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G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON
GREAT HALL OF COLUMNS AT KARNAK (RESTORED.)
(Built by Seti 1.1
he Storn of Ihc Actions
THE STORY OF
ANCIENT EGYPT
GEORGE _RAWLINSON, M.A.
CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.
AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF TURIN;
AUTHOR OF " THE FIVE GREAT MONARCHIES OF THE ANCIENT
EASTERN WORLD," ETC. ETC.
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF .
ARTHUR OILMAN, M A .
AUTHOR OF " A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE," " THE STOKY OF ROME," " THU
STORY OF THE SARACENS," ETC.
NEW YORK
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
LONDON • T. FISHER UNWIN
1897
fjne Arts
DT
~0
KaG4>
Copyright
By G. P Putnam's Sons
1887
Entered at Stationos' Hall, Londoi,
Py T. Fisher Unwin
REGINALD STUART POOLE,
KEEPER OF COINS IN THE URITISH MUSEUM,
AND CORRESPONDENT OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE,
I \ ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF
MUCH HELP AND MICH PLEASURE
DERIVED FROM
HIS EGYPTIAN LABOURS.
CONTENTS.
The Land of Egypt
PAGE
1-22
General shape of Egypt, I — Chief divisions : twofold
division, 2 ; threefold division, 3 — The Egypt of the maps
unreal, 4 — Egypt, " the gift of the river," in what sense,
5, 6 — The Fayoum, 7 — Egyptian speculations concerning the
Nile, 7, 8— The Nile not beautiful, 8 — Size of Egypt, 9— Fer-
tility, 10 — Geographical situation, II, 12 — The Nile, as a
means of communication, 12, 13 — Phenomena of the inunda-
tion, 13, 14 — Climate of Egypt, 14 — Geology, 15 — Flora and
Fauna, 16, 17 — General monotony, 19 — Exceptions, 20-22.
II.
The People of Egypt
23-45
Origin of the Egyptians, 23 — Phenomena of their language
and type, 24 — Two marked varieties of physique, 25 — Two
types of character : the melancholic, 25, 27 : the gay, 27-29
— Character of the Egyptian religion : pol) theism, 30, 31 —
Animal worship, 31-33 — Worship of the monarch, 33 —
Osirid saga, 34, 35 — Evil gods, 36 — Local cults, 37 — Esoteric
religion, 38 ; how reconciled with the popular belief, 39 —
Conviction of a life after death, 40, 41 — Moral code, 41-43 —
Actual state of morals, 43 — Ranks of society, 44, 45.
CONTENTS.
III.
The Dawn of History ..... 46-64
Early Egyptian myths : the Seb and Thoth legends, 40, 47 —
The destruction of mankind by Ra, 48 — Traditions concerning
M'na, or Menes, 48 — Site of Memphis, 49 — Great Temple of
Phthah at Memphis, 50, 51 — Names of Memphis, 51 — Question
of the existence of M'na, 52, 53 — Supposed successors of M'na,
54 — First historical Egyptian, Sneferu, 55 — The Egypt of his
time, 56 — Hieroglyphics, 57 — Tombs, 58 — Incipient pyra-
mids, 59, 60 — Social condition of the people, 60 — Manners,
61 — Position of women, 62-64.
IV.
The Pyramid Builders ..... 65-94
Difficult to realize the conception of a great pyramid, 65 —
Egyptian idea of one, 66 — Number of pyramids in Egypt :
the Principal Three, 67 — Description of the " Third Pyramid,"
67-71 ; of the "Second Pyramid," 72; of the "First" or
"Great Pyramid," 75-81 — The traditional builders, Khufu,
Shafra, and Menkaura, 82 ; the pyramids their tombs, 82 —
Grandeur of Khufu's conception, 83 — Cruelty involved in it,
84, 85 — The builders' hopes not realized, 85, 86 — Skill dis-
played in the construction, 86 — Magnificence of the archi-
tectural effect, 89— Inferiority of the "Third Pyramid," 90
— Continuance of the pyramid period, 91-94.
V.
The Rise of Thebes to Power, and the Early
Theban Kings ..... 95-:
Shift of the seat of power — site of Thebes, 95 — Origin of the
name of Thebes, 96 — Earliest known Theban king, Antef I.,
97 — His successors, Mentu-hotep I. and "Antef the Great, "
98 — Other Antefs and Mentu-hoteps, 98, 99 — Sankh-ka-ra and
his fleet, 99, 100 — Dynasty of Usurtasens and Amenemhats :
CONTENTS. xi
PAGE
spirit of their civilization, ioo, 101 — Reign of Amenemhat I.,
I02 — His wars and hunting expeditions, 103, 104 — Usurtasen
I. : his wars, 105 — His sculptures and architectural works,
106 — His obelisk, 107-109 — Reign of Amenemhat II. : tablet
belonging to his time, 109, no — Usurtasen II. and his con-
quests, in, 112.
VI.
The Good Amenemhat and his Works . 113-T23
Dangers connected with the inundation of the Nile, twofold,
113— An excessive inundation, 114; a defective one, 115 —
Sufferings from these causes under Amenemhat III., 115, 1 16 —
Possible storage of water, 117 — Amenemhat's reservoir, the
"Lake Moeris," 118 — Doubts as to its dimensions, 119, 120 —
Amenemhat's " Labyrinth," 121 — His pyramid, and name of
Ra-n-mat, 122, 123.
VII.
Abraham in Egypt ..... 124-131
Wanderings of the Patriarch, 124 — Necessity which drove him
into Egypt, 125 — Passage of the Desert, 126 — A dread anxiety
unfaithfully met, 127 — Reception on the frontier, and removal
of Sarah to the court, 128 — Abraham's material well-being,
129 — The Pharaoh restores Sarah, 130 — Probable date of the
visit, 130— -Other immigrants, 131.
VIII.
The Great Invasion — The Hyksos or Shep-
herd Kings — Joseph and Apepi . . 132-146
Exemption of Egypt hitherto from foreign attack, 132 —
Threatening movements among the populations of Asia, 133 —
Manetho's tale of the " Shepherd " invasion, 134— The prob-
able reality, 135, 136 — Upper Egypt not overrun, 137 — The
Xll CONTENTS.
i
first Hyksos king, Set, or Saites, 138 — Duration of the rule,
doubtful, 139 — Character of the rule improves with time, 140
— Apepi's great works at Tanis, 144 — Apepi and Ra-sekenen,
145 — Apepi and Joseph, 146.
IX.
How the Hyksos were Expelled from Egypt 147-169
Rapid deterioration of conquering races generally, 147, 148 —
Recovery of the Egyptians from the ill effects of the invasion,
149 — Second rise of Thebes to greatness, 150 — War of Apepi
with Ra-sekenen III., 151 — Succession of Aahmes ; war
continues, 152 — The Hyksos quit Egypt. 153 — Aahmes perhaps
assisted by the Ethiopians, 154-157.
The First Great Warrior King, Thothmes I. 158-169
Early wars of Thothmes in Ethiopia and Nubia, 158-160 —
His desire to avenge the Hyksos invasion, 161 — Condition of
Western Asia at this period, 162, 163 — Geographical sketch
of the countries to be attacked, 164, 165 — Probable informa-
tion of Thothmes on these matters, 167 — His great expedi-
tion into Syria and Mesopotamia, 167 — His buildings, 168 —
His greatness insufficiently appreciated, 169.
XI.
Queen Hatasu and her Merchant Fleet . 170-188
High estimation of women in Egypt, 170 — Early position of
Hatasu as joint ruler with Thothmes II., 173 — Her buildings
at this period, 173 — Her assumption of male attire and titles,
174-177 — Her nominal regency for Thothmes III., and real
sovereignty, 177, 178 — Construction and voyage of her fleet;
178-183 — Return of the expedition to Thebes, 1S4 — Construc-
tion of a temple to commemorate it, 185 — Joint reign of"
Hatasu with Thothmes III.- Her obelisks, 186 — Her name
obliterated by Thothmes, 187.
Contents. xih
PACK
XII.
Thothmes the Third and Amenhotep the
Second ....... 189-207
hirst expedition of Thothmes III. into Asia, 189-191 — His
second and subsequent campaigns, 191, 192 — Great expedition
of his thirty-third year, 192, 193 — Adventure with an elephant,
194 — Further expeditions : amount of plunder and tribute,
195 — Interest in natural history, 196 — Employment of a navy,
197— Song of victory on the walls of the Temple of Karnak,
198-199 — Architectural works, 199-201 — Their present wide
diffusion, 202 — Thothmes compared with Alexander, 203 —
Description of his person, 204 — Position of the Israelites under
Thothmes III., 205 — Short reign of Amenhotep il., 206.
XIII.
Amen-hotep III. and his Great Works — The
Vocal Memnon ..... 208-222
The " Twin Colossi" of Thebes : their impressiveness, 208-
2ii — The account given of then by their sculptor, 212 — The
Eastern Colossus, why called "The Vocal Memnon," 213, 214
— Earliest testimony to its being "vocal," 214— Rational ac-
count of the phenomenon, 215-217 — Amenhotep's temple at
Luxor, 217, 218 — His other buildings, 219 — His wars and ex-
peditions, 219, 220 — His lion hunts ; his physiognomy and
character, 221, 222.
