  took  thence,  as  captives,  one  man 
and  three  women,  which  I  presented  to  His  Holiness  as  slaves. 
We  besieged  the  city  of  Sharnhen  in  the  sixth  year  of  his  reign,  and 
His  Holiness  captured  it.  I  took  with  me  two  women  as  captives, 
and  carried  off  a  hand.  .  .  ."  Sharuhen  (Joshua  xix.  6)  lay  on  the 
road  to  Gaza.  We  know  from  the  inscription  of  another  officer — 
Aähmes-pur-Nekhbet — that  Aähmes  I.  pursued  the  Hyksos  to  Phoenicia. 
After  capturing  Avaris,  the  king,  hurried  against  the  mountaineer  of 
Khent-nefer  in  Nubia,  and  scarcely  were  these  subdued,  when  a  still 
mightier  southern  foe  appeared.  This  also  was  conquered.  The  gen- 
eral, Aähmes,  captured  the  ship  of  the  commander,  and  was  rewarded 
by  large  possessions.  After  bringing  his  wars  and  two  rebellions  to  a 
successful  issue,  the  king  devoted  himself  to  the  enlargement  and  deco- 
ration of  temples.  Prisoners  from  the  northeast  frontier  —  among 
them  the  Fenkhu,  a  foreign  coast-people  in  the  eastern  Delta  — 
were  employed  in  the  quarries  of  Turra.  From  this  time  for- 
ward, Thebes  came  more  to  the  foreground  than  under  the  Seven- 
teenth Dynasty,  and  saw  a  series  of  great  structures  arise.  Mem- 
phis, in  virtue  of  its  commerce  and  its  being  the  seat  of  government 
for  the  Delta,  remained  a  city  of  high  importance ;  but  the  days  of 
its  glory  were  departed.  During  the  last  dynasties,  however,  the 
seat  of  empire  was  again  transferred  to  Lower  Egypt. 

The  portrait  of  Aähmes  is  preserved  on  a  stele  in  Turin.  His 
well-preserved  mummy  shows  him  to  have  been  about  fifty  when  he 
died.  The  head  is  small,  the  hair  is  thick  and  wavy.  Erman  has 
pointed  out  that  the  entire  organization  of  the  country  changed  as  the 
result  of  the  war  of  independence.  The  invasion  had  weakened  the  old 
feudal  houses.  The  territory  recovered  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  crown. 
Egypt  had  become  a  military  power.  Army  chiefs  stepped  into  ancient 
civil  offices,  replacing  the  feudal  aristocracy.  The  crown,  the  priest- 
hood, and  the  army  divided  the  wealth  of  the  land.  Aähmes  married 
his  sister,  Aähmes-Nefertari,  through  whom  descended  the  rights  of  the 
pure  solar  line.  For  centuries  she  was  worshipped  on  a  par  with  the 
great  Theban  gods  as  the  '  great  ancestress.'  In  her  coffin — over  ten 
feet  high — the  mummy  of  Rameses  III.  had  been  secreted  along  with 
her  own.  The  Mahdi  war  that  followed  upon  the  find  of  royal  bodies 
caused  these   to   remain    neglected    until    1886.       It    then   was    found 


TABLET   OF   TH0THM1  S 


fcrr^i^L^f^^t^tt^t'i/^it-u;^^».--'^', 


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Pie.  B9.     TttoM  <•[  Thothmei  I 


954  THE   RELATIONS   OF   THE   NEW  EMPIRE    TO   SYRIA 

thai  the  mummy  of  Nefertari — after  having  survived  3500  years — was 
decomposing,  and,  in  Mr.  Maspero's  absenoe3  she  was  hastily  buried 
anew. 

Amenhotep  I.,  son  of  Aahmes,  reigned  at  first  jointly  with  his 
mother.  He  fought  in  Nubia  and  in  Asia.1  The  dominions  which 
he  left  to  his  son  extended  from  Nubia  to  the  Euphrates.  Thothmes 
I.  (Fig.  92)  vanquished  the  Nubians  of  Khent-nefer,  and  set  up 
a  monument  at  Kerman,  opposite  the  island  of  Tombos  (Fig.  89). 
He  then  entered  Asia,  marched  through  the  land  of  the  Kutenuu 
into  northern  Palestine  and  Syria,  and  erected  memorial-stones  at 
Niy  on  the  Euphrates.  The  hoary  hero,  Aahmes,  the  king's  lieu- 
tenant, appeared  for  the  last  time  here  in  the  field,  and  captured  a 
battle-chariot.  The  victories  in  Asia  did  not  secure  for  Egypt  any 
real  sovereignty  in  these  parts.  Tribute  only  was  required,  without 
any  change  in  the  political  relations.  On  the  other  hand,  the  con- 
quered Nubian  possessions  were  practically  incorporated  into  the 
kingdom  by  the  establishment  of  strong  places,  the  introduction  of 
Egyptian  culture,  and  the  appointment  of  the  Prince  of  Cush  as 
governor,  an  office  often  filled  by  the  crown-prince.  Thothmes  II. 
married  his  sister,  Queen  Ma-ka-Ra  Khnumt-Amen  Hatshepsut 
(Fig.  90),  whom  Erman  and  Edward  Meyer  suspect  of  doing  away 
with  him.  The  feebleness  of  his  frame,  however,  and  the  ravages  of 
the  disease,  still  visible  on  his  skin,  sufficiently  explain  his  early  demise. 
The  relationship  of  the  Thothmeses  is  still  a  matter  for  discussion.  But 
whether  Thothmes  III.  was  a  brother  or  nephew  of  Hatshepsut,  as  is 
generally  believed,  or,  as  recently  suggested,  was  an  usurper  and  her 
consort,  Hatshepsut' s  right  to  the  throne  is  unquestioned.  She  organ- 
ized a  great  commercial  maritime  expedition  to  the  land  of  Punt 
whose  details  are  represented  in  a  series  of  very  beautiful  reliefs,  with 
descriptive  inscriptions,  in  the  temple  at  Der-el-Bahri,  in  Thebes. 
(Plate  XVIII.)  Parihu,  the  Prince  of  Punt,  appears  as  an  old  man 
of  dark-brown  skin  ;  his  wife  and  daughter,  portrayed  with  realistic 
humor,  are  anything  but  slender  beauties.  The  freighting  of  home- 
ward-bound   vessels,   on    some  of  which   men   are   already   giving  the 

1  In  the  reign  of  this  king  the  lmr.se  first  appears  on  Egyptian  monuments. 
—Ed. 

s  The  coffin  and  the  mummy  of  Thothmes  I.  were  found  at  Der-el-Bahri.  The 
bead  bears  a  strong  likeness  to  that  of  Thothmes  II. — Ei>. 


PLAT] 


1.  Arrival  of  the  Fie 
(One-sixteent 


Iliatunj  of  All  Nations.  Vol.  I.,  ixiae  S-'L. 


2.  The  Freiglr 

(One-ninth  1 

Bas-relief  on  a  wall  in  the  temple  at  Der-el-Bahri,  repri 


XVIII 


at  the  Land  of  Punt. 
lie  actual  size.) 


ig  of  a  Ship. 

ctual  size.) 

ing  a  fleet  sent  by  Queen  Eatasu  to  the  land  of  Punt. 


QUEEN  HATSHEPSUT. 


25! 


sails  to  the  wind  and  moving  the  rudder,  is  represented  on  the 
Lower  part  of  our  plate.  The  fish  in  the  water  are  depicted  so  truly 
that  it  is  possible  to  determine  their  species.  The  wares  are  enu- 
merated in  the  inscriptions.  Among  them  we  find  frankincense 
plants,  ivory,  etc.;  also  apes  (kafu,  Hindostanee  kapi\  peacocks 
(aanau),  and  other  foreign  animals,  as  well  as  thirty-two  fragrant 
shrubs,  which  were  acclimated  in  Thebes.  The  leader  can  recog- 
nize many  of  the  names  in  the  subjoined  determinatives,  or  eluci- 
datory picture-signs,  on  the  plate. 
In  Thebes  their  arrival  was  cele- 
brated by  a  festival,  and  the  car- 
goes were  consecrated  and  entered 
in  the  temple-books.  The  god 
Thoth,  a  n<  I  Safekh,  the  goddess  of 
libraries,  record  the  weight,  and 
number  the  articles.  In  the  one 
scale  of  a  balance  held  by  Hor 
are  thirty-one  metal  rings  (coins)  ; 
in  the  other,  the  'tens'  or  pound- 
weights  in  the  form  of  ox-heads 
or  gazelles  ( rock-goats).  The  queen 
reigned  twenty  years.  Her  empty 
coffin  has  recently  been  found. 

With  Hatshepsut  the  legitimate 
line  seems  to  have  come  to  an  end  ; 
for  Thothmes  III.  nowhere  men- 
tions his  mother,  liest,  her  name 
appearing  only  on  the  mummy-bands  of  hie  corpse.  Scarcely  was 
the  queen  Ma-ka-Ra,  descended  <V<>m  the  queen  of  Aähmes,  dead, 
when  he  avenged  the  indignities  he  had  t<»  endure  from  her.  and  his 
banishment  to  Buto  in  the   Delta  at  her  dictation,  by  causing  her 

name  to  be  chiselled    mit    from    all    the    monuments    and    replaced   by 

his  own.1     Tin    reign  of  Thothmes   III.,  covering  nearly  fifty-three 

years,   is  glorious,    both    by    reason    of    his    SUCCeSS    in    amis    and    the 

1  AVo  are  told  thai  during  her  lifetime  Eatshepsul  wore  male  attire,  and  put  on 
the  robes  and  ornaments  thai  belong  to  kin--.  She  honored  the  memory  of  her  father. 
Thothmes  I.,  by  erecting  t..  bim  two  magnificent  granite  obelisks  at  Karnak.— Ed 


Pig.  90.      Queen  Hat 


256         THE    RELATIONS    OF    THE   NEW  EMPIRE    TO   SYRIA. 

nol.U>  works  of  art  raised  by  him.  But  his  name  has  been  probably 
kept  more  vividly  before  posterity  than  that  of  any  other  of  the 
Pharaohs,  from  the  fact  that  he  himself  had  his  annals  first  inscribed 
on  a  leathern  roll,  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  temple  of  Thebes, 
and,  from  that,  engraved  on  the  stone  walls  of  the  great  hall  that 
encloses  the  sanctuary.  Here  they  have  suffered  by  restorations; 
yet,  in  connection  with  the  splendid  pictorial  illustrations,  they 
furnish  priceless  information  touching  the  deeds  of  this  Pharaoh, 
and  the  degree  of  civilization  then  attained  by  the  countries  of 
Asia.  On  a  stele  of  black  grämte,  now  at  the  Gizeh  Museum, 
the  victories  won  by  Thothmes  are  celebrated  in  lofty  diction,  and 
the  subdued  nations  enumerated.  Another  original  source  of  in- 
formation for  this  reign  is  the  inscription  on  the  grave  of  the 
commander  Amen-em-heb,  discovered  by  Ebers  in  Gurnah.  The 
sculptures  are  remarkable  for  their  life;  in  the  battle  pictures  one 
looks  down,  as  from  a  bird's-eye  point  of  view,  on  the  whole 
action,  the  combatants  being  arranged  in  rows  one  over  the  other. 
Some  passages  of  the  text  consist  only  of  names  of  the  conquered 
peoples  and  cities ;  these  names  appearing  on  shields  or  cartouches, 
over  which  are  seen  the  half-length  figures  of  the  inhabitants  with 
their  arms  bound  behind  them.  These  shields,  arranged  in  rows 
one  over  the  other,  are  fastened  on  cords,  and  are  being  presented 
by  the  Pharaoh  to  Amen  and  the  other  gods. 

As  under  Thothmes  I.,  so  in  this  reign,  the  Rntenim  appear 
as  the  dominant  people  of  Syria.  Immediately  after  the  victory 
over  this  people,  there  came  from  Asia  to  Egypt  numerous  works 
of  highly  developed  art-industry,  which  exercised  a  very  distinct 
influence  on  Egyptian  art.  These  exhibit  a  style  of  ornamentation 
mainly  motived  by  the  metal  (bronze)  in  which  they  are  worked, 
whereas,  before  this  time,  Egyptian  decorations  were  based  on  tex- 
tiles and  on  work  in  wood,  as  well  as  on  the  imitation  of  natural 
objects. 

The  annals  of  Thothmes  III.  report  that,  in  the  twenty-second 
year  of  his  reign,  when  he  appears  as  sole  ruler,  he  marched  by  way  of 
Gaza  to  the  fortress  Yehem,  where  tidings  were  secretly  brought  him 
that  the  hostile  prince  of  Kadesh  (northwest  of  Merom,  or  Bahr-Huleh) 
had  garrisoned  Megiddo,  rightly  conceiving  it  to  be  the  key  to  northern 


CAMPAIGNS   OF   TIIOTJ/M/.s   ///. 


25\ 


Syria,  This  city  occupied  the  site  of  the  meiern  Khan-Legum  (from 
the  Latin  Legion),  near  which  Tel-Mutessellim  indicates  the  old  fort. 
Thothmes  approached  Megiddo  through  the  Wadi-Kanah,  on  which 
he  rested  his  right  wing,  while  the  left  extended  itself  northwest 
of  the  town.  The  enemy  was  defeated  and  the  fort  stormed,  which 
later,  under  the  supervision  of  Egyptian  architects,  was  made  a 
point  of  support  for  future  campaigns.  The  booty  captured  in 
Megiddo,  and  that  taken  from  the  petty  kings  who  made  their  suh mis- 
sion, is  detailed  in  the  inscription:  living  prisoners,  340;  bands 
(cut  from  the  fallen),  83;  horses,  2,041;  fillies,  191;  bulls,  6;  a 
war-chariot  inlaid  with  gold;  a  gilded  chest ;  a  royal  gilded  chariot ; 
892  other  war-chariots;  a  bronze  suit  of  armor;  the  armor  of  the 
king  of  Megiddo;  200  suits  of  bronze  armor;  502  bows;  7  silver- 
plated  tent-poles;  innumerable  cattle,  goats,  etc.  The  Pharaoh 
captured  and  razed  the  fortress  of  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes,  where 
Amenemheb  broke  through  a  newly  erected  wall  and  performed 
other  feats,  and  then  entered  the  land  of  the  Rutennu,  when-  he 
strengthened  three  captured  fortresses,  —  Anaugasa,  Herenkal,  Ine- 
naa.  The  Egyptian  arms  were  carried  still  farther,  to  Naharena 
(Mesopotamia);  and  mention  is  made  of  a  land,  Afrit,  lying  behind 
Niy,  where  Thothmes  erected  boundary  pillars.  On  one  Inscription, 
mention  is  made  of  the  tribute  (homage-gift)  of  the  king  of  the 
Kheta  (Hittites),  consisting  of  96  pounds  and  2  ounces  of  gold  ( the 
pound,  or  'ten,'  is  10  ounces;  the  ounce,  14')  grains  apothecary 
weight),  8  negro  slaves,  13  boys  as  servants,  oxen.  In  continua- 
tion, there  are  cited  as  booty  from  Syria.  Remenen,  ami  Naharena  : 
silver  and  gold;  vessels  of  Phoenician  (Zahi)  work:  silver  rings 
(used  as  money  or  for  ornament  ).  <S  of  which  weighed  -"''»l  Egyptian 
pounds;  gold  rings  (the  weight  only,  not  the  number,  told):  green 
stones  (malachite);  lapis  lazuli;  turquoises  (real,  and  artificial  of 
blue  glass  from  Babylon);  bronzes:  iron  articles;  lead;  emery; 
bitumen;  silver  goblets;  white  vases  mounted  in  gold:  'Adonis- 
gardens '  (vessels  with  flowers);  wine  amphorae:  vases  of  felspar; 
chariots,  some  inlaid  with  silver  and  gold,  and  plated  and  painted; 
armor  of  leather  and  bronze:  battle-axes  with  stone  head-  ;  of  living 
beings,  male  and  female  slaves,  horses,  asses,  bulls,  oxen,  goats, 
foreign  birds,  geese,  —  nay,  in  one  representation  the  Rutennu 
Vol.  I.     IT. 


258  'r"i:   RELATIONS   OF    THE   NEW  EMPIRE   TO  SYRIA. 

bring  aot  only  a  bear,  but  an  elephant,  probably  from  the  plain  of 
the  Euphrates  ;  of  natural  products  and  articles  of  food — bread  and 
cakes  corn,  barley,  meal,  grape-  and  date-wine,  honey,  figs,  balsam, 
teak  (t'<»r  chariots),  fauteuüs  of  cedar  or  acacia  («es)  and  other  fine 
woods,  tent-poles  beset  with  bronze  and  precious  stones,  colors,  and 
the  like. 

The  campaigns  were  soon  renewed.  In  the  twenty-ninth  year 
of  his  (Thothmes  III.)  reign  the  fortress  of  Tunep  was  taken.  It  was 
afterward  destroyed.  From  this  point  Amenemheb,  the  Pharaoh's 
general,  made  a  sally  against  Carchemish,  on  the  Euphrates — the 
capital  of  the  Hittite  kingdom — and  then  followed  his  lord  toward 
Aradus,  on  the  Mediterranean,  overtaking  him  at  Tyre.  There  seemed 
to  be  no  limit  to  the  conqueror's  activity.  The  annals  of  his  reign  are 
very  full,  and  show  him  extending  Egypt's  power  from  the  banks  of 
the  Tigris  to  the  mountains  of  Armenia  and  those  of  Abyssinia.  There 
are  records  of  his  wars  from  his  twenty-second  to  his  fifty-fourth 
year.  Almost  each  year  marks  a  new  warlike  enterprise.  After 
placing  under  tribute  the  nations  of  Phoenicia,  Northern  Syria,  Meso- 
potamia, Cyprus,  Punt,  and  Ethiopia,  in  his  forty-second  year,  he  dedi- 
cated the  long  inscription  at  Karnak,  commemorative  of  his  exploits. 
Bis  fiftieth  year  saw  him  in  Ethiopia.  At  this  time  he  cleared  the 
canal  of  the  cataract.  He  was  a  great  builder.  He  must  have  been 
over  sixty  when  he  died.  His  mummy  and  coffin  have  survived.  He 
was  short,  robust,  and  his  features  recall  those  of  Thothmes  I.  and  of 
Thothmes  II.  (p.  287).  The  forehead  is  low,  the  eye  deep-set,  the  jaw 
heavy,  the  lips  thick,  with  high  cheek  bones.  His  type  is  that  of  the 
fellah — "  coarse  of  fibre  and  expression,  but  vigorous."  The  long  list 
of  conquered  peoples  and  places  has  been  studied  by  various  scholars 
from  Mariette  and  Brugsch  to  W.  M.  Müller  and  Breasted,  and  furnish 
valuable  clues  to  the  ancient  world,  about  b.c.  1500.  Never  was  respect 
for  Egypt  so  widespread  over  distant  regions  as  under  Thothmes  III. 
Yet  the  constant  repetition  of  the  campaigns  proves  that  the  van- 
quished  provinces  were  unsubdued. 

Amenhotep  II.,  son  of  Thothmes,  was  obliged  to  march  to  Meso- 
potamia to  enforce  payment  of  the  overdue  tribute.  His  mummy  was 
found  in  1898  by  Loret  (Fig.  91).  His  tomb  had  served  as  hiding-place 
for  other  royal  mummies — among  others  for  that  of  King  Merenptah. 


AMENHOTEP   III     OR    MEMNON. 


259 


Thothmes  IN'.,1  immediate  successor  of  ALinenhotep  II.,  also 
maintained  the  boundaries  established  by  his  ancestors.  A.menhotep 
III.  (Fig.  92),  the  Memnon  of  the  Greeks,  was  a  worthy  successor 
<»f  the  great  Thothmes.  II«'  conducted  expeditions  in  Asia  which 
seem  more  like  triumphal  progresses  than  like  war-.  Ami  he  main- 
tained Egypt's  supremacy  over  Tunep,  Kadesh,  Carchemish,  and 
Northern  Mesopotamia.  lie  made  raids  in  tin'  south  till  all  the  land 
to  Ethiopia  was  subject  to  him.     His  edifices  reach  even  to  the  city  of 


Fig.  91.  —  Mummyof  A.menhqtep  II.  (From  Annates  du  Service  des  Antiquitee,  iii. 

2e  fuse. ) 


Napata,  on  the  mountain  Barkal,  above  the  great  southern  bend  of  the 
Nile.  In  the  history  of  art  he  Is  famed  through  hi-  erection  of  the 
magnificent  south-temple  of  Thebes,  where  Luxor  ii.  <•..  tin-  'palaces') 
now  stands,  and  of  another  on  the  western  bank,  "I'  which  nothing  now 

1  He  i-  interesting  t"  us  as  repairer  of  the  Sphinx  :it  Gizeh.     A  tablet  set  up  by 
him  between  the  paws  of  the  Sphinx  relates  thai  in  an  afterdinner  sleep  Han 
appeared  t"  him  promising  the  crown  of  Egj  pi  it*  he  should  clear  hi«  image — i.e.,  the 
Sphinx — from  the  sand.     This  be  <li'l  in  the  tir-t  year  "f  his  reign.— Ed, 


260 


THE   RELATIONS   OF   THE   NEW  EMPIRE   TO  SYRIA. 


remains  but  the  Memnon  colossi.  The  latter  are  blocks  of  stone 
nearly  seventy  feet  high,  in  the  form  of  gigantic  sitting  figures,  por- 
traits of  the  king  as  the  representative  of  the  god.  The  features  are 
dilapidated  ;  but  one  can  reproduce  them  from  several  still  existing 
likenesses,  as,  e.  g.,  that  in  his  tomb. 

Four  important  events  in  the  life  and  reign  of  this  king  are 
recorded  on  some  large  steatite  scarabs.  One  celebrates  his  lion-hunts, 
where  he  is  said  to  have  slain  102  lions  with  his  own  hands — perhaps 
in    Armenia;  another   records   the   coming   to    Egypt  of  Kilgipa,  the 


Fig.  92.  —  Head  of  Thothmes  I. 


daughter  of  an  Asiatic  father,  Sutarna,  son  of  Artatama,  king  of  Mitani, 
with  317  of  her  women ;  another,  his  marriage  with  Tyi ;  and  the  last, 
the  building  for  his  queen  of  a  large  lake  near  the  town  Tarukha.  The 
Tel-el-Amarna  tablets  prove  that  Amenhotep  had  as  his  wife  not  only 
Queen  Tyi,  but  also  a  sister  and  a  daughter  of  Kallima-sin,  king  of 
Babylon,  as  well  as  Gilukhipa  and  Satumkhipa,  princesses  of  Mitani 
(Armenia),  and  the  sister  and  daughter  of  Dushratta,  king  of  Mitani, 
while  the  son  of  the  Egyptian  king — i.  e.,  Khu-en-Aten — married  Tadu- 
khipa,  Dushratta's  daughter,  whom  Petrie  identifies  with  Nefertiti. 


RELIGIOUS   REFORMS    UNDER   AMENHOTEP  IV.  261 

Under  Amenhotep  TV.  a  religious  schism  took  place.  The  Learned 
priesthood  hud  reached  an  intellectual  plane  from  which  the  multiplicity 
of  Egyptian  gods  seemed  but  the  manifold  manifestations  of  the  divine 
essence.  In  different  localities  various  Dames  tnighl  be  given  to  the 
Supreme  Power.  But  by  the  process  known  as  henotheism,  each  deity 
was  endowed  with  the  attributes  of  all.  Of  this  amalgamation  of 
divine  types,  the  sun-god  was  the  central  point.  If  they  did  not  reach 
monotheism,  it  was  because  in  this,  as  in  all  other  branches  of  their 
civilization,  the  Egyptians  progressed  without  abandoning  the  ancient 
teaching,  upon  which  they  engrafted  the  new.  Amen,  the  'hidden' 
one — originally  a  harvest-god,  the  local  god  of  Thebes  during  the 
Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Dynasties — had  reached  supremacy  in  the 
pantheon.  His  priesthood  had  become  all-powerful.  Amen  became 
the  invisible  god  who  manifests  himself  in  the  sun — i.  e.,  Amen-Ra. 
But  around  him — albeit  often  identified  with  him — were  still  grouped 
the  entire  plurality  of  the  gods.  Amenhotep  III.  had  ruled  in  the 
old  faith,  although,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  ii  is  significant 
that  the  bark  in  which  he  sailed  on  the  artificial  lake  which  he  con- 
structed at  Zaru  for  his  bride,  Queen  Tyi,  was  named  \<  fer-Aten — 
'  the  beauties  of  the  disk.'  This  betrays  in  his  mind  the  leaning 
toward  Aten,  which  his  son,  later,  developed.  At  his  death,  Amen- 
hotep IV.  began  his  reign  in  the  old  faith.  While  he  announced  bis 
intention  to  erect  at  Thebes,  in  honor  of  IJa-I  Iarmakhi  —  A  ten,  a  Ilai- 
Benben  or 'house  of  obelisks'  like  the  temple  of  Heliopolis,  a  tomb 
was  begun  at  Thebes  in  which  he  appears  in  the  conventional  way. 
But  during  the  process  of  construction  thing-  reached  a  crisis  :  at  least, 
in  part  of  the  mausoleum  he  assumes  the  name  of  Khu-en-Aten — 
'  splendor  of  the  disk.'  The  fact  that  it  remained  unfinished  attests  the 
political  as  well  as  the  religious  revolution  that  took  place  ["he  local 
cultus  was  too  deeply  rooted  into  the  very  life  of  the  people  of  each 
locality  to   be  changed.      It    might    readily  be  added    t<>.  but    it    never 

could  be  supplanted.      Breaking  with  the  Theban   priestl I,  Khu-en- 

Aten  left  Thebes.  He  established  his  conn  in  Middle  Egypt,  at  Tel-el- 
Amarna,  where  he  erected  a  new  capital  —  Pa-Aten.  The  god  i-  here 
represented  as  a  disk,  shedding  upon  the  world  its  beneficent  ray-,  each 
of  which  terminates  with  a  hand,  often  holding  the  Bign  of  life  (Fig.  93). 
If  this    form    was   original,    however,    the    Aten    itself  was    UO    new    or 


•>,;•>  THE   RELATIONS  OE  TUE   NEW  EMPIRE    TO  SYRIA. 

foreign  god.  His  worship  had  long  existed  at  Heliopolis.  What  was 
oew  to  Egypt  was  the  intolerance  which  its  worshippers  evinced  toward 
Other  gods.  'The  doctrine,'  as  it  was  called,  taught  adoration  of  "the 
living  sun-disk,  beside  whom  there  is  no  other";  and  its  converts  erased 
the  names  of  other  gods,  directing  their  special  fury  against  Amen. 
( )nlv  Maat,  the  goddess  of  truth,  found  favor  in  their  eyes,  while  Aten 


Fig.  93.  —  Amenhotep  IV.  and  his  family,  sacrificing  to  the  Sun.    Relief  in  a  tomb  at 

Tel-el-Amarna. 

alone  was  worshipped.  The  remains  of  the  palace,  the  temple,  and 
other  structures  of  Khu-en-Aten  have  been  found  (Petrie,  1891).  The 
temple  was  called  Hat-Benben.  In  the  refuse  heap  of  the  palace  much 
A.egaean  pottery  and  glass  was  obtained  ;  and  amid  the  rubbish  in  the 
palace,  probably  left  by  those  who  carved  his  statues,  the  death-mask 
of  the  king — now  in  the  Gizeh  Museum — and  an  unfinished  relief- 
portrait  were  found.  The  latter,  now  in  the  Museum  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  still    retains  after  3400  years  the  ink-tracings  of  the 


AMENHOTEP  71' 


263 


artist  where  the  Btone  is  uncut  A  block  found  at  Gurob,  also  in  the 
last-mentioned  museum,  represents  the  disk  in  the  Assyrian  style,  a-  a 
rosette  from  which  depend  short,  straight,  arrow-like  rays.  The  con- 
ventional art  of  this  interesting  period  represents  the  kin-  a-  quite 
altered  from  his  former  self,  [ndeed,  every  man  and  woman  i-  por- 
trayed in  the  .same  unattractive  as  well  as  unegyptian  form,  which,  as 
Wiedemann  has  wisely  suggested,  belongs  to  the  peculiar  Bchool  of  art 
of  the  time.  The  early  likenesses  of  the  kin-  show  him  with  a  normal 
body  and  the  features  of  his  race.     A   great  hymn  to  Aten   has   been 


Pig.  94, — ",   Mask  <>t"  Khu-en-Aten  (Gizefa  Museum).     >>.   Relief  portrait  of  Khu-en- 
Aten  (Museum  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania). 

preserved.     It  has   been  published  by  Bouriant  and  also  by  Breasted. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  this  invocation  to  the  sun-god  all  trace 
of  the  old  Heliopolitan  anthropomorphism,  a-  well  as  of  polytheism, 
has  disappeared :  .  .  .  "Thou  erratest  the  earth  according  to  thy  will, 
when  thou  wast  alone.  .Men.  herd-,  flocks,  all  that  is  apou  earth 
and  goeth  upon  feet,  all  that  is  on  high  and  flieth  with  win--.  The 
lands  of  Syria,  of  Kush,  of  Egypl  ;  thou  Bettest  .ach  in  it-  place  ;  thou 
providest  each  with  that  which  pertaineth  t"  it.  .  .  .  Their  forms  arc 
according  to  the  color  of  their  skins.  .  .  .  Thou  makest  the  Nile,  .  .  . 
that  it  may  give  life  to  men  whom  thou   hast   mad.'  for  thyself.      Lord 


264 


THE  RELATIONS   OF  THE  NEW   EMPIRE    TO  SYRIA. 


of  all.  .  .  .  Thou  art  the  Only  One,  when  thou  risest  in  thy  form,  as 
the  living  Aten,  splendid,  radiant,  fair  shining.  Thou  createst  the 
tonus  of  the  beings  who  are  in  thee.  Thou  art  the  Only  One.  .  .  . 
All  behold  thee  in  their  midst,  for  thou  art  the  Aten  of  day,  above  the 
earth.  .  .  ."  Most  of  the  inseriptions  of  Khu-en-Aten  breathe  the 
same  religious  fervor.  In  some  of  them,  however,  he  lays  aside  con- 
ventionality and  appears  as  a  loving  husband  and  father.  His  tomb 
was  unfinished,  his  sarcophagus  destroyed,  and  only  fragments  of 
mummy  wrappings  exist  of  this  strange  monarch. 