XIV.
Khuenaten and the Disk-Worshippers . 223-230
Obscure nature of the heresy of the Disk-worshippers, 223-
225 — Possible connection of Disk-worship with the Israelites,
226 — Hostility of the Disk-worshippers to the old Egyptian
religion, 227 — The introduction of the "heresy" traced to
Queen Taia, 228 — Great development of the "heresy" under
her son, Amenhotep IV., or Khuenaten, 229 — Other changes
introduced by him, 230.
XIV CONTENTS.
PAGE
XV.
Beginning of the Decli-ne of Egypt . . 231-252
Advance of the Hittite power in Syria, 231 — War of Saplal
with Ramesses I., 231- — War of Seti I. with Maut-enar, 232 —
Great Syrian campaign of Seti, followed by a treaty, 233-235
— Seti's other wars, 236 — His great wall, 237 — Hittite war
of Ramesses II., 238-240— Poem of Pentaour, 241 — Results
of the battle of Kadesh, a new treaty and an inter marriage,
242, 243 — Military decline of Egypt, 244 — Egyptian art reaches
its highest point : Great Hall of Columns at Karnak, 245 —
Tomb of Seti, 246, 247 — Colossi of Ramesses II., 248 —
Ramesses II. the great oppressor of the Israelites, 249 —
Physiognomies of Seti I. and Ramesses II., 250-252.
XVI.
MENEPHTHAH I., THE PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS 253-268
Good prospect of peace on Menephthah's accession, 253 —
General sketch of his reign, 254 — Invasion of the Maxyes, 255
— Their Mediterranean allies, 256,257 — Repulseof theinvasion,
258-261 — Israelite troubles, 262-264 — Loss of the Egyp-
tian chariot force in the Reel Sea, 265 — Internal revolts and
difficulties, 265 — General review of the civilization of the
period, 266-268.
XVII.
The Decline of Egypt under the later
Ramessides ...... 269-287
Temporary disintegration of Egypt, 269 — Reign of Setnekht,
270 — Reign of Ramesses III., 271 — General restlessness of
the nations in his time, 272 — Libyan invasion of Egypt, 273,
274 — Great invasion of the Tekaru, Tanauna, and others, 275>
276 — First naval battle on record, 277, 278 — Part taken by
Ramesses in the fight, 278-281 — Campaign of revenge, 282 —
Later years of Ramesses peaceful, 283 — General decline of
Egypt, 284 — Insignificance of the later Ramessides, 284, 285 —
Deterioration in ait, literature, and morals, 285-287.
CONTENTS. XV
PAGE
XVIII.
The Priest-Kings — Pinetem and Solomon . 288-297
Influence of the priests in Egypt, 288 — Ordinary relations
between them and the kings, 289 — High-priesthood of Amnion
becomes hereditary ; llerhor, 290 — Reign of Pinetem I., 293
— Reign of Men-khepr-ra, 294 — Rise of the kingdom of the
Israelites, 295 — Friendly relations established between Pine-
tem II. and Solomon, 296 — Effect on Hebrew art and archi-
tecture, 297.
XIX.
Shishak and his Dynasty .... 298-313
Shishak's family Semitic, but not Assyrian or Babylonian, 298
— Connected by marriage with the priest-kings, 299, 300 — Re-
ception of Jeroboam by Shishak, 301 — Shishak's expedition
against Rehoboam, 302 — Aid lent to Jeroboam in his own
kingdom, 303 — Arab conquests, 304 — Karnak inscription,
305 — Shishak's successors, 306 — War of Zerah (Osorkon II. ?)
with Asa, 308 — Effect of Zerah's defeat, 309 — Decline of the
dynasty, 310— Disintegration of Egypt, 310, 311 — Further
deterioration in literature and art, 311-313.
XX.
The Land Shadowing with Wings — Egypt
under the ethiopians .... 314-330
Vague use of the term Ethiopia, 314 — Ethiopian kingdom of
Napata, 315 — Wealth of Napata, 316— Piankhi's rise to
power, 317 — His protectorate of Egypt, 318— Revolt of Taf-
nekht and others, 318 — Suppression of the revolt, 319-322 —
Death of Piankhi, and revolt of Bek-en-ranf, 323 — Power of
Shabak established over Egypt, 324— General character of the
Ethiopian rule, 324 — Advance of Assyria towards the Egyptian
border, 325 — Collision between Sargon and Shabak, 326 —
Reign of Shabatok — Sennacherib threatens Egypt, 327 —
Reign of Tehrak, 328-330.
XVI CONTENTS.
PA'.F
XXI.
The Fight over the Carcase — Ethiopia r.
Assyria 33I"34I
Egypt attacked by Esarhaddon, 331, 332 - Great battle near
Memphis, 333— Memphis taken, and flight of Tehrak to
Napata, 334— Egypt split up into small states by Esarhaddon,
334> 335 — Tehrak renews the struggle, 336— Tehrak driven
out by Asshui-bani-pal, 337 — His last effort, 337 — Attempt
made by Kut-Ammon fails, 338— Temporary success of Mi-
Ammon-nut, 339 — Egypt becomes once more an Assyrian
dependency, 340 — Her wretched condition, 341.
XXII.
The Corpse comes to Life again — Psamatik I.
and his Son, Neco ..... 342-359
Foreign help needed to save a sinking state, 342— Libyan
origin of Psamatik I., 344 — His revolt connected with the
decline of Assyria, 345 — Assistance rendered him by Gyges,
345 — His struggle with the petty princes, 346— Reign of
Psamatik : place assigned by him to the mercenaries, 347 —
His measures for restoring Egypt to her former prosperity,
348, 349 — He encourages intercourse between Egypt and
Greece, 350-352 — Egypt restored to life : character of the new
life, 353 — Later years of Psamatik : conquest of Ashdod, 354
— Reign of Neco: his two fleets, 355 — His circumnavigation
of Africa, 356 — His conquest of Syria, 357 — Jeremiah on the
battle of Carchemish, 358 — Neco's dream of empire termi-
nates, 359.
XXIII.
The later Sai'te Kings — Psamatik II., Apries,
and Amasis ...... 360-367
The Sa'itic revival in art and architecture, 360 — Some recovery
of military strength, 361 — Expedition of Psamatik II. into
Ethiopia, 362 — Part taken by Apries in the war between
CONTENTS. Xvn
Nebuchadnezzar and Zedekiah, 363 — His Phoenician conquests,
364 — His expedition against Cyrene, 364— Invasion of Egypt
by Nebuchadnezzar, 365— Quiet reign of Amasis, 366— The
Saitic revival not the reco'/ery of true national life, 367.
XXIV.
The Persian Conquest , 368-3 8c
Patient acquiescence of Amasis in his position of tributary to
Babylon, 368 — Rise of the Persian power under Cyrus, and
appeal made by Croesus to Amasis, League of Egypt, Lydia,
and Babylon, 369, 370 — Precipitancy of Croesus, 371 — Fab of
Babylon, 371 — Later wars of Cyrus, 372 — Preparations made
against Egypt by Cambyses, S73^ 374 — C-reat baitle of Pelu-
sium, 375 — Psamatik III. besieged in Memphis. 376 — Fall of
Memphis, and cruel treatment ol the Egyptians by Cambyses,
377) 378 — His iconoclasm checked by some considerations of
pobcv, 379 — Conciliatory measures of Darius Hystaspis, 379,
3S0.
XXV.
Three Desperate Revolts .... 380-386
First revolt, under Khabash, easily suppressed by Xerxes,
381, 382 — Second revolt under Inarus and Amyrtreus, assisted
by Athens, 382, 383 — Suppressed by Megabyzus, 384— Hero-
dotus in Egypt, 385 — Third revolt, under Nefaa-rut, attains
a certain success ; a native monarchy re-established, 386.
XXVL
Nectanebo I. — A Last Gleam of Sunshine . 387-392
Unquiet time under the earlier successors of Nefaa-rut, 387 —
Preparations of Nectanebo (Nekht Hor-heb) for the better
protection of Egypt against the Persians, 388 — Invasion of
Egypt by Pharnabazus and Iphicrates, 389 — Failure of the
exDedition, 390 — A faint revival of art and architecture, 391.
Will
CONTENTS.
XXVII.
The Light goes our in Dakknfss
393-402
Reign of Te-her (Tacho), 39; — Reign of Nectnnebo II. (Nekht-
nebf ), 394 — Revolt of Sidon, nnd great expedition of Ochus,
394, 395 — Sidon betrayed by Tennesand Memnon of Rhodes,
396 — March upon Egypt : disposition of the Persian forces,
397 — Skirmish at Pelusium, and retreat of Nekht-nebf 10
Memphis, 39S, 399 — Capture of Pelusium, 399— Surrender of
Bubastis, 400 — Nehkt-nebf flies to Ethiopia, 401 — General
reflections, 402.
Index
403
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PILLARED HALL OF SETI I
DOM AND DATE PALM TREES ....
FIGURES OF TAOURT
FIGURE OF BES ..... 0
TABLET OF SNEFERU AT WADV-MAGHARAH .
PYRAMID OF MEYDOUM ,
GREAT PYRAMID OF SACCARAH .
SECTION OF THE SAME .....
GROUP OF STATUARY — HUSBAND AND WIFE,
SECTION OF THE THIRD PYRAMID.
TOMB CHAMBER IN THE SAME-
SARCOPHAGUS OF MYCERINUS .
SECTION OF THE SECOND PYRAMID
SECTION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID
KING'S CHAMBER AND CHAMBERS OF CONSTRUCTION
IN THE GREAT PYRAMID
THE GREAT GALLERY IN THE SAME .
VIEW OF THE FIRST AND SECOND PYRAMIDS . •
PAGE
Frontispiece
17
36
37
55
59
61
61
63
69
69
73
73
76
77
79
87
XX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
SPEARING Til K CROCODILE
OBELISK OF USURTASEN I. ON THE SITE OF Mil
OPOLIS
BUST OF A SHEPHERD KING .
HEAD OF NEFERTARI-AAHMES
BUST OF THOTHMES I
HEAD OF THOTHMES II. .
HEAD OF QUEEN HATASU
GROUND-PLAN OF TEMPLE VI' MEDINET-ABOU
EGYPTIAN SHIP IN THE TIME OF HATASU .
HOUSE BUILT ON PILES IN THE LAND OF PUNT
THE QUEEN OF PUNT AT THE COURT OF HATASU
SECTION OF THE PILLARED HALL OF THOTHMES II
AT KARNAC .....
BUST OF THOTHMES III
TWIN COLOSSI OF AMENHOTEP III. AT THEBES
BUST OF AMENHOTEP III
KHUENATEN WORSHIPPING 'THE SOLAR DISK
HEAD OF AMENHOTEP IV. OR KHUENATEN
HEAD OF SETI I
BUST OF RAM ESSES II
HEAD OF MENEPHTHAH ....
SEA-FIGHT IN THE TIME OF RAMESSES III.
CARICATURE OF THE TIME OF THE SAME
HEAD OF HER-HOR ....
FIGURE RECORDING THE CONQUEST OF J I 'H.I ■A
SH1SHAK
PAC.P
103
305
LIST UF 1 LLCS 1 L. 1 I lO.XS.
XXI
HI' Alt OF SHISHAK . . . .
P1ANKHI RECEIVING THE SUBMISSION OF TAFNEKH'I
AND OTHERS ....
HEAD OF SHABAK ......
SEAL OF SHABAK ...
HEAD OF TIRHAKAH
FIGURE OF ESAR-HADDON AT THE NAHR-EL-KELB
HEAD OF PSAMATIK I. ....
BAS-RELIEFS OF THE TIME OF PSAMATIK I. ,
HEAD OF NECO ......
PAGE
3°7
320
325
327
329
335
344
35 1
355
THE STORY OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
i.
THE LAND OF EGYPT.
IN shape Egypt is like a lily with a crooked stem.
A broad blossom terminates it at its upper end ; a
button of a bud projects from the stalk a little below
the blossom, on the left-hand side. The broad blossom
is the Delta, extending from Aboosir to Tineh, a
direct distance of a hundred and eighty miles, which
the projection of the coast — the graceful swell of the
petals — enlarges to two hundred and thirty. The bud
is the Fayoum, a natural depression in the hills that
shut in the Nile valley on the west, which has been
rendered cultivable for many thousands of years by the
introduction into it of the Nile water, through a canal
known as the " Bahr Yousouf." The long stalk of the
lily is the Nile valley itself, which is a ravine scooped
in the rocky soil for seven hundred miles from the
First Cataract to the apex of the Delta, sometimes
not more than a mile broad, never more than eight or
ten miles. No other country in the world is so strangely
£5 THE LAND OF EGYPT.
shaped, so long compared to its width, so straggling;
so hard to govern from a single centre.
At the first glance, the country seems to divide
itself into two strongly contrasted regions ; and this
was the original impression which it made upon its
inhabitants. The natives from a very early time
designated their land as " the two lands," and repre-
sented it by a hieroglyph in which the form used to
express "land " was doubled. The kings were called
" chiefs of the Two Lands," and wore two crowns, as
being kings of two countries. The Hebrews caught
up the idea, and though they sometimes called Egypt
" Mazor " in the singular number, preferred commonly
to designate it by the dual form " Mizraim," which
means " the two Mazors." These " two Mazors,"
" two Egypts," or " two lands," were, of course, the
blossom and the stalk, the broad tract upon the
Mediterranean known as " Lower Egypt," or " the
Delta," and the long narrow valley that lies, like a
green snake, to the south, which bears the name of
" Upper Egypt," or " the Said." Nothing is more
striking than the contrast between these two regions.
Entering Egypt from the Mediterranean, or from
Asia by the caravan route, the traveller sees stretching
before him an apparently boundless plain, wholly um
broken by natural elevations, generally green with
crops or with marshy plants, and canopied by a cloud-
less sky, which rests everywhere on a distant flat
horizon. An absolute monotony surrounds him. No
alternation of plain and highland, meadow and forest,
no slopes of hills, or hanging woods, or dells, or gorges,
or cascades, or rushing streams, or babbling rills, meet
THE CHIEF DIVISIONS. 3
his gaze on any side ; look which way he will, all is
sameness, one vast**smooth expanse of rich alluvial
soil, varying only in being cultivated or else allowed
to lie waste. Turning his back with something of
weariness on the dull uniformity of this featureless
plain, the wayfarer proceeds southwards, and enters, at
the distance of a hundred miles from the coast, on an
entirely new scene. Instead of an illimitable prospect
meeting him on every side, he finds himself in a com-
paratively narrow vale, up and down which the eye still
commands an extensive view, but where the prospect
on either side is blocked at the distance of a few miles
by rocky ranges of hills, white or yellow or tawny,
sometimes drawing so near as to threaten an obstruc-
tion of the river course, sometimes receding so far as
to leave some miles of cultivable soil on either side of
the stream. The rocky ranges, as he approaches
them, have a stern and forbidding aspect. They rise
for the most part, abruptly in bare grandeur ; on their
craggy sides grows neither moss nor heather ; no trees
clothe their steep heights. They seem intended, like
the mountains that enclosed the abode of Rasselas, to
keep in the inhabitants of the vale within their narrow
limits, and bar them out from any commerce or ac-
quaintance with the regions beyond.
Such is the twofold division of the country which
impresses the observer strongly at the first. On a
longer sojourn and a more intimate familiarity, the
twofold division gives place to one which is three-
fold. The lower differs from die upper valley, it is a
sort of debatable region, half plain, half vale ; the
cultivable surface spreads itself out more widely, the
4 THE LAND OF EGYPT.
enclosing hills recede into the distance ; above all, to
the middle tract belongs the open space of the Fayoum,
nearly fifty miles across in its greatest diameter, and
containing an area of four hundred square miles.
Hence, with some of the occupants of Egypt a triple
division has been preferred to a twofold one, the
Greeks interposing the " Heptanomis " between the
Thebais and the Delta, and the Arabs the " Vostani "
between the Said and the Bahari, or " country of the
sea."
It may be objected to this description, that the Egypt
which it presents to the reader is not the Egypt of the
maps. Undoubtedly it is not. The maps give the
name of Egypt to a broad rectangular space which
they mark out in the north-eastern corner of Africa,
bounded on two sides by the Mediterranean and the
Red Sea, and on the two others by two imaginary
lines which the map-makers kindly draw for us across
the sands of the desert. But " this Egypt," as has
been well observed, " is a fiction of the geographers,
as untrue to fact as the island Atlantis of Greek-
legend, or the Lyonnesse of mediaeval romance, both
sunk beneath the ocean to explain their disappearance.
The true Egypt of the old monuments, of the Hebrews,
of the Greeks and Romans, of the Arabs, and of its
own people in thb day, is a mere fraction of this vast
area of the maps, nothing more than the valley and
plain watered by the Nile, for nearly seven hundred
miles by the river's course from the Mediterranean
southwards." 1 The great wastes on either side of the
Nile valley are in no sense Egypt, neither the un-
1 R. Stuart Poole, " Cities of Egypt," p. 4,
NATURE PREFERABLE TO MAPS. 5
dulating sandy desert to the west, nor the rocky and
gravelly highland to the east, which rises in terrace
after terrace to a height, in some places, of six thou-
sand feet. Both are sparsely inhabited, and by tribes
of a different race from the Egyptian — tribes whose
allegiance to the rulers of Egypt is in the best times
nominal, and who for the most part spurn the very
idea of submission to authority.