The  close  relations  with  Asia  resulting  from 
the  treaties  and  marriages  that  followed  upon 
the  great  wars  of  the  preceding  reigns,  had 
led  Asiatics  to  flock  to  the  Egyptian  court. 
At  the  new  capital  there  were  scribes  in  charge 
of  the  correspondence  conducted  in  cuneiform 
script  with  the  tributary  or  allied  Asiatic 
princes,  as  well  as  with  Egypt's  lieutenants  in 
Syria.  In  1887,  at  Tel-el-Amarna,  some 
three  hundred  and  twenty  cuneiform  tablets 
forming  a  portion  of  these  archives  were  found 
in  the  loose  sand  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  back 
of  the  village  by  a  peasant  woman  in  search 
of  antiquities.  The  Semitic  dialect  used  is 
Assyrian,  and — in  some  important  details — is 
related  to  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  tablets  are  of  the  clay  peculiar  to  the  vari- 
ous localities  represented.  They  were  written 
from  about  b.c.  1500  to  1450.  They  are  in- 
scribed on  both  sides,  and  are  annotated  in  red  ink  and  in  hieratic  by  the 
Egyptian  scribe.  They  vary  in  length  from  two  to  twelve  inches.  At 
present,  they  are  distributed  between  the  British  Museum  (82),  the  Berlin 
Museum  (160),  and  the  Gizeh  Museum.  The  tablets  are,  for  the  most 
part,  letters  written  to  Amenhotep  III.  and  Araenhotep  IV.  by  their  sub- 
ject princes  or  deputies  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  by  the  friendly  rulers 
of  Babylon,  and  are  either  diplomatic  messages,  friendly  communications, 
or  official  reports.  The  correspondence  with  Babylon  consists  of  eleven 
/etters,  the  principal  subjects  of  which  are  matrimonial  alliances ;  three 


Fig.  95.  —  KingKlm-n-aten 
(Amenhotep  IV.)- 


TEL-EL-AMARNA    TABLETS.  265 

from  Kallima-sin,  king  of  Karaduriyash  (Northern  Babylonia,  nearesl 
to  Assyria),  to  Amenhotep  III.  j  one,  perhaps  a  firel  draft,  from  the 
latter  to  the  former;  and  seven  from  Burraburiyash  of  Babylon  to 
Amenhotep  IV.  As  a  specimen  of  this  correspondence,  we  quote  a 
part  of  the  letter  from  Amenhotep  III.  Kallima-sin  bad  been  asked 
to  send  Snkharti,  his  daughter,  to  the  harem  of  the  Pharaoh,  and  had 
replied  that  since  the  marriage  of  his  own  Bister  to  the  king  of  Egypt, 
she  had  never  been  seen,  and  that  it  was  nol  known  whether  Bhe  was 
alive.  To  these  and  other  objections  Amenhotep  III.  replies:  "To 
Kallima-sin,  king  of  Karaduriyash,  my  brother,  thus  saith  Amenhotep? 
the  great  king,  the  king  of  Egypt  thy  brother:  'I  am  well,  may  it  be 
well  with  thee,  with  thy  government,  with  thy  wives,  with  thy  children, 
with  thy  nobles,  with  thy  horses,  and  with  thy  chariots;  and  may 
there  be  great  peace  in  thy  land,'"  etc.  The  king  then  states  that  he 
has  understood  the  message  concerning  Snkharti.  II»'  replies  that  none 
of  the  members  of  the  embassy  sent  by  Kallima-sin  for  news  of  bis 
sister  were  acquainted  with  her:  ''Since  thou  sayest'my  messengers 
cannot  identify  her/  I  answer:  Who  can?  And  I  ask  further,  Why 
dost  thou  not  send  a  wise  man  who  might  give  thee  a  trustworthy 
account  of  thy  sister  here?  .  .  .  and  see  for  himself  the  honor  in  which 
she  is  held  by  the  king."  He  calls  upon  the  great  god-,  to  witness 
that  "the  kings  of  the  land  of  Egypt"  are  not  wont  to  aet  deceit- 
fully. Kallima-sin  had  stated  that  it  was  his  custom  to  give  his 
daughters  to  the  " kings  of  Karaduriyash,"  who  treated  their  escorts 
with  generous  hospitality  and  sent  back  handsome  gifts.  Amenhotep 
answers  that  he  possesses  and  will  give  more  than  they.1  Another 
letter  (Berlin  No.  3)  shows  Kallima-sin  complaining  that  when  be  asked 
for  the  hand  of  an  Egyptian  princess  the  king  had  answered  that  "  the 
daughters  of  the  king  of  the  land  of  Egypt  have  never  been  given  to  a 
nobody."  He  asks  :  "Why  not?  Thou  art  king,  and  if  thou  givest 
who  shall  say  a  word?"  The  matter  must  have  Wren  adjusted  finally 
to  their  mutual  satisfaction,  for  another  letter  (Gizeh  N".  I)  shows 
Kallima-sin  writing  to  Amenhotep:  "With  reference  to  thy  request 
that  my  daughter  Sukharti  be  given  thee  to  wife,  she  has  now  reached 
1  See  Bezold-Budge,  'The  Tel-el-Amarna  Tablets  in  the  British  Museum'; 
Winckler-Abel,  'Der  Thontafelfund  von  El-Amarna ' ;  Delattre,  'Lettre«  de  Tel-el» 
Amarna,'inProc.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  1890-91,  vols,  riii.,  w..  L89fc-98.  Bayoeandothen 
have  also  contributed  to  the  elucidation  of  the  Bubject 


266  T1IK   RELATIONS   OF   THE   SEW   EMPIRE    TO   SYRIA. 

the  proper  age.  If  thou  wilt  write  unto  mo,  she  shall  be  brought  unto 
thee."  None  of  the>c  Asiatic  princesses,  however,  was  acknowledged 
queen  of  Egypt.  Tyi  alone  was  described  as  "royal  daughter,  royal 
mother,  royal  wife,  great  lady,  mistress  of  the  North  and  South."  Her 
portrait  shows  her  fair  with  blue  eyes.  Her  father  was  Yuaa,  and  her 
mother,  Thuaa — and  she  was  the  mother  of  Khu-en-Aten,  the  'Napk- 
huriya '  of  the  El-Amarna  tablets — a  transliteration  of  his  throne  name, 
Nefer-Kheperu-Ra.1  According  to  a  tablet  (No.  3,  British  Museum), 
the  hitter's  daughter  married  a  son  of  Burraburiyash.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  this  was  Karakhardash,  who  succeeded  his  father  on  the 
throne  of  Karaduriyash  in  the  time  of  Ashur-uballit,  king  of  Assyria. 
An  interesting  tablet  gives  the  terms  of  a  commercial  treaty  between 
Kallima-sin  and  Amenhotep  III.,  according  to  which  any  Mesopotamian 
travelling  in  Egypt  with  merchandize  shall  pay  certain  duties  to  the 
king  of  Egypt.  Should  the  traveller  refuse,  the  duty  may  be  forcibly 
exacted.  Among  dutiable  articles  are  mentioned  gold,  silver,  oil,  cloth- 
ing, and  other  commodities.  So  far,  this  is  the  oldest  commercial  treaty 
of  which  the  terms  are  officially  recorded.  Burraburiyash  in  a  letter 
(No.  2,  British  Museum)  alludes  to  a  treaty  of  offensive  and  defensive 
alliance  made  between  his  father,  Kurrigalzu,  and  the  king  of  Egypt. 
In  all  these  transactions  astonishing  stress  is  laid  upon  the  respective 
value  of  the  presents  exchanged,  and  in  return  for  Asiatic  bronze, 
rock-crystal,  lapis-lazuli,  and  chariots,  gold,  oxen,  oils,  furniture,  or 
men  are  expected.  The  longest  letter — of  518  lines — in  the  whole 
collection  is  from  Dushratta,  king  of  Mitani  (Armenia),  and  relates 
to  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  (Sadukhipa)  to  Amenhotep  IV.  (Khu- 
en-Aten).  We  have  already  seen  that  the  sister,  and  another  daughter 
of  Dushratta,  had  married  Amenhotep  III.,  whose  throne  name,  Neb- 
Maat-Ra,  is  translated  '  Nimmuriya.' 2 

Besides  the  letters  from  Babylonia,  Assyria,  and  Armenia,  already 
referred  to,  there  are  others  from  remote  regions;  several  from  a  prince 
of    Alashia  (Cyprus  and  perhaps    the  adjacent  coast),  and   one   from 

'Several  scholars  have  identified  Queen  Tyi  with  one  of  these  Asiatic  princesses. 
Wiedemann,  'Aegypten  Geschichte,'  p.  393,  and  Ed.  Meyer,  'Geschichte  des  alten 
Aegyptens,'  p.  260,  however,  look  upon  her  as  a  Lihyan.  Maspero  sees  in  her  an 
Egyptian. 

2  On  the  suhject  of  the  Asiatic  marriages,  see  Erman,  Winckler,  and  others  in  the 
Zeitschrift  fur  Aegyptologie,  xxviii.,  etc. 


77.7.-/:/.-. i  1/  f/:\  i    v  \BLETS.  2ü7 

Tarkhundara,  lord  of  Arzapi  (Rezeph),  a  region  held  by  tin  Hittit  -  t" 
the  north  <>f  Palmyra. 

A  second  group  of  letters,  in  some  respects  the  st  Interesting, 

as  they  are  the  most  numerous,  there  being  over  two  hundred  of 
them,  consists  of  letters  to  tln-ir  Egyptian  suzerain,  Amenhotep  IV.. 
from  his  viceroys  and  captains  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  Covering  a 
period  of  only  five  or  six  years.  In  the  reign  of  this  Pharaoh  the  hold 
of  Egypt  upon  Asia  had  been  very  much  relaxed.  |',\  reason  of  his 
fanatical  devotion  to  religious  reform,  the  'heretic'  king  has  made  a 
political  failure  at  home,  and  suffered  Loss  and  humiliation  abroad. 
These  letters  from  Syria  and  Palestine  reveal  a  painful  condition  of 
demoralization  and  disintegration,  destined  to  be  arrested  only  at  a 
much  later  time  by  the  conquests  of  Seti  L,  and  his  great  son 
Rameses  II.  Garrisons  and  outposts  are  neglected  :  allied  princes, 
in  the  court  of  each  one  of  whom  was  the  Egyptian  paka,  or  resi- 
dent, fail  to  receive  needed  succor  from  Egypt.  Yel  it  was  im- 
portant to  Egypt  to  maintain  her  sovereignty  in  southern  Syria 
and  Palestine,  not  as  an  end  in  Itself,  since  these  states  were  not  at 
this  time  especially  wealthy  or  powerful,  but  rather  because  through 
these  regions  passed  the  great  trade-routes  from  Egypt  to  the  north 
and  to  the  powerful  empire  of  Babylonia  in  the  east  ;  and  it  is  note- 
worthy that  the  chief  struggles  arc  at  points  mi  or  near  the  line  of 
these  trade  routes,  and  not  in  the  remoter  inland  regions.  The  main 
route  led  along  the  .Mediterranean  shore  from  Zoan  (Tanis)  to 
Gaza;  thence  to  Ascalon  (Ashkelon),  Joppa,  Accho,  Tyre.  Sidon, 
Beirut,  and  Gebal  (Byblus).  It  continued  to  the  cities  of  Arka 
and  Simyra.  or  each  side  of  the  river  Eleutherus.  North  of  Simyra 
the  shore  route  becomes  difficult,  and  the  road  turns  inland,  passing 
through  the  plains  of  Kmesa  and  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes.  The 
valley  of  the  Orontes  was  held  by  the  chariots  of  Egypt;  and  the 

main  highway  was  continued  as  far  to  the  north,  under  Egyptian 
protection,  as  Tunep  »now  Tenneb),  an  important  station,  ami 
Doliche  (now  Aintab),  which  was  a  great  city  of  the  Hittites. 
Here  the  route  turned  eastward,  descending  a  river  valley  to 
Zeugma  on  the  Euphrates.  A  more  direct  route  t,.  th< 
country  struck  out  from  Tunep  to  Carchemish,  the  capital  of  the 
llittite  kingdom,  farther  south  on  the  Euphrates.      Here  the  Egyp- 


268         THE   EELATIONS    OF   THE  NEW  EMPIRE    TO  SYRIA. 

tians  intersected  the  great  trade  highways,  branching  off  northeast  or 
east,  to  Edessa,  Armenia,  Nineveh,  and  Babylon.  This  royal  road, 
on  which  embassies  passed  two  and  fro,  was,  from  Zoan  to  the  Eu- 
phrates, about  six  hundred  English  miles  long.  There  were  side 
routes  to  Damascus,  which,  with  the  parts  adjacent  to  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  (Gennesaret),  appears  to  have  been  held  in  the  interest  of 
Egypt.  The  A  mania  tablets  contain  official  letters  from  many  of  these 
important  posts  and  from  places  near, — Ascalon,  Lachish,  Gezer,  Joppa, 
Jerusalem,  Accho,  Hazor,  Tyre,  Sidon,  Beirut,  Gebel,  Tunep,  while 
other  familiar  names  are  referred  to  in  the  text.  From  this  correspond- 
ence, which  is  largely  made  up  of  anxious  pleas  for  aid  from  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Egyptian  power,  it  is  possible  to  reconstruct  with  much 
detail  the  main  features  of  a  great  war  of  rebellion. 

The  war  began  with  a  league  between  the  Hittites,  Cassites,  and 
other  tribes  with  whom  some  of  the  governors  of  the  Syrian  tributary 
provinces  like  Zimridi,1  governor  of  Sidon  and  Lachisch  appear  to  have 
joined.  It  is  obvious  throughout  the  correspondence  that  the  attack 
was  seriously  complicated  by  the  rivalries  and  jealousies  of  the  local 
governors.  Among  the  earliest  operations  was  an  assault  on  Damascus 
by  Aidugama,  the  Hittite  king  of  Kadesh,  on  the  Orontes  ;  the  whole 
country  of  Damascus  was  ravaged.  Simultaneously  with  these  opera- 
tions, as  we  gather  from  the  letters  of  Rib-Adda  of  Gebel  and  other 
loyal  provincial  governors,  the  Amorites  descended  upon  the  rich 
Phoenician  cities  on  the  shore  road.  Simyra  was  first  taken  ;  then  in 
quick  succession  Arka  and  Tripoli.  Gebel,  however,  held  out  for  five 
years,  and  fell  only  after  a  protracted  siege.  The  war  was  also  carried 
on  at  sea.  The  fleets  of  Arvad  aided  the  Amorites,  while  the  ships  of 
Sidon  and  Beirut  succored  Gebel.  During  the  blockade  of  Gebel 
the  Amorites  moved  southward,  and  joining  forces  with  the  Hittites, 
who  moved  west,  took  Sidon  by  treachery,  and  beleaguered  Tyre,  cut- 
ting off  its  water-supply.  As  a  result  of  this  great  war,  the  Egyptians, 
owing  to  a  feeble  foreign  administration,  must  have  lost  some  of  their 
hold  on  Palestine  and  Syria  ;  though  friendly  relations  were  maintained 
with  the  Mitani  and  with  the  Babylonians.  Abd-Ashirti — the  rival  of 
Rib- Adda,  who  describes  him  as  the  arch-rebel — while  protesting  his 
loyalty  to  the   king,  adds  that    in   the  days  of  old   the   Hittites   were 

1  On  the  Bite  of  Lachiscli  (Tel-el-Hesy)  Dr.  Bliss  found  a  cuneiform  tablet  written 
to  Zimridi. 


LAST  KINGS  OF  EIGHTEENTH    DYNASTY. 


269 


vassals  of  Egypt,  but  now  they  destroyed  its  cities,  seized  its  gods,  and 
made  its  liegemen  prisoners  (No.  36,  British  Museum).     The  indepen- 
dence of  the  Hittites,  before  their  final  conquest  by  Rarnea  -  II.. 
to  be  implied  in  the  language  of  the  treaty  of  Rameses   with   Kheta- 
Sar,  king  of  Kadesh. 

Amenhotep  JY.  left  do  male  beirs  ;  but  in  conformity  with  the  law 
of  succession  in  the  female  line,  in  the  absence  of  male  beirs,  be  was 
succeeded  by  several  of  his  sons-in-law.     Of  Saa-ka-Ra,  husband  of 
Mert-Amen,  little  is  known.     Of  Tut-ankh-amen,  husband  of  Ankh- 
sen-pa-Aten,  then-  remain   monumental   trace-.      In   the  grave  of  Hui 
(Ai),  prince  of  Cush,  at  Thebes,  besides  the  seated  king  stand  Bui  and 
Amen-hetep,  governors  of  Ethiopia.     A  brown  princess,  whose  hair 
is  interwoven  with  golden  threads,  rides  on  a  chariot  drawn  by  oxen, 
and  surrounded  by  negro  and    Abyssinian  servants,  who  bring  gifts 
to  the  Pharaoh.     Among  these  are  thick  gold  tings  (  serving  as  coin  >. 
gold-dust  in  bags,  leopard  skins,  cattle,  fans,  elephants*  tusks,  a  gold 
pyramid  standing  on  a  gold  enamelled  pedestal,  also  a  great  cabinet 
on  a  table  hung  with  skins  and  carpets,  and  resting  on  a  golden  col- 
umn enamelled  in  the  Egyptian   style.      Two  golden  pyramids  stand 
on  the  table,  one  on  either  side,  also  a  giraffe  under  a  palm-tree,  at- 
tended by  three  negroes,  all  of  gold.     Some  of  the  men   are  ruddy 
brown,  others   white,  with    black   beard-   and    hair.      They  appear   in   a 
parti-colored   woollen   dress    wound    spirally    round  the  body.     Their 
white-skinned,  black-eyed   slaves,  wearing  only   an   apron,   bring   white 
horses,  magnificent  vessels,  and   lapis   lazuli.     A-  shown  by  hi-  name, 
Tut-ankh-amen  returned  to  Amen-worship.      Even  the  queen's  name 
become-  A 1 1  k  1 1  -  -en- A  men.     Hi-  successor,  Ay,  married  Tyi,  who  i-  styled 
the  great  heiress.      After  building  two  tomb-  at   bJ-A mania,  on  return- 
ing to  Thebes,  he  built  another,  in  which  he  revert-  to  the  '  Ka'  for- 
mula— which  under  Khu-en-Aten  had  been  abandoned.     With  Borem- 
heb  (Armais)  we  reach  firmer  ground.     Hi-  wife,  Nezero-Mut,  was  an 
'heiress,' and   his  splendid  tomb  at  Sakkara  -how-  him  to  have  been 
genera]  and  nomarch  of  Ba-Suten  (Alabastron)  before  King  A 
him  for  his  successor.      Be  zealously  destroyed  all  vestiges  of  the  Ann 
heresy,  restored  order,  waged  war  in  Ethiopia  and  Asia,  and  concluded 
a  treaty  with  the   llittite  king,  Sapalulu,  which,  however,  did  not   last 
longer  than  his  life.     Boremheb  erected  numerous  structures,  particu- 


970  J'"i:   RELATIONS   OF   THE   NEW  EMPIRE    TO  SYRIA. 

larly  at  the  temple  of  Karnak.  A  tablet  speaks  of  the  twenty-first 
year  of  his  reign.  With  him  the  dynasty  expired ;  although  his  suc- 
cessor, Rameses  L,  the  founder  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  appears  to 
have  been  related  to  him  ;  but  his  elaini  to  the  succession  is  unknown. 
Rameses  I.  ruled  but  a  short  time.  At  his  death,  Southern  Syria 
was  in  open  rebellion.  Among  the  records  of  Seti  I.  we  learn  of  an 
advance  of  the  Shasu  upon  the  fortress  Zal,  which  Aahmes  had  erected 
for  defence  against  Asia,  after  the  destruction  of  the  Hyksos  city, 
Avaris.  Egypt's  internal  difficulties  under  the  last  kings  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dvnasty  had  emboldened  its  neighbors.  Along  with  the 
Rutennu,  the  Kheta  (Hittites)  now  appear  as  a  leading  power.  At  the 
time  when  Horemheb  made  a  treaty  with  their  king,  Sapalulu,  they 
already  occupied  the  region  between  the  Mediterranean,  the  Lebanon, 
and  the  Euphrates.  Their  king  in  Seti's  time  was  Mutnara,  who  fought 
against  Rameses  II.  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  latter's  reign.  Later  his 
brother  Kheta-Sar  appears.  The  father  of  both  was  named  Mar-Sar, 
son  of  Sapalulu.  The  fortress  Kadesh  was  again  captured  ;  and  the 
march  was  continued  through  Lebanon  back  along  the  coast  to  Egypt. 
Seti  is  figured  presenting  the  captives  in  triumph  to  Amen.  Among 
them  are  the  Kheta,  the  people  of  Naharena  (Mesopotamians),  the 
Upper  Rutennu  from  the  hill-land  of  Syria,  the  Lower  Rutennu  wTho 
inhabited  the  land  between  that  and  the  Euphrates,  the  Senzar  (i.e., 
'  Double  Tyre/  from  the  second  or  insular  Tyre),  and  many  other 
Syrian  and  Canaanitish  nations.  A  treaty  was  concluded  with  the 
Hittites,  each  country  retaining  its  possessions.  More  decisive  was 
Seti's  victory  over  the  Libyans,  against  whom  he  afterward  turned 
his  arms,  and  of  whom  henceforth  nothing  was  heard  for  many  years. 
The  south  also  felt  the  edge  of  the  Egyptian  sword;  and  the  king  is 
named,  in  an  inscription  of  the  temple  of  Redesieh,  l  conqueror  of  four 
negro  peoples.'  Four  tablets  on  the  hill  Sese  (near  lat.  20°)  show  the 
limit  of  Seti's  power.  After  these  exploits,  Seti  became  "the  jackal 
that  lurks  about  the  land  to  guard  it,"  rather  than  "  the  fascinating 
lion  marauding  along  the  hidden  roads  of  four  countries,"  i.  e.,  he 
peacefully  devoted  himself  to  the  administration  of  the  empire  and 
to  the  election  of  superb  edifices  at  Abydos,  Luxor,  Gurnah,  etc. 
His  highest  claim  to  fame  is  the  erection  at  Karnak  of  the  marvellous 
Hypostyle  Hal] — his  father's  grandiose  dream — executed  by  him.     His 


R AMESES  If. 


271 


tomb,  discovered  by  Belzoni  (1818),  is  a  palace  cul  in  the  living  rock 
and  covered  with  elaborate  paintings.  The  calm  dignity  of  his  face 
(see  Frontispiece)  shows  him  to  have  been  "every  inch  a  king." 


Fig.  96.  —  Kameses  II.  as  crown-prince.    Kelief  in  the  temple  at  Abydos. 

While  yet  alive,  Seti  associated  hi-  son,  Rameses  II.  (Fig.  96),  t-.th»- 
throne.  From  the  accumulation  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  many  Pharaohs  laid 
by  the  Greeks  on  his  person,  a  whole  cycle  of  legends  has  clustered  around 


•>7l>  THE   RELATIONS   OF   THE    NEW  EMPIRE   TO   SYRIA. 

him,  which  ascribe  to  him  asSesostris  mythical  campaigns,  reaching  to  the 
ends  of  the  world.  His  sixty-seventh  year  is  on  record.  His  likeness  is 
known  to  us  from  many  statues  ;  and  his  admirably  preserved  mummy  is 
at  Gizeh.  Rameses  was  in  Ethiopia  when  his  father's  death  left  him 
sole  ruler.  He  promptly  returned,  and  alter  the  prescribed  ceremonies, 
turned  his  attention  to  the  most  pressing  needs  of  the  Empire.  The  grow- 
ing importance  of  Syrian  affairs  since  the  increase  of  the  Hittite  mon- 
archy, and  the  aggressive  movements  of  the  Mediterranean  and  Libyan 
peoples,  drew  his  attention  to  the  Delta.  Thebes  was  too  remote  from 
the  centre  of  these  political  activities.  A  new  royal  residence  was 
erected  as  an  advance-post  near  the  isthmus,  and  called  'Rameses.' 
Passing  over  the  usual  raids  into  the  south,  as  well  as  an  inroad  of 
the  Libyans  with  their  allies,  the  Shardana  and  Tulsha,  we  notice  as 
the  principal  event  in  his  reign  the  war  in  Syria.  As  early  as  the  sec- 
ond and  fourth  years  of  his  rule,  small  expeditions  had  been  made  to 
the  Syrian  coast,  which  are  recorded  on  the  before-mentioned  rock- 
tablets  at  Xahr-el-Kelb,  near  Beirut.  In  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign, 
the  Hittite  king  Mutnara,  the  son  of  Marsar  and  the  grandson  of 
Sapalulu,  warned  of  the  approaching  storm  by  the  young  Pharaoh's 
preliminary  campaigns,  made  on  a  formidable  scale  his  preparations 
to  meet  the  threatening  danger.  Calling  his  allies  to  his  aid,  he 
summoned  his  forces  from  Babylonia  to  Lykia,  from  the  Mediter- 
ranean to  Cilicia.  Rameses,  warned  in  time,  marched  out  to  meet 
him.  The  armies  came  together  on  the  Orontes  south  of  Kadesh, 
where  was  fought  a  great  battle.  A  minute  account  of  it  is  given  in 
an  epic  preserved  in  the  Sallier  Papyrus  No.  III.  in  the  British 
Museum,  transcribed  by  the  scribe  Pentaur,  and  in  one  of  the  Raifet 
papyri  in  the  Louvre.  The  text  was  engraved  on  the  walls  of  Karnak, 
Luxor,  Abydos — and  another  account  of  the  war  appears  at  Abu- 
Simbel,  where  the  scene  of  the  battle  is  given,  as  it  is  also  on  the 
walls  of  the  Ramesseum  (Thebes).  Kadesh  occupied  the  site  of  the 
present  mound  Tel-Nebi-Mend.  The  old  name  is  still  attached  to 
the  lake.  Jakut,  the  learned  traveller  and  geographer  (died  A.D.  1179), 
names  it  Buhairat  Kadasa.  The  relief  shows  us  the  camp  of  the 
Egyptians,  surrounded  by  the  shields  of  the  warriors,  as  well  as  all 
the  soldiers,  Egyptians  and  Shardana,  the  camp-followers  and  ani- 
mals, the  tent  of  the  Pharaoh  whence  he  issued  his  orders,  the  troops 


BATTLE   OF   KADESH.  273 

od  the  march,  —  a  truly  impressive  scene.  In  the  fight  the  Eittites 
appear  on  horseback,  or  in  threes  in  chariots,  the  warrior  being 
attended  by  a  driver  and   shield-bearer.      Their   garments   are    long, 

their  beard-  -haven,  and  their  skins  of  a  clear  red  hue,  l>v  which 
they  are  distinguished  from  the  yellow,  black-bearded  Semites,  as 
also  from  the  Assyrians.  The  Hittites  bad  dominion  over  diverse 
lands  in  Asia,  while  others  followed  their  lead.  In  the  catalogue  of 
their  allies,  we  therefore  have  hand-  of  Lykians  (Leka),  Maeonians 
(Manna),  Mysians  (Masu),  people  from  Pedasa  in  Karia,  or  from 
Pedasos  in  the  Troad  (Patasu),  who  had  joined  the  army  of  the  Kluta. 
The  names  Kirkamash  (Carchemish),  Khirbu  (Aleppo),  Artn  (Aradus), 
Xaharena  (the  plain  of  the  Euphrates),  are  also  familiar;  other  identi- 
fications are  less  certain. 

The  Egyptian  army  was  divided  into  four  columns,  named  after 
the  gods,  Amen,  Ra,  Ptah,  and  Sutekh,  a  fact  observed  by  Diodorus 
in  his  description  of  the  Ramesseum.  The  division  Amen  was 
under  the  leadership  of  the  Pharaoh,  who  approached  the  city  of 
Kadesh,  while  Kheta-Sar  lay  in  ambush  to  the  northwest.  On  a 
sudden  the  latter  dashed  forth  in  an  attack,  which  was  foiled  by  the 
personal  valor  of  Rameses,  although  only  the  van  of  the  Egyptians 
was  engaged.  This  moment  is  depicted  in  the  official  poem  in 
the  most  extravagant  style.  Rameses,  in  his  extremity,  pray-  to 
Amen;  for  he  stands  alone,  opposed  to  2Ö00  chariot-.  "  II«'  reaches 
his  hand  to  me,  ...  he  calls  from  behind  me  :  '  Thoo  art  not  alone,  I 
am  with  thee — I,  thy  father  Ra — my  hand  i-  with  thee.  I  am  worth 
more  to  thee  than  hundreds  of  thousands  together.  T  am  the  Lord  of 
Victory.'  I  take  heart.  ...  I  am  as  Monthu — I  shoot  right  and  left. 
I  am  like  Ba'al,  as  a  plague  among  them."  Accompanied  by  his  lion, 
Smam-Kheftu-f  ('Render  of  his  enemies'),  he  bursts  through  bis 
deadlv  foe  in  his  chariot  drawn  by  the  two  steeds,  '  Victory  in  Thebes' 
and  '  Valor  is  satisfied.'  After  he  effected  a  junction  with  hi-  main 
force,  the  attack  on  the  Kh.-ia  was  renewed,  and  they  were  cut  to 
pieces  :  "  Behold  none  of  them  are  able  to  fight  before  me,  th.  ir  hearts 
melt  in  their  bodies.  ...  I  make  them  rush  into  the  river  even  as 
crocodiles  rush  into  water.  They  fall  over  each  other,  and  I  -lay  them 
according  to  my  will.  Not  one  of  them  turn-  around.  He  who  falls 
riseth  not  again."  The  garrison  of  th«'  city  made  a  -ally,  and  bn 
Vol.  i.— 18 


■  »7  1  THE    RELATIONS   OF   THE   NEW  EMPIRE   TO  SYRIA. 

the  fugitives  within  their  walls.  Next  day  Mutnara  sued  for  peace. 
On  the  west  side  of  the  pylon  of  the  Ramesseum,  in  Thebes,  the  battle 
is  depicted  in  a  very  animated  manner — half  as  a  battle-plan,  half  as  a 
picture,  executed  as  a  flat  decoration,  in  low  relief.  Originally  it  had 
been  overlaid  with  stucco,  and  painted;  but  all  this  has  disappeared. 
The  Kheta,  with  horses  and  chariots,  are  driven  into  the  Orontes. 
Across  the  river  lies  the  city  with  its  defenders.  Instructed  by  the 
descriptive  catalogue,  we  recognize,  in  the  turmoil  of  the  chariot-fight, 
Kemayis,  prince  of  the  Hittite  phalanx,  slain,  probably  by  the  Pharaoh, 
who  storms  forward  over  his  body,  darting  his  arrows  as  swiftly  as  a  god. 
Farther  off  we  see  Khirep-Sar,  the  king's  annalist;  Targatas,  captain 
of  the  archers;  Grabatus,  master-of -horse  for  the  Kheta.  On  the 
other  bank  the  king  of  Khilpu  (Aleppo)  is  being  dragged  out  of  the 
water,  and  placed  on  his  head,  so  as  to  discharge  the  water  he  has 
swallowed.  Still  farther  off  the  king  of  the  Kheta  is  seen,  standing 
in  his  chariot,  and  surrounded  by  his  guards,  praying  for  mercy. 
The  northern  half  of  the  west  side  shows  the  pursuit  into  the  river. 
Here  the  lists  name  Tetar,  chief  of  domestics,  brother  of  the  king 
Masrima;  Rebasununa,  prince  of  the  people  of  Anunas ;  and  Suaas, 
prefect  of  Tanis,  who  is  being  drawn  from  the  water.  On  the  water- 
girt  fortress  are  inscribed  the  words  "  the  Fortress  Kadesh."  Eventually, 
Mutnara,  by  a  truly  Oriental  euphemism,  'succumbed  to  his  destiny' — i.e., 
was  probably  murdered  by  his  brother  Kheta-Sar,  wTho  succeeded  him. 