If, then, the true Egypt be the tract that we have
described — the Nile valley, with the Fayoum and the
Delta — the lily stalk, the bud, and the blossom — we
can well understand how it came to be said of old,
that " Egypt was the gift of the river." Not that the
lively Greek, who first used the expression, divined
exactly the scientific truth of the matter. The fancy
of Herodotus saw Africa, originally, doubly severed
from Asia by two parallel fjords, one running inland
northwards from the Indian Ocean, as the Red Sea
does to this day, and the other penetrating inland
southwards from the Mediterranean to an equal or
greater distance ! The Nile, he said, pouring itself
into this latter fjord, had by degrees filled it up, and
had then gone on and by further deposits turned into
land a large piece of the " sea of the Greeks," as was
evident from the projection of the shore of the Delta
beyond the general coast-line of Africa eastward and
westward ; and, he added, " I am convinced, for my
own part, that if the Nile should please to divert his
waters from their present bed into the Red Sea, he
would fill it up and turn it into dry land in the space
of twenty thousand years, or maybe in half that
time — for he is a mighty river and a most energetic
0 THE LAND OF EGYPT.
one." Here, in this last expression, he is thoroughly
right, though the method of the Nile's energy has
been other than he supposed. The Nile, working from
its immense reservoirs in the equatorial regions, has
gradually scooped itself out a deep bed in the sand
and rock of the desert, which must have originally
extended across the whole of northern Africa from
the Atlantic to the Red Sea. Having scooped itself
out this bed to a depth, in places, of three hundred
feet from the desert level, it has then proceeded
partially to fill it up with its own deposits. Occupying,
when it is at its height, the entire bed, and presenting
at that time the appearance of a vast lake, or succession
of lakes, it deposes every day a portion of sediment
over the whole space which it covers : then, con-
tracting gradually, it leaves at the base of the hills,
on both sides, or at any rate on one, a strip of land
fresh dressed with mud, which gets wider daily as the
waters still recede, until yards grow into furlongs, and
furlongs into miles, and at last the shrunk stream is
content with a narrow channel a few hundred yards
in width, and leaves the rest of its bed to the embraces
of sun and air, and, if he so wills, to the industry ot
man. The land thus left exposed is Egypt — Egypt
is the temporarily uncovered bed of the Nile, which it
reclaims and recovers during a portion of each year,
when Egypt disappears from view, save where human
labour has by mounds and embankments formed
artificial islands that raise their heads above the waste
of waters, for the most part crowned with build-
ings.
There is one exception to this broad and sweeping
THE NILE. 7
statement. The Fayoum is no f ?rt of the natural"
bed of the Nile, and has not been scooped out by its
energy. It is a natural depression in the western
desert, separated off from the Nile valley by a range
of limestone hills from two hundred to five hundred
feet in height, and, apart from the activity of man
would have been arid, treeless, and waterless. Still,,
it derives from the Nile all its value, all its richness,
all its fertility. Human energy at some remote
period introduced into the depressed tract through an
artificial channel from the Nile, cut in some places
through the rock, the life-giving fluid ; and this fluid,
bearing the precious Nile sediment, has sufficed to
spread fertility over the entire region, and to make
the desert blossom like a garden.
The Egyptians were not unaware of the source of
their blessings. From a remote date they speculated
on their mysterious river. They deified it under the
name of Hapi, " the Hidden," they declared that "his
abode was not known ; " that he was an inscrutable
god, that none could tell his origin : they acknow-
ledged him as the giver of all good things, and espe
cially of the fruits of the earth. They said —
" Hail to thee, O Nile!
Thou showest thyself in this land,
Coming in peace, giving life to Egypt ;
O Amnion, thou leadest night unto day,
A leading that rejoices the heart !
Overflowing the gardens created by Ra )
Giving life to all animals ;
Watering the land without ceasing :
The way of heaven descending :
Lover of food, bestower of corn,
Giving life to every home, O Phthah! . . -
o THE LAND OF EGYPT.
O inundation of Nile, offerings are made to thee;
Oxen are slain to thee ;
Great festivals are kept for thee ;
Fowls are sacrificed to thee ;
Beasts of the field are caught for thee;
Pure flames are offered to thee ;
Offerings are made to every god,
As they are made unto Nile.
Incense ascends unto heaven,
Oxen, bulls, fowls are burnt !
Nile makes for himself chasms in the Thebaid ;
Unknown is his name in heaven,
He doth not manifest his forms !
Vain are all representations !
Mortals extol him, and the cycle of gods !
Awe is felt by the terrible ones ;
His son is made Lord of all,
To enlighten all Egypt.
Shine forth, shine forth, O Nile ! shine forth !
Giving life to men by his omen : .
Giving life to his oxen by the pastures !
Shine forth in glory, O Nile ! "*
Though thus useful, beneficent, and indeed essential
to the existence of Egypt, the Nile can scarcely be said
to add much to the variety of the landscape or to the
beauty of the scenery. It is something, no doubt, to
have the sight of water in a land where the sun beats
down all day long with unremitting force till the earth
is like a furnace of iron beneath a sky of molten brass.
But the Nile is never clear. During the inundation it
is deeply stained with the red argillaceous soil brought
down from the Abyssinian highlands. At other
seasons it is always more or less tinged with the
vegetable matter which it absorbs on its passage from
Lake Victoria to Khartoum ; and this vegetable
1 Translation by F. C. Cook.
SMALL SIZE OF EGYPT. 9
matter, combined with its depth and volume, gives it
a dull deep hue, which prevents it from having the
attractiveness of purer and more translucent streams.
The Greek name, Neilos, and the Hebrew, Sichor,
are thought to embody this attribute of the mighty
river, and to mean " dark blue " or " blue-black," terms
sufficiently expressive of the stream's ordinary colour.
Moreover, the Nile is too wide to be picturesque. It
is seldom less than a mile broad from the point where
it enters Egypt, and running generally between flat
shores it scarcely reflects anything, unless it be the
grey-blue sky overhead, or the sails of a passing
pleasure boat.
The size of Egypt, within the limits which have
been here assigned to it, is about eleven thousand
four hundred square miles, or less than that of any
European State, except Belgium, Saxony, and Servia.
Magnitude is, however, but an insignificant element
in the greatness of States — witness Athens, Sparta,
Rhodes, Genoa, Florence, Venice. Egypt is the
richest and most productive land in the whole world.
In its most flourishing age we are told that it con-
tained twenty thousand cities. It deserved to be called,
more (probably) than even Belgium, " one great town."
But its area was undoubtedly small. Still, as little
men have often taken the highest rank among
warriors, so little States have filled a most important
place in the world's history. Palestine was about the
size of Wales ; the entire Peloponnese was no larger
than New Hampshire ; Attica had nearly the same
area as Cornwall. Thus the case of Egypt does not
stand by itself, but is merely one out of many exceptions
to what may perhaps be called the general rule.
10 THE LAND OF EGYPT.
If stinted for space, Egypt was happy in her soil
and in her situation. The rich alluvium, continually
growing deeper and deeper, and top-dressed each
year by nature's bountiful hand, was of an inexhaust-
ible fertility, and bore readily year after year a three-
fold harvest — first a grain crop, and then two crops of
grasses or esculent vegetables. The wheat sown
returned a hundredfold to the husbandman, and was
gathered at harvest-time in prodigal abundance — •
" as the sand of the sea, very much," — till men " left
numbering" (Gen. xli. 49). Flax and doora were
largely cultivated, and enormous quantities were
produced of the most nutritive vegetables, such as
lentils, garlic, leeks, onions, endive, radishes, melons,
cucumbers, lettuces, and the like, which formed a most
important element in the food of the people. The
vine was also grown in many places, as along the
flanks of the hills between Thebes and Memphis, in
the basin of the Fayoum, at Anthylla in the Mareotis,
at Sebennytus (now Semnood), and at Plisthine, on
the shore of the Mediterranean. The date-palm,
springing naturally from the soil in clumps, or groves,
or planted in avenues, everywhere offered its golden
clusters to the wayfarer, dropping its fruit into his
lap. Wheat, however, was throughout antiquity the
chief product of Egypt, which was reckoned the
granary of the world, the refuge and resource of all
the neighbouring nations in time of dearth, and on
which in the later republican, and in the imperial
times, Rome almost wholly depended for her sus-
tenance.
If the soil was thus all that could be wished, still more
ADVANTAGES OF GEOGRAPHIC POSITION. II
advantageous was the situation. Egypt was the only
nation of the ancient world which had ready access
to two seas, the Northern Sea, or " Sea of the Greeks,"
and the Eastern Sea, or " Sea of the Arabians and the
Indians." Phoenicia might carry her traffic by the
painful travel of caravans across fifteen degrees of
desert from her cities on the Levantine coast to the
inner recess of the Persian Gulf, and thus get a share
in the trade of the East at a vast expenditure of time
and trouble. Assyria and Babylonia might for a
time, when at the height of their dominion, obtain a
temporary hold on lands which were not their own,
and boast that they stretched from the "sea of the
rising " to " that of the setting sun " — from the Persian
Gulf to the Mediterranean ; but Egypt, at all times
and under all circumstances, commands by her
geographic position an access both to the Mediter-
ranean and to the Indian Ocean by way of the Red
Sea, whereof nothing can deprive her. Suez must
always be hers, for the Isthmus is her natural
boundary, and her water-system has been connected
with the head of the Arabian Gulf for more than three
thousand years ; and, in the absence of any strong
State in Arabia or Abyssinia, the entire western
coast of the Red Sea falls naturally under her influence
with its important roadsteads and harbours. Thus
Egypt had two great outlets for her productions, and
two great inlets by which she received the productions
of other countries. Her ships could issue from the
Nilotic ports and trade with Phoenicia, or Carthage, or
Italy, or Greece, exchanging her corn and wine and
glass and furniture and works in metallurgy for
12 THE LAND OF EGYPT.
Etruscan vases, or Grecian statues, or purple Tyrian
robes, or tin brought by Carthaginian merchantmen
from the Scilly islands and from Cornwall ; or they
could start from Heroopolis, or Myos Hormus, ot
some port further to the southward, and pass by way
of the Red Sea to the spice-region of " Araby the
Blest," or to the Abyssinian timber- region, or to the
shores of Zanzibar and Mozambique, or round Arabia
to Teredon on the Persian Gulf, or possibly to Ceylon
or India. The products of the distant east, even of
" far Cathay," certainly flowed into the land, for they
have been dug out of the ancient tombs ; but whether
they were obtained by direct or by indirect commerce
must be admitted to be doubtful.