In  the  eighth  vear  of  Rameses  II.  Galilee  revolted,  and  the  follow- 
ing  year  the  rebellion  spread  to  Sephelah.  A  relief  in  the  columned 
hall  of  the  Ramesseum  represents  the  capture  of  the  fortress  Dapur 
(  Plate  XIX.).  This  stood  on  Mount  Tabor  (Fig.  97),  in  Galilee, 
at  the  foot  of  which  lies  Daburiyeh.  Down  to  the  time  of  Antiochus 
the  Great  (218  B.c.)  a  city  stood  on  the  summit  of  the  mount ;  and  even 
in  a.D.  67  Vespasian  caused  it  to  be  besieged  by  Placidius,  when  it  was 
surrendered,  owing  to  want  of  water.  On  our  relief  the  fort  of  the 
Kheta  i-  besieged  ;  and  the  Egyptians,  recognizable  by  their  red  skins, 
storm  it.  Among  them  the  reader  discerns  the  six  sons  of  Rameses, 
distinguished  by  the  princely  lock  of  hair.  According  to  the  accom- 
panying hieroglyphic  explanation,  the  princes  are  Kha-em-uas,  Ment 
(-ber-khepsh-ef),  Men-amen,  Amcn-em-ua,  Seti,  Sotep-en-ra.  The 
first   of   these,  nearest  the   Pharaoh,  was    born   of  the  queen  Hes-t- 


Wir* 
mi 


VICTORY  OF  RAMESES   II.  OVER 

Mural  painting   in   the  Temj 


3  OF  D- 


of  Rameses  II.  at  Thebes. 


TREATY    WITH   THE   HITTITES. 


nefer,  who  was    also    mother    of  the    fatal 

elder  brothers  died  before  their  father.     (Barnes  -  - 

51  daughters,  of  whom  a  list  is  in  existeo 

-      -  I  .        3.       Kha-em-  - 

Memphis,  was  a  priest  of  the  royal  |      . 

ver  the  celebration  of  the  great  solemn 

brilliant,  were  evidently 
for  fifteen  campaigns  fter  the  battl«  _   - 

in  his  fifth  year,  before  the  tinul  treaty  of  peao   •    - 
twenty-first  year  of  his       g         Its  terms  are  an  all: 
.  based  upon  a  perfect  equality  and 


"  -  Mount  Tabor. 


fir-t   named,  and  Barnes  -     fter  him.  Sar       s  in  the 

rir-t  :  -  -     i  the  thinJ  :  it  i-  then 

not  dictated  by  the  latter.     T!  - 

Hittite,  on   a   silver   plate. 

The  Egyptian  re:  lering  alone 

of  this  treaty — the         -'     f  which  th»    - 

history — Barneses,  when    it  was  oondo  -    in   the 

meri-amen  in  the  Delta.     Two  herald  — 


276  THE  RELATIONS   OF   THE  NEW  EMPIRE   TO  SYRIA. 

the  silver  tablet,  which  was  set  up  under  the  protection  of  the 
thousand  divinities,  male  (warlike)  and  female,  of  the  lands  of 
Kheta  and  Egypt,  —  Sutekh  of  Tunep,  of  Kheta,  and  of  Arnema; 
Zaaranta,  Pilka,  Khisasap,  Sarfu,  Khilpu,  Sarpaina;  also  of  Astarte 
of  Kheta,  of  the  god  of  Zayatkherri,  of  the  gods  of  the  land,  hills, 
and  rivers  of  Kheta,  of  the  gods  of  the  land  of  Kazauatana ;  on  the 
other  hand,  of  the  Egyptian  gods  Amun,  Ra,  Sutekh,  of  the  male 
and  female  gods  of  Egypt,  of  the  earth,  sea,  winds,  and  storms  — 
all  of  whom  were  invoked  to  protect  the  observers,  and  punish  the 
infringers,  of  the  treaty.  It  established  a  league  between  both  great 
powers  forever,  as  well  as  an  agreement  for  the  extradition  of  run- 
away laborers  and  criminals. 

The  god  Sutekh,  who  appears  in  this  remarkable  document  as 
Hittite,  is  the  same  whom  the  Hyksos  king,  Apepi,  made  the  one 
supreme  divinity,  and  to  whom  Rameses's  son  Merenptah  founded  at 
Avaris  a  cult,  as  god  of  strangers.  He  is  represented  with  the  high 
Hittite  tiara,  and  the  band  hanging  down  behind,  as  one  can  see  on 
the  pedestal  of  the  statue  of  Usertesen  I.  in  the  Berlin  Museum, 
where  a  royal  prince  prays  to  him.  Through  the  identification  of 
this  form  of  the  Baal  Zephön  with  the  Egyptian  Set-Sutekh,  this 
divinity  acquired  the  character  of  the  Egyptian  evil  genius  Typhon. 
Astarte  (Ash tore th),  whom,  like  Sutekh,  the  Hittites  had  borrowed 
from  the  Phoenician  pantheon,  was  also  worshipped  in  the  Delta, 
where  from  an  early  period  Canaanitish  people  were  settled.  She 
was  represented  as  a  lion-headed  female  warrior,  guiding  her  chariot. 
On  a  stele  in  the  British  Museum,  she  is  shown  brandishing  a  battle- 
axe,  and  holding  a  shield  and  lance,  like  the  war-god  Rezeph  (by  the 
Greeks  named  Antaeus,  also  Apollo). 

The  treaty  of  peace  was  yet  further  confirmed  by  the  marriage  of 
Rameses  with  the  daughter  of  Kheta-Sar.  A  relief  in  the  temple  of 
Abu-Simbel,  dating  from  the  thirty-fourth  year  of  this  king,  depicts 
the  Hittite  king  wearing  the  high  tiara,  and  accompanied  by  the 
Prince  of  Keti  (perhaps  Cataonia),  leading  his  child,  in  the  attire  of 
an  Egyptian  princess,  to  the  Pharaoh.  The  daughter  of  Rameses 
appears  to  have  married  a  Syrian  prince;  for  on  the  granite  statue 
which  her  father  erected  as  a  pendent  to  his  own  before  the  second 
pylon  of  the  temple  of  Luxor,  she  is  distinguished  by  a  Syrian  name, 


EULOGIUM   OF  RAMESES   II. 


BantrAnat  ('daughter  of  the  goddess  Anat').  Similarly  tin-  Ilittite 
wife  of  Rameses  received  the  Egyptian  name,  Ra-mäa-ar-nefru.  A 
tablet  between  two  pillars  of  the  first  hall  of  the  temple  of  Abu- 

Simbel  bears  a  eulogium  of  Rameses,  in  the  form  of  an  addre 
the   god   Ptah-Totunen.      It   was 
also    engraved    on    the    pylon    of 
the    temple   of    Rameses    III.    at 
Medinet-Abu.     Among    other 
things  it  says  :  —  "  King  Rameses, 
I  have    exalted    thee   through  so 
wonderful  gifts,  that  heaven   and 
earth  leap  for  joy,  and  those   who 
are      therein     extol      thy     being. 
Mountains,  waters,   and  the   stone 
walls   of   the   earth    quake   at    thy 
name  ;  for  they  have  seen  what  I 
have  accomplished  for  thee,  namely, 
that  the   land  of  Kheta  is  subju- 
gated to  thy  house.     I  have  seen 
into  the  hearts  of  its  inhabitants, 
that  they  come   before   thee  with 
obedience  in  the  bringing  of  their 
gifts.      Their  princes  are  captives ; 
all  their  possessions  are  the  tribute 
of  their  dependence  on  the  living 
king.       The    royal    daughter 
conies  at  their  head  to  soften 
the  heart  of   Rameses.      Her 
charms    are    wonderful,    but 
she    knows    not    yet    the 
goodness     of     thy     heart. 
Thy    name  is   blessed   for- 
ever.    The  successful  issue  of  thy  victories  is  a  wonder,  which   men 
hope  for,  but  such   as  from   the   time  of   the  gods  was  never  seen,  a 
hidden  remembrance  in  the  house  of   the   books  from  the  time  oJ    Ra 
till  the  reign  «»f  life,  health,  and  strength  (i.e.  of  your  Majestj  ).     It 
was  unheard  of  that  Kheta-land  should  he  at  accord  with   Egypt; 


Fig.  98.      Ram -  1 1 


■11 8  TUE    RELATIONS   OF    TUE  NEW  EMPIRE    TO  SYRIA. 


Fig.  99.  —  Sandstone  statue  of  Seti  II.  (a  ram  on  his  knees).    From  Thebes.     London. 

British  Museum. 


THE  PEOPLES  OF   THE  SEA. 


279 


and  lo  !     I  have  struck  it  down  under  thy  feet,  in  order  thai  thy  name 
may  live  forever,  King  Rameses." 

Rameses  continued  Seti's  works  at  Karnak  and  elsewhere,  and 
erected  many  monuments.  In  his  thirtieth  year  he  chose  as  co-regent 
and  heir  Kha-em-uas,  his  son  by  his  sister  [sis-Nefert  Kha-em-uas  won 
fame  as  priest  and  magician,  and  built  the  Serapeum  of  Memphis.  Be 
died  before  his  father,  who  then  selected  as  heir  Mereuptah  II.,  his 
thirteenth  son.  He  was  over  sixty,  when,  after  having  been  for  twelve 
years  co-regent,  he  succeeded  his  father.  Merenptah's  relations  with  his 
Syrian  provinces  remained  peaceful.  But  in  his  fifth  year  the  powerful 
king  of  the  Libyans,  Marayu,  son  of  Titi,  swept  into  the  western  Delta, 
and  threatened  Heliopolis.  Mereuptah  caused  Memphis,  Eeliopolis, 
and  other  cities  to  be  fortified  forthwith  ;  for  this  was  no  ordinary  raid. 
The  Libyans  had  effected  a  great  confederation  of  'the  peoples  of  the 
Sea.'  These  were  the  Libyan  Mashuasha  (the  Matshiya  of  the  Persians 
or  Maxyans  of  Herodotus),  the  Tamehu  and  Kehak  ;  besides  the 
Shardana,  Shakarusha,  Akainsha  (Akauasha),  Lekn,  and  Tulsha  (Tur- 
sha),  piratical  Mediterranean  coast  peoples,  "  who  marched  fighting  to 
daily  fill  their  mouths." 

The  Lebu,  who,  along  with  the  Tamehu  and  Mashuasha,  went 
under  the  common  name  of  Tehennu  (the  western  neighbors  of  the 
Egyptians  up  to  the  Abyssinian  frontier),  were  tall  and  fair,  with  crisp, 
light,  curly  hair,  ornamented  by  two  feathers  ;  and  a  side-luck  hanging 
down  to  the  shoulder.  Like  the  Tuaregs  or  the  Kabyles,  they  were 
tattooed.  Some  of  them  practised  circumcision.  Their  arms  were 
similar  to  those  of  the  Egyptians.  The  Pharaoh's  army  completely 
overthrew  the  allies  at  Per-er-shepes  (Prosopis).  Great  was  the  rejoic- 
ing. The  paean  of  victory  that  sounded  throughout  Egypt  was  carved 
in  stone  and  set  in  the  temples.  The  great  Mack  stela  found  by  Petrie 
(1896)  at  the  Ramessenm  is  especially  interesting,  a-  it  mentions  [srael 
among  the  Syrian  peoples  in  whom  the  victory  .-truck  terror:  "  \"  one 
raises  his  head  among  the  foreigners.  Tehennu  is  destroyed  ;  Kheta  is 
quiet;  Kanaan  is  rid  of  all  evil  ;  Ascalon  is  sacked  :  Gezer  is  captive; 
Ianoam  is  crushed  ;  Israel  is  laid  waste  and  Beedless  :  Kliaru  i-  as  a 
widow  to  the  land  of  Egypt.     The  entire  earth  is  quiet." 

Mereuptah  has  been  regarded  as  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus.  But 
scholars    differ  on    the    subject;    and    the    above-quoted    passagi — by 


280 


THE   RELATIONS   OF  THE   NEW  EMPIRE    TO   SYRIA. 


showing  Israel,  in  his  reign,  already  established  in  Syria — has  further 
complicated  the  problem.  On  the  other  hand,  excavations  in  the 
Eastern  Delta  have  proved  that  the  construction  of  '  Rarneses '  and  of 
Pi-tum  dates  from  the  Ramessids.  This  tends  to  confirm  the  view  which 
sees  in  Rarneses  II.  the  Pharaoh  "who  knew  not  Joseph."  However 
this  may  be,  Seti  II.  (Figs.  99  and  100)  did  not  come  peacefully  into  his 
own ;  and  although  lie  left  monumental  traces,  his  tomb  remained  unfin- 
ished. A  high  priest  of  Ptah  usurped  the  royal  titles.  A  Semite,  Ersu  or 
Arizu,  ruled  "  in  the  years  of  famine."  .   .  .  For  a  period  "  Egypt  was 

governed  by  princes  who  killed 
each  other  in  pride  and  arro- 
gance, and  did  after  their  own 
pleasure,  for  they  had  no  chief." 
The  Harris  papyrus  (133  feet 
long)  gives  much  information 
on  this  period.  Amenmeses 
followed ;  then  Si-ptah  Mer- 
enptah,  who  "  ascended  the 
throne  of  his  father,"  thanks 
to  his  marriage  with  the  heiress 
Ta-usert.  His  sixth  year  has 
been  found ;  and  he  seems  to 
have  held  the  country  and 
maintained  its  foreign  relations. 
At  last  Set-nekht  established 
order  and  ushered  in  the  Twen- 
tieth Dynasty.  Under  Rarneses  III.  (Rhampsinitus)  Egypt  once  more 
enjoyed  thirty-three  years  of  glorious  prosperity.  He  won  over  the 
priesthood  by  gifts  and  edifices — "he  restored  truth,  destroyed  un- 
truth " ;  reorganized  mining  interests  and  commercial  intercourse  with 
Punt.  Asia  recognized  his  authority.1  The  Libyans  alone  were 
inimical.  Again,  with  the  'peoples  of  the  Sea'  (the  Akayasha,  the 
Bikana,  the  Kehaka,  the  Sabati)  they  had  invaded  the  Delta  to  the 
canopic  mouth  of  the  Nile.  Set-nekht  dared  not  oppose  them.  Rarn- 
eses, before  doing  so,  reorganized  his  army,  improved  its  equipment  and 
discipline,  and  enlisted  mercenaries.  In  his  fifth  year  the  crisis  came. 
1  W.  M.  Müller,  'Asien  und  Europa,'  p.  27G. 


Fig.  100. —Seti  IL 


THE   HARRIS   PAPYRUS. 


281 


The  struggle  was  terrific;  12,525  dead  were  recorded  by  the  conqueror, 
who  scattered  the  vanquished  in  military  colonies  along  the  Ml«'  valley. 
These  formed  a  military  east  called  Mashuasha  (the  name  of  the 
dominant  Libyan  nation).  The  Delta  to  the  Natron  Lakes  was  re- 
covered; but  Libya  remained  powerful,1  for  Rameses  had  to  face  a 
more  serious  danger. 

Migratory  European  hordes  had  been  pouring  into  A-ia  Minor. 
They  had  overrun  Northern  Syria.  The  immigrants  came  in  ox-carts 
or  in  ships  with   their  families.      The   names  of  many    had   already 


Pig,  ioi. — The  captive  Pulasati  in  the  triumphal  pr ssion  of  Rameses  111. 


appeared  in  the  Egyptian  annals.  But  the  Takekar,  the  Daen-euna, 
the  Uashash,  the  Pulasati  (Philistines)  are  now  named  for  the  fire! 
time.  The  latter  represent  the  group  of  people  whom  the  classics 
vaguely  describe  as  Karians,  who-«'  ship-  scoured  the  Mediterranean. 
The  Pulasati  wore  a  feathered  head-gear,  sandals,  the  long  copper 
-word  of  the  north,  -trapped  on  the  left  side.  They  carried  twodag 
two  javelins,  and,  like  the  Hittites,  used  war-chariot-.  The  Turusha 
(Tyrseni)  came  next  in  numbers,  then  came  the  Zakkala  (Sikels*);  tl"' 

i  In  the  eleventh  year  of  Rameses  III.  they  again  had  to  be  repelled. 
"  W.  M.  Müller,  loc.  .-it..  pp.  862-386,  regards  them  as  a  Lykian  tribe 


282  TIIK   DELATIONS   OF   THE   NEW  EMPIRE   TO  SYRIA. 

Shakarusha,  who  wore  the  woollen  cap  still  used  by  tbe  sailors  of  the 
archipelago,  the  Shardanes,  the  Daen-euna,  the  Leku,  the  Uashasha, 

were  nations  of  Asia  Minor.  Their  ships  resembled  those  of  Egypt, 
but  had  no  spur.  "The  islands  had  shuddered  and  thrown  up  their 
nations  in  one  single  effort."  Khati,  Godi,  Karkhemish,  Aradu, 
Alashiya,  had  been  swept  down.  The  empire  of  Kheta-Sar  had  crum- 
bled before  them.  In  the  land  of  the  Amurru  they  entrenched  a  camp, 
in  which  they  established  their  families.  Then  they  attacked  the  Egyp- 
tian provinces.  Barneses  arrived  at  Zar  in  his  eighth  year,  and  defeated 
them  near  Sephelah.  They  fled  to  the  coast,  and  joining  his  fleet  near 
Jaffa,  Rameses  again  defeated  them  at  sea.  He  then  established  the 
Polasati  at  Sephelah,  the  Zakkala  between  Carmel  and  Dor,  and  erected 
migdols  (watch-towers)  to  control  and  protect  them,  thus  creating  a 
bulwark  between  the  Delta  and  Asia.  These  triumphs  are  immor- 
talized on  the  walls  of  Medinet-Abu.  After  this,  he  devoted  himself 
to  the  erection  of  superb  edifices,  and  a  '  renaissance '  followed.  But, 
if  Egypt  prospered,  Rameses  had  troubles  of  his  own.  Pentaurt,  his 
son  by  a  secondary  wife,  plotted  to  secure  the  succession  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  his  sons  by  Queen  Tyi.  The  '  Great  Judiciary  Turin  Papyrus ' 
gives  the  proceedings  of  the  trial.  A  certain  Pa-hi-ben  had  made  waxen 
images,  some  intended  to  excite  hatred  of  the  king,  others  to  cause  him 
to  waste  away.  Denounced,  the  conspirators — six  women  and  forty 
men — were  executed.  The  extreme  penalty  was  given  to  the  leaders 
and  Pentaurt  :  "  They  died  themselves  "  ;  and  Maspero  believes  this  to 
mean  that  they  were  mummified  alive,  and  that  Pentaurt  may  be  the 
"Anonymous  Prince"  found  among  the  royal  mummies  of  Der-el-Bahri. 
His  viscera  were  not  removed,  but  he  was  outwardly  thickly  coated 
with  natron.  The  bands  are  tightly  drawn.  The  limbs  are  stretched 
and  the  hands  and  feet  are  twisted  as  if  in  unspeakable  agony,  while 
the  horrible  expression  of  the  face,  as  well  as  the  contortion  of  the 
entire  body,  reveal  atrocious  suffering.  Nameless,  he  was  also  doomed 
to  annihilation.  Rameses  III.  was  followed  by  one  of  his  eighteen 
sons,  Rameses  IV.  His  reign  and  those  of  the  eight  Rameses  who 
composed  the  Twentieth  Dynasty  were  of  little  importance.  The 
influence  of  the  priesthood  had  grown  so  powerful  as  to  overshadow 
the  throne.     At  length  the   high-priest  of   Amen,  Herhor,  seized  the 


THE  DER-EL-R  I  11  Ul  DISl  '0  I  SERIES. 


crown  and  established  the  Twenty- 
first  Dynasty.  The  Abbott,  Salt, 
Amherst,  Mayor, and  Liverpool  papyri 
contain  reports  of  commissioners  ap- 
pointed to  examine  the  royal  tombs, 
and  to  secure  the  royal  mummies 
againsi  grave-robbers.  Herhor  and 
his  grandson  Pinozem, unable  t<>  secure 
their  safety,  had  them  removed,  until 
they  were  finally  concealed  in  a  pit 
southwest  of  Der-el-Bahri.  Here  they 
were  discovered  by  Arabs,  who  ex- 
ploited the  rich  mine  and  sold  royal 
objects  to  tourists — until,  in  1881,  they 
quarrelled  and  one  turned  evidence. 
Emil  Brugsch  Bey  was  the  first  to 
enter  the  pit.  It  is  impossible  to  do 
justice  to  his  description  of  his  feel- 
ings when — after  crawling  down  a 
shaft  about  39  feet  and  through  a 
gallery  243  feet  long — he  entered  a 
chamber  23  X  12  feet,  and  found  him- 
self in  the  presence  of  the  august  dead. 
Here  lay  pele-mele  the  coffins  of  some 
thirty  royal  personages  of  historic  fame. 
It  seemed  like  a  fantastic  dream. 
Wherever  he  turned  to  apply  his 
light,  lie  read  names  that  had  filled 
the  ancient  world  with  wonder  : 
Seqenen-Ka,  Aähnies,  Seti,  Kane  -  -. 
Thothmes  III.  (p.  287) — there  were 
their  very  bodies.  The  garlands  on 
that  of  Amenhotep  I.  were  in  such  a 
state  of  preservation  that  they  are 
exhibited  as  an  herbarium  at  theGizeh 
Museum.  Along  with  the  flowers  was 
found  a  wasp  that,  allured  by  the  odor, 


M 


A 


1  ig    102         I    ■   Mummy  i 
11..  Gizeh  .M  useun     I 


284  THE  RELATIONS  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE  TO  SYRIA. 

had  become  shut  in  when  the  king's  mummy  was  placed  in  its 
wrappings,  and  uow  came  once  more  to  light  a  mummy  3000  years 
old.  The  enamelled  and  gilded  coffin  of  Thothmes  I.  was  also 
found,  but  in  it  was  the  mummy  of  Pinozem  II.  That  of  Thothmes 
II.,  containing  its  proper  mummy,  and  that  of  Thothmes  III., 
with  a  body  only  five  feet  one  inch  long,  had  been  broken  and 
plundered.  On  the  bands  appear  passages  from  the  "Book  of 
the  Dead"  and  litanies  to  the  Sun.  Of  Queen  Maka-Ka,  there 
was  found  only  her  liver  embalmed  in  a  casket.  The  name  of 
Rameses  I.  was  inscribed  on  a  woman's  coffin,  probably  because  the 
robber  had  shattered  the  proper  one.  The  mummy  of  Rameses  I. 
was  not  found  at  first,  but  wTas  identified  later.  Further,  there  were 
found  the  coffin  of  Seti  I.  (the  stone  sarcophagus  remained  in  the 
original  grave  at  Biban-el-Moluk)  ;  those  of  Rameses  II.  (Figs.  102, 
103),  III.,  and  XII.,  of  Pinozem  I.  and  II.,  and  of  Masaherta.  In 
addition  to  these  remains  of  royal  personages,  there  were  found  cof- 
fins and  mummies  of  Ansara;  of  Aahmes-nef  ertari, :  spouse  of  the 
liberator  of  Egypt  (beside  whom  were  found  four  vases  of  the  dead)  ; 
of  Aah-hotep,  sister  and  spouse  of  Amenhotep  I.  (not  the  ancestress 
of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty)  ;  of  Queen  Hent-meh,  spouse  of  Aahmes, 
and  of  Mes-hent-meh,  probably  their  daughter,  whose  mummy  had 
been  apparently  replaced,  after  an  earlier  robbery,  by  a  block  en- 
veloped by  bands ;  of  the  young  princess  Sat-amen  and  the  prince 
Sa-amen,  infant  children  of  Aahmes ;  the  coffin  of  the  priest  Sonu, 
chamberlain  of  the  queen,  but  with  the  mummy  of  the  princess 
Merit-amen,  sister  of  Amenhotep  I. ;  coffins  and  mummies  of  Queen 
Notemit,  spouse  of  Herhor ;  of  Queen  Hen-ta-ui,  spouse  of  Pinozem ; 
of  Queen  Hest-em-sekhet,  spouse  of  her  uncle,  Ra-men-kheper,  and 
daughter  of  Masaherta.  By  the  side  of  the  mummy  of  this  princess, 
in  her  threefold  coffin,  lay  a  wooden  image  of  Osiris,  with  a  copy 
of  the  "  Book  of  the  Dead,"  bronze  and  clay  articles,  but  especially 
a  leather  baldachino  after  the  Assyrian  pattern,  decorated  with  Asi- 
atic painted  ornaments,  and  inscribed  with  religious  texts.  Yet  fur- 
ther were  found  the  mummy  of  the  princess  Nesi-khuns ;  the  coffin 
containing  the  Queen  Maka-Ra,  spouse  of  Pinozem,  and  Mut-em-hat, 

1  This  mummy,  inscribed  with   the  name  of  Nefertari,  when  unwrapped  in  1886 
proved  tu  l<e  that  of  Rameses  111.,  ami  was  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation. — Ed. 


MUMMY  OF  RAMESES  Till:  GREAT, 

their  daughter;  likewise  the  coffins  of  some  private  persons  con- 
nected  with  the  royal  fondly.  In  all,  this  heterogeneous  resting, 
place  of  princely  bodies  yielded  a  treasure  of  6000  separate  objects, 


Fig.  103 


which  were  conveyed  in  solemn  procession,  under  charge  of  the 
natives,  across  the  plain,  laden  on  a  Nile  steamer,  and  brought  to 
Bulak,  whence  they  were  transferred  to  the  Museum  at  Gizeh.  The 
Mahdi  war,  which  broke  out  soon  alter  this  remarkable  discovei 
a  time  engrossed  official  attention,  and  it  was  only  on  June  •'•.  lvv|i. 
that  the  unwrapping  of  the  bodies  of  Rameses  II.  and  Rameses  III. 
took  place  with  greal  ceremony  before  the  Khedive,  who  enjoyed 
the   unique   privilege  of  gazing    upon    the    face  of  his    illustrious  and 


286  THE  RELATIONS  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE  TO  SYRIA. 

Wendary  predecessor  across  a  chasm  of  more  than  three  millenniums,' 
History  with  all  her  tragedies  can  furnish  none  more  impressive  than 
the  spectacle  of  the  mightiest  monarch  of  the  ancient  world — whose 
devotion  to  the  gods,  attested  by  countless  magnificent  monuments,  was 
to  secure  to  him  a  happy  eternity — set  up  on  exhibition  as  an  archaeo- 
logical curiosity,  No.  5253,  in  the  very  heart  of  his  ancestral  empire. 

Some  years  after  this,  another  sepulchral  hiding-place  yielded  eighty 
mummies  of  the  high  priests  of  Thebes.  Since  then  other  similar, 
though  partial,  Minds'  have  been  made.  One  of  the  most  important 
of  these  was  made  by  Loret,  who,  in  1898,  discovered  the  tomb  of 
Amenhotep  II.,  where,  in  addition  to  that  monarch's  body,  other  royal 
mummies  were  found,  notably  that  of  King  Merenptah. 

Herhor's  successor  was  his  grandson  Pinozem,  son  of  the  high- 
priest  Piankhi.  His  name  is  not  given  as  a  royal  cartouche,  as  are 
those  of  his  wife  and  their  little  daughter  Mut-em-hat,  who  died 
shortly   after  being   born.     The  king  nominally  married  this  child   in 

1  The  following  extract  is  from  Maspero's  report: 

"  The  mummy  (No.  5.253),  first  taken  out  from  its  glass  case,  is  that  of  Kameses  II., 
Sesostris,  as  testified  by  the  official  entries  bearing  date  the  sixth  and  sixteenth  years 
of  the  reign  of  the  High  Priest  Her-hor-se-amen,  and  the  High  Priest  Pinozem  I., 
written  in  black  ink  upon  the  lid  of  the  wooden  mummy-case,  and  the  further  entry 
of  the  sixteenth  year  of  the  High  Priest  Pinozem  I.,  written  upon  the  outer  winding- 
sheet  of  the  mummy  over  the  region  of  the  breast.  The  presence  of  this  last  in- 
scription having  been  verified  by  His  Highness  the  Khedive,  and  by  the  illustrious 
personages  there  assembled,  the  first  wrapping  was  removed,  and  there  were  suc- 
cessively discovered  a  band  of  stuff  [sir,]  20  centimeters  in  width  rolled  round  the 
body;  then  a  second  winding-sheet  sewn  up,  and  kept  in  place  by  narrow  bands 
placed  at  some  distance  apart;  then  two  thicknesses  of  small  bandages;  and  then 
a  piece  of  fine  linen  reaching  from  the  head  to  the  feet.  A  figure  representing  the 
goddess  Nut,  one  meter  in  length,  is  drawn  upon  this  piece  of  linen,  in  red  and  white, 
as  prescribed  by  the  ritual.  The  profile  of  the  goddess  is  unmistakably  designed 
after  the  pure  and  delicate  profile  of  Seti  I.,  as  he  is  known  to  us  in  the  bas-relief 
sculptures  of  Thebes  and  Abydos.  Under  this  amulet,  there  was  found  another 
bandage;  then  a  layer  of  pieces  of  linen  folded  in  squares,  and  spotted  with  the  bitu- 
minous matter  used  by  the  embalmers.  This  last  covering  removed,  Pameses  II.  ap- 
peared.  .  .  The  jawbone  is  massive  and  strong;  the  chin  very  prominent;  the  mouth 
small,  but  thick-lipped,  and  full  of  some  kind  of  black  paste.  This  paste  being  partly 
cutaway  with  the  scissors,  disclosed  some  much-worn  and  very  brittle  teeth,  which, 
however,  are  white  and  well  preserved.  .  .  .  The  hairs  are  white,  like  those  of  the 
head  and  eyebrows,  but  are  harsh  and  bristly,  and  from  two  to  three  millimetres  in 
length.  .  .  .  The  expression  is  unintellectual,  perhaps  slightly  aninuil ;  but  even  under 
the  somewhat  grotesque  disguise  of  mummification,  there  is  plainly  to  be  seen  an  air 
of  sovereign  majesty,  of  resolve,  and  of  pride.  The  rest  of  the  body  is  as  well  pre- 
served as  the  head.  .  .  .  The  corpse  is  that  of  an  old  man,  but  of  a  vigorous  and  robust 
old  man.  We  know,  indeed,  that  Rameses  II.  reigned  for  sixty-seven  years,  and  that 
he  must  have  been  nearly  100  years  old  when  he  died."  , 


THE  TWENTY-SECOND  DYS  A  STY. 