The possession of the Nile was of extraordinary
advantage to Egypt, not merely as the source of fer-
tility, but as a means of rapid communication. One
of the greatest impediments to progress and civiliza-
tion which Nature offers to man in regions which he
has not yet subdued to his will, is the difficulty of
locomotion and of transport. Mountains, forests,
torrents, marshes, jungles, are the curses of "new
countries," forming, until they have been cut through,
bridged over, or tunnelled under, insurmountable
barriers, hindering commerce and causing hatreds
through isolation. Egypt had from the first a broad
road driven through it from end to end — a road seven
hundred miles long, and seldom much less than a mile
wide — which allowed of ready and rapid communica-
tion between the remotest parts of the kingdom.
Rivers, indeed, are of no use as arteries cf commerce
or vehicles for locomotion until men have invented
EGYPT DURING THE INUNDATION, 13
ships or boats, or at least rafts, to descend and ascend
them ; but the Egyptians were acquainted with the
use of boats and rafts from a very remote period, and
took to the water like a brood of ducks or a parcel
of South Sea Islanders. Thirty-two centuries ago an
Egyptian king built a temple on the confines of the
Mediterranean entirely of stone which he floated down
the Nile for six hundred and fifty miles from the
quarries of Assouan (Syene) ; and the passage up the
river is for a considerable portion of the year as easy
as the passage down. Northerly winds — the famous
" Etesian gales " — prevail in Egypt during the whole
of the summer and autumn, and by hoisting a sail
it is almost always possible to ascend the stream at a
good pace. If the sail be dropped, the current will
at all times take a vessel down-stream ; and thus boats,
and even vessels of a large size, pass up and down the
water-way with equal facility.
Egypt is at all seasons a strange country, but pre-
sents the most astonishing appearance at the period
of the inundation. At that time not only is the
lengthy valley from Assouan to Cairo laid under
water, but the Delta itself becomes one vast lake,
interspersed with islands, which stud its surface here
and there at intervals, and which reminded Herodotus
of " the islands of the yEgcan." The elevations, which
are the work of man, arc crowned for the most part
with the white walls of towns and villages sparkling
in the sunlight, and sometimes glassed in the flood
beneath them. The palms and sycamores stand up
out of the expanse of waters shortened by some five
or six feet of their height. Everywhere, when the
14 THE LAND OF EGYPT.
inundation begins, the inhabitants are seen hurrying
their cattle to the shelter provided in the villages, and,
if the rise of the water is more rapid than usual,
numbers rescue their beasts with difficulty, causing
them to wade or swim, or even saving them by means
of boats. An excessive inundation brings not only
animal, but human life into peril, endangering the
villages themselves, which may be submerged and
swept away if the water rises above a certain height.
A deficient inundation, on the other hand, brings no
immediate danger, but by limiting production may
create a dearth that causes incalculable suffering.
Nature's operations are, however, so uniform that
these calamities rarely arise. Egypt rejoices, more
than almost any other country, in an equable climate,
an equable temperature, and an equable productive-
ness. The summers, no doubt, are hot, especially in
the south, and an occasional sirocco produces intense
discomfort while it lasts. But the cool Etesian wind,
blowing from the north through nearly all the summer-
time, tempers the ardour of the sun's rays even in the
hottest season of the year ; and during the remaining
months, from October to April, the climate is simply
delightful. Egypt has been said to have but two
seasons, spring and summer. Spring reigns from
October into May — crops spring up, flowers bloom,
soft zephyrs fan the cheek, when it is mid-winter in
Europe ; by February the fruit-trees are in full
blossom ; the crops begin to ripen in March, and are
reaped by the end of April ; snow and frost are
wholly unknown at any time ; storm, fog, and even
rain are rare. A bright, lucid atmosphere rests upon
GEOLOGY AND FLORA. I 5
the entire scene. There is no moisture in the air, no
cloud in the sky; no mist veils the distance. One day-
follows another, each the counterpart of the preceding;
until at length spring retires to make room for
summer, and a fiercer light, a hotter sun, a longer
day, show that the most enjoyable part of the year
is gone by.
The geology of Egypt is simple. The entire flat
country is alluvial. The hills on either side are, in the
north, limestone, in the central region sandstone, and
in the south granite and syenite. The granitic forma-
tion begins between the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth
parallels, but occasional masses of primitive rock are
intruded into the secondary regions, and these extend
northward as far as lat. 2j°io'. Above the rocks are,
in many places, deposits of gravel and sand, the
former hard, the latter loose and shifting. A portion
of the eastern desert is metalliferous. Gold is found
even at the present day in small quantities, and seems
anciently to have been more abundant. Copper, iron,
and lead have been also met with in modern times,
and one iron mine shows signs of having been anciently
worked. Emeralds abound in the region about
Mount Zabara, and the eastern desert further yields
jaspers, carnelians, breccia verde, agates, chalcedonies,
and rock-crystal.
The flora of the country is not particularly interest-
ing. Dom and date palms are the principal trees, the
latter having a single tapering stem, the former divid-
ing into branches. The sycamore [Ficus sycamorus) is
also tolerably common, as are several species of
acacia. The acacia seyal, which furnishes the gum
l6 THE LAND OF EGYPT.
arabic of commerce, is " a gnarled and thorny tree,
somewhat like a solitary hawthorn in its habit and
manner of growth, but much larger." Its height, when
full grown, is from fifteen to twenty feet. The persea, a
sacred plant among the ancient Egyptians, is a bushy
tree or shrub, which attains the height of eighteen or
twenty feet under favourable circumstances, and bears
a fruit resembling a date, with a subacid flavour. The
bark is whitish, the branches gracefully curved, the
foliage of an ashy grey, more especially on its under
surface. Specially characteristic of Egypt, though
not altogether peculiar to it, were the papyrus and the
lotus — the Cyperus papyrus and NympJicea lotus of
botanists. The papyrus was a tall smooth reed, with
a large triangular stalk containing a delicate pith, out
of which the Egyptians manufactured their paper.
The fabric was excellent, as is shown by its continu-
ance to the present day, and by the fact that the
Greeks and Romans, after long trial, preferred it to
parchment. The lotus was a large white water-lily of
exquisite beauty. Kings offered it to the gods ; guests
wore it at banquets ; architectural forms were modelled
upon it ; it was employed in the ornamentation of
thrones. Whether its root had the effect on men as-
cribed to it by Homer may be doubted ; but no one
ever saw it without recognizing it instantly as "a
thing of beauty," and therefore as " a joy for ever."
Nor can Egypt have afforded in ancient times
any very exciting amusement to sportsmen. At the
present day gazelles are chased with hawk and hound
during the dry season on the broad expanse of the
Delta ; but anciently the thick population scared off the
MS!*
DOM AND DATE PALMS.
MONOTONY OF EGYPT. to,
whole antelope tribe, which was only to be found in the
desert region beyond the limits of the alluvium. Nor
can Egypt, in the proper sense of the word, have ever
been the home of red-deer, roes, or fallow-deer, of lions,
bears, hyaenas, lynxes, or rabbits. Animals of these
classes may occasionally have appeared in the alluvial
plain, but they would only be rare visitants driven by
hunger from their true habitat in the Libyan or the
Arabian uplands. The crocodile, however, and the
hippopotamus were actually hunted by the ancient
Egyptians ; and they further indulged their love of sport
in the pursuits of fowling and fishing. All kinds of
waterfowl are at all seasons abundant in the Nile
waters, and especially frequent the pools left by the
retiring river — pelicans, geese, ducks, ibises, cranes,
storks, herons, dotterels, kingfishers, and sea-swallows.
Quails also arrive in great numbers in the month of
March, though there are no pheasants, snipe, wood-
cocks, nor partridges. Fish are very plentiful in
the Nile and the canals derived from it ; but there
are not many kinds which afford much sport to the
fisherman.
Altogether, Egypt is a land of tranquil monotony
The eye commonly travels either over a waste of
waters, or over a green plain unbroken by elevations.
The hills which inclose the Nile valley have level tops,
and sides that are bare of trees, or shrubs, or flowers,
or even mosses. The sky is generally cloudless. No
fog or mist enwraps the distance in mystery ; no
rainstorm sweeps across the scene ; no rainbow spans
the empyrean ; no shadows chase each other over the
landscape. There is an entire absence of picturesque
20 THE LAND OF EGYPT.
scenery. A single broad river, unbroken within the
limits of Egypt even by a rapid, two flat strips of green
plain at its side, two low lines of straight-topped hills
beyond them, and a boundless open space where the
river divides itself into half a dozen sluggish branches
before reaching the sea, constitute Egypt, which is by
nature a southern Holland — " weary, stale, flat and un-
profitable." The monotony is relieved, however, in two
ways, and by two causes. Nature herself does some-
thing to relieve it. Twice a day, in the morning and
in the evening, the sky and the landscape are lit up
by hues so bright yet so delicate, that the homely
features of the prospect are at once transformed as by
magic, and wear an aspect of exquisite beauty. At
dawn long streaks of rosy light stretch themselves
across the eastern sky, the haze above the western
horizon blushes a deep red ; a ruddy light diffuses it-
self around, and makes walls and towers and minarets
and cupolas to glow like fire ; the long shadows
thrown by each tree and building are purple or violet.
A glamour is over the scene, which seems trans-
figured by an enchanter's wand ; but the enchanter is
Nature, and the wand she wields is composed of sun-
rays. Again, at eve, nearly the same effects are pro-
duced as in the morning, only with a heightened
effect; "the redness of flames" passes into "the redness
of roses " — the wavy cloud that fled in the morning
comes into sight once more — comes blushing, yet still
comes on — comes burning with blushes, and clings to
the Sun-god's side.1
Night brings a fresh transfiguration. The olive
1 Adapted from Mr. Kinglake's "Eothen," p. 188.
MONOTONY BROKEN BY ARCHITECTURE. 21
after-glow gives place to a deep blue-grey. The
yellow moon rises into the vast expanse. A softened
light diffuses itself over earth and sky. The orb of
night walks in brightness through a firmament of
sapphire ; or, if the moon is below the horizon, then
the purple vault is lit up with many-coloured stars.
Silence profound reigns around. A phase of beauty
wholly different from that of the day-time smites the
sense ; and the monotony of feature is forgiven to the
changefulness of expression, and to the experience ol
a new delight.
Man has also done his part to overcome the dulness
and sameness that brood over the " land of Mizraim."
Where nature is most tame and commonplace, man
is tempted to his highest flights of audacity. As in
the level Babylonia he aspired to build a tower that
should " reach to heaven " (Gen. xi. 4), so in Egypt he
strove to startle and surprise by gigantic works, enor-
mous undertakings, enterprises that might have seemed
wholly beyond his powers. And these have consti-
tuted in all ages, except the very earliest, the great
attractiveness of Egypt. Men are drawn there, not
by the mysteriousness of the Nile, or the mild beauties
of orchards and palm -groves, of well-cultivated fields
and gardens — no, nor by the loveliness of sunrises and
sunsets, of moonlit skies and stars shining with many
hues, but by the huge masses of the pyramids, by the
colossal statues, the tall obelisks, the enormous tem-
ples, the deeply-excavated tombs, the mosques, the
castles, and the palaces. The architecture of Egypt
is its great glory. It began early, and it has con-
tinued late. But for the great works, strewn thickly
22
THE LAND OF EGYPT.
over the whole valley of the Nile, the land of Egypt
would have obtained but a small share of the world's
attention ; and it is at least doubtful whether its
" story " would ever have been thought necessary to
complete " the Story of the Nations."
IL
TTTE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
WHERE the Egyptians came from, is a difficult
question to answer. Ancient speculators, when they
could not derive a people definitely from any other,
took refuge in the statement, or the figment, that they
were the children of the soil which they had always
occupied. Modern theorists may say, if it please
them, that they were evolved out of the monkeys that
had their primitive abode on that particular portion of
the earth's surface. Monkeys, however, are not found
everywhere ; and we have no evidence that in Egypt
they were ever indigenous, though, as pets, they were
very common, the Egyptians delighting in keeping
them. Such evidence as we have reveals to us the
man as anterior to the monkey in the land of Mizraim.
Thus we are thrown back on the original question —
Where did the man, or race of men, that is found in
Egypt at the dawn of history come from ?
It is generally answered that they came from Asia ;
but this is not much more than a conjecture. The
physical type of the Egyptians is different from that
of any known Asiatic nation. The Egyptians had no
traditions that at all connected them with Asia. Their
language, indeed, in historic times was partially
24 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
Semitic, and allied to the Hebrew, the Phoenician, and
the Aramaic ; but the relationship was remote, and
may be partly accounted for by later intercourse, with-
out involving original derivation. The fundamental
character of the Egyptian in respect of physical type,
language, and tone of thought, is Nigritic. The
Egyptians were not negroes, but they bore a resem-
blance to the negro which is indisputable. Their type
differs from the Caucasian in exactly those respects
which when exaggerated produce the negro. They
were darker, had thicker lips, lower foreheads, larger
heads, more advancing jaws, a flatter foot, and a more
attenuated frame. It is quite conceivable that the
negro type was produced by a gradual degeneration
from that which we find in Egypt. It is even con-
ceivable that the Egyptian type was produced by
gradual advance and amelioration from that of the
negro.
Still, whencesoever derived, the* Egyptian people, a«.
it existed in the flourishing times of Egyptian history,
was beyond all question a mixed race, showing diverse
affinities. Whatever the people was originally, it re-
ceived into it from time to time various foreign
elements, and those in such quantities as seriously
to affect its physique — Ethiopians from the south,
Libyans from the west, Semites from the north-east,
where Africa adjoined on Asia, There are two quite
different types of Egyptian form and feature, blending
together in the mass of the nation, but strongly de-
veloped, and (so to speak) accentuated in individuals.
One is that which we see in portraits of Rameses IIL,
and in some of Rameses II. — a moderately high fore-
EGYPTIAN PHYSIQUE— TWO TYPES. 2$
head, a large, well -formed aquiline nose, a well-shaped
mouth with lips not over full, and a delicately rounded
chin. The other is comparatively coarse — forehead
low, nose depressed and short, lower part of the face
prognathous and sensual-looking, chin heavy, jaw
large, lips thick and projecting. The two types of
face are not, however, accompanied by much differ-
ence of frame. The Egyptian is always slight in
figure, wanting in muscle, flat in foot, with limbs that
are too long, too thin, too lady-like. Something more
of muscularity appears, perhaps, in the earlier than in
the later forms ; but this is perhaps attributable to a
modification of the artistic ideal.
As Egypt presents us with two types of physique,
so it brings before us two strongly different types of
character. On the one hand we see, alike in the pic-
tured scenes, in the native literary remains, and in the
accounts which foreigners have left us of the people,
a grave and dignified race, full of serious and sober
thought, given to speculation and reflection, occupied
rather with the interests belonging to another world
than with those that attach to this present scene of
existence, and inclined to indulge in a gentle and
dreamy melancholy. The first thought of a king, when
he began his reign, was to begin his tomb. The desire
of the grandee was similar. It is a trite tale how at
feasts a slave carried round to all the guests the repre-
sentation of a mummied corpse, and showed it to each
in turn, with the solemn words — " Look at this, and so
eat and drink ; for be sure that one day such as this
thou shalt be." The favourite song of the Egyptians,
according to Herodotus, was a dirge. The " Lay of
26 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
Harper," which we subjoin, sounds a key-note that
was very familiar, at any rate, to large numbers among
the Egyptians.
The Great One * has gone to his rest,
Ended his task and his race ;
Thus men are aye passing away,
And youths are aye taking their place.
As Ra rises up every morn,
And Turn every evening doth set,
So women conceive and bring forth,
And men without ceasing beget.
Each soul in its turn draweth breath —
Each man born of woman sees Death.
Take thy pleasure to-day,
Father ! Holy One ! See,
Spices and fragrant oils,
Father, we bring to thee.
On thy sister's bosom and arms
Wreaths of lotus we place ;
On thy sister, dear to thy heart,
Aye sitting before thy face.
Sound the song ; let music be played
And let cares behind thee be laid.
Take thy pleasure to-day ;
Mind thee of joy and delight !
Soon life's pilgrimage ends,
And we pass to Silence and Night.
Patriarch perfect and pure,
Nefer-hotep, blessed one ! Thou
Didst finish thy course upon earth,
And art with the blessed ones now.
Men pass to the Silent Shore,
And their place doth know them no morec
They are as they never had been,
Since the sun went forth upon high ;
They sit on the banks of the stream
That floweth in stillness by.
1 Nefer-hotep, a deceased king.
TWO TYPES OF CHARACTER. 2J
Thy soul is among them ; thou
Dost drink of the sacred tide,
Having the wish of thy heart —
At peace ever since thou hast died.
Give bread to the man who is poor,
And thy name shall be blest evermore.
Take thy pleasure to-day,
Nefer-hotep, blessed and pure.
What availed thee thy other buildings?
Of thy tomb alone thou art sure.
On the earth thou hast nought beside,
Nought of thee else is remaining ;
And when thou wentest below,
Thy last sip of life thou wert draining.
Even they who have millions to spend,
Find that life comes at last to an end.