287 


order  to  secure  his  title,  thus  avoiding  possible  future  political  compli- 
cations. Pinozem's  successor  was  Pa-seb-kha-nen.  A  second  Pa-seb- 
kha-nen  had  two  daughters,  one  of  whom  married  Osorkon  (Twenty- 
second  Dvnasty),  conveying  to  him  thereby  the  righl  to  the  throne. 
Rameses  III.'s  policy  of  establishing  military  colonies  of  mercenaries 
had  resulted  in  the  development  of  a  military  aristocracy,  Shardana 
or  Mashuasha,  which  grew  in  power  until,  under  King  Sheshonk,  even 
high  priests  of  Thebes  and  of  Memphis  were  Libyans 

From  the  Twenty-first  Dynasty  Egypt  had  indeed  become  'two 
lands':  Theban  Egypt,  ruled  by  a  theocracy— retiring  more  and  more 
from  cosmopolitan  influence  and  the  new  civilization  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean— and  Northern  Egypt,  which  had  never  lost  touch  with  Europe 
and  Asia.  A  struggle  was  shortly  to  begin  between  the  two,  in  the 
course  of  which  Ethiopia  conquered  Egypt,  and  in  turn  succumbed  to 
its  northern  neighbor.  Soon  Ethiopia  was  to  gtruggle  with  Assyria  for 
the  possession  of  Libyanized  Egypt,  and  Persian,  Greek,  and  Roman 
conquerors  were  to  follow. 


Head  of  Thothmea  111.     (Aftei   Ma  , 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ART  UNDER  THE  NEW  EMPIRE. 

THE  art  of  the  New  Empire  has  longer  been  known  than  that  of 
the  Ancient  Empire.  It  is  only  since  the  time  of  the  modern 
excavations  in  the  necropolis  of  Memphis  that  we  have  been  enabled 
to  study  the  latter  satisfactorily,  while  the  gigantic  remains  of  the 
temples  of  the  New  Empire,  with  their  obelisks  and  granite  figures, 
have,  from  very  early  times,  attracted  the  admiration  of  mankind. 
The  more  ancient  art  is  unquestionably  closer  to  nature  than  the  later. 
It  did  not  show  such  technical  dexterity  in  the  handling  and  working 
great  masses  of  the  hardest  stones,  nor  in  overlaying  its  productions 
with  durable  stucco  painted  in  colors  ;  but  it  was  guided  by  a  truer  and 
better  instinct.  Yet  art  reached  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  especially 
under  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty.  There  are  single  pieces  of  sculpture 
of  that  period  which  are  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  anything  in  Egypt. 
The  so-called  head  of  Tai'a  (see  p.  324)  and  that  of  Khuns  (Plate 
XXVI.) — the  first  for  grace  of  expression,  the  second  for  depth  of 
meaning — will  bear  comparison  with  any  work  of  man.  Nothing 
could  be  more  realistic  than  the  female  acrobat  of  the  Turin  Museum, 
Her  supple  activity  is  such  that — as  Maspero  has  remarked — "  one 
almo.-t  expects  her  to  turn  over  and  finish  her  caper."  If  we  lose 
sight  of  such  excellence,  it  is  perhaps  owing  to  the  artistic  exuberance 
of  the  period,  and  to  the  abundance  of  the  more  ordinary  material 
preserved,  in  the  mass  of  which  such  masterpieces  are  lost.  The 
colossal  statues  grew  out  of  the  necessity  to  keep  pace  with  the  enormous 
proportions  of  the  buildings.  But  these  architectural  colossi  of  sixteen 
and  twenty  metres,  carved  of  the  hardest  substance,  were  as  carefully 
proportioned  as  though  they  had  been  of  natural  size.  Egyptian 
sculpture  always  retained  certain  archaisms.  A  statue,  unless  of  wood, 
was  never  free.  The  back  always  rested  on  a  pillar  and  the  legs  were 
not   -eparated,  and   were  badly    modelled;   the  hands  also  were  crude. 

288 


EGYPTIAN  TEMPLES. 


Ono  must  be  accustomed  to  Egyptian  art  to  fairly  judge  of  it-  merits. 
Certain  peculiarities  of  dress,  symbolism,  and  traditional  rule  often 
interfere  with  our  correct  appreciation  of  the  work.  Bui  the  masterful 
way  in  which  the  Egyptian  artist  managed  his  materia]  musl  be  plain 
to  all. 

Tlu-  statements  of  the  inscriptions  Lead  to  the  inference  that,  in 
the  New  Empire,  the  ground-plans  of  the  older  temples  were  utilized 
for  the  later.  In  order  to  realize  the  full  effect  of  these  edifices,  it 
is  best  that  we  should  set  out  from  a  consideration  of  their  ele- 
ments in  detail. 


Fig.  ii>4.     Quarries  at  Torra. 

The  walls  of  the  temples  are  chiefly  built  of  sandstone  and 
limestone,  seldom  of  granite.  Brick  we  find  only  in  the  subsidiary 
buildings  and  in  the  outer  wall  enclosing  the  whole  sacred  precinct 
Even  the  operation  of  quarrying  the  stones  is  regarded  as  worthy  of 
perpetuation:  and  the  officials  tell  us.  in  the  inscriptions  on  their 
graves,  with  how  much  care  they  had  watched  over  the  transporta- 
tion of  great  blocks.  The  quarries  were  worked  in  shafts,  the  hill 
Vol.  I.     19, 


290  -1/."/'    UNDER    THE    .VAU'    EMPIRE. 

being  bored  till  the  proper  stone  was  reached;  and  we  still  see  at 
Turra  (Fig.  104),  near  Cairo,  the  oblong  quadrangular  cavities  in 
the  rocks  due  to  the  excavation  of  the  immense  square  blocks  for 
the  pyramids.  The  opening  of  a  new  shaft  was  solemnly  recorded 
in  a  writing  meant  for  posterity. 

The  pillars  and  columns  are  the  most  important  elements  of 
the  temple.  Some  remarks  on  their  history  will  be  found  on  p. 
12").  The  so-named  proto-Doric  columns  occur  but  seldom  in  the 
New  Empire.  We  see  them  of  an  octagonal  form  in  Medinet-Abu, 
with  sixteen  sides  in  Karnak,  Der-el-Bahri,  and  Temneh ;  with 
twenty-four  in  Kalabshe  (Talmis,  in  Nubia),  where,  however,  four 
were  left  smooth  for  inscriptions.  The  calyx  columns  consist  in 
Luxor  of  eight  stalks  clustered  together,  bound  round  three  times  by 
a  quintuple  band.  The  under  part  of  the  capital  is  enveloped ;  and 
immediately  over  the  neck  the  bud  is  bent  strongly  outwards,  and 
tapers  in  straight  lines  to  a  point  at  the  abacus,  which  is  not  broader 
than  the  upper  circumference  of  the  bud.  The  shaft  is  usually  sunk 
into  the  socle,  so  that  the  reed-leaf  ornamentation  gives  it  a  bellied 
appearance.  This  column  is  either  fluted,  so  that  its  original  form  is 
still  plain,  or  it  is  covered  with  a  round  coating,  enriched  with  orna- 
ments or  painted.  The  column  with  opened  calyx  is  distinguished 
from  the  other  only  by  its  capital.  On  both  sides  royal  cartouches 
run  round  the  body  like  a  garland.  The  open  calyxes  are  only 
painted  with  reed  leaves,  from  which  stalks  with  crowns  of  blossoms 
arise.  In  Karnak  we  see,  in  the  portions  originating  from  Thoth- 
mes  III.,  columns  with  inverted  bell-shaped  capitals  (Plate  XX.)  ; 
but  this  unlovely  motive  has  found  no  imitators.  The  open-calyx 
capital  shows,  later,  plastic  elements.  In  Soleb,  in  the  time  of  Amen- 
hotep  III.,  it  is  modelled  into  eight  palm-branches  with  painted  leaves. 
Papyrus-blossoms  also  serve  as  motives,  and  suggest  the  Greek  acan- 
thus leaves.  A  striking  feature  is  the  disregard  of  proportion  be- 
tween the  inter-columnar  distances  and  the  height  and  thickness  of 
the  pillars,  a  matter  which  in  Greek  art  was  governed  by  strictest 
rule.  Thus  in  the  same  temple  pillars  of  the  same  diameter  and  en- 
tirely similar  character  are  found  of  different  heights.  Similarly  we 
find  columns  of  different  character,  some  with  the  bud.  others  witli 
the  calyx  capital,  in  close  juxtaposition  ;  and  although  they  are  of  the 


I 


COLUMNS  FROM  THE  GR 


i  and  3,  Columns  of  the  middle  rows  of  the  Great  Halls  of  Seti  and  Rameses. 

of  the  outer  Hall  of  Thothmes  III. 


Plate   XX 


I 


I'M 

,"111"1""  ■■ 1 1  ■  1 1 11 


*V'*""-.,. 


T  TEMPLE  AT  KARNAK. 


One  of  the  122  remaining  Columns  of  the  anterior  Hall.     4  and  5,  Columns 
Column  from  an  adjoining  Room.  (See  page  290.) 


EG  Y  I'll  A  x    TEMPLES.  291 

same  diameter,  sometimes  the  one  sort,  sometimes  tl fcher,  is  the 

higher.  On  (lit-  other  hand,  again,  there  are  columns  of  different 
character  in  the  same  edifice,  of  similar  heighl  and  thickness. 
Finally,  columns  entirely  alike  are  found  with  different  inter-colum- 
nar spaces:  so  thai  the  bearing-beam,  or  architrave,  which  is  more 
prolonged  over  the  wider  spaces,  is  higher  in  one  place  than  another, 
a  circumstance  to  be  frequently  observed  in  the  middle  rows  of  col- 
umns of  the  hypostyle,  which  stand  farther  apart  than  the  others. 
The  entablature  consists  of  the  architrave,  which  is  smooth,  and 
affords  a  surface  for  sculptures,  and  the  trochilus,  with  leaf  orna- 
ments. These  are  divided  by  the  astragal,  which,  as  we  saw  in  the 
mastabas,  has  its  motive  from  the  embroidery-frames  od  which 
the  decorations  of  carpets  were  covered.  The  cornice  rises  above 
the  end,  and  thus  constitutes  a  sort  of  breastwork.  The  gateways 
of  the  outer  enclosing-wall  are  very  high  and  deep,  so  that  they  jut 
out  over  the  wall,  both  outside  and  in.  On  their  far-projecting 
entablatures  and  cornices,  as  well  as  on  all  the  doors,  is  seen  the 
winged  solar  disk,  the  symbol  of  Horus  <<t'  Kdt'n.  Bbr-Behüdti 
(see  p.  46).  It  was  formerly  overlaid  with  metal.  The  enclosing- 
wall  is  built  of  Nile  bricks,  and  has,  therefore,  merlons  in  place 
of  a  cornice.  The  passage  hence  to  the  temple-buildings  proper 
was  bordered  by  avenues  of  sphinxes.  Before  the  temple-gate  were 
erected  colossi  of  the  builder  in  a  sitting  posture,  also  two  obelisks 
(Fig.  1".">).  The  temple-gate  was  flanked  by  pylons,  that  j-.  by 
quadrangular  tower-like  structures  with  plane  surfaces  inclined  in- 
wards, whose  longer  sides  constitute  the  facades.  An  astragal 
covers  the  corners  of  the  pylons,  and  runs  under  the  has.-  of  the 
entablature.  Stone  rings  project  from  its  surfaces,  to  hold  masts 
on  which  pennants  were  displayed.  Passing  through  the  gate  we 
enter  the  fore-court,  which  on  both  sides,  as  well  as  on  the  third,  i- 
surrounded  by  colonnades.  The  spaces  between  the  pair-  ol  mid- 
dle columns  of  the  third  side  are  ver}  wide,  so  a-  not  to  contract 
the  entrance  to  the  first  hall,  or  usekhei  ('the  breadth'),  which  lie- 
some  steps  higher,  and  is  supported  by  pillars.  The  hypostyle,  or 
vestibule,  is  followed  by  the  sanctuary,  where  in  a  separate  Bhrine, 
often  worked  out  of  a  single  granite  block,  the  statue  of  th- 
stands,  or  the  animal  sacred   to  him  is  kept      The  Banctuarj  could 


292 


ART   UNDER    THE    .VAU'    EMPIRE. 


be  entered  only  by  the  Pharaoh  and  the  higher  priests,  and  the 
tabernacle  could  be  opened  only  by  him  and  the  high  priest.  The 
Lower  classes  awaited  in  the  vestibule  the  appearance  of  the  god. 
The  latter  was  earned  around  the  temple-bounds  in  a  procession 
formed  in  the  hypostyle,  either  in  a  consecrated  vessel,  —  the  bark 
thai  sails  the  heavenly  ocean  —  or  in  a  shrine  borne  on  the  shoulders 
of  priests.  Round  the  sanctuary  lay  various  chambers,  mainly  dark, 
designed  for  religions  purposes  and  for  keeping  the  temple-treasures; 


Fig.  105.  --The  Obelisk  of  Heliopolis. 


also  chapels  and  the  lodgings  of  the  priests.  Farthest  back  of  all 
was  often  an  opisthodomus,  or  hall  of  columns,  which,  but  for 
little  openings  in  the  ceiling,  would  have  been  quite  dark.  Cande- 
labra were  used  to  light  dark  rooms,  one  of  which  is  represented 
at  Tel-el-Amarna.  The  outside  walls  of  all  these  apartments  consti- 
tute one  unbroken  surface,  only  that,  beside  the  pylons,  admission  is 
given  to  the  fore-court  by  little  side-doors,  in  the  thickness  of  whose 
wmII  lies  the  entrance  to  the  small  passage,  in  the  interior  of  the 
pylons,  that  leads  to  the  root's.  This  uniform  wall-surface,  that  gives 
to  the  temple  the  appearance  of  a  colossal  chest,  is  everywhere   cov- 


GREA  I    TEMPLE   A  T   KAIiNAK. 


294  ART    UNDER    THE   NEW   EMPIRE. 

ered  by  sculptures.  The  horizontal  is  here  the  dominant  line,  as  it 
is  iu  Egyptian  landscape.  The  edifice  is  shut  oft'  entirely  from  the 
outside,  and  allows  no  glance  into  its  interior,  in  conformity  with  the 
character  of  the  land,  in  which  man  flees  from  the  glare  of  the  sun, 
as  well  as  with  the  genius  of  the  Egyptian  religion,  that  enveloped 
itself,  for  the  initiated,  in  the  gloom  of  mystery.  The  temples  in 
Nubia  were  hewn  out  of  the  living  rock,  partly  because  the  Nile 
valley  is  occasionally  too  narrow  to  afford  room  for  great  structures, 
partly  because,  owing  to  the  distance  from  Egypt,  it  was  desirable 
to  complete  them  very  expeditiously ;  and  a  rock  temple  required 
neither  foundations  nor  the  tedious  operations  of  quarrying  and  pre- 
paring great  blocks  of  stone.  In  several  instances  the  pylon  and 
fore-court  are  built,  and  only  the  pillared  hall  and  the  sanctuary 
worked  out  of  the  rock.  At  the  great  temple  of  Abu-Simbel,  the 
pylon  and  the  sitting  forms  of  the  colossi  before  it  constitute  one 
immense  rock  sculpture. 

The  temples  of  Egypt  are,  as  a  rule,  constructed  on  one  uniform 
plan,  which  is  most  completely  exhibited  in  the  great  national  tem- 
ple of  Ivarnak  in  eastern  Thebes  (see  Plan, 
Plate  XXL,  with  the  following  descrip- 
tion). This  great  Temple  of  Amen  (Plate 
XXII.)  stretches  to  the  length  of  1180 
feet,  and  is  at  once  the  most  magnificent 
structure  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  and  the 
greatest  religious  edifice  the  world  has  seen. 
It  was  begun  in  the  period  of  the  first 
Theban  dynasty,  and  completed  in  the  age 
of  the  Ptolemies.      Some  450  androsphinxes 

(Fig.  107),  symbols  of  Harmakhis,  and  of 
FiG.m-ThothmesIII.,  {  ()r    ramg    i    •  ß    (animals 

as  Androsphinx.  j        i  j     &    i 

sacred  to  the  fertilizing  sun-god,  and  em- 
blem- of  generation),  border  the  various  sacred  avenues;  while 
in  the  southwest  a  long  street  of  sphinxes  is  added,  leading 
to  the  temple  of  Luxor.  On  this  passage,  6500  feet  long,  must 
have  stood  nearly  1000  sphinxes;  for  those  still  extant  stand 
thirteen  feet  apart.  When  we  approach  the  temple  from  the  bank 
of    the     Nile,    in     the    direction  of   its    axis, — namely,    from    north- 


it 


n 


iU 


:eal 


>i> 


^LATE    XXI 


Temple  Precincts  at  Karnak. 


r 


THE   TEMPLES   AT  KARNAK. 

west  to  southeast,— we  pass  through  a  little  gateway  of  Seti  II.. 
where  formerly  two  obelisks  Btood,  into  an  avenue  of  rams,  laid 
""l  by  Rameses  II.,  and  leading  to  well-preserved  pylons  of 
tll('  tilll('  of  the  Ptolemies,  360  feel  broad  and  I  15  feel  high. 
These  lie  in  the  range  of  the  enclosing-wall  of  the  temem 
temple-area.  The  wall  itself,  7500  to  BOOO  feel  in  circumference, 
and  built  of  Nile  bricks,  is  destroyed,  and  can  be  traced  only  by 
the  mounds  of  fragments.  Passing  through  the  portal  between 
the  pylons,  we  enter  an  open  court  Before  this  was  Laid  out, 
a  pair  of  pylons  of  the  time  of  Rameses  I.,  n»»  constituting  it- 
back  wall  hut  overthrown,  were  the  facade  of  the  temple.  Before 
these  pylons  there  stood,  on  either  side  of  the  entrance,  statues  "i 
Rameses  II.  in  tin-  act  <A'  walking.  Over  against  these,  there  arose 
under  Seti  II..  outside  the  buildings  then  existing  but  now  enclosed 
within  tlir  fore-court,  a  sanctuary,  consisting  of  three  halls,  of  which 
little  more  than  the  foundation  walls  are  preserved.  Still  closer  t<> 
the  facade,  lmt  with  its  axis  at  right-angles  t<»  that  of  the  great  tem- 
ple, stood  a  temple  founded  by  Rameses  II..  with  pylons,  fore-court, 
h\  jiostylc.  and  sanctuary,  as  well  as  representations  of  the  heroic 
deeds  of  this  kiii;.;'.  When,  afterwards,  the  presenl  great  fore-court 
was  formed,  it  enclosed  the  sanctuary  of  Seti  [I.,  above  mentioned, 
and  so  impinged  en  the  temple  of  Rameses  III.  that  the  pylon  of  the 
latter  intruded  mi  the  court  The  court-wall  bears  no  inscription; 
only  between  the  temple  and  the  pylon  "f  the  next  hypostyle  are 
statues  ami  inscriptions  of  Shishak  I.,  relating  t"  his  campaigns  in 
Syria.  In  the  middle  of  the  court  was  an  avenue  of  five  or  six 
columns,  70  feet  high,  laid  out  under  Taharka  ami  Psammetichus  II.. 
in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century  b.c.  Only  one  of  the  columns 
is  now  erect.  This  avenue  served  for  laying  poles  across  during  the 
processions,  on  which  great  carpets  and  baldachins  were  fixed  to 
shade  those  taking  part  in  them  in  their  passage  through  the  court 
One  <>f  our  illustrations  (Fig.  106)  affords  a  view  <>t'  the  back  of 
the  Ptolemaic  pylon,  t<>  which  the  colonnade  of  the  fore-court  i- 
joined.  Farther  t<>  the  hit  appear  the  pylons  of  the  temple  of 
Ranieses  III.  and  the  two  columns  (of  one  of  which  only  the  halt"  is 
standing)  belonging  t"  the  middle  avenue.  In  the  background  t-> 
the  right   we  catch   a   glimpse  "I'  the  Temple  of  Khuns     t"  be   later 


296  ÄRf    UNDER    THE    ÜEW    KM I'l HE. 

noticed),  and,  on  the  left,  of  the  pylons  of  Thothmes.     These  last, 
as  we  shall  see,  bound  the  great  temple-court,  whose  axis  is  nearly 


Fii..  L08.  —  Relief  at  Karnak.    Nekhebt,  the  Goddess  of  the  South,  conducting  King 
Seti  I.  to  the  Throne  of  Amen.     (Fourteenth  century  B.C.) 

at  right-angles  to  that  of  the  chief  temple.     The  extent  of  this  fore- 
court —  295  feet  broad  and  330  feet  loner,  and  large  enough  to  be 


PLATE    XXIII 


The  Obelisk  of  Thothmes  in  the  Great  Temple  at  Karnak. 

History  of  All  Kations,  Vol.  I.,  page  S97. 


PLATE    XXIV. 


Columns  in  the  Great  Temple  at  Karnak. 

History  of  All  Xations,  Vol.  I.,  page  207. 


The  Temples  at  K'arxa& 

tne  ~i,r  of  a  respectable  cathedral— prepares  us  for  the  impression 
made  by  the  hypostyle.  No  words  have  ever  been  found  to  adequately 
describe  this  impression.  It  can  only  be  computed  in  figures.  Tins 
hall,  though  over  thirty  centuries  old,  has  a  roof  supported  by  134 
columns,  whose  gigantic  proportions  leave  far  behind  all  thai  even 
Egypt  has  elsewhere  produced  of  a  similar  kind.  An  avenue  formed 
by  six  pairs  of  columns  with  unfolded  calyx  capitals  passes  through 
the  centre  of  the  hall.     On  both  sides  of  this  are  .-even  rows  of  nine 

columns  with   bud  capitals.     The  columns  of  the  middle  ave •  are 

i>7  feet  high,  11|  feel  in  diameter,  and  33  feet  in  circumference.  The 
remaining  122  columns  are  only  26  feet  lower.  The  hall,  therefore, 
has  a  lofty  central  nave,  as  the  middle  passage  carries  a  stone  roof 
which  i-  "_'»;  feet  higher  than  the  roofs  of  the  aisles  on  either  side,  and 
which  rests  upon  a  wall  2<i  feet  high,  borne  up  by  the  two  adjoining 
rows  of  lower  pillars.  In  this  wall  are  window-  in  the  form  of  small 
stone  crosses.  This  arrangemenl  is  to  I"-  -ecu  in  the  two  accompanying 
illustrations,  of  which  the  one  (Plate  KXIII.)  gives  a  view  of  the  part 
next  in  succession,  where  the  obelisk  of  Thothmes  stands  ;  while  in  the 
other  (Plate  XXIV.)  we  look  towards  the  transverse  axis  of  the 
temple,  so  thai  the  gateway  in  the  next-following  portion  is  visible 
on  the  right.  In  several  temples  a  similar  mode  of  lighting 
upper  side-lights  is  observed.  On  the  Hat  roof,  immediate!}  over 
the  inner  pillars,  there  rises  a  sort  of  attica,  or  clerestory,  through 
openings  in  the  walls  of  which  light  falls  into  the  interior.  Konrad 
Lange  has  shown  that  this  arrangemenl  of  the  hall  of  Karnak 
high  middle  nave  with  windows  ami  two  side-naves  or  aisles  —  is 
the  prototype  of  the  Greek  megarort^  and  of  the  Greek,  Roman,  and 
also  of  the  Western,  basilica.  Since  the  middle  columns  of  the  hall 
stand  thirty-three  feet  apart,  the  stone  beams  of  the  roof  are  i  i 
sarily  of  the  same  length,  while  the  others  imewhal   ovei 

teen  feet  long.      How  the  Egyptians  elevated  these  stone  beams,  and 

the  great  Hags  lying  on  thcin  (whose  weight  has  been  estimated  to 
be  about  ninety  tons)  is  unknown.  All  the  walls,  architraves,  and 
ceilings  are  covered  with  colored  pictorial  representations,  the 
walls  chiselled  in  Hat  relief.  I  »named  of  l>y  Rameses  I.,  the  hall 
was  executed    l>\    Set i    I.,  and    it-    western    half    was    erected    under 


298  ART   UNDER    THE   SEW   EMI'  I  RE. 

Rameses  II.,  who  also  completed  the  sculptural  ornamentation.  On 
October  3,  1899,  eleven  columns  crashed  down  and  several  more  were 
damaged.  Some  1700  tons  of  stone  had  to  be  removed  by  Mr.  Legrain 
before  anything  could  be  done  toward  repairing  the  damage.  The 
catastrophe  which  inflicted  so  serious  a  loss  upon  the  civilized  world  is 
attributed  to  the  action  of  infiltrations  of  water  saturated  with  saltpetre. 
While  clearing  and  strengthening  the  temple  of  Khnns,  which  also 
seemed  threatened,  Mr.  Legrain  found  among  other  valuable  monuments 
the  superb  gray  granite  statue  of  the  god  Khuns — unquestionably  the 
finest  piece  of  sculpture  of  the  New  Empire.  (Plate  XXVI.)  In 
its  execution  it  recalls  the  chisel  which  carved  the  beautiful  head  of 
<  Xaia ' — now  regarded  as  the  portrait  of  the  queen  of  Horemheb  (see 
p.  324).  Both  evidently  belong  to  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  and  Mas- 
pero  suggests  that  the  statue  of  the  god  was  a  portrait  of  the  king,  while 
the  queen  was  represented  as  the  goddess  Mut.  However  this  may  be, 
the  school  of  art  which  produced  those  masterpieces  represents  the  highest 
plane  to  which  Egyptian  taste  ever  rose.  The  Khuns  is  not  merely  a 
clever  piece  of  modelling — it  embodies  an  ideal.  The  back  wall  of  the 
hypostyle  adjoins  the  pylon  of  Amenhotep  III.,  which  is  followed  by  that 
of  Thothmes  I.  Between  them  stand  the  obelisks  of  Thothmes  I.  and 
III.,  the  former  overthrown.  Behind  it  is  a  headless  statue  of  Queen 
Aähmes-Nefertari.  On  the  left  this  space  is  open ;  for  here,  on  the 
outside,  lie  some  lesser  erections  of  the  Twenty -sixth  Dynasty,  and 
farther  off,  near  the  opposite  door  of  the  outer  wall  of  the  temple  area, 
a  small  Ptah-temple  of  Thothmes  III.,  in  front  of  which  Sabaco  and 
the  Ptolemies  placed  porticoes.  The  right  side  is,  on  the  contrary, 
shut  in  by  a  wall  whose  gate  gives  entrance  to  the  system  of  courts  of 
the  time  of  Thothmes,  already  referred  to.  On  the  inner  wall  of  the 
pylon  of  Thothmes  III.,  a  series  of  statues  represents  the  king  as 
Osiris  ;  and  on  it,  also,  the  elevation  of  Maka-Ba  to  be  co-regent  with 
her  father  is  delineated.  Behind  this  pylon  lies  a  columned  hall,  in 
which  the  highe  t  obelisk  (seen  to  the  right  in  Plate  XXII.)  rises. 
This  was  erected  by  Queen  Maka-Iia-Hatshepsut ;  its  counterpart  is 
overthrown.  The  inscription  tells  that  the  upper  part  of  the  obelisk 
was  incrusted  with  asem  (either  elect  rum,  or  a  sort  of  bronze),  and 
that  it  was  prepared  in  seven  months.  Obelisks  were  worked  in  the 
quarry,  and   then   sawn  out.      Behind  a  second  pylon  of  Thothmes  I., 


KING    HORUS 


.).,,, 


Fig.  loa       King  Horus approaching  Amen     Bas-reliel  on  the  I 
of  the  cireut  Temple  at  Carnak». 


300  ART   UNDER    TUE   NEW  EMPIRE. 

comes,  in   a  sadly  ruinous  condition,  a  mass  of  halls,  apartments, 
and  corridors,  in  the  midst  of  which  a  great  quadrangular  structure 
(colored  black  in  PLATE  XXI.)   of  the  time  of  the  Ancient  Empire 
is  recognizable,  its  ruins  comprising  a  number  of  priests'  chambers. 
We  find  here  the  cartouches  of  Antef,  Amenemhat,  Usertesen,  and 
Sebek-hotep.      The  old   sanctuary   (restored  by  Thothmes  III.)    no 
longer  exists,  but  is  replaced  by  a  new  one  constructed  entirely  of 
mighty  squares  of  granite,  of  the  time  of  Philip  Arrhidaeus,  who 
was  raised  to  the  monarchy  after  Alexanders  death,  b.c.  323,  but 
was  murdered  b.c.  317.     Two  isolated  pilasters  of  red  granite,  with 
lotus  capitals,  of  the  time  of  Thothmes  III.,  still  stand  before  the 
sanctuary  (Plate  XX.).     The  most  of   these   ruins,  among  them 
those  of  a  hall  surrounded  by  thirty-two  pillars,  and  having  its  roof 
borne  on  fifty-two  piers,  are  of  the  time  of  Thothmes  III.     Some, 
however,  were  begun  by  Amenhotep  I.,  and  completed  by  Thothmes. 
Among  the  latter  were   found  a  pair  of  granite   sphinxes,  now  in 
Cairo,  and  an  interesting  inscription  consisting  of  a  sort  of  building- 
contract.      According  to  the  inscriptions  on  the  wall  south  of   the 
sanctuary,  there  were,  among  these  portions  owing  their  origin  to 
Thothmes  III.,  halls  decorated  with  silver  and  bronze.     They  con- 
tained statues  of  this  monarch  and  older  kings,  sacrificial  tables,  a 
harp  incrusted  with  silver  and  precious  stones,  a  chapel  hewn  out  of 
one  block  of  stone,  cedar  doors  inlaid  with  gold  and  other  metals, 
three  large  gates  decorated  with  silver,  and  a  great  granite  shrine 
whose  interior  was  plated  with  gold.     The  inscription  makes  mention 
also  of  temple-servants,  among  them  children  of  the  Rutennu  and 
Ivhent-nefer  in  Nubia.     This  whole  portion  of  the  temple  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  wall  by  Rameses  IL,  and,  through  additions,  extended 
by  him  to  the  outer  enclosing-wall,  in  which,  at  this  point,  Nectanebo 
II.,  the  last  Pharaoh,  inserted  a  gate. 

Between  the  pylons  of  Amenhotep  II.  and  Thothmes  I.  lies  a 
free  space,  which  divides  the  whole  temple  into  two  parts,  and  at 
the  same  time  points  to  a  complex  of  courts  whose  axes  were  at 
right  angles  to  that  of  the  main  temple.  A  first  court  was  cut  off 
by  pylons  of  Thothmes  III.;  a  second,  with  two  colossi  of  this 
monarch  at  its  entrance,  has  in  its  fore  part  pylons  of  Thothmes 
I.,  before  whose  exterior  sides  stand   two   colossi  of  Thothmes  II., 


THE  SACRED   LAKE. 


301 


and  one  each  of  Thothmes  III.  and  IV.  A  gate  in  the  easl  wall 
of  this  second  court  gives  entrance  tn  a  little  temple  of  alabaster. 
At,  some  distance  follows  a  third  court,  with  two  gates  flanked  l>\ 
pylons  of  Horns,  the  one  restored  by  Rameses  II.,  the  other  erected 

bv  Ainenhotep  II.  In  the  eastern  enclosing  wall  of  this  court  lies 
a  temple  of  Thothmes  III.,  consisting  of  ;i  portico  in  front  of  the 
facade,  and  a  hall  with  twenty  columns  and  side  chambers.  An 
avenue  of  sphinxes'  heads  leads  from  the  outer  gate  of  this  court 
to  the  southern  temple  hounds.      Between   the   principal  temple  ami 


Fig.  no      The  Holj  Lake  in  the  Middle  Temple  al  Karnak. 

the  courts  of  Thothmes  lies  the  sacred  lake  (Fig.  11">  User-ha, 
where  the  bark  of  Amen  floated  on  festival  days.  It-  embank- 
ments date  from  the  reign  of  Thothmes  III.  A  temple  of  con- 
siderable si/.e  on  its  southern  side  has  disappeared,  excepl  the 
foundation-stone.  On  the  other  side  of  the  court  of  Thothmes 
lies,  among  the  houses  of  Karnak.  a  greal  temple  of  the  orach 
Khuns  (Fig.  111).  with  its  pylons  facing  the  southwest,  so  that 
their  backs  are  towards   the  great    temple.     The  -ate  of  Ptoleni) 

Euergetes,    one    of    the    most    beautiful    memorials    of   his    time,  is   all 
that  is   left   of    the  pylon   structure  and    lies   in   the  outmost 


302 


ART    UNDER    TUE  NEW  EMPIRE. 


of  the  middle  enclosure.  An  avenue  of  Rameses  III.,  bordered 
by  sphinxes,  leads  to  the  temple  proper,  which,  again,  opens  through 
pylons  on  a  court  whose  three  colonnades  are  borne  on  twenty- 
eighl  columns  in  double  rows.  To  the  eight-columned  hypostyle, 
lying  a  few  steps  higher,  succeeds  the  Sanctuary  of  Khuns.  The 
Pharaoh  worships  him  here  under  the  two  forms  of  Khuns-neb- 
zam  (  Khuns  of  the  Thebaid),  and  of  Khuns-nefer-hotep,  or  the 
moon-god.  The  temple  was  erected  by  Rameses  III.,  and,  in  its 
good  state  of  preservation,  is  an  instructive  example  of  a  temple  of 


Fig.  111.  —  The  Temple  of  Khuns  (southwest  of  the  Great  Temple  at  Karnak). 


simple,  uniform  design.  Beside  it  stands  a  square  temple,  of  the 
time  of  the  Ptolemies,  sacred  to  Apet,  the  goddess  of  birth,  who 
appears  in  the  form  of  a  pregnant  hippopotamus.  In  the  illustra- 
tion (Fig.  Ill),  the  pylon  of  the  Temple  of  Khuns  is  seen  in  the 
foreground,  and  farther  back  the  Temple  of  Apet ;  while  the  houses 
of  Karnak  stand  in  the  background  under  palms.  In  the  other 
illustration  (Fig.  110),  we  have  a  view  of  the  Temple  of  Khuns 
in  the  background,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  sacred  lake;  while 
to  the  light  and  left,  in  the  middle  distance,  the  ruined  pylons  of 
Thothmes  and   Horns  (Horemheb)  show  themselves.      At  a  consid- 


REMAINS   IN    WESTERN    THEBES. 

erable   distance    northward    of    the  chief    temple   lies   the   them 

temple  with  its  surroundings,  found.'. I  l>\  Amenhotep  III.,  with  res- 
torations of  the  lime  of  the  Ptolemies,  and  decorated  with  colossi 
by  Rameses  II.  The  outmost  pylon,  ami  a  side-temple  on  the 
west,  date  from  tin;  time  of  the  Greek  monarchs.  Besides  the 
above,  other  Pharaohs  endeavored  to  perpetuate  their  names  by 
lesser  contributions,  which  have,  however,  all  fallen  int.»  ruin.  To 
the  south,  on  the  other  side,  lies  a  greater  congeries  of  temples, 
dedicated  to  Mut,  likewise  due  to  A  menhotep  III.,  but  now,  with 
its  later  additions,  entirely  destroyed.  In  the  fore-court,  on  both 
sides  of  an  avenue  of  ten  columns,  stood  a  great  many  statu« 
the  lion-headed  goddess,  part  of  which  have  found  their  way  to 
European  collections.  Westward,  and  close  to  the  boundary-wall 
of  the  grounds,  lies  a  little  temple  of  Rameses  III.  A  semicircular 
sacred  lake  runs  round  the  hack  of  the  temple. 

This  temple-city,  constructed  by  the  sacred  ait  of  Egypt  in  the 
course  of  two  thousand  years,  constitutes  only  a  part,  though  the 
most  impressive  one,  of  the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt.  A  glance  at 
a  general  map  of  Thebes  shows  that  the  Nile  Valley,  especially 
westward  towards  the  mountains,  is  covered  with  its  ruins.  \ 
ond  temple,  —  '  the  temple  of  Amen,  in  southern  Ap.t,'  formerly 
separated  from  that  we  have  been  describing  by  the  main  mae 
dwellings,  including  those  of  the  kings  and  priests,  lies  on  a  terrace 
overlooking  the  Nile,  and  near  the  village  of  Luxor.  The  facade 
faces  karnak.  whereas  all  the  other  temples  look  towards  the  Nile. 
In  front  of  the  pylon  sit  four  statues  of  Rameses  II.  and  his  daugh- 
ter, forty  feet  high,  hut  deeply  sunk  in  the  sand  (  fig.  11'-!».  B< 
these  stood  two  obelisks,  one  of  whi.h  is  now  in  Paris  (see  p.  135). 
The  pylons  are  decorated  with  representations  of  the  Hittite  War. 
The  present  Thebans,  with  their  huts,  nestle  in  the  interior  and  on 
the  roof  of  the  temple.  The  relatively  unimportant  city  that  Thebes 
wa-,  at  the  opening  ot'  the  Ki-lite. nth  I  >\  na-ty,  had  spread  into  an 
immense  town  of  splendid  monument-  and  sumptuous  edifices.  It  had 
absorbed  most  of  the  neighboring  villages.  Suburbs  Btretehed  wulun 
the  walls  of  enclosures  ;  and  avenues  of  sphinxes  connected  the  prin- 
cipal quarters  composing  the  capital.  Everywhere  were  the  monotous 
clusters    of    gray    huts    and    muddy     i Is,    where    animal-    drank    and 


304 


.17,"/'   UNDER    TEE   NEW  EMPIRE. 


the  people  obtained  water.  Markets  and  bazars,  dwellings  of  the 
well-to-do  enelosed  in  blank  walls  and  reserving  what  comfort  and 
charm  they  might  possess  for  their  occupants — such  was  the  Thebes 
of  the  people.  The  population  might  reach  one  hundred  thousand 
souls.  Many  were  foreigners — Syrians,  Libyans,  Negroes,  Mesopota- 
mians.  The  nobles  lived  outside  the  town,  each  residence  forming  a 
small  settlement.  The  conquests  of  the  New  Empire  had  brought 
streams  of  gold  into  Egypt.  Although  barter  remained  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  trade,  a  change   took  place  :    rings  and  plates  of 


Fig.  112.  —  <  »belisk,  seated  statues  of  Rameses  II.,  and  Pylons  of  the  Temple  at  Luxor. 


gold,  silver,  and  copper  of  standard  weight  (Tabeun)  were  used  in 
exchange  for  goods,  stimulating  commerce. 

The  buildings  on  the  opposite  shore,  in  Western  Thebes,  faced  the 
Nile  and  the  eastern  city.  Here  lay 'the  West-land  of  the  buried.' 
Here,  too,  was  practised  the  ancestor-cult  of  the  kings,  in  great  tem- 
ples, which  served  the  same  purpose  as  the  temples  before  the  pyramids 
and  as  the  chambers  of  the  mastabas. 

In  the  extreme  southwest  lies  Medinet-Abu,  and  near  it  the  im- 
posing  temple  of  Barneses   JH.,  in  a  tolerably  good   condition  (Figs. 


HEM.  1  /  AN   A  T  MELI  NE  T  ABl '. 


113,  114).  We  reach 
first  a  propylae  urn  struc- 
ture of  the  time  of  An- 
toninus 1'ius.  It  gives 
entrance  to  a  very  grace- 
ful temple  of  Thothmes 
I II..  mi  whose  pylon  tin- 
Pharaoh  Taharka  had 
his  victory  over  the 
.lews  engraved.  Beside 
this  temple,  and  ap- 
proached through  a  free- 
standing gate,  erected 
at  its  side  by  the  archi- 
tect Petamenap,  stands 
a  tower-like  structure  of 
Rhampsinitus,  a  build- 
ing quite  peculiar  of 
its  kind.  On  coming 
up  from  the  plain,  one 
finds  before  him  two 
small  pylons  of  a  par- 
terre and  two  stories, 
crowned  with  curved 
merlons.  Their  walls 
are  a  little  higher  than 
the  inner  court  wall, 
while  this  latter  con- 
tracts towards  the  hack 
on  both  sides  :  so  that 
we  have  a  wider  fore- 
court and  a  somewhat 
narrower  second  court. 
The  buildings  sur 
rounding  tin-  couj  t 
open  upon  the  greal 
temple.       Where     the 

Vol.   I.     2a 


306 


ART    UNDER    TUE    NEW    KM  Pill  F.. 


Fig.  114.    -Ground-plan  of  Memnoniuin  oi'  Rameses  III.,  ;it  Medinet  Abu. 


TEMPLE     1  /'   MED1  VET    I  III'.  301 


court  narrows,  Lie  the  stairs  to  the  first  and  second  Btories.     These 

were  formerly  divided   by  a   w len  ceiling,  while  the  top  storj  is 

covered  by  ;i  stone  ceiling  with  beautiful  Lozenge-shaped  orna- 
ments. A  broad  frieze  runs  between  this  and  the  upper  cornice 
of  the  windows,  on  which  we  see  Lotus-flowers,  vases,  pomegran- 
ates. Inder  this  is  a  hand  covered  with  hieroglyphics,  and,  Lowest 
of  all,  a  series  of  nraeus-serpents,  symbols  of  the  kingl)  dignity. 
Among  the  sculptures  we  see  some  thai  represent  the  king  amus- 
ing himself  with  his  wives  and  at  chess.  From  two  places  in 
the  southern  wall,  there  project  the  breasts,  propped-up  arms,  and 
heads  of  four  prone  male  figures,  on  which  rests  the  bedding- 
slab  of  a  horizontal  stone  tablet  let  into  the  wall.  This  *  pavilion ' 
may  probably  be  regarded  as  a  triumphal  gateway,  in  which,  at 
the  same  time,  chambers  were  contained  for  the  king  and  part  ot 
his  court,  to  be  used  by  him  in  preparing  for  the  festival  pageants, 
while  it  might  also  serve  as  a  sort  of  tribune  for  the  spectator 
at  the  temple  processions.  The  great  temple  consists  of  two  fore- 
courts each  behind  pylons.  In  Fig.  115  the  Latter  are  seen  tower- 
ing in  the  background.  The  colonnade  on  the  north  Bide  ol  the 
first  court  was  borne  on  seven  Osiris  pillars;  that  of  the  south  side 
on  eight  columns.  The  second  court  has  eight  Osiris  pillars  on  its 
east  side,  arranged  along  the  pylon,  and  an  equal  number  stand 
opposite  them.  Behind  the  latter,  eight  columns  arise,  whose  -ode. 
stand  on  a  dais.  The  other  sides  have  each  five  columns.  Tin» 
tine  hypaethral  hall  is  decorated  with  sculptures,  painted  in  lively 
colors,  and  representing  a  greal  coronation  procession,  as  well  as  the 
victories  over  the  Phoenicians  and  Libyans,  carefully  indicating  the 
great  booty  captured.  The  Coptic  community  has  restored  this  hall 
as  a  church,  and  set  in  it  live  fine  Corinthian  columns.  They  had, 
at  the  same  time,  coated  the  wall  with  plaster,  on  which  are  depicted 
figures  of  Christian  saints:  whereby  the  old  sculptures  are  main- 
tained in  excellent  preservation.  The  view  of  the  interior  ,  I 
11Ö)  shows  the  hypostyle  in  the  foreground,  also  a  large  second 
chamber,  and  on  the  left  the  adjoining  chambers.  On  the  Bout*  side 
lie  the  treasure  chambers  of  the  temple,  whose  vanished  contents 
are  commemorated  by  pictures  on  the  walls.  The  gifts  >\>;\u,r 
Amen   consist    of   -old   in  grams  and  dust,  silver  bars,  perfect    mom 


308  Airr   UNDER    THE   NEW    EMPIRE. 

tains  of  precious  stones  and  metals,  frankincense,  statues,  ornaments, 
spoils  captured   in   the   campaigns  against  the  Syrians  and  negroes 

all  accompanied  by  devout  dedicatory  inscriptions. 

Northeast  of  Medinet-Abu  stood  once  a  great  temple  of  Amen- 
hotep  111.,  probably  the  Memnonium  of  Strabo,  of  which  only  the 
foundation  walls  remain,  covered  by  the  soil  which  now  lies  several 


Fig.  ll.'). —Vestibule  of  the  Temple  at  Medinet-Abu. 

meters  deep  over  the  temple  site.  As  in  Luxor,  four  colossi  were 
reared  in  front  of  the  vanished  pylons,  of  which  only  two  now  stand 
upright,  —  the  world-renowned  vocal  statues  of  Meinnon.  These 
own  their  origin  to  Amenhotep  III.  A  large  portion  of  the  third 
colossus  lies  at  a  distance  of  11Ö  paces.  The  figures  are  of  coarse, 
hard  ffril  stone,  mixed  with  chalcedonies,  difficult  to  work.  That  on 
the  north  was  broken  by  an  earthquake,  and  its  upper  half  re-erected 
In    Alexander   Severus,      During   the    process   of  its  decay,  musical 


THE    COLOSSI    OF    \IKMM<>\ 


300 


notes  were  elicited  fron,  it  by  the  «Imps  of  earl}  dew  fulling  into  the 
ll"!rs  '"  ,1"'  st":"'-  which  the  ancients  fancied  to  be  the  morning 
greeting  of  the  Sun  to  his  divine  mother,  Eos.     Seventy-two  inscrip- 


tions appear  on  the  leg  of  the  Memnon,  engraved  between  the  times 
uf  Nero  and  Septimius  Severus,  by  strangers  who  had  heard  its 
tones.     One    of    these    is    l>\    the    Emperor    Hadrian   and   ln>   wife 


MO 


a  irr  UNDER  mi-:  NEW  EMPIRE. 


Sabina.  The  statues  consist  of  two  pieces,  of  which  one  forms  the 
socle,  the  other  the  figure,  which  must  have  heen  lifted  on  to  its 
pedestal.  What  this  means  will  be  understood  when  it  is  considered 
that  the  shoulders  are  nearly  twenty  feet  broad,  the  middle  finger 
lour  and  one-half  feet  long,  the  tibia  eighteen  feet,  and  the  foot  (now 
lost)  ten  feet.  The  whole  mass,  pedestal  and  statue,  according  to 
the  calculation  of  French  engineers,  must  weigh  nearly  2400  tons. 
The  architect  who  erected  the  temple,  and  superintended  the  setting 
up  the  statues,  bore  the  same  name  as  his  king,  Amenhotep,  and 
was  the  son  of  Ilapi.  Behind  the  ruined  temple  lies  a  second,  in  a 
similar  condition,  and  also  by  Amenhotep.  Near  it  are  traces  of 
elections  of  Thothmes  IV.  Deeper  amongst  the  rocks  are  the  graves 
of  Guruet-Murai,  and,  in  a  ravine  behind  these,  a  Ptolemaic  temple 


o    o  o  o   o  o   ti   . !  U- ,  ■;■-,-■?    Y  r— 1~~, r~~  I 


•  •  ••  •  • 


;lc    '-.t     °  1     i~n 

v  -v      <      *, i -— I 


Fig.  117.  —  Ground  plan  of  the  Memnonium  of  King  Kaineses  II. 


of  Hathor  (Hekate)  —  Der-el-Medinet  —  in  full  preservation.  Farther 
in  the  hills  lies  the  so-called  Tombs  of  the  Queens.  The  nearest 
Large,  and  partially  preserved,  temple  is  the  famed  Ramesseuni  or 
Memnonium  (Figs.  117,  118),  designed  by  Rameses  II.  for  his  cult 
when  dead,  and  by  the  Greeks  termed  the  grave  of  Osymandyas 
(  i.e..  User-ma-ra,  the  premomen  of  Rameses).  The  first  court  had 
colonnades  on  both  sides,  each  of  eleven  Osiris-pillars,  with  columns 
standing  behind,  the  most  of  which  are  destroyed.  It  is  strewn  with 
blocks  of  stone,  among  them  parts  of  a  sitting  colossus  of  the 
builder,  and  the  sepulchral  statue,  which  in  old  times  was  concealed 
in  the  serdab.  The  pedestal  stands  on  the  back  wall,  near  the  en- 
trance to  the  second  court.  The  figure  was  56  feet  high,  and,  like 
the  Colossi  of  Meninon.  worked  out    of  a  single  block  of  syenite,  and 


THE   STA  TUE    OF   OSYMA  NDYAS. 


■  ;i ! 


towered  over  the  court.      Head,  breast,   and    anus  lie   now   in    • 

solid  fragment  on  the  ground.1  It  is  much  the  largest  statue  in 
Egypt,  and  when  perfect  must  have  weighed  over  1000  tons.  Un- 
doubtedly gunpowder  was  the  agenl  employed  l>\  the  wretch  who 
shattered  this  work  of  art.  On  the  other  side  of  the  porta]  stands  a 
second,  and  smaller,  pedestal  for  the  statue  of  the  queen.  Although 
Diodorus,  following  the  statement  <>|  Hecataeus,  speaks  "i  the  statue, 
it  is  doubtful   whether  it  was  ever  sei   up.     Certainly  no  debris  in- 


Fig.  LIS.     The  Menu 


dicating  its  presence  is  to  be  found.  On  the  north  face  and  pro- 
pylaea  of  the  second  court  is  represented  the  war  with  the  Kheta 
■  I  littitfs ),  and   the  storming  of   their  stronghold,  Kadesh.      In    the 

1  I  met  a  traveller  from  an  antique  land 
Who  said:  Two  vast  and  trnnkless  legs  of  ~t"n- 
stand  in  the  desert.    Near  them  on  the  sand 
Half  sunk,  a  shatter'd  visage  lies,  whose  frown 

And  wrinkled  lip  and  si r  <>f  < -* »1 « 1  command 

Tell  that  its  sculptor  well  those  passions  n 
Which  yet  survive,  stamp'd  on  these  lifeless  thii 
The  hand  that  mock-. I  them  and  the  heart  thai  fed; 
And  on  the  pedestal  these  words  ap  ear: 
"Mj  name  is  Ozymandias,  king  of  kinj 
Look  on  my  works,  ye  Mighty,  and  despair!' 
Nothing  beside  remains.    Round  the  d< 

Of  that  colossal  wreck,  bo Hess  and  bare, 

he  lone  and  level  sands  stretch  fai  away. 


312  ART    UNDER    THE   NEW  EMPIRE. 

second  court  (the  Osiris-pillars  of  which  with  high  columns  are  visi- 
ble in  the  background  of  Fig.  118)  stand  two  pedestals  for  statues 
nearly  twenty  feet  in  height,  now  lying  in  fragments.  All  of  the 
hypostyle  is  destroyed  save  the  four  middle  columns.  Like  the  hall 
of  Karnak.  it  consisted  of  a  high  nave  with  lower  aisles.  The  col- 
umns are  regarded  as  the  most  beautiful  of  any  of  the  New  Empire. 
Tin-  rear  portion  of  the  temple  is  covered  with  debris.  The  reliefs 
on  the  base  of  one  of  the  doors  show  Thoth  as  '  Lord  in  the  hall  of 
hooks/  and  behind  him,  the  eye  as  God.  Opposite  is  Safekh,  as 
'Mistress  in  the  hall  of  books,5  and  behind  her  the  ear  as  divinity. 
Conformable  with  this  is  Diodorus's  statement  that  the  library,  as 
'hospital  of  the  soul,'  was  situated  here.  Alongside  of  and  behind 
the  temple  lie  numerous  vaulted  brick  buildings,  the  bricks  bearing 
the  impress  of  the  name  of  Rameses,  a  practice  exceedingly  ancient, 
and  customary  also  in  Babylon.  Next  follow  the  ruins  of  a  temple 
of  Thothmes  III.  and  Rameses  III.  \  and  behind,  in  the  hills,  numer- 
ous lock  sepulchres  near  Sheikh  Abd-el-Gurnah,  and  in  the  north 
and  south  Asasif,  where  are  graves  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Dynasty. 

A  vast  and  peculiar  congeries  of  structures  presents  itself  on  the 
angle  of  the  range  of  rocks  near  Der-el-Bahri  (Plate  XXV.),  and 
at  tin'  foot  of  a  strep  declivity  over  which  a  path  leads  to  the 
Tombs  of  the  Kings.  In  conformity  with  the  contour  of  the  ground, 
the  temple  of  Der-el-Bahri,  lately  excavated  by  Xaville,  stands  on 
four  terraces,  some  300  feet  broad,  rising  one  above  another,  and 
each  constituting  a  court.  Traces  of  some  200  sphinxes,  belonging 
to  the  avenue  of  sphinxes,  were  still  visible  in  the  end  of  the  last 
century.  Of  the  pylons  we  find  only  scanty  remains.  A  street,  in 
continuation  of  the  avenue  of  sphinxes,  intersects  the  whole  place. 
Coming  from  the  direction  of  the  Nile,  it  here  forms  a  junction  with 
an  avenue  of  sphinxes  from  Karnak,  and  ascends  from  one  terrace  to 
another  by  means  of  staircases.  In  the  background  of  the  second 
terrace  the  remains  of  a  colonnade  were  discovered:  on  the  third, 
close  to  the  cliff,  is  a  hall  of  columns,  through  which  there  is  access 
to  a  niche  in  the  rocks.  The  back  part  of  this  terrace  shows  double 
rows  of  pillars.  On  the  fourth  platform  stands  a  mighty  gateway  of 
granite:  and  last  of  all  follows  the  sanctuary,  lying  among  the  rocks, 
anil  dedicated  by  Thothmes  to  his  wife   Aalimes,  to  which    the   whole 


PLATE     XXV. 


The   Terrace-Temple   of  Der-el-Bahn    (from    the   south). 
(Prior  to  the  excavation«  of  Naville. ) 
History  of  AM  Nations,  Vol.  I.,  vn0e-  51t- 


SETPS    TEMPLE   .1  '/'   GUUNAlf. 


313 


of  this  most  peculiar  temple-system  constitutes,  as  it  were,  only  so 
many  fore-courts.  <)n  both  sides  of  the  third  terrace,  also,  la)  rock- 
temples.  The  illustration  Shows,  in  the  middle  distance,  in  the 
shade,  the  long  hall  of  tin-  southern  hall  of  columns,  which  termi- 
nates the  third  terrace.  Before  the  wall  lie  the  fragments  of  the 
double  row  of  pillars.  Quite  behind  are  still  seen  the  broad  roof- 
flags.  The  strongly  lighted  wall  in  the  foreground,  with  a  pillar 
before  it,  separates  the  hall  of  eoliiiims  from  the  southern  side- 
temple,  which  opens  by  a  gate  on  its  portions  lying  in  the  rock. 
Under  the  high  brick  tower,  belonging  to  the  Coptic  convenl  Der-el- 
Bahri  ('  the  north  convent*),  is  seen  the  wall  of  the  fourth  platform, 
and  on  the  light,  elose  to  it.  the  granite  portal,  on  the  farther  side  of 
which  rubbish  covers  the  northern  half  of  the  grounds. 


Fig-  Hi 


mile  of  the  1  >ead  at  <  kurnah. 


The  most  northern  ruin  of  Thebes  is  Seti's  Temple  of  the   Dead 
at  Gurnah,  dedicated  by  this  king  to  his  father  Rameses  I.,  and  the 

gods    Osiris.    Ilathor.  and    the    Tin-ban    triad,   hut    not    completed    till 

the  time  of  Rameses  II.  (  Fig.  1 L9  >.  <  >f  the  sphinx  avenues  and  the 
propylaea,  only  the  pylons  remain.  The  temple  itself  has  a  portico 
of  ten  columns  with  hud  capitals,  standing  between  antae.  The 
middle  and  two  outmost  pairs  of  columns  stand  wider  apart  than  the 
others;  for  behind  these  lie  the  three  entrances  into  the  hypostyle 
and  two  adjoining  apartments,  which,  with  their  numerous  chamber», 
each  decorated  with  sculptures,  are  grouped  in  quite  unique  fashion 
The  temple  at  A.bydos,  also  begun  by  Seti  and  completed  h\  his 
son,  is  peculiarly  arranged  (  Fig.  120  }.     Passing  between  two  , 


314 


ART   UNDER    THE  NEW   EMPIRE. 


TEMPLE   OF  KHNUM   AT  I.  i.i.ril  a  s  1 1  \  i  .;]■', 

erected  by  the  latter,  we  reach  a  row  of  twelve  vasl  pillars  deco 
with  religious  scenes,  standing  before  the  hypostyle.     Behind  the  in 
lie  seven  entrances,  of  which,  however,  five  are  buill   up  owing  to 
their  in >t  harmonizing  with  the  twelve  pillars;  bo  thai  only  the  mid- 
dle entrance  and  the  most  westerly  remain  open.     Hie  base  ol  sev- 
eral of  the  walls  of  tlir  hypostyle  consists  of  a  socle-frieze,  on  which 
are   depicted   the   symbolical    figures  of   the   Egyptian   nomes,  with 
their  colors  and  escutcheons  above  their  heads.     This  hall  is  borne 
up  by  a  double  row  of  twelve  columns;  and  od  its  back  wall  there 
are  seven  entrances  into  a  second  hypostyle,  in  which  are  three  rows 
of  twelve  columns,  the  third  row  somewhat  higher  than  the  other 
two.      Here,  again,  we  have  seven  openings  in  the  hack  wall,  which 
give  admission  into  seven   Longish   sanctuaries  dedicated   to    II 
[sis,  Osiris,  Amen,    Harmachia,  Ptah,  and   King  Seti.     These  apart- 
ments   have    vaulted    root's,    without,    however,    any    keystone,    hut 
formed  by  layers  of  stone  reaching  inwards  from  both  sides,  ami  fin- 
ished with  roof-plates  rounded  out  on  the  inner  side  by  hewing 
121).     As  in  the   mastabas,  the  hack  walls  are  treated   as 
Only  in   the    sanctuary   of    Osiris    is    there   a   door   leading   into   the 
opisthodomus.     On  the  south  side  an  out-building  of  the  same  pe- 
riod  joins   on   to  the  temple,  which  for  this  reason  shows  peculiar 
arrangement,  as  this  necessitated  a  lateral  entrance  from  the  chief 
temple.      One  of  the  two  doors  of  the  second  hypostyli 
into  a  small  passage,  in  which  Dümichen,  in    L 864,  found  the 
list  of  the  kings,  already  given  <>n  p.  59.     The  relief  shows  Seti  and 
his  son  adoring  the  cartouches  of  seventy-five  kings.     Another  list 
of  thirteen  names,  now  in  the   Louvre,  had  already  been  disco 
in  1818.     A   second    temple   in    Abydos,   built    by    Liameses    II..   is 
hopelessly  destroyed.     The  dSbris  of  granite  and  alabaster  gives 
denee  of  surpassing  magnificence.      Here  was  found  a  geographica] 
list   enumerating  the   Egyptian  cities.     It   has  been  interpreted   by 
Brugsch. 

The   beautiful  edifice  of   Amenhotep  III.,  at  Elephantine, 
;,,,  example  of  the  arrangement  of  the  smaller  temples,  or  chapels. 
This  was  demolished,  in  1822,  by  the  Turkish  governor  of  Assuan; 
but,    fortunately,    it    i<    minutely    described    in    th<    'Description    de 
Pfigypte.'      It    consisted  only  of   a  long  oella  in  honor  of    Khnum, 


316 


ART    UNDER    THE  XEW  EMPIRE. 


with  a  colonnade  running  round  it,  and  a  so-called  peripteros,  or 
exterior  colonnade,  such  as  we  see  in  the  little  temple  of  Thoth- 
mes  III.  in  Medinet-Abu.  Along  the  longer  sides  stood  seven 
pillars  without  pedestal  or  capital ;  the  transverse  sides  had  two 
columns  with  bud  capitals  between  their  corner  pillars.  The  pillars 
and  interior  were  sculptured.  The  whole  stood  upon. a  substructure 
of  stylobate,  with  cornice ;  and,  on  the  front,  steps  led  upwards  be- 


Fig.  121.  —  The  arched  hallways  of  Seti's  temple  at  Ahydos. 

tween  balustrades.     This  little  temple  reminds  us  forcibly  of  Greek 
architecture. 

The  numerous  grottoes,  or  rock-temples,  took  their  origin  from 
the  rulers  of  the  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Dynasties.  Of  later 
date  we  have  only  the  temple  in  Mount  Barkal,  erected  by  Taharka ; 
and  even  it  is  only  a  copy  of  the  older.  The  most  northern  is  prob- 
ably that  near  Beni-Hassan,  dedicated  to  Sekhet  (Artemis).  Others 
lie  in  Upper  Egypt,  e.g.,  the  grotto  of  Selseleh,  founded  by  Horem- 
heb;    the  most    arc  in   Nubia.      The  largest,   that  of  Ipsambul,  com- 


PLATE    XXVI 


Status   of  the   God    Khuns,  found   at   Karnak   by    Mr. 
Legrain,   1900. 