Let all, then, think of the day
Of departure without returning —
'Twill then be well to have lived,
All sin and injustice spurning.
For he who has loved the right,
In the hour that none can flee,
Enters upon the delight
Of a glad eternity.
Give freely from out thy store,
And thou shalt be blest evermore.
On the other hand, there is evidence of a lightsome,
joyous, and even frolic spirit as pervading numbers,
especially among the lower classes of the Egyptians.
" Traverse Egypt," says a writer who knows more of
the ancient country than almost any other living
person, "examine the scenes sculptured or painted on
the walls of the chapels attached to tombs, consult
the inscriptions graven on the rocks or traced with
ink on the papyrus rolls, and you will be compelled
to modify your mistaken notion of the Egyptians
28 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
being a nation of philosophers. I defy you to find
anything more gay, more amusing, more freshly
simple, than this good-natured Egyptian people, which
was fond of life and felt a profound pleasure in its
existence. Far from desiring death, they addressed
prayers to the gods to preserve them in life, and to
give them a happy old age — an old age that should
reach, if possible, to the ' perfect term of 1 10 years.'
They gave themselves up to pleasures of every kind ;
they sang, they drank, they danced, they delighted in
making excursions into the country, where hunting
and fishing were occupations reserved especially for
the nobility. In conformity with this inclination
towards pleasure, sportive proposals, a pleasantry
that was perhaps over-free, witticisms, raillery, and
a mocking spirit, were in vogue among the people,
and fun was allowed entrance even into the tombs.
In the large schools the masters had a difficulty in
training the young and keeping down their passion
for amusements. When oral exhortation failed of
success, the cane was used pretty smartly in its place;
for the wise men of the land had a saying that ( a
boy's ears grow on his back.' " I
Herodotus tells us how gaily the Egyptians kept
their festivals, thousands of the common people —
men, women, and children together — crowding into
the boats, which at such times covered the Nile, the
men piping, and the women clapping their hands or
striking their castanets, as they passed from town to
town along the banks of the stream, stopping at the
various landing-places, and challenging the inhabi-
1 Brugsch, "Histoire d'Egypte," p. 15.
EGYPTIAN DROLLERY, 2Q
tants to a contest of good-humoured Billingsgate.
From the monuments \vc see how the men sang at
their labours — here as they trod the wine-press or the
dough-trough, there as they threshed out the corn by
driving the oxen through the golden heaps. In one
case the words of a harvest-song have come down to
us :
" Thresh for yourselves," they sang, " thresh for yourselves,
O oxen, thresh for yourselves, for yourselves —
Bushels for yourselves, bushels for your masters ! "
Their light-hearted drollery sometimes found vent
in caricature. The grand sculptures wherewith a
king strove to perpetuate the memory of his warlike
exploits were travestied by satirists, who reproduced
the scenes upon papyrus as combats between cats
and rats. The amorous follies of the monarch were
held up to derision by sketches of a harem interior,
where the kingly wooer was represented by a lion,
and his favourites of the softer sex by gazelles. Even
in serious scenes depicting the trial of souls in the
next world, the sense of humour breaks out, where
the bad man, transformed into a pig or a monkey,
walks off with a comical air of surprise and dis-
comfiture.
It docs not, however, help us much towards the
true knowledge of a people to scan their frames or
study their facial angle, or even to contemplate the
outer aspect of their daily life. We want to know
their thoughts, their innermost feelings, their hopes,
their fears — in a word, their belief. Nothing tells the
character of a people so much as their religion ; and
we are only dealing superficially with the outward
30 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
shows of things until we get down to the root of their
being, the conviction, or convictions, held in the
recesses of a people's heart. What, then, was the
Egyptian religion ? What did they worship ? What
did they reverence ? What future did they look
forward to ?
Enter the huge courts of an Egyptian temple, or
temple-palace, and you will see portrayed upon its
lofty walls row upon row of deities. Here the king
makes his offering to Ammon, Maut, Khons, Neith,
Mentu, Shu, Seb, Nut, Osiris, Set, Horus ; there he
pours a libation to Phthah, Sekhet, Turn, Pasht,
Anuka, Thoth, Anubis ; elsewhere, it may be, he
pays his court to Sati, Khem, Isis, Nephthys, Athor,
Harmachis, Nausaas, and Nebhept. One monarch
erects an altar to Satemi, Turn, Khepra, Shu, Tefnut,
Seb, Netpe, Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, Horus, and
Thoth, mentioning on the same monument Phthah,
Num, Sabak, Athor, Pasht, Mentu, Neith, Anubis,
Nishem, and Kartak. Another represents himself on
a similar object as offering adoration to Ammon,
Khem, Phthah-Sokari, Seb, Nut, Thoth, Khons,
Osiris, Isis, Horus, Athor, Uat (Buto), Neith,
Sekhet, Anata, Nuneb, Nebhept, and Hapi. All these
deities are represented by distinct forms, and have
distinct attributes. Nor do they at all exhaust the
Pantheon. One modern writer enumerates seventy-
three divinities, and gives their several names and
forms. Another has a list of sixty-three "principal
deities," and notes that there were " others which per-
sonified the elements, or presided over the operations
of nature, the seasons, and events." The Egyptians
Egyptian polytheism. 31
themselves speak not unfrequently of "the thousand
gods," sometimes further qualifying them, as " the
gods male, the gods female, those which belong to the
land of Egypt." Practically, there were before the
eyes of worshippers some scores, if not some hundreds,
of deities, who invited their approach and challenged
their affections.
Nor was this the whole, or the worst. The Egyp-
tian was taught to pay a religious regard to animals.
In one place goats, in another sheep, in a third hippo-
potami, in a fourth crocodiles, in a fifth vultures, in a
sixth frogs, in a seventh shrew-mice, were sacred crea-
tures, to be treated with respect and honour, and
under no circumstances to be slain, under the penalty
of death to the slayer. And besides this local animal-
cult, there was a cult which was general. Cows, cats,
dogs, ibises, hawks, and cynocephalous apes, were
sacred throughout the whole of Egypt, and woe to the
man who injured them ! A Roman who accidentally
caused the death cf a cat was immediately " lynched"
by the populace. Inhabitants of neighbouring villages
would attack each other with the utmost fury if the
native of one had killed or eaten an animal held sacred
in the other. In any house where a cat or a dog
died, the inmates were expected to mourn for them as
for a relation. Both these and the other sacred
animals were carefully embalmed after death, and
their bodies were interred in sacred repositories.
The animal-worship reached its utmost pitch of
grossness and absurdity when certain individual brute
beasts were declared to be incarnate deities, and
treated accordingly. At Memphis, the ordinary
32 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
capital, there was maintained, at any rate from the
time of Aahmes I. (about B.C. 1650), a sacred bull,
known as Hapi or Apis, which was believed to be an
actual incarnation of the god Phthah, and was an
object of the highest veneration. The Apis bull
dwelt in a temple of his own near the city, had his
train of attendant priests, his harem of cows, his meals
of the choicest food, his grooms and currycombers
who kept his coat clean and beautiful, his chamber-
lains who made his bed, his cup-bearers who brought
him water, &c, and on fixed days was led in a festive
procession through the main streets of the town, so
that the inhabitants might see him, and come forth
from their dwellings and make obeisance. When he
died he was carefully embalmed, and deposited, to-
gether with magnificent jewels and statuettes and
vases, in a polished granite sarcophagus, cut out of a
single block, and weighing between sixty and seventy
tons ! The cost of an Apis funeral amounted some-
times, as we are told, to as much as £ 20,000. To
contain the sarcophagi, several long galleries were cut
in the solid rock near Memphis, from which arched
lateral chambers went off on either side, each con-
structed to hold one sarcophagus. The number of
Apis bulls buried in the galleries was found to be
sixty- four.
Nor was this the only incarnate god of which Egypt
boasted. Another bull, called Mnevis, was maintained
in the great temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, and,
being regarded as an incarnation of Ra or Turn, was
as much reverenced by the Heliopolites as Apis by
the Mcmphites. A third, called Bacis or Pacis, was
'THE KING RECKONED A GOD. 33
kept at ITcrmonthis, which was also an incarnation ot
Ra. And a white cow at Momemphis was reckoned
an incarnation of Athor. Who can wonder that
foreign nations ridiculed a religion of this kind — one
that " turned the glory " of the Eternal Godhead
" into the similitude of a calf that eateth hay " ?
The Egyptians had also a further god incarnate, who
was not shut up out of sight like the Apis and Mnevis
and Bacis bulls and the Athor cow, but was continu-
ally before their eyes, the centre of the nation's life,
the prime object of attention. This was the monarch,
who for the time being occupied the throne. Each
king of Egypt claimed not only to be " son of the
Sun," but to be an actual incarnation of the sun —
" the living Horus." And this claim was, from an
early date, received and allowed. " Thy Majesty,"
says a courtier under the twelfth dynasty, " is the
good God . . . the great God, the equal of the Sun-
God. ... I live from the breath which thou givest."