History  of  All  Nations,  Vol.  T.,pagt  817 


ROCK   TEMPLE   OF  Mil    S1MBEL.  317 

in. .nly  known  as  Abu-Simbel  (Plate  XXVII.)  maj  be  described  as 
a  specimen.  The  place  where  this  astonishing  work  lies  was  called 
Pirnas,  or  Pimsa,  of  which  the  Greeks  made  Psam-polis;  the  Arabs, 
Ipsambul.  The  pylons  are  here  hewn  oul  of  the  face  of  the  cliff; 
and  the  colossi,  which  the  founders  were  wont  to  set  up  before  these 
members,  are  themselves  part  of  the  living  rock,  either  of  one  piece 
with  the  pylons,  or  in  close  contact  with  them.  The  breadth  of  the 
facade  at  the  base  is  120  feet;  its  height,  93  feet.  It  is  crowned 
by  a  concave  moulding,  bearing  the  cartouches  of  the  kings,  each 
surrounded  by  the  uraeus-serpent.  Above  sits  a  row  of  twenty-two 
dog-headed  apes,  sacred  to  Thoth,  each  nearly  eight  feet  high;  and 
under  the  astragal  of  the  entablature  runs  a  hand  of  votive  inscrip- 
tions. Close  up  to  this  hand,  their  kingly  crowns  towering  aloft, 
their  hands  resting  on  their  knees,  and  their  eyes  directed  towards 
the  far  distance,  sit  four  kings  on  thrones,  whose  arms  are  borne  up 
by  female  figures.  The  last  of  the  statues  is  half  buried  in  the 
sand.  Over  the  gates,  which,  with  their  cornices,  reach  to  the 
elbows  of  the  statues,  stands,  in  a  niche,  the  statue  of  Ra-Harmachis, 
with  the  solar  disk  over  his  hawk's  head,  with  the  royal  builder  in 
the  act  of  adoration  on  both  sides.  A  deep  gateway  gives  entrance 
to  the  first  hall,  whose  roof  is  home  up  by  two  rows  of  four  pillars. 
Before  these  stand  statues  of  the  king,  thirty-three  feel  high,  painted 
red,  and  wearing  the  white  and  red  double  crown.  In  his  ■■; 
arms  is  borne  the  crook  of  the  shepherd  of  his  people,  and  the 
scourge,  the  symbol  of  supreme  power.  His  garment  is  a  plaited 
yellow  loin-cloth,  or  kilt,  striped  with  red  ami  blue.  Several  side- 
chambers  issuing  from  this  hall  penetrate  into  the  rock.  A  second 
hall  is  supported  1>\  four  pillars,  and  to  this,  behind  a  broad  pa-- 
follows  a  third  of  the  same  breadth,  but  of  very  limited  depth.  Fi- 
nally comes  the  sanctuary,  in  whose  extreme  niche,  Is"  feet  from 
the  portal,  sit  the  four  statues  of  Amen.  Ptah.  I  larmachis.  mid 
Kameses  II.  All  the  walls  and  pillars  are  decorated  with  so 
from  the  wars  in  Nnhia,  Lyhia.  and  Syria. 

A  sec 1  ami  lesser  temp!.-  lies  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 

lis   facade   has.   in   the   centre,  a    broad    pilaster,   whose  upper  half 

shows    the    two  cartouches  of    Kameses.   while  the  lower  i<  pit' 

by  the  door.     To  right  and  left,  on  each  side,  stand  thre< 


318  -I/.''/'    UNDER    THE    SEW    EMPIRE. 

figures,  thirty-three  feel  high,  in  high  relief,  and  separated  by  narrow 
pilasters.  The  middle  ones  represent  Nefertari,  spouse  of  Rameses; 
the  four  others  Rameses  himself.  The  portal  gives  entrance  into  a 
great  hall,  with  six  pillars,  showing,  in  the  upper  part  of  their  front 
sides,  huge  heads  of  Hathor,  under  which  three  vertical  fillets  with 
inscriptions  run  down  the  pillar.  In  a  niche  in  a  second  hall  is  the 
image  of  the  cow  of  Hathor.  Other  temples  of  Nubia  are  only  half 
grottoes ;  thus  in  the  temple  of  Gerf-Hussein  (or  Girsheh,  on  the 
cast  bank),  not  only  the  fore-halls,  but  the  hypostyle,  are  built  out- 
side the  rock,  only  the  sanctuary  lying  in  the  hill. 

A  characteristic  feature  of  the  New  Empire  are  the  hypogaea,  or 
cavities  penetrating  far  into  the  rock,  consisting  of  several  halls  or 
chambers,  to  which  long  galleries  give  admission.  A  noteworthy 
work  was  discovered  by  Maspero  in  1883,  near  Der-el-Bahri,  on  the 
hill-path  leading  to  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings.  This  had  belonged  to 
a  man  named  Hor-hotep,  of  the  time  of  the  Eleventh  Dynasty.  As 
the  rock  is  brittle,  the  architect  had  lined  the  grave  with  limestone 
slabs,  which  he  painted.  The  pictures  exhibit  the  whole  arrange- 
ments of  the  household  of  the  deceased.  The  coffin  is  not,  as  usual, 
monolithic,  but  constructed  of  blocks  cemented  together.  The  grave 
had  been  plundered ;  still,  there  were  found  an  excellent  arm  of  a 
wooden  statue  and  a  portion  of  a  wooden  bark.  In  respect  of 
decoration,  both  chambers  and  the  coffin  bore  the  greatest  similarity 
to  those  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty  graves  near  Memphis ;  so  this  grave 
forms  a  connecting  link  between  the  ancient  mastaba  and  the  rock- 
vault  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty.  The  Pharaohs  have  rock-tombs 
at  various  points  in  Western  Thebes,  the  most  renowned  being  the 
twenty-five  tombs  of  the  Eighteenth  (Amenhotep  III.  and  Ai,  suc- 
cessors of  Tufrankh-amen,  and  Rameses  I.),  the  Nineteenth,  and 
Twentieth  Dynasties,  in  Biban-el-Moluk  ('  Gates  of  the  Kings '). 
This  is  a  gorge  to  which  entrance  is  gained  through  a  narrow  pass 
or  rock-gate,  partially  widened  by  art.  and  so  entirely  shut  in  by 
naked  walls  that  it  is  never  swept  by  the  wind  nor  filled  with  the 
mid-day  heat.  Each  of  the  graves  opening  into  the  ravine  on  either 
side  has  a  great  vault,  called,  after  the  yellow  ground  on  which  the 
pictures  arc  arranged,  the  'Golden  Hall/  and  lying  in  a  range  of 
corridors,  niches,  and  chambers  extending  to  the  length  of  over  100 


•  BELZONI'S    TOMB.'  :\\\\ 

yards.     The  granite   sarcophagi   are   mostly  decorated   with  figures 

outside  and  in.  The  mos1  elaborate  tomb  is  thai  of  Seti  I.,  known 
as  'Belzoni's  Tonil»."  after  the  name  of  its  discoverer.  Its  entrance, 
as  that  of  all  others,  was  blocked  up  after  the  Bepulture  of  ihr  king, 
and  covered  with  sand.  Over  it  is  Men  die  yellow  disk  in  which 
sits  the  ram-headed  god,  — the  setting  sun  adored  by  the  kin-:  to 
the  right  is  Nephthys;  to  the  left  [sis,  representing  the  terminal 
point  of  the  sun's  course  in  the  upper  hemisphere.  Beside  the  sun 
sits  the  beetle,  the  symbol  of  the  second  birth,  lake  the  sun,  the 
king  descends  in  the  wot  into  the  under-world,  to  reappear  again 
in  the  east,  and  after  his  wanderings  through  Hades  to  arrive  at  the 
bosom  of  the  divinity.  In  the  corridor  nearest  the  entrance  is 
engraven  the  litany  to  the  god  Ra,  which  is  noteworthy  on  account 
of  its  esoteric  character.  It  constitutes  an  introduction  to  the 
numerous  representations  on  the  walls  of  the  tomb  typical  of  the 
course  of  the  sun  during  the  hours  of  darkness.  A  part  of  this 
litany  is  preserved  in  the  Book  of  the  Dead.  Ra  is  here  the  greatest 
power  in  the  universe  :  all  gods  are  assimilated  to  him  ;  ami  through 
him.  whose  various  forms  of  manifestation  the}  represent,  they  exist. 
•■Adoration  to  thee,  supreme  power;  exalted  mighty  one.  that  com- 
passes the  place  of  light  :  whose  form  is  that  of  the  spirit  who  com- 
prehends the  all;  who  conceals  his  form  in  himself:  who  lives  in 
his  eye  (the  solar-disk)  and  illumines  the  coffin ;  the  invisible  en- 
genderer,  who  makes  the  spheres  and  creates  bodies;  from  wle.s.- 
person,  emanating  from  himself,  those  have  come  forth  that  are  and 
are  not.  the  dead,  the  ^>A>.  the  souls:  the  mysterious  hidden  one. 
whom  the  spirits  follow  as  he  leads  them  :  the  eternal  element 
permeating  the  heavens,  in  whose  presence  in  Amenta  (Hades)  the 
spirits  rejoice  in  the  heaven  of  light  :  the  prince  oi  the  powers  in 
the  sacred  spheres:  the  hark  of  heaven:  the  gate  of  the  sphen 
light:  the  wanderer,  the  revolving  illuminator,  who  causes  dar! 
to  follow  his  lighl  ;  the  lord  of  souls,  who  sits  on  his  obelisk."  I 
lowing  an  oblique  downward-sloping  passage,  which  at  one  point 
obviously  with  the  view  of  precipitating  grave-robbers  to  destruction 
sinks  suddenly  and  unsuspectedly  int..  a  deep  pit.  leaving  only 
hare  room  for  walking  close  to  the  wall,  one  reaches,  at  a  distal 
It:!  feet  from  the  entrance  a  great    hall  with   tour  rock  pi!. 


320  ART    UNDER    THE  NEW  EMPIRE. 

fifty-six   feet   under  the   level   of  the  threshold.      In  this  hull   Horas 
is  figured  as  leading  the  natives  of  Egypt  and  of  foreign  countries  in 
four  groups,   of   three  representatives   each.     The   Egyptians  (Romet, 
i.  e.,  <  men ')  are  depicted  with  skins   of    red   hue  and   wearing   white 
loin-cloths;  the  yellow  Aamu,  or  Semites,  with  black  beards,  and  loin- 
cloths striped  blue,  white,  and   red;  the  black  Nehesu,  or  negroes, 
with  white  apron,   over  which  falls  a  rohe   of  diaphanous  material, 
kept  in  place  by  a  red  embroidered  girdle  and  shoulder-band ;  finally 
the  Temehu,  or  Libyans,  of  white,  partially  tattooed,  skins.     This  hall 
joins  on  to  another;  but  the  way  to  the  tomb  leads,  not  through  this 
last,  but  down  a   steep  stair,   and    through  three   other  apartments. 
The   golden  hall   consists   of   a   vestibule   with   pillars   and  various 
side-chambers  (in  one  of  which  is  a  noteworthy  representation,  with 
descriptive  text,  of  the  destruction  of  mankind  by  Ra  and  the  gods), 
then   of    the   main   apartment,  lying   somewhat  deeper,   but  with  a 
flatfish   vaulting  rising  higher   into    the  rock.      On  the  left   a  door 
gives  admission  into  a  terminal  hall  with  a  row  of  four  pillars.     The 
sarcophagus  is  formed  of  a  block  of  translucent  aragonite,  over  nine 
feet  long  and  three  broad,  and  is  now  in  the  Soane  Museum,  Lon- 
don.    The   figures   and  hieroglyphics,  filled   in  with    blue,  describe 
the  voyage  of  the  bark  of  the  sun  through  the  underworld,  through 
twelve  gates   (the  hours  of  night).      Near  it,  on  the  left,  but  lower, 
arc   seen    the   damned:   on   the   right,  the   blessed.      On  the  inside  of 
the  cover  are  inscribed  passages  from  the  Book  of  the  Dead.      Behind 
the  side  of  the  coffin,  there  opens  a   slanting  shaft,  which  has  been 
followed  for  over  300  feet,  without  reaching  the  end.      Here  we  are 
180  feet  under  the  level  of  the  entrance,  and  470  feet  distant  from 
it.      In  the  course   of   excavating  this    and  all   other  hypogaea,  the 
rubbish   must  have   been   carried    forth,  along   narrow,   suffocating, 
ascending  passages,   whose  heat  was   tempered  by  no  breath  of  air. 
The  whole  surface   is  covered   with  fine,  highly  colored  sculptures, 
all    executed    by    torch-light,    and    under   the    conviction    that   they 
would   be  seen  only  by  the  dead,  who,  in  virtue  of  the  transforma- 
tion of  the  images  into  actual  existences  effected   by  the  prayers  of 
those   left    behind,  would   revive  and  enjoy  them.     From  the  living 
they  were  believed  to  be  hidden  in  everlasting  night. 

High    officials    also    had    elaborate    rock-tombs.     The   tomb   of 


GRAVES   OF   THE  SACRED  BULLS.  32] 

the  priest  Pet-amen  in  El-Wutrel-Khorkah,  eastward  of  Sheikh  Abd- 
el-Gurnah,  scarcely  yields  in  number  of  apartments  to  the  grav< 
kings;  many  royal  sepulchres  are  indeed  much  simpler.  II, 
pulchral  statues  of  the  Ancient  Empire  occur  als«,  in  fche  Theban 
tombs;  but  under  the  influence  of  religious  ideas  such  images  came 
to  be,  more  and  more,  mere  miniature  imitations  of  fche  mummies  in 
enamelled  clay,  and,  as  such,  lost  all  value  as  works  of  art 

A  peculiar  variety  of  sepulchral  architecture  is  constituted  by  the 
graves  of  the  sacred  bull  Apis.  The  Apis  became,  after  it-  decease, 
an  Osiris,  whence  came  its  name  of  Asar-hapi,  Greek  Serapis,  and 
that  of  its  shrine,  Serapeum.  From  the  time  of  Amenhotep  III., 
these  animals  were  interred  in  separate  tombs,  consisting  of  cham- 
bers worked  out  of  the  rock,  to  which  access  was  given  l»v  an  en- 
closed path.  Immediately  over  the  tomb  was  an  under-ground  sub- 
structure, on  which  was  placed  a  dado  with  columns  at  its  angles, 
and  over  all  was  a  pyramidal  roofing.  The  son  of  Rameses  II., 
Kha-em-uas,  a  learned  high  priest  of  Ptah  (see  |>.  *_'7Ö)  who  resided  in 
Memphis,  and  died  before  his  father,  laid  out  the  renowned  Apis 
graves.  The  exterior  temple  of  the  dead  above  ground  has  disap- 
peared; but  Mariette  found  the  Greek  Serapeum,  which  lav  to  the 
east  of  the  Egyptian  one,  and  was  connected  with  it  by  an  avenue 
of  sphinxes.  Here,  in  the  necropolis  of  Sakkara,  lived  enthusiast 
devotees,  who,  in  the  service  of  Serapis,  shut  themselves  out  from 
the  world,  and  in  gloomy  cells,  into  which  food  could  be  introduced 
only  through  air-holes,  gave  up  their  lives  to  the  practices  and 
visions  of  asceticism.  To  these  recluses  we  have  to  look  for  the 
origin  of  Egypto-Greek  and  Christian  monachism. 

The  subterranean  Serapeum  (or  Apis-mausoleum),  consists  of  a 
gallery  650  feet  in  length,  tunnelled  into  the  rock,  on  each  side  of 
which  were  spacious  and  lofty  wainscoted  chamber-.  After  the 
dead  Apis  had  been  deposited  in  one  of  these,  enclosed  in  an  enormous 
cofhn  of  granite  or  "limestone,  it  was  walled  up.  under  Psammeti- 
chus  I.,  some  of  the  vaultings  of  the  older  Apis-graves  sunk  in.  and 
this  new  gallery  was  begun,  whose  of  vaults  are  now  visited  by  tour- 
ists. These  contain  24  sarcophagi,  of  an  average  Length  oi  1-' 
breadth  of  7  feet  6  inches,  and  height  of  11  feet  On  the  «lis, 
of  the  coflins,  only  two  were  found  unplunderecL  The  most  impor- 
Vm,..  i.     21. 


322  ART    UNDER    THE   NEW  EMPIRE. 

taut  objects  contained  in  these  catacombs  of  the  sacred  bulls  are  the 
numerous  stelae,  or  tablets,  which  it  was  permissible  to  set  up  in  the 
chamber,  or  before  it,  a  certain  number  of  years  after  the  Apis  had 
been  laid  to  rest.  These  are  now  mostly  in  the  Louvre,  and  contain 
dates  of  the  highest  value  in  determining  the  length  of  the  reigns  of 
the  Pharaohs  from  the  time  of  Psammetichus.  On  each  of  three 
coffins  is  an  inscription  of  the  times  of  Amasis  IL,  Cambyses,  and 
Khabash,  respectively.  The  first  is  short,  and  says  simply  that  the 
King  Amasis  had  '  caused  this  mighty  stone  chest  to  be  made  out  of 
red  granite  for  the  living  Apis,'  the  word  « living '  having  reference 
to  the  life  beyond  the  grave.  A  stela  belonging  to  the  coffin  tells 
that  this  Apis  was  born  and  died  in  the  reign  of  Amasis.  He  was 
born  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign  (b.c.  567),  on  the  seventh  day  of 
the  month  Thoth  (June- July) ;  installed  in  Memphis,  eighteenth 
Payni  (March- April)  the  same  —  Egyptian  —  year ;  died  sixth  Pha- 
nienoth  (December-January)  of  his  23d  year  (549)  ;  was  deposited 
in  his  tomb  on  the  fifteenth  Pathon  (February-March)  of  the  same 
year.  This  Apis  lived,  therefore,  18  years  6  months,  an  age  ex- 
ceeded by  other  Apides.  The  sarcophagus  dedicated  under  Khabash, 
owing  to  unforeseen  circumstances  occurring  during  his  interregnum 
(between  Darius  and  Xerxes)  of  only  two  years,  was  never  set  up, 
and  stands  to  this  day  in  a  corridor,  while  its  cover  lies  on  the 
ground  in  the  main  gallery. 

The  dwellings  of  the  Egyptians  were  constructed  of  brick  and 
wood,  and  have  entirely  perished.  Yet  one  gains  a  tolerably  clear 
conception  of  them  from  the  architecture  of  the  tombs,  which  was 
borrowed  from  that  of  the  dwelling-house,  from  little  models  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  as  well  as  from  drawings  and  plans,  both  on 
papyrus  and  on  the  walls.  One  such  plan  found  in  Tel-el- Amarna, 
Chipiez  has  made  the  basis  of  a  perspective  bird's-eye  view.  This 
wooden  house  consisted  of  vertical  and  horizontal  (never  diagonal) 
oeams,  mortised,  with  the  intermediate  spaces  panelled.  Pavilions 
were  wont  to  be  erected  on  the  flat  roofs,  under  whose  covering  of 
carpets  or  matting  the  night  was  passed  in  the  hottest  season.  The 
cleaving  and  twisting  of  the  wood-work  was  remedied  by  lattice- 
work of  small  rods,  from  which  originated  handsome  geometric  de- 
signs, as  is  the  case  in  all  warm  countries.     Concerning  the  furniture 


DRESS   OF   TUE   EGYPTIANS.  ■-, 3 

also  of  the  private  houses,  the  monuments  afford  the  fullesl  Informa- 
tion. Couches,  chairs,  stools— massiv«-  yel  elegant,  w  it li  carved  animal's 
feet  and  other  ornamentation— were  u<<-d.  The  walls  were  hung  with 
variegated  carpets  or  variously  patterned  straw  plaiting.  We  can  trace 
the  dress  of  the  Egyptians  in  all  its  forms,  from  the  primitive  loin-cloth 
up  to  the  diaphanous  robe  of  byssus.  This  loin-cloth,  or  kilt,  is  the 
dress  not  only  of  the  peasants  and  workmen,  hut  it  is  also  the  sacred 
vestment  in  which  the  king  is  shown  in  relicts  and  statues.  People 
pride  themselves  in  having  it  richly  finished  ;  they  starched  and  plaited 
it,  and,  bringing  it  up  in  front,  folded  it  hack  on  itself,  so  thai  it- 
ends,  decorated  with  colored  stripes  and  ornaments,  fell  down  over  the 
girdle.  In  the  case  of  women  it  was  lengthened  both  upward  and 
downward  into  a  petticoat,  which  was  held  up  by  Bhoulder-straps ; 
but  these  were  sometimes  replaced  by  a  scarf  or  sash,  which  was  tied 
in  a  large  knot  before  the  breast,  under  which  the  corners  of  the 
garment  were  tucked.  Such  a  robe  is  worn  by  the  goddess  [sis; 
and  even  the  noble  granite  statue  of  Rameses  II.,  in  Turin,  is  thus 
attired.  Over  this  kilt  a  shirt-like  garment  of  linen  was  worn,  under 
which  the  under  dress  and  the  body  appeared.  Above  all  was  occa- 
sionally thrown  a  sort  of  wrap,  or  calasiris.  Generally  people  wenl 
barefoot,  the  rich  only  wearing  sandals.  The  head  was  shorn,  and 
protected  from  the  heat  by  a  sort  of  cap  of  cloth.  It  would  lead  us 
too  far  were  we  to  detail  all  the  articles  of  the  toilet,  especially  th 
of  the  female  sex. 

On  an  earlier  page,  in  the  account  of  the  famous  discoveries  of 
royal  mummies  at  Der-el-Bahri,  mention  was  made  of  the  fad  thai  the 
enamelled  and  gilt  coffin  of  Thothmes  I.  was  found,  but  that  in  it  was 
the  mummy  of  Pino/em.  In  1899  Luret  discovered  the  actual  tomb 
of  Thothmes,  from  which  the  coffin  had  been  stolen.  It  is  in  the 
Valley  of  the  King9  al  Thebes.  This  chapter  on  the  art  and  manners 
and  customs  of  the  New  Empire  may  well  conclude  with  a  detailed 
description1  of  this  tomb,  the  original  burial-place  of  one  of  the  great- 
est monarchs  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty.  "This  Pharaoh  appears  to 
have  been  the  tiiv-t  to  make  his  tomb  in  the  rock  of  the  valley  instead 
of  building  it  in  the  plain.  The  tomb  is  a  Bmall  one  and  contains  bul 
1  American  Journal  of  Archaeology,  1900,  pp.  843,  -'H 


324 


ART    UNDER    THE    .VAIC    KM  IURE. 


two  chambers.  In  the  tomb  were  a  papyrus  containing  texts  from  the 
'  Book  of  the  Dead'  with  colored  pictures  finely  executed,  a  draught- 
board with  a  full  set  of  draughtmen,  some  garlands,  thirteen  large 
earthen  beer  jars,  and  a  large  number  of  other  vessels,  weapons,  two 
beautiful  arm-chairs,  and  remains  of  food.  The  most  remarkable  piece 
of  all  is  a  large  and  beautifully  preserved  couch,  consisting  of  a  quad- 
rangular wooden  frame  overspread  with  a  thick  rush  mat,  over  which 
were  stretched  three  layers  of  linen,  with  a  life-size  figure  of  the  god 
of  death,  Osiris,  drawn  upon  the  outer  layer.  The  figure  itself  was 
smeared  with  some  material  intended  to  make  the  under  layer  water- 
proof. ( )ver  this,  mingled  with  some  adhesive  substance,  soil  had  been 
spread  in  which  barley  was  planted.  The  grains  had  sprouted  and  had 
grown  to  the  height  of  from  two  and  one-half  to  three  inches.  The 
whole  therefore  represented  the  couch  whereon  the  dead  Osiris  lay, 
figured  iu  greensward." 


Taia,  probably  the  Queen  of  Horemheb  (Eighteenth  Dynasty). 


Plate    XXVIII 


■.  -.-•; 


•■•*» 


HEAD  OF  WINGED  FIGURE  FROM  NINEVEH. 
As  type  of  the  Assyrian  Race  and  Proof  of  Painting  on  the  Rock-sculptures. 

(After  Layard. ) 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    EARLIEST   ASSYRIAN    KINGS. 

DURING  the  most  flourishing  period  of  the  New  Empire  in  Egypt, 
there  was  maturing  in  the  Upper  Mesopotaraian  valley  a 
powerful  nation  which  ultimately  became  dominanl  in  Western  Asia 
and  gave  decisive  direction  to  the  subsequent  developmenl  of  civiliza- 
tion,— the  kingdom  of  Assyria. 

Assyria  was  the  region  watered  by  the  Greater  and  Lesser 
Zab, — streams  that  empty  into  the  Tigris,  aboul  two  hundred 
and  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  northward  from  Babylon.  Its 
kings  gradually  extended  their  sway  —  on  the  south  towards  the 
Adliem  and  Diyala;  on  the  west,  over  the  plains  watered  by  the 
Chaboras  and  its  tributaries;  on  the  north,  to  the  upper  coursi 
the  Euphrates.  Thus  they  came  into  collision  with  the  Babylonian 
empire,  with  the  Aramaeans,  and  with  the  Ilittitcs  ami  their  allies. 
The  conflicts  with  their  various  neighbors  continued  down  t"  the 
last  days  of  the  Assyrian  people,  so  that  their  history  is  little  more 
than  a  record  of  wars.  The  earliest  seat  of  the  Assyrian  kings  was 
Assur,  the  ruins  of  which  now  hear  the  name  of  Kaloh  Shergat  On 
the  right  bank  of  the  Tigris,  somewhat  above  the  mouth  of  the  Lower 
Zah,  an  immense  terrace  rears  itself,  with  the  ruins  of  ;i  temple  in 
platforms  or  stages,  now  covered  by  drifted  -and.  An  excavation 
of  these  ruins  is  now  being  made  by  a  German  expedition  which 
has  already  made  notable  discoveries.  In  the  districl  of  Assyria, 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tigris,  and  above  the  mouth  of  the  Zab,  lie 
numerous  ruin-mounds  of  ancient  cities,  in  particular  oi  Nineveh, 
over  against  Mosul.  Here  are  two  rubbish-mounds,  of  which  the 
southern,  Nebi  Yunus,  is  occupied  by  buildings:  hut.  as  the  prophet 
Jonah  is  said  to  be  here  buried,  excavations  cannot  he  made. 
tain  trials  with  the  spade,  at  the  angle  of  the  mound,  revealed  that 
an  Assyrian  palace  lay  here  interred;   and  fragments  of  the  annals  of 

325 


326 


THE   EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 


Sennacherib,  and  bricks  of  the  times  of  Adad-nirari  III.1  (811-783) 
and  Esarhaddon,  were  picked  up.     The  northern   mound,  Kouyunjik 

(Turkish,  '  the  lambkin '),  has  been  thoroughly  ransacked,  and  found 
to  be  the  ruins  of  a  palace  of  Sennacherib  and  Asurbanipal,  in  the 
condition  it  was  left  by  the  Medes,  who  demolished  it  over  twenty- 
five  centuries  ago.  Nineveh  is  a  very  ancient  city,  but  it  does  not 
appear  as  the  capital  till  the  later  times  of  Assyrian  history.  Here 
stood  a  temple  of  Ishtar,  which,  as  early  as  the  nineteenth  century 
b.c.,  was  restored  by  Samsi-Adad,  and,  400  years  later,  again  by 
Ashur-uballit.  A  head  of  Ishtar,  with  a  broad  diadem  around  the  curled 
hair,  was  found  by  George  Smith.  Shalmaneser  I.  (about  1320)  and 
his  son  Tukulti-Ninib  had  here  a  palace.  Several  of  their  successors 
were  diligent  builders.  At  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Shalmaneser  II. 
(859-825),  his  son  Asur-danin-apal  revolted  in  Nineveh,  but  was  over- 
thrown by  his  brother  Samsi-Adad  IV.,  whose  son  Adad-nirari  III. 
(811)  built  a  temple  of  Nebo  and  Merodach,  in  the  spot  where  the 
mound  Nebi  Yunus  lies.  With  Sennacherib  began  Nineveh's  period 
of  highest  prosperity,  which  lasted  scarcely  over  a  century. 

Jerraiyah  is  a  ruin-mound  close  to  Nineveh,  on  the  south,  at  a 
little  distance  from  which  irregular  traces  of  walls  are  discernible, 
high  over  the  Tigris,  at  Selamiye.  Near  here  lies  Calah  (Kalhu), 
the  modern  Nimrud,  at  present  at  some  distance  from  the  river,  but 
reached  by  it  in  floods.  Northeast  of  Nimrud  lies  the  ruin-mound 
of  Balawat,  and,  somewhat  farther  off,  Karämlais.  Also  on  the  farther 
side  of  the  Zab  was  Arbela  (Arba-ilu,  '  the  city  of  four  gods '),  an 
important  Assyrian  city  lying  on  an  artificial  terrace,  with  ruins  of 
vaults  and  galleries.  More  to  the  south,  and  across  the  Lower  Zab, 
lies  Kerkuk,  in  the  district  of  Garamaea,  the  ancient  Mennis  (where 
Curtius  locates  the  naphtha-springs),  the  Karkha-de-Bet-Selukh  of  the 
Syrians.  The  most  important  place  to  the  north  of  Nineveh  is 
Khorsabad,  east  of  which  is  Ba-azani.  Towards  the  north  is  Sherif- 
khan  (Assyrian,  Tarbisi),  with  a  group  of  lesser  mounds  of  rubbish. 

Everywhere,  at  the  points  mentioned,  are  to  be  found  traces 
of  Assyrian  cities  or  of   royal  strongholds.      Furthermore  the  whole 

1  The  reading  Adad-nirari,  instead  of  Ramman-nirari,  is  now  accepted  by  scholars, 
and  therefore  also  Adad  for  the  'god  of  thunder  and  storms'  (see  Vol.  II.,  p.  82),  instead 
of  Ramman. 


ASSYRIAN  8IT1  :;■_<: 

country  is  strewn  with  ruin-mounds,  easily  recognizable  by  their 
Arabian  and  Turkish  prefixes,  Tel  and  Tepeh.  Outside  of  Assyria 
proper  we  find  of  more  important  cities,  lirst.  on  the   Babylonian 

frontier,    Opis    (Assyrian,    Upi),    menti d    b\     Tiglath-Pileser     I. 

(about    1200).      Its    rains    Lie    opposite   the    i ith    of    the    Adhem 

(Physcus),  and  are  now  called  Tel-Dhahab-Manjur.  Formerly  tin- 
Tigris  flowed  past  the  west  of  the  city;  and  at  this  poinl  of  its 
old  bed,  now  named  ShatrAidha,  the  remains  of  an  ancienl  bridge 
are  still  extant.  Westward  of  Nineveh,  the  Sin  jar  hills  run  trans- 
versely across  Mesopotamia.  West  of  Lake  Khatuniyah,  the  range 
is   broken  through  by  the  Chaboras   (the    Araxes   of    Kenophon), 

which,  taking  its  rise  in  numerous  springs  in  the  neighboih I  of 

Resaina  (Ras-el-ain),  and  flowing  past  several  small  towns,  falls  into 
the  Euphrates  near  Karkisiyah  (Circesium).  It  receives  numerous 
tributaries  from  Mt.  Masius  (Tur-Abdin).  On  the  Jakhjakhah 
(Mygdonius)  lies  Nisibis  (i.e.,  'the  stone  columns,'  from  an  early 
stone-cult),  the  most  famed  city  in  this  region,  which  continued  t<» 
be  an  important  fortress  till  the  times  of  the  Parthians  and  the 
Sassanidae.  Farther  to  the  west  lies  Barren  (Carrhae),  with  a  shrine 
of  Sin  (the  moon-god),  on  the  Balikh  ( J i«  1  i; i - j ,  that  fall-  into  the 
Euphrates  at  Thapsacus.  To  the  northeast  lie-  Edessa  ;  \>>  the  west, 
Serug  (Batnae).  Some  four  miles  to  the  south  were  found  two  Assyrian 
lions  of  basalt. 

The  inscription  found  at  Kalah  Shergal  by  tin  German  Expedition 
reveal  as  the  earliest  ruler  of  the  city,  Dshpia,  win»  i-  called  'a  priest  of 
the  god  Ashur/  and  was  designated  as  the  founder  of  A shur'e  temple  in 

that   place.      His    date   may   be  fixed  at   al t    2200    B.C.     Of   other 

early  rulers  we  also  have  short  inscriptions  -tly  dealing  with  Ashur's 

temple,  known  as  "The  Mountain  of  the  Lands,"  and  with  the  help 
of  a  recently  found  inscription  of  Shalmaneser  I.,  consisting  of  168 
line-,  which  gives  dato  for  various  of  hi-  predecessors,  we  are  able  \<< 
fix  the  time  of  Samsi-Adad  I.  at  <•.  1900  B.c.  (580  year-  before  Shal- 
maneser I.),  and  of  Erishnm  at  1  "i ! '  year-  before  Samsi-Adad — i.e., 
c.  2060.  Among  other  of  the  earlier  rulers  of  Assyria,  Adad-nirari  I. 
(c.  1350)  i-  represented  by  a  detailed  inscription  furnishing  hi-  gi  nealogy 
and  telling  of  his  work  on  the  temple  of  Ashur  at  Kalah  Shergat,  while 
of  his  .-on,  Shalmaneser   I.  (c.    L320),  we  know   that   he  founded  the 


328 


THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 


city  of  Calah,  where  his  successors  long  resided.  We  may  well  sup- 
pose that  the  conquest  of  Babylonia  was  not  effected  in  one  cam- 
paign. The  kings  say  nothing  of  their  defeats ;  but  casual  notices 
point  to  a  long  series  of  struggles,  with  varying  success.  Thus 
Sennacherib  reports  that  the  seal  of  Tukulti-Ninib  I.  of  Assyria  was 
found  by  him  in  Babel  (Babylon)  600  years  after  it  had  been 
carried  off.  This  presupposes  a  Babylonian  advance  on  the  Assyrian 
capital  about  1300.  Also  in  the  reign  of  Bel-kudur-sur,  who  came  to 
the  throne  c.  1250,  the  Babylonions  revolted,  their  Assyrian  governor  at 
their  head,  and  the  king  himself  fell  in  the  conflict.  Not  the  less 
they  were  reduced  to  subjection  by  the  son  of  the  fallen  monarch. 
Assyrian  governors  and  native  independent  kings  of  Babylonia  often 
endeavored  to  free  themselves  from  Assyrian  supremacy. 

Of  Tiglath-Pileser  I.  (Fig.  122),  who  reigned  about  1200,  we  pos- 
sess much  information,  derived  partly  from  the  bricks  of  the  palace 

at  Kalah  Shergat,  but  especially  from  four 
octagonal  clay  prisms  which  were  deposited 
at  the  corners  of  this  edifice.  Further 
details  appear  on  a  relief-sculpture  at  the 
sources  of  the  Tigris,  and  on  an  obelisk 
from  Kalah  Shergat,  found  at  Koyunjik. 
Sennacherib  reports  that  the  Babylonians 
—  warring  against  Tiglath-Pileser  —  had 
taken  the  city  Ekallat,  and  carried  off  two 
images  of  gods,  which  he  himself  brought 
back.  These  facts  are  not  mentioned  by 
Tiglath-Pileser,  who  was,  however,  more 
successful  in  a  second  campaign.  He  now 
captured  the  cities  of  Marduk-nadin-akhe, 
Dur-Kurigalzu  (Akarkuf),  Sippar,  Babel, 
and  Opis.  Tiglath-Pileser  extended  his 
sway  on  the  west  and  north,  and  the  fact  that  he  could  undertake  cam- 
paigns in  these  directions  proves  that  he  had  subdued  the  Babylonians 
effectively.  We  have  already  become  acquainted  with  the  conflicts  of 
the  Egyptians  with  the  Kheta  (Hittites),  and  seen  that  the  kingdom 
of  the  latter  fell  apart  into  various  petty  monarchies,  which,  however, 
combined  with  each  other  and  with  the  cognate  tribes  of  the  Arme- 


wffi»»  -«minimi»1  "ii 
Fig.  122.  —  Tiglath-Pileser  I 


TIGLA  I'll  PILESER   I. 

man  highlands  when  it  was  necessarj  to  make  comm jause  against 

the  grasping  Assyrians.  When  Tiglath-Pileser  carried  his  arms  westr 
ward,  some  sixty  years  had  elapsed  sine-  the  time  of  Ramesee  III. 
(p.  281).  lie  reports  that  the  Moschi,  who  for  fifty  years  had  held 
the  land  Alzi  and  Puru-kuzzi  (between  the  eastern  Euphrates  and 
the  Tigris-sources,  and  tributary  to  the  god  Ash ur),  and  who  never 
before  were  subdued  by  any  monarch,  had  descended  20,000  strong 
under  live  kings  upon  the  Land  of  Kummukh  (Commagene).  With- 
out doubt  this  movement  was  connected  with  the  invasion  of  Egypt 
of  the  Mediterranean  races,  which  was  repulsed  by  Kam.--  III.  On 
the  fall  of  the  Hittites  probably  followed  the  advance  of  the  Philis- 
tines into  their  later  settlements ;  while  the  Hebrews  took  advai 
of  the  commotion  to  press  forward  into  the  land  west  of  the  Jordan, 
Tiglath-Pileser  collected  his  battle-chariots  and  warriors,  marched 
through  the  mountain  land  Kashyara  (northwest  Sophene),  ami.  >\t- 
scending  like  a  thunder-storm,  shattered  the  Moschi  in  Kummukh. 
Their  heads  he  carried  off  as  trophies,  while  their  carcasses  were 
cast  into  the  ravines.  He  levelled  their  strong  places,  carried  off 
captives  with  their  goods  and  chattels,  and  made  those  who  sin-d  for 
peace  subject  to  him.  As  they  of  Kummukh  were  friends  of  the 
Moschi,  their  land,  too,  was  spoiled.  They  threw  themselves  into 
the  strong  city,  Sirisi  (Strabo's  Sarisa,  the  city  of  the  Gordyaeans\ 
which  lay  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Tigris.  This  fortress  musl 
have  lain  somewhere  between  Diarbekir  ami  Engil.  The  Assyrians 
took  it,  and,  defeating  the  troops  that  had  hurried  from  Kurkhi 
(western  Kurdistan)  to  its  relief,  captured  their  king  Kiliteshub. 
Among  the  spoils  were  found  vessels  of  copper  and  iron,  and  gold 
and  >ilver  idols.  The  victor-  passed  -till  farther  on,  ami,  entering 
Kurkhi,  captured  its  chief  city  Urartinash,  its  prince,  Shaditeshub,  sub- 
mitting himself. 

Titrhth-Pileser  boasts  of  having  subjugated  Kummukh  ;  but, 
later,  he  himself  gives  the  Euphrates  as  the  boundary  of  hi-  empire. 
Further,  the  inscription  reports  that  he  defeated  a  bod}  of  1000 
warriors,  composed  of  Kaski  (Colchians),  then  settled  in  Asia 
Minor  between  the  upper  Halys  ami  the  Euphrates,  and  of  I'rn- 
maya,  who,  in  the  service  of  the  Chatti  (Hittites),  were  Btriving  to 
defend  Shnbari,  that   part  of  western    Mesopotamia   inhabited   by   the 


330 


THE   EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINOS. 


Aramaeans.  He  then  turned  once  more  against  Kummukh,  and, 
as  he  states,  incorporated  it  with  his  empire.  The  campaign  against 
Kurkhi  also  was  renewed.  The  mountaints  barred  the  advance 
of  his  war-chariots;  but  he  overcame  the  difficulties,  and  after  a 
bloody  struggle  took  twenty-five  places  in  the  district  of  Kharia. 
An  attempt  on  Milidia,  in  Khanigalmit  (Malatia),  miscarried.  The 
city  Carchemish,  in  the  land  of  the  Chatti,  is  first  mentioned  in  the 
account  of  an  expedition  against  the  Aramaeans  in  Sukhi  (in  Job 
ii.  11,  Bildad  is  a  Sh unite) ;  and  in  the  report  of  a  hunt  of  oxen, 
there  occurs  the  name  of  Araziki,  a  city  of  the  Hittites  on  the  Euphrates, 
somewhat  above  Balis. 

We  find  in  Tiglath-Pileser' s  inscriptions  reports  of  various  other 
expeditions,  or,  rather,  forays ;  as  those  into  the  land  Murattash 
and  Saradaush  (probably  the  mountain  region  east  of  Kerkuk),  and 
the  land  of  the  Nairi  iu  Arzanibiu,  between  Diarbekir  and  Surt, 
where  he  triumphed  over  sixty  chiefs  of  the  Nairi  with  their  allies 
from  the  Upper  Sea,  burned  their  towns,  and  carried  off  their  goods 
and  cattle.  Iu  an  expedition  to  the  land  of  Muzri,  in  the  district 
of  Khorsabad,  he  assailed  the  city  Arini,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Aisa, 
whither  the  Kumani  had  hastened  in  aid  ;  but  "  they  seized  my  feet ; 
I  spared  the  city,  took  hostages,  and  imposed  tribute."  Probably 
he  was  defeated ;  for  shortly  after  he  had  to  turn  again  against 
the  Kumani,  whom  he  conquered,  burning  their  city  Khunusa.  A 
memorial  of  the  king — his  statue  with  inscriptions — was  found  at 
the  sources  of  the  Subnat  (Sebeneth-su),  a  stream  falling  into  the 
Tigris  at  a  place  named  Karkar  (Armenian,  Anzit),  near  Egil.  There 
his  successors,  Tukulti-Ninib  I.  and  Shalmaneser  I.,  caused  stelae  also 
to  be  set  up.  These  sculptures  are  interesting  as  furnishing  us  the 
earliest  likeness  of  an  Assyrian  king. 

Under  the  successors  of  Tiglath-Pileser,  the  power  of  the  empire 
seems  to  have  waned.  The  mere  absence  of  boastful  inscriptions 
leads  to  this  inference,  while  an  inscription  of  Shalmaneser  II.  reports 
that  he  had  taken  Pethor  (Pitru)  on  the  Sagura  (Sajur),  on  the  far 
side  the  Euphrates,  and  recaptured  Mutkinu,  on  the  Assyrian  side, 
after  it  had  been  surrendered  by  Asur-erbi  (about  1000)  to  the  king 
of  Aram  (Syria).  Our  knowledge  of  Assyrian  history,  however,  for 
the  two  centuries  after  Tiglath-Pileser  is  as  yet  very  meagre. 


ASURNAZIRP  1/  ;;  ;| 

rl  he  firs!  monarch  who  again  made  conquests  was  Asurnazirpal 
(884-860),  son  of  Tukulti-Ninib  II.  (who  reigned  only  six  years),  and 
grandson  of  Adad-nirari  II.  His  inscriptions  are  extensive,  and 
were  found  on  his  statue  of  limestone  (  Fig.  1  23  >,  und  in  the  temple 
at  Calah.  The  statue  represents  him  with  a  sickle,  or  crook,  in  his 
right  hand  as  defender  of  the  husbandman,  and  with  a  club  in  his 
Left  as  crusher  of  his  foes.  His  head  is  withoul  a  diadem  ;  the  right 
arm  is  hare,  the  left  covered  by  the  richly  fringed  mantle,  which  is 
thrown  twice  round  the  body.  The  greal  inscription,  frequently 
translated,  is  engraved,  in  condensed  form,  on  a  tablel  showing  a 
likeness  of  him  making  a  libation,  und  is  repeated  more  than  a  hun- 
dred times  on  stones  of  his  palace.  Especially  important  are  the 
wars  against  the  northern  mountain  tribes,  whose  districts,  however, 
can  only  rarely  be  determined.  Tims,  in  the  rery  beginning  of  the 
inscription,  the  mountain  region  Xninnii  (between  Arzanias  and 
Lake  Van)  is  named,  which  no  Assyrian  had  before  entered.  From 
Numrni  he  descended  into  the  land  of  kin  mi.  where  he  received 
tribute  from  Gilzan,  on  the  north  of  Lake  CJrumiah,  and  from  Khu- 
bushkia,  in  the  upper  region  of  the  Zab,  now  inhabited  by  the  Hek- 
kari.  He  then  marched  by  way  of  Kirkhi,  and  captured,  among 
other  mountain  holds,  a  rock  fortress,  Nishtun,  whose  commandant 
was  carried  prisoner  to  Arhela,  and  there  Hayed  alive,  hi-  -kin  being 
spread  «nit  on  the  city  wall.  From  Nineveh,  Asurnazirpal  -et  out 
for  Syria,  passing  through  the  cities  at  the  Tout  of  Mts.  Nibur 
and  Pasatu  (Tur-Abdin),  so  as  to  cross  the  Tigris  somewhere  near 
Diarbekir,  and  fall   upon    Kummukh, — probably  the   ßrst   attempt    on 

the  Chatti  (Hittites).      Bui    he  had  at   •<■  to  turn   hack:   for,  behind 

him,    the   governor    he    had    set    over    Snri,  in    the   district    of   I'.it-Kha- 

lupe  on  the  Chaboras — a  stranger  (Vom  Hamath — had  been  .-lain. 
and,  in  place  of  him,  a  man  from  Bit-Adini  (the  region  between  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Belikh,  and  hostile  to  Assyria)  had  been  «ailed 
to  be  kino-.  In  Kummukh  he  had  attained  no  success  :  and  this 
misadventure  the  rebels  had  to  expiate.  Many  were  Beized,  among 
them  the  new  king,  and  carried  oft'  to  Calah,  along  with  a  rich  booty 
in  silver,  gold,  copper,  alabaster  vases,  iron  utensils,  women  and 
maidens,  war-chariots,  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  woollen  and  linen  rai- 
ments,   furniture    of   cedar-wood,    and    cat  pet--.      I  hie    walls 


832 


THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 


Fig.  123.  —Statue  of  Asurnazirpal.    From  Nimrud.    London,  British  Museum. 


ASURNAZIRPAVS   CA  KPAIGN8. 

erected  before  the  gate,  in  which  some  of  the  captives  were  immured 
alive;  others  were  impaled  on  stakes  set  up  on  the  walls;  other, 
and  among  them  the  king,  were  flayed,  and  their  skins  spread  on 
the  walls.     All  this  was  done  in  the  presence  of  the  king.     Further 
expeditions  brought  the  Assyrians  into  the  land  of  Nirbu,  adjoining 
""    th"   one  side>   ""•  district   of  the    Nairi,    between    the  Tigris    the 
1  PPer  Euptrates,  and    Lake   Van,  and,  on  the  other,  Kashiyari   the 
southwestern  Sophene.     Here  eight  cities  had  combined,  and  forti- 
fied  Ispihbria,  an  inaccessible  height     The  Assyrians  seem  to  have 
effected   I,,,thil1-      ^ey  devastated,   indeed,    various   parte   of  the 
C iry  (,f  the  Nairi>  ;|II(1  «lew  innumerable  people;  but  new  expedi- 
tions were  ever  necessary,  for  these   brave  mountain  races  remained 
unsubjugated.     Only  by  the  erection  of   fortresses  were  the  latest 
kings  enabled  to  keep  then,  in  check.     As  little  was  gained   by  the 
destruction  of  Pethor  as  had  been  by  the  flooding  the  land  of  Kum- 
mukh  with  war.     Asurnazirpal  marched  als,,  towards  tin-  southeast, 
and,  crossing  the  Lower  Zab  and   Radanu  (Upper  Adhem),  pun 
the  Armenian,  Ameka  into  the  mountains  in  the  direction  of  Sulei- 
manieh.     The  Assyrian  power  came  here  nearly  into  collision  with 
that  of  Babylon.     The  kin-  advanced   southwards  by  the  Hirmas, 
which  conducts  th.-  waters  of  the  Tur-Abdin  to  the  Chaboras,  the 
cities  on  which,  and  among  them   Bit-Khalubie,  purchased  forbear- 
ance  by  tribute.     Passing  Khindani   on    th.-    Euphrates,  and   Anat 
(Anatho),   he  readied  Suri,  when-  Shadudu,  governor  -I'  Sukhi,  stood 
in    array   against    him.     A    two-days'    fight    ensued  :    th.-    enemj    tied 
over  the    Euphrates,  and    their  city  was   taken.       lb-   conquered   ab,,  ;1 
Babylonian  host  under  Nabu-bal-iddin  and  bis  brother  Sabdanu.      >  .  | 
he  did  not  venture  to  follow  up  his  success  on   Babylonian  soil,  hut 
returned  to  Calah.     Scarce  had  he  arrived  when  he  received  tidings 
that  the  hosts  of  Sukhi  had  recrossed  the  Euphrates.     Once  more 
the  Assyrian  conqueror  set  forth,  but  this  time  he  did  not  inarch  so 
far  down  the  stream  as  formerly;   hut,  destroying  the  cities  as  he 
ascended  the   river,  he  crossed   the   Euphrates  at    kharidi,  and  de- 
feated the  armies  of  the  Aramaeans,  the  Sukhi.  ami    Lakai.       i 
cities  were  founded    not   tar   from    Bit-Adini ;  viz..   Kar-Asurnazirpal 
on   the    north    hank   of   the    Euphrates,   and    Nibarti-Asur  ('ford   of 
Asur'),   on    the   southern.     Akhuni,    ruler   of    Bit-Adinij    «ras   com- 


334  THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 

pelled  to  pay  tribute;  and  the  king  boasts  of  having  taken  from 
San-mra,  king  of  the  Chatti,  in  Carchemish,  20  talents  of  silver, 
gold,  bracelets,  and  sword-sheaths  of  gold  (gilded  bronze),  100 
talents  of  copper,  250  talents  of  iron  utensils,  the  inventory  of  the 
palace,  elegant  furniture,  costly  woods,  many  slaves  (women),  robes 
of  woollen  and  linen,  black  woollen  and  purple  cloths,  precious 
stones,  buffalo-horns,  chariots  ornamented  with  ivory,  gold  idols 
with  their  carpets,  the  chariots  and  war-engines  of  the  captain  of 
Carchemish.  Hence  the  king  set  out  for  Labnana  (Lebanon),  pass- 
ing through  several  districts  and  cities  mentioned  in  his  inscriptions, 
and  reached  the  boundaries  of  the  Lebanon  at  the  city  Aribua.  On 
the  seacoast  of  Amurri  (the  western  part  of  Phoenicia)  an  offering 
was  made  to  the  gods.  On  his  return,  cedars  and  other  woods  were 
carried  away  from  Amanus.  The  Hittite  land,  Patin,  stretched 
hence  from  the  Gulf  of  Alexandretta  pretty  far  inland,  having 
Phoenicia  for  its  southern  boundary.  The  prince  of  Kummukh  at 
this  time  was  named  Katazili ;  he,  too,  is  said  to  have  sent  tribute. 
This  expedition,  also,  was  more  showy  than  successful  or  useful. 
Of  actual  conquests  there  is  no  mention. 

These  and  similar  expeditions  extended  undoubtedly  the  bound- 
aries of  the  empire,  and  won  respect  for  its  power ;  but  we  turn  with 
pleasure  from  the  record  of  them  —  always  monotonous,  and  often 
revolting  by  reason  of  the  admixture  of  bigotry  and  horrible  cruelty 
—  to  listen  to  the  rough  soldier  when  he  tells  of  the  buildings  he 
erected.  Yet  even  here  he  was  actuated  more  by  his  thirst  for  glory 
than  any  true  feeling  for  art.  The  walls  of  the  palace  served  their 
highest  purpose  in  affording  room  for  pictures  of  his  heroic  deeds 
and  inscriptions  explaining  them.  Asurnazirpal  built  anew  the  city 
of  Calah  (Kalhu),  founded  by  Ins  forefather  Shalmaneser  I.,  and  led 
a  canal  from  the  Zab,  which  he  termed  'The  Bearer  of  Fruitfulness,' 
and  its  banks  he  decorated  with  flowers  and  shrubs.  "  I  founded  a 
palace  for  my  royal  dwelling,  and  for  an  everlasting  seat  of  my 
sovereignty.  I  decorated  and  beautified  it,  filled  it  with  many 
bronzes  (as  lining  for  the  walls  and  on  the  furniture).  Great  gates 
of  sandal  (?)  wood  I  caused  to  be  put  together  with  bronze  pins, 
and  to  be  placed  at  the  entrances.  Thrones  of  cedar  and  other 
costly  woods,  cunningly  carved  ivory  as  ornaments,  heaps  of  silver, 


ASSYRIAN    i:.\  I  III-;  8CE  v/-/. 


336  THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 

gold,  lead,  copper,  and  iron,  the  spoils  of  the  peoples  whom  I  sub- 
dued by  my  strength  —  all  these  treasures  laid  I  therein."  The 
inscription  closes  with  a  blessing  for  him  who  maintains  the  palace 
and  the  inscriptions,  and  a  curse  on  him  who  shall  be  so  godless  as 
to  efface  the  latter. 

The  structure  here  referred  to  lies  on  the  northwest  terrace  of 
Nimrud,  and  is  the  oldest  Assyrian  palace  whose  plan  we  can  follow 
in  detail,  and  whose  sculptures  are  preserved.  The  buildings  in  the 
royal  city  are  so  laid  out  —  in  conformity  with  the  direction  of  the 
walls,  in  whose  southwest  corner  they  He  —  that  not  their  angles, 
but  their  sides,  are  directed  towards  the  quarters  of  the  heaven,  while 
their  facades  must  have  looked  out  on  the  Tigris,  which  then  flowed 
at  the  base  of  the  terrace.  In  the  distance  the  ruin-mound  on  the 
corneal  summit  of  the  staged  tower  is  to  be  recognized.  The  royal 
city  contains  the  remains  of  the  edifices  erected  by  Asurnazirpal, 
Shalmaneser  II.  (859),  Samsi-Adad  IV.  (824),  Adad-nirari  (811), 
Tiglath-Pileser  III.  (745),  Esarhaddon  (680),  and  Asur-etil-ili 
(625).  The  palace  of  Asurnazirpal  consists  of  a  suite  of  long, 
narrow  apartments  grouped  around  a  court.  The  main  facade  is 
directed  toward  the  ziggurat,  or  temple  with  platforms.  There  are 
two  gates,  which  were  decorated  with  cherubim  in  the  form  of 
winged  lions  with  human  fore-quarters.  These  figures  strikingly 
resemble  the  Greek  centaurs  when  the  wings  are  wanting,  as  in  a 
relief  of  this  king.  The  gates,  whose  massive  bronze  hinges  were 
still  extant,  led  into  a  hall  of  great  length,  at  whose  eastern  end 
traces  of  a  dais  for  the  throne  are  discernible.  The  walls  were 
decorated  with  limestone  tablets  (now  in  the  British  Museum), 
showing  relief-figures  in  greater  than  life-size,  in  which  the  king 
appears,  surrounded  by  his  court,  as  offering  sacrifice,  or  in  triumph 
(Fig.  124),  or  as  a  slayer  of  wild  bisons. 

The  king  has  on  his  head  the  tiara — which  reminds  us  of  the 
Turkish  fez — enwound  by  a  broad  band  or  shawl,  and  is  bedecked 
with  ear-rings,  arm-rings,  and  bracelets  (Fig.  125).  He  wears  the 
woollen  tunic,  with  an  over-garment  (chlanidiori)  of  finest  wool, 
resembling  the  cashmere  shawl,  bound  round  the  waist  with  a  richly 
fringed  scarf,  whose  ends  hang  down  at  his  side.  The  royal  clothing 
is  inwrought  with  manifold  embroideries,  that  on  the  breast-piece 


KING  ASÜRNAZ1RPAL 


Fig.  12ö.  —  King  AsurnazirpaL 
Vol.  I.    22. 


»lief  from  Niiurud.    Lyu'lon,  British  M 


338  THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 

very  especially  rich.  Here  genii  group  themselves  on  both  sides 
around  a  central  figure,  —  often  the  sacred  tree  under  the  winged 
disk,  —  the  whole  being  encircled  by  a  round  band  of  conventional 
plants,  and  fillets  of  mythological  figures,  —  winged  genii  or  animals, 
gazelles,  winged  horses,  lions  beside  the  sacred  tree  or  beside  the 
king,  —  winch,  following  the  direction  of  the  arms  and  the  lower  part 
of  the  neck,  are  partially  concealed  by  the  beard.  The  sandals  come 
high  up  behind  around  the  heel ;  the  short  sword,  with  shoulderless 
hilt,  is  in  a  sheath  covered  aid  decorated  with  bronze  or  gold  rosettes 
or  other  ornaments.  Its  extremity  is  generally  tipped  with  a  ferule 
in  the  form  of  a  lion.  The  blade  of  the  royal  weapon  was  probably 
embellished.  In  possession  of  Colonel  Hanbury  is  a  sword  with  a 
curved  bronze  blade  (an  acinaces~),  on  which,  under  the  hilt,  is  a 
gazelle  resting,  and  on  the  back  an-  inscription  picked  out  in  gold. 
The  inscription  shows  the  name  of  Pudilu,  son  of  Bel-nirari  (towards 
the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century).  Ornamentation  also  appears 
on  two  bronze  cubes  seemingly  used  as  weights ;  the  inlaid  scar- 
abaeus  here  points  to  an  Egyptian  origin.  Behind  the  king  stand 
his  umbrella-bearer,  fly-fanner,  and  other  court  officials.  The  vizier 
is  apparelled  like  the  king,  his  head  being  encircled  by  a  diadem, 
instead  of  the  tiara.  The  servants  wear  only  the  under-garment, 
with  the  scarf  round  the  waist.  All  present  who  are  not  playing  on 
instruments  or  bearing  something  stand  with  their  hands  folded  over 
their  breasts.  The  despot  must  feel  secure  that  they  bear  nothing 
inferring  danger  to  him.  Pleasing  friezes  and  wall-bands  full  of 
delicate  designs— chamois  standing  on  cliffs,  winged  bulls  on  rosettes, 
and  the  like — frequently  alternate  with  warlike  scenes.  A  gate 
decorated  with  bulls,  between  the  middle  of  the  throne-room  and 
the  east  wall,  leads  into  a  second  and  shorter  room.  The  reliefs  here 
consist  of  winged  genii  Avith  eagle's  heads,  who,  on  both  sides  of  the 
tree  of  life,  strew  aromatic  grains  out  of  a  basket  upon  its  leaves. 
From  this  hall  we  pass  into  the  court,  and  from  that  toward  the  left, 
into  a  suite  of  rooms  stretching  from  north  to  south.  Here  we  find 
sculptures  that  were  never  surpassed  afterwards.  Also  on  the  south 
side  the  rooms  are  similarly  distributed.  The  west  side,  destroyed  by 
floods,  was  provided  with  stairs  toward  the  stream,  as  Layard  shows 
on  his   plan.     This  palace  has,  however,  still  numerous  and  highly 


ASSYRIAN   ARCKITECl  I 

elegant  decorations.  Pari  of  these  are  painted  on  stucco-friezes, 
divided  into  several  hands,  and  showing  kneeling  bulls,  colored  blue, 
between  charming  rosettes  in  blue,  white,  and  ted,  on  a  white  ground; 
under  this,  on  a  yellow  -round,  blue,  white,  und  black  ornaments  of 
circles,  chevroned  Leaves,  and  inward-cambered  borders,  also  alternat- 
ing with  rosettes  both  surmounted  by  crenated  ornamentation. 
Another  part  consists  of  enamelled  claj  panelling,  over  which  is  a 
frieze  of  circles  with  entangled  rims,  bordered  on  both  sides  by  rows 
of  flower-cups,  resembling  the  honeysuckle  or  carnation,  pin.-. 
and  bell-flowers.  The  colors  are  mineral,  the  prevailing  blue  being 
prepared  from  Lapis  lazuli,  procured  commercially  from  Central 
Reliefs  were  painted  with  the  same  colors:  In  Khoraabad,  Flandin 
found  everywhere  a  coating  of  ochre.     When  the  sculpt  Nim- 

rud  were  exhumed,  the  hair,  eyes,  sandals,  bows,  the  tongues  of  the 
eagle-headed  genii,  the  diadems  with  their  rosette  ornaments,  still 
retained  their  coloring.  In  Khorsabad  the  colors  were  best  preserved 
on  clothing,  crowns,  flowers,  arms,  chariots,  and  trees.  The  flami 
burning  houses  and  the  torches  of  the  warriors  maintained  their  bright 
red  hue.  Under  the  palace,  as  well  as  in  other  places  of  the  platform, 
Layard  found  vaulted  outlets  for  the  water.  The  upper  part  of  the 
palace,  as  well  as  the  structure  generally,  is  destroyed  ;  yet,  from  the 
arched  fragments  found  amongst  the  rubbish,  the  exceeding  narrow- 
ness of  the  apartments  in  proportion  to  their  Length,  and  the  unwonted 
strength  of  their  walls,  ii  is  not  difficult  to  infer  that  man\ 
closed  in  with  vaulted  roofs.  The  inscriptions  make  frequent  men- 
tion of  cedar-beams  for  carrying  flat  roofs,  upon  which  were  laid  an 
arched  covering  of  earth.  Wood  was  used  for  other  purposes  in 
the  interiors  :  for,  as  we  see  from  the  vie*  of  an  Armenian  city  in 
one  of  the  reliefs,  Low  upper-chambers  or  attics  used  to 
the  roofs. 

The  main  gate  of  the  palace,  as  well  as  the  doors  of  the  Beveral 
rooms,  were  spanned,  by  arches,  the  from  archwa)  being  embelli 
with  panels  of  enamelled  «day.    On  each  side  of  the  entrana 
colossi   in   high    relief  stood   extended   along   its   walls,   their 
quarters  projecting  free,  in   the  full  round.     The  ch  a 

portal  was  heightened   by  its  contrast  with  the  dead   fl 
resl   of   the  exterior;  while  th<    doors  of   cedar-* I. 


340  THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 

bronze,  and  sometimes,  at  least,  partially  gilded,  contributed  to  its 
brilliancy.  Such  bronzed  doors  were  found  by  Hormuzd  Rassam,  in 
1878,  at  Balawat,  a  square  terrace  on  whose  eastern  side  stood  a 
temple  of  Asurnazirpal.  At  the  entrance  lay  a  chest  of  alabaster, 
wherein  were  three  tablets  bearing  inscriptions  giving  in  condensed 
form  the  great  Nimrud  inscription,  with  the  additional  information 
that  the  king  had  changed  the  name  of  the  city  to  Imgur-Bel  ('  May 
Bel  bless '),  and  had  set  up  the  image  of  the  god  Makhir  in  the 
temple;  that  he  had  caused  the  roof  to  be  formed  of  cedar  of 
Lebanon;  the  cedar  doors  to  be  mounted  with  copper,  and  that 
he  had  taken  the  bricks  of  the  temple  from  the  ruins  of  an  older 
palace.  On  the  west  side  of  the  mound  lay  the  stone  slabs  which 
formed  the  threshold  of  the  great  bronze  gates  set  up  by  Asur- 
nazirpal's  successor,  Shalmaneser  II.  We  may,  however,  infer  that 
these  doors  are  not  the  first  work  of  the  kind ;  for  the  technic  of  the 
plates,  first  hammered  and  punched  out  and  then  finished  with  the 
graving-tool,  bespeaks  an  advanced  mode  of  treatment.  The  wood 
was  three  inches  thick,  the  height  of  the  gates  twenty-two  feet,  and 
the  breadth  of  each  leaf  six.  Both  doors  turned  on  round  posts,  a 
foot  thick,  fastened  to  the  wall  by  a  ring,  and  crowned  with  bronze 
balls.  Their  cone-shaped  ends  revolved  in  holes  cut  into  the  stone 
of  the  threshold.  Bronze  corner-pieces  defended  the  doors  where 
they  closed  on  each  other.  The  whole  flat  surface  of  the  wood,  as 
well  as  the  round  posts,  had  horizontal  bronze  bands  attached  with 
nails  on  which  warlike  subjects  were  delineated  (Plate  XXIX.).1 
The  figures  are  from   two   to  three  inches  high,  and  between  the 

1  Description  of  Plate  XXIX. 

In  the  upper  band  is  represented  a  sacrifice  made  by  Shalmaneser  on  the  shore  of 
Lake  Van  in  Armenia.  The  relief  does  not  contain  the  figure  of  the  king  himself. 
Beginning  at  the  right,  we  see,  first,  a  candelabra ;  next  a  tripodal  altar ;  then  two 
disks,  erected  on  poles  sustained  on  pedestals.  Next  follows  a  stele  placed  upon  a 
rock,  as  was  Shalmaneser's  wont  in  all  countries  conquered  by  him.  Farther  to  the 
left,  two  soldiers  throw  the  limbs  of  the  sacrificial  animals  into  the  lake,  in  order  to 
propitiate  its  divinity.  Among  the  inhabitants  of  the  lake,  who  greedily  snap  up  the 
fragments,  we  recognize  a  large  fish,  a  tortoise,  and  a  quadruped,  perhaps  an  otter. 

The  lower  band  represents  an  Assyrian  army  on  the  march.  The  circle  at  the 
left  is  an  encampment  strengthened  by  towers.  Within  this  is  an  arched  bridge,  over 
which  a  horse  is  passing  with  noticeable  caution.  Possibly  the  whole  scene  may  rep- 
resent a  fortified  bridge-head.  To  the  right  are  two  archers ;  beyond  them,  war- 
chariots,  whose  drivers  keep  a  tight  rein  on  the  horses,  which  are  also  led  by  footmen, 
appear  to  be  approaching  a  difficult  and  dangerous  country.    (After  Perrot.) 


v7N  *  ft 


IVORY   TN  ARCHITECTURE. 


341 


panels  run  bronze  bands  with   rosettes  formed  of  the  heads  of  die 
nails.     Here  we  recognize  the  original  of  the  rosette  ornament 
the  stone  doors  of  the  rock-graves  and  the  borders  of  inscription 
tablets.     A  similar  smaller  door,  as  well  as  the  Larger  one  in  the 
British  Museum,  show  hunting-scenes.     Besides  bronze  deeoxati 
the  palace  had   also  ivory  ornaments,  like   the   houses   oi    ivoi 


Fig.  126.  — Ivory  carved  work,  found  m  Nimrud.     London,  Unti-li  ftfuMOm. 

Ahab  (Amos  iii.  15;  1  Kings  x\ii.  39),  the  ivory  palaces  of  Psalms 
xlv.  8,  and  the  Homeric  hall  of  Menelaus,  in  which  bronze,  gold, 
silver,  amber,  and  ivory  adorned  the  walls  (Odyssey  iv.  l-\).  The 
discoveries  at  Nimrud  illustrate  tin-  employment  <>f  ivory 
decoration  of  walls;  for  instance,  the  front  view  of  a  female  head 
seen  over  a  balustrade,  environed  by  a  frame  with  many  compart- 


342  THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 

merits  (Fig.  126).  From  tire  repeated  occurrence  of  this  head,  we 
conclude  that  a  number  of  such  were  associated  in  a  frieze.  On 
the  Assyrian  sculptures  we  see  elephants'  tusks  brought  as  tribute ; 
and  Layard  found  fragments  of  ivory.  An  ivory  tablet  from  Nim- 
rud  appears  to  be  an  essay  of  an  Assyrian  artist ;  for  the  figure  is 
habited  as  an  Assyrian,  although  the  attitude,  as  well  as  the  lotus- 
stalk  standing  on  the  double  volute,  are  Egyptian.  Other  pieces  show 
o-ood  Assyrian  work ;  still  the  wall-piece  mentioned  above,  as  well  as 
the  most  of  the  ivory  objects,  bear  the  unmistakable  stamp  of  Egyp- 
tian origin.  Thus  a  well-known  ivory  tablet  from  Nimrud  shows  the 
cartouche  of  Aubenura,  a  Pharaoh  of  the  Thirteenth  Dynasty:  so,  if 
the  work  is  not  an  imitation,  it  dates  back  to  between  2000  and  3000 
years  B.c.,  and  therefore  was,  in  the  time  of  the  Assyrian  monarch 
of  whom  we  now  write,  quite  a  respectable  relic  of  antiquity.  We 
may,  on  the  whole,  conclude  that  there  was  a  native  art  of  working 
in  ivory,  the  material  being  brought  from  India,  while  Egypto- 
Phoenician  works  were  in  addition  imported.  The  Egyptians  de- 
rived their  ivory  from  Ethiopia,  by  way  of  the  harbor  Adulis ;  later 
by  way  of  Ptolemais  Theron,  on  the  Red  Sea.  The  Phoenicians 
were  skilled  workers  in  ivory.  Tyrian  artists  incrusted  the  throne 
of  Solomon  with  ivory  and  gold  (1  Kings  x.  18;  2  Chrom  ix.  17); 
the  'white  throne'  is  the  seat  of  the  Judge  in  the  Apocalypse  (Rev. 
xx.  11).  The  Phoenicians  even  laid  the  benches  of  their  ships  with 
ivory  (Ezek.  xxvii.  6)  ;  moreover,  these  docile  pupils  of  the  Egyp- 
tians brought  ivory  to  Troy,  where  it  appears  in  the  First  City. 
Layard  found  ivory  ornaments,  in  conjunction  with  bronze  plates, 
in  the  form  of  a  lion,  both  derived  from  thrones,  where  they  had  been 
attached  to  the  smaller  surfaces  between  the  incrustations  of  metal. 
If  we  might  indulge  in  conjecture,  we  would  suggest  that  the  cor- 
nices had  been  utilized  as  shelves  for  metal  utensils,  —  bronze  plates, 
basins,  etc.,  —  beautiful  specimens  of  which,  with  Egypto-Phoenician 
embossed  figures,  inscribed  with  Phoenician  names,  are  preserved  in 
the  British  Museum. 

North  of  the  palace  of  Nimrud  lies  the  ziggurat,  or  stage-temple, 
cased  to  the  height  of  some  twenty-two  feet  from  the  ground  with 
stone  slabsr  The  upper  stages  or  platforms,  on  which  the  sanctuary 
must  have  stood,  are  no  longer  extant.     To  this  larger  temple  are 


BEL   AXT)    TUE   DRAGON. 


annexed,  on  the  east,  two  little  temples,  between   which  a  stair  Led 
from  the  terrace  to  the  plain.     The  apartments  consist  of  a  cella, 


incrusted   with   glazed   til,-,  and   a   little   Banctuary.     To  one   of   the 
temples    there    was    also    annexed    an    unter with    a    se\ 


344  THE  EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 

entrance.  The  sanctuary  had,  as  its  floor,  a  single  slab  of  alabaster, 
twenty-one  feet  long,  sixteen  and  a  half  feet  broad,  and  a  foot  thick. 
This  is  covered  with  a  great  historical  inscription  of  the  same  im- 
port on  both  upper  and  under  sides.  The  one  of  the  two  gates  on 
the  east  side  of  the  great  temple  was  ornamented  with  two  winged 
lions  with  human  heads,  their  height  being  sixteen  and  a  half  feet  and 
their  length  fifteen  feet.  Each  of  its  door-frames  was  decorated,  in 
addition,  with  three  winged  genii,  standing  one  over  the  other.  On 
both  sides  stand  stone  pedestals,  which  undoubtedly  carried  free- 
standing columns.  The  threshold  between  the  genii  was  covered 
with  cuneiform  writing.  The  second  gate  showed  on  the  outer  wall 
figures  of  priests;  on  the  inner  was  Marduk,  with  the  thunder- 
bolt and  sword,  represented  as  driving  the  dragon  — ■  that  is,  chaos, 
or  darkness,  or  the  evil  principle  —  out  of  the  temple  (Fig.  127). 
The  dragon  has  open,  wolf-like  jaws,  pointed  ears,  the  body  and 
haunches  of  a  lion,  and  is  winged.  In  the  interior  of  the  temple, 
the  mythological  figures  repeat  themselves ;  e.g.,  the  fish-god,  a  hu- 
man figure  with  the  skin  of  a  fish  as  an  outer  covering  and  head- 
dress (page  189).  The  roof  of  the  temple  was  supported  by  cedar 
beams,  as  we  learn  from  the  inscription,  and  as  the  remains  found 
by  Layard  show.  In  the  ruins  lay  numerous  cameo-like  objects,  in- 
cluding a  relief  miniature  of  Ishtar  of  blue  enamelled  clay ;  an  eye 
of  black  marble,  with  ivory  ball ;  and  other  objects  probably  derived 
from  a  wooden  idol.  Right  before  the  portal  was  a  triangular  altar, 
with  a  round  slab,  hollowed  out  for  the  reception  of  the  blood ;  be- 
hind this  was  a  stele  of  limestone,  on  which  a  relief  figure  of  the 
king  was  chiselled,  for  here  offerings  were  made  to  him  as  to  a  god. 
The  side  surfaces  and  the  back  are  covered  with  inscriptions.  The 
portal  of  the  lesser  temple  was  flanked  by  lions  entirely  covered  with 
inscriptions,  one  of  the  lions  being  in  the  British  Museum  (Fig. 
129).  In  this  temple,  also,  a  monohth,  covered  on  both  sides  with 
the  inscription,  constituted  the  flooring  of  the  sanctuary ;  and  in  the 
rubbish  lay  the  already  mentioned  statue  of  the  king,  three  feet  in 
height,  with  an  inscription  on  the  breast  (see  Fig.  128). 

On  the  southeast  of  the  platform  lies  the  debris  of  a  structure 
by  Asur-etil-ili  in  the  last  years  of  the  empire ;  and  beside  it 
are  the  relics   of   an   older  staged   tower   by   Shalmaneser   II.    (859), 


A8S1  in  a  \    i, 


;;i. 


■ 


¥fc 


»SK 


\. 


Fig.  128. -Portrait  of  a  king.    ReUef  from  Nimrud.    London,  I 


346 


THE   EARLIEST  ASSYRIAN  KINGS. 


along  with  a  temple  of  Nebo  by  Adad-nirari  III.  (811-783),  before 
whose  portal  two  statues  of  the  god  were  found,  one  of  which  is 
figured  on  p.  176  (Fig.  53). 


^> 


Fio.  129.  —  Lion  at  the  Portal  of  the  Temple  at  Nimrud.    Londou,  British  Museum. 

Under  the  successor  of  Asurnazirpal,  Assyria  begau  to  have  re- 
lations with  Palestine ;  and  we  now,  therefore,  take  up  again  the 
history  of  this  land. 


ANALYTICAL    CONTENTS. 

(Fob  General  Index,  see  Voli  mi    \  \  I  \ 


BOOK    I. 

EGYPT,  FROM  THE    EARLIEST   TIMES   TO   THE   SHEP- 
HERD  KINGS  (ABOUT   L800   B.C.). 

INTRODUCTION. 
PREHISTORIC    EGYPT. 


Prehistoric  Egypt 

Survival  of  the  Stone  Age 

Paleolithic  Remains  near  Thebes 

Stone  Quarries  whence  came  the  Obelisks 

Topographical  Changes  near  the  Coast  Line 

Climatic  Changes  in  Egypt 

Libyan  Element  Dominant  in  the  Nile  Valley 

European  Types  in  the  Mediterranean  Littoral 

Ethnographic  Elementsof  Northern  Africa     . 

Culture  of  the  Primitive  Inhabitants 

Burial  Customs 

Early  Pottery  and  Mural  Decorations      . 

Dwarfs  in  the  Nile  Delta 

The  Question  of  a  Migration  from  Asia  . 

Egyptian  and  Semitic  Languages  Compared     . 

The  Races  of  Early  Egypt       . 

Opening  of  the  Historic  Period  with  King  Mem 

Important  Excavations  at  Abydoa    . 

The  First  and  Second  Dynasties 

Queen  Teta's  Mummy 

Recent  Discoveries  Regarding  Early  Culture  . 
Evolution  of  the  Burial  Chamber    . 
Evidences  of  Consistent  Development 

CHAPTER    I. 

EARLIEST    EGYPTIAN    HISTORY. 

The  Physical  Geography  of  Africa  .        •        •        •        • 
Caucasian  Races  in  Urica:  Libyans,  Egyptians,  and  Cuahites 
Origin  and  Physical  Type  of  the  Egyptians 
The  Berbers  or  Libyans  perhaps  Immigrants  from  Europe      . 


1 

1 

1 
6 

7 
7 

• 

10 
10 

11 

12 
13 

11 
15 
16 
16 

17 

18 


348  ANALYTICAL   CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  I. 

PAGE 

The  Cushites  and  the  Abyssinians 20 

'  The  Land  of  the  Dark  Soil ' 21 

Egypt  a  Gift  of  the  Nile 21 

Influence  of  the  Nile  Floods  on  Civilization     ........  21 

Homogeneous  Population  of  Egypt 22 

The  Nile  in  Central  Africa  and  Nubia 22 

The  Nile  in  Egypt ;  the  Delta 23 

The  Khamsin  and  the  Rise  of  the  Nile .24 

Enna's  Hymn  to  the  Nile 26 

The  Festivals  of  the  Nile 26 

Pharaoh  Mena  Founds  the  Egyptian  Monarchy 27 

The  Priesthood 27 

Classes  of  Society 28 

Egyptian  Architects 28 

Mena  Builds  Memphis,  the  'Town  of  the  White  Wall' 29 

The  Ruins  of  Memphis  ;  Statue  of  Rameses  II 30 

The  Provinces  or  Nomes  of  Egypt 30 

Antiquity  of  the  Nomes ;  their  Origin 30 

Organization  ;  Principal  and  Subordinate  Nomes 31 

The  Pharaohs  Double  Crown     .         . 31 

Local  Deities 32 

Lists  of  the  Nomes 33 

The  Nubian  Nome  ;  the  Nilometer 34 

Other  Nomes  of  Upper  Egypt 35 

Middle  Egypt  (the  Heptanomis) 37 

Provinces  of  Lower  Egypt          ..........  38 

Religion;  the  "Book  of  the  Dead" 42 

Religious  Conceptions :  Physiolatry,  Zoölatry,  Fetishism          .....  43 

Totemism  .         ..............  43 

The  Worship  of  Animals ;  Esoteric  and  Exoteric  Doctrines     .....  44 

The  Myth  of  Osiris 44 

Struggle  between  Horus  and  Set  (Typhon) 45 

Interpretation  of  the  Myth 45 

Female  Deities :  Nephthys,  Isis,  and  Hathor    ........  47 

Anubis  the  Jackal-headed  God 47 

Hathor,  Mut,  and  Neith 48 

Thoth,  the  God  of  Sciences 48 

Ra,  the  Sun  God  ;  the  "  Hymn  to  Ra";  Pantheism 49 

Amun-Ra  and  Kbnum      ............  50 

Ptah,  the  Most  Ancient  of  the  Gods 51 

The  Divine  Triads 52 

Bes,  the  God  of  Merriment .53 

The  Belief  in  Immortality        ...........  53 

The  Judgment  of  the  Soul 56 

Egyptian  and  Greek  Ideas  of  the  Future  Life.        .......  57 

Embalming  and  Interment 58 

The  Lists  of  the  Kings  of  Egypt 59 

Chronology  of  the  Earliest  Dynasties        .         ........  60 

Literature ;  the  Art  of  Medicine 62 

Snefru  and  his  Mining  Enterprises 63 

Kliufu  and  Khafra  ;  the  Pyramids  of  Gizeh 63 

I lor-tutef  finds  Chapters  of  the  '  Book  of  the  Dead' 64 


EGYPT  AND    WESTERN  Asia    is  ANTIQUITY. 

Sahura  and  his  Ware  and" Buildings. 

The  Most  Ancient  Book  in  the  World      . 

The  Sixth  Dynasty 

Wars  of  Pepi  against  the  Asiatics 

Queen  Nitocris  and  the  Story  of  Cinderella 

The  Seventh  to  the  Eleventh  Dynasties    ....  71 

Lay  of  the  House  of  Antef 

Expedition  to  the  Land  of  Punt -■■ 

CHAPTER    II. 


AKT   IN   THE   ANCIENT    EMPIB1 


Insignificance  of  Political  Occurrences  of  the  An< 
Material  for  the  Study  of  Private  Life      . 
The  Tombs  of  Ancient  Egypt   .... 
The  Necropolis  of  Memphis,  the  '  Land  of  Life' 
Rectangular  Private  Sepulchres  or  Mastabas    . 
Pictorial  Representations  in  the  Mastabas 
Influence  of  Religious  Ideas  on  Art. 

Portrait  Statues 

Life-like  Statues  of  Ra-hotep  and  Nefert  . 

The  Use  of  Bronze 

Reliefs  in  the  Mastabas    ..... 
Genre  Pictures  and  Egyptian  Life    . 
Representations  of  Country  Life 
Trades  and  Industries        ..... 
Egyptian  Home-Life;  the  Pleasures  of  the  Table 
Adornments  of  the  Tombs        .... 

Sepulchral  Architecture 

The  Pyramid  or  Royal  Sepulchre     . 

The  Pyramids  of  Gizeh 

The  Great  Pyramid  of  Khufu  (Cheops)  . 

Khufu's  Stone  Causeway 

The  Pyramid  of  Chafra 

The  Pyramid  and  Mummy  of  Menkaura 

The  Sphinx 

The  So-called  Temple  of  the  Sphinx  at  ( Jizeh 
The  Pyramids  of  Abu-Roash  and  Ahusir 

The  Pyramid  of  Steps 

Other  Pyramids ;  the  Mastaba-el-Faraun 

Pyramid  of  Medum 

Ruins  at  Abydos;  Earliest  Use  of  the  Keystone 
Great  Antiquity  of  Egyptian  Civilization 
The  Invention  of  Writing        .... 

The  Rosetta  Stone 

Picture-Writing  and  Hieroglyphics . 

The  Egyptian  Systems  of  Writing  . 

Early  Egyptian  Literature;  Hymns  and  Romane« 

The  Hieratic  Writing       .... 

Love  Songs 

Egyptian  Astronomy        . 


!)•      I 


\rch 


ipil 


71 


9] 

100 

102 
KM 

III 
111 


350  ANALYTICAL  CONTENTS  OF   VOLUME  I. 

CHAPTER   III. 
THE   MIDDLE   EMPIRE. 

PAGE 

Thebes  the  Capital  of  Egypt 117 

The  Pharaohs  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty 117 

Wealth  and  Power  of  Egypt  under  this  Dynasty 117 

Conquests  in  the  South  ;  the  Nubian  Wawa 117 

The  Inscriptions  at  Beni-Hassan 117 

The  Brick  Fortresses  at  Semneh       ..........  117 

Conquests  and  Temples  of  Usertesen  III.         ........  118 

Amenerahat  III.  Measures  the  Rise  of  the  Nile        .......  118 

Literary  Papyri  from  the  Reign  of  Amenemhat  I.  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  118 

Chronology  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty 119 

Usertesen  III.  Begins  the  Building  of  the  Labyrinth        ......  119 

The  Labyrinth  and  Lake  Moeris  the  Chief  Monuments  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty     .  119 
The  Fayum  and  its  Monuments        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .120 

The  Ruins  of  the  Labyrinth  ;  its  Immensity   ........  120 

Lake  Moeris  and  its  Value  as  a  Reservoir         ........  121 

The  Pyramid  of  Illahun 122 

Private  Tombs  of  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Dynasties 123 

The  Rock-tombs  of  Beni-Hassan 124 

The  Egyptian  Column  and  Pillar 125 

Tomb  of  Khnum-hotep  and  its  Inscriptions      ........  127 

Humanity  of  the  Egyptians 128 

Tomb  of  Thoth-hotep  at  Bersheh 131 

Heliopolis,  City  of  Ra,  and  its  Zoological  Pantheon 131 

The  Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Heliopolis 132 

The  Obelisk  Symbolical  of  the  Rays  of  the  Sun 133 

Obelisks  of  Usertesen,  Thothmes  I.,  and  Hatshepsut  Makara 133 

Obelisks  of  Thothmes  III. ;  Cleopatra's  Needles 134 

Obelisks  of  Amenhotep  IL,  Seti  I.,  Rameses  II 135 

Literary  Activity  of  the  Period  of  the  Middle  Empire 136 

Splendid  Jewels  from  the  Pyramid  of  Dashur 136 

The  Thirteenth  to  the  Seventeenth  Dynasties 136 

<  >bscurity  of  this  Period 136 

The  Hyksos,  or  Shepherd  Kings 137 

Egypt  Conquered  by  Barbarians 137 

Manetho's  Story  of  the  Conquest 137 

King  Salatis  and  his  Successors,  the  First  Hyksos  Dynasty 138 

The  Hyksos  Submit  to  the  Influences  of  Egyptian  Culture 138 

The  Princes  of  Thebes  Rise  against  the  Hyksos 138 

Mummy  of  King  Seqenen-Ra  Ta-a-qen 138 

Tomb  Robbers ;  Sarcophagus  of  Aah-hotep 139 

The  Hyksos  are  Driven  from  Egypt          .........  140 

Monuments  of  the  Hyksos 140 

Remains  at  Tanis ;  Statuary 141 


EGYPT  AND    WESTERN  ASIA    IN  ANTIQUITY, 


351 


BOOK  II. 

ASIA:    THE  BEGINNINGS  OF    BISTORT    l\    WESTERN 

ASIA,-BABYLONIA,  SYRIA,  AM)    AS]  A    MINOR. 

CHAPTEB   IV. 


BABYLON]  \ 

Early  Babylonian  History     . 

The  Ancient  Inhabitants  of  Babylonia 

The  Cuneiform  Script  . 

Elam,  its  People  and  their  Language 

Kuinsof  Cities,  Works  of  Art,  and  Name  of  Barb 

Excavations  at  Telloh,  Sippar,  and  Nippur . 

Babylonian  Architecture.     Temples  and  Palaces  . 

Sculptures  and  Seals 

Religion  and  Mythology       .... 

The  Gods  and  Spirits     ..... 

Creation  Story,  Gilgamesh  Epic,  and  Religious  Beliefe 

Chronology  and  Chronicles  ..... 

The  Early  Kings  of  Babylonia  (Saigon  I.,  Naram-Sin,  Hammurabi) 

CHAPTER   V. 

SYRIA  AND  ASIA   MINOR. 

Physical  Geography  of  Syria 

The  Dead  Sea  and  its  Legends 

The  Philistines:  a  Confederacy  of  Five  Cities  .... 

The  Phoenicians  and  their  Country 

Origin  and  Religion  of  the  Phoenicians 

Baal,  Ashtoreth,  Moloch 

The  Worship  of  Astarte  ( Ashtoreth) 

The  Tyrian  Melkarth  ;   Adonis  ....... 

The  Cabiri,  the  Seven  Gods  of  the  Phoenicians       .... 

Sanchuniathon ;  Philo  Byblius 

The  Great  Temple  at  Byblus 

Nahr-el-Kelb 

Beirut ;  the  Temple  of  Baal  Markod 

Sidon;  its  Sepulchres  and  Grottos 

The  Manufacture  of  Purple 

Remains  at  Aradus  and  Marathus 

Architectural  Types  in  Tombs 

Tyre;  the  '  Tomb  of  Hiram' 

The  'Staircase  of  the  Tynans'  and  the  '  Mother  of  the  <  olumns'  . 

Ecdippa  and  Tantura 

Phoenician  Navigation  and  Trade,  Wealth  and  Power     . 

Phoenician  Warehouses  and  Colonies 

Cyprus;  the  Explorations  of  Di  Cesnola 

Ilittites  in  Cyprus  ;  Cinyras 

Hittite  Hieroglyphics  and  Inscriptions 


148 

it: 
I  19 

i-.i 

i:-; 
176 

!»•_' 

I'M 
194 


201 
201 

•Jo  l 

207 

210 

•Jll 

216 

•J  17 


352  ANALYTICAL  CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  L 

PAGE 

The  Phoenicians  in  the  Islands  of  the  Aegean 218 

Intercourse  between  the  Phoenicians  and  the  Greeks 219 

Phoenician  Colonies  in  Crete,  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Spain,  and  Africa    ....  219 

Voyages  to  Cornwall  and  the  Baltic 220 

Useful  Plants  Introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Phoenicians 220 

Tribes  of  Palestine  before  the  Advent  of  the  Israelites 220 

Canaanites,  Hittites,  Hivites,  Perizzites,  Girgashites,  Amorites,  and  Jebusites         .  220 

The  Jebusites  Conquered  by  King  David 221 

The  Girgashites ;  the  Hivites  at  Shechem  and  Gibeon 221 

The  Perizzites  or  '  Villagers ' 221 

The  Hittites  of  Canaan  and  of  Northern  Syria 221 

The  Canaanites  and  Amorites 222 

The  Canaanites,  Phoenicians,  and  Israelites  essentially  Homogeneous      .         .         .223 

Ethnic  Kelations  of  Hamites  and  Semites 223 

Israelitish  and  Cannanitish  Civilization 224 

Early  Inhabitants  of  Canaan  :  Rephaim  and  Anakim 224 

Kenites,  Kenizzites,  and  Kadmonites 224 

Edomites,  Moabites,  and  Ammonites 225 

The  Aramaeans  or  Syrians 226 

The  Northern  Hittites  (Kheta) 226 

Hittite  Monuments,  Inscriptions,  and  Sculptures 227 

Hittite  Reliefs  in  Commagene 228 

The  Cappadocian  Sculptures ;  Remains  at  Euyuk 229 

The  Reliefs  at  Boghaz-keui 230 

Cyclopean  "Walls  at  Giaur-Kalesi •        •         •  238 

The  Great  Relief  at  Ivris 238 

Hittite  Monuments  in  Western  Asia  Minor 240 

Hittite  Seals ;  the  Seal  of  Tarkondemos 242 

The  Phygians  ;  Deliktash  ;  the  Graves  at  Doganlu 245 

Mysians,  Carians,  and  Leleges  ...........  245 

Bithynians,  Mariandyni,  Paphlagonians  .........  246 

Extensive  Worship  of  the  Syrian  Deities 247 

The  Lycians  (Termil) 247 

Asia  Minor  Transmits  the  Culture  of  Asia  to  Greece 247 


BOOK  III. 

EGYPT  AND  WESTERN   ASIA :    THE    NEW  EMPIRE   IN 
EGYPT  AND   THE   RISE   OF   ASSYRIA. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  RELATIONS  OF  THE  NEW  EMPIRE  TO  SYRIA. 

PAGE 

Wars  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  in  Asia 251 

Aahmes ;  Queen  Aahmes-Nefertari 252 

Conquests  of  Thothmes  III.  in  Syria 256 

Amenhotep  II. 258 

Amenhotep  III.  Conquers  Ethiopia 259 


EGYPT  AND    WESTERN  Asia    i.x  ANTIQUITY. 

Anienhotep  IV.,  or  Khu-en-aten,  and  his  Attempts  at  &  ligioui  I:. 

The  Tel-el-Amarna  Tablets  and  their  Historical  Significam 

Conflicts  between  the  llittitrs  and  the  Egyptians 

Barneses  1.  and  the  Kings  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty;  Seti  I. 

Barneses  II.,  his  Portraits,  PentauVs  Epic  Poem  on  the  Wu  with  the  Uitliu 

The  Battle  of  Kadesh 

Prayer  of  Barneses  II.  for  Victory 
Bevolt  of  ( uililee 


The  Family  and  Achievements  of  Barneses  U.,  Peace  w 
Mediterranean  Peoples  invade  Egypt 
Asia  Invaded  by  Migratory  European  Bordes 
Mineptah  I.,  Barneses  III.     The  Twenty-first  Dynasty 
Discoveries  of  Royal  Mummies  at  Der-el  Bahri 
Mummies  of  Rameses  II.  and  other  Pharaohs 


tli  the  Ultlilea 


272 

-•71 

- 


CHAPTER    VII. 


ART   UNDER  THE   NEW    EMPIRE. 

Egyptian  Temples,  their  Structure,  an. I  Ornamentation    . 

The  Egyptian  Column 

The  Temple  at  Karnak 

Statue  <>t'  the  God  Khuns  ....... 

Expansion  of  Thebes 

The  Monuments  of  Western  Thebes  ..... 

The  Colossi  of  Memnon    .         ....... 

Temples  at  Abydos;  at  Elephantine;  Bock  Temples      Abu-Simbel 
Belzoni's  Tomb  ......... 

The  Serapeum  .......... 

The  Dwellings  of  the  Egyptians:   Article-  of    1'oilet 


804 

[>A'j 

KM 


CHAPTER    VIII 


THE   EARLIEST    ASSYRIAN    KINGS 


Ancient  Cities  of  Assyria  .... 
The  Earliest  Kings         .... 
Tiglath-Pileser  1.  and  his  Conquests     . 
Tiglath-Pileser  I.  Wars  with  the  Hittites 
Asurnazirpal  . 

The  Monuments  of  Nimrud 
Bel-Marduk  and  the  Dragon 


8-J7 


Vol.  I.— 23 


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Los  Angeles 
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