Brought into the king's presence, the courtier " falls
on his belly," amazed and confounded. " I was as
one brought out of the dark ; my tongue was dumb ;
my lips failed me ; my heart was no longer in my
body to know whether I was alive or dead;" and
this, although "the god" had "addressed him mildly."
Another courtier attributes his long life to the king's
favour. Ambassadors, when presented to the king,
"raised their arms in adoration of the good god," and
declared to him — "Thou art like the Sun in all that
thou doest : thy heart realizes all its wishes ; shouldest
thou wish to make it day during the night, it is so
forthwith. ... If thou sayest to the water, ' Come
34 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
from the rock,' it will come in a torrent suddenly at
the words of thy mouth. The god Ra is like thee in
his limbs, the god Khepra in creative force. Truly
thou art the living image of thy father, Turn. . . .
All thy words are accomplished daily." Some of the
kings set up their statues in the temples by the side
of the greatest of the national deities, to be the objects
of a similar worship.
Amid this wealth of gods, earthly and heavenly,
human, animal, and divine, an Egyptian might well feel
puzzled to make a choice. In his hesitation he was apt
to turn to that only portion of his religion which had
the attraction that myth possesses — the introduction
into a supramundane and superhuman world of a
quasi-human element. The chief Egyptian myth was
the Osirid saga, which ran somewhat as follows: "Once
upon a time the gods were tired of ruling in the upper
sphere, and resolved to take it in turns to reign over
Egypt in the likeness of men. So, after four of them
had in succession been kings, each for a long term of
years, it happened that Osiris, the son of Seb and
Nut, took the throne, and became monarch of the
two regions, the Upper and the Lower. Osiris was
of a good and bountiful nature, beneficent in will and
words : he set himself to civilize the Egyptians, taught
them to till the fields and cultivate the vine, gave
them law and religion, and instructed them in various
useful arts. Unfortunately, he had a wicked brother,
called Set or Sutekh, who hated him for his goodness,
and resolved to compass his death. This he effected
after a while, and, having placed the body in a coffin,
he threw it into the Nile, whence it floated down to
LEGEND OF OSTRTS. 35
the sea. Isis, the sister and widow of Osiris, together
with her sister Nephthys, vainly sought for a long
time her lord's remains, but at last found them on the
Syrian shore at Byblus, where they had been cast up
by the waves. She was conveying the corpse for
embalmment and interment to Memphis, when Set
stole it from her, and cut it up into fourteen pieces,
which he concealed in various places. The unhappy
queen set forth in a light boat made of the papyrus
plant, and searched Egypt from end to end, until ^\i2
had found all the fragments, and buried them with
due honours. She then called on her son, Horus, to
avenge his father, and Horus engaged him in a long
war, wherein he was at last victorious and took Set
prisoner. Isis now relented, and released Set, who
be it remembered, was her brother ; which so enraged
Horus that he tore off her crown, or (according to
some) struck off her head, which injury Thoth re-
paired by giving her a cow's head in place of her own.
Horus then renewed the war with his uncle, and
finally slew him with a long spear, which he drove
into his head." The gods and goddesses of the
Osirid legend, Scb, Nut or Netpe, Osiris, Isis, Neph-
thys, Set, and Horus or Harmachis, were those which
most drew towards them the thoughts of the Egyp-
tians, the greater number being favourite objects of
worship, while Set was held in general detestation.
It was a peculiar feature of the Egyptian religion,
that it contained distinctively evil and malignant
gods. Set was not, originally, such a deity ; but he
became such in course of time, and was to the later
Egyptians the very principle of evil — Evil personified.
36
THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
Another evil deity was Taour or Taourt, who is
represented as a hippopotamus standing on its hind-
legs, with the skin and tail of a crocodile dependent
down its back, and a knife or a pair of shears in one
hand. Bes seems also to have been a divinity of the
same class. He was represented as a hideous dwarf,
with large outstanding ears, bald, or with a plume of
feathers on his head, and with a lion-skin down his
back, often carrying in his two hands two knives.
FIGURES OF TAOURT.
Even more terrible than Bcs was Apcp, the great
serpent, with its huge and many folds, who helped
Set against Osiris, and was the adversary and accuser
of souls. Savak, a god with the head of a crocodile,
seems also to have belonged to the class of malignant
beings, though he was a favourite deity with some of
the Ramesside kings, and a special object of worship
in the Fayoum.
The complex polytheism of the monuments and
EVIL DEITIES — TAOURT, BE$.
37
the literature was not, however, the practical religion
of many Egyptians. Local cults held possession ot
most of the nomes, and the ordinary Egyptian,
instead of dissipating his religious affections by
distributing them among the thousand divinities ot
the Pantheon, concentrated them on those of his
nome. If he was a Mem phi te, he worshipped Phthah
Sekhet, and Turn ; if a Theban, Ammon-Ra, Maut,
H<;n:i 01 i;ks.
Khons, and Neith ; if a Ileliopolite, Turn, Nebhebt
and Horus ; if a Elephantinite, Kneph, Sati, Anuka,
and Hak ; and so on. The Egyptian Pantheon was
a gradual accretion, the result of amalgamating the
various local cults ; but these continued predominant
in their several localities ; and practically the only
deities that obtained anything like a general recog-
38 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
nition were Osiris, Isis, Horus, and the Nile-god,
Hapi.
Besides the common popular religion, the belief of
the masses, there was another which prevailed among
the priests and among the educated. The primary
doctrine of this esoteric religion was the real essential
unity of the Divine Nature. The sacred texts, known
only to the priests and to the initiated, taught that
there was a single Being, " the sole producer of all
things both in heaven and earth, himself not pro-
duced of any," " the only true living God, self-origi-
nated," " who exists from the beginning," " who has
made all things, but has not himself been made."
This Being seems never to have been represented by
any material, even symbolical, form. It is thought
that he had no name, or, if he had, that it must have
been unlawful to pronounce or write it. He was a
pure spirit, perfect in every respect — all- wise, almighty,
supremely good. It is of him that the Egyptian poets
use such expressions as the following : " He is not
graven in marble ; he is not beheld ; his abode is not
known ; no shrine is found with painted figures of
him ; there is no building that can contain him ; "
and, again : " Unknown is his name in heaven ; he
doth not manifest his forms ; vain are all representa-
tions ;" and yet again : " His commencement is from
the beginning ; he is the God who has existed from
old time ; there is no God without him ; no mother
bore him ; no father hath begotten him ; he is a god-
goddess, created from himself ; all gods came into
existence when he began."
The other gods, the gods of the popular mythology,
ESOTERIC RELIGION. 3g
were understood in the esoteric religion to be either
personified attributes of the Deity, or parts of the
nature which he had created, considered as informed
and inspired by him. Num or Kneph represented
the creative mind, Phthah the creative hand, or act
of creating ; Maut represented matter, Ra the sun,
Khons the moon, Seb the earth, Khem the generative
power in nature, Nut the upper hemisphere of the
heavens, Athor the lower world or under hemisphere ;
Thoth personified the Divine Wisdom, Ammon per-
haps the Divine mysteriousness or incomprehensibility,
Osiris the Divine Goodness. It is difficult in many
cases to fix on the exact quality, act, or part of nature
intended ; but the principle admits of no doubt. No
educated Egyptian conceived of the popular gods as
really separate and distinct beings. All knew that
there was but One God, and understood that, when
worship was offered to Khem, or Kneph, or Maut, or
Thoth, or Ammon, the One God was worshipped
under some one of his forms or in some one of his
aspects. He was every god, and thus all the gods'
names were interchangeable, and in one and the same
hymn we may find a god, say Ammon, addressed also
as Ra and Khem and Turn and Horus and Khepra ;
or Hapi, the Nile-god, invoked as Ammon and
Phthah ; or Osiris as Ra and Thoth ; or, in fact,
any god invoked as almost any other. If there be a
limit, it is in respect of the evil deities, whose names
are not given to the good ones.
Common to all Egyptians seems to have been a
belief, if not, strictly speaking, in the immortality of
the soul, yet, at any rate, in a life after death, and a
40 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
judgment of every man according to the deeds which
he had done in the body while upon earth. It was
universally received, that, immediately after death,
the soul descended into the Lower World, and was
conducted to the " Hall of Truth," where it was
judged in the presence of Osiris and of the forty-two
assessors, the " Lords of Truth " and judges of the
dead. Anubis, " the director of the weight," brought
forth a pair of scales, and, placing in one scale a
figure or emblem of Truth, set in the other a vase
containing the good actions of the deceased ; Thoth
standing by the while, with a tablet in his hand,
whereon to record the result. According to the
side on which the balance inclined, Osiris, the presi-
dent, delivered sentence. If the good deeds prepon-
derated, the blessed soul was allowed to enter the
" boat of the Sun," and was led by good spirits to
Aahlu (Elysium), to the " pools of peace " and the
dwelling-place of Osiris. If, on the contrary, the
good deeds were insufficient, if the ordeal was not
passed, then the unhappy soul was sentenced, accord-
ing to its deserts, to begin a round of transmigrations
into the bodies of more or less unclean animals, the
number, nature, and duration of the transmigrations
depending on the degree of the deceased's demerits,
and the consequent length and severity of the punish-
ment which he deserved or the purification which he
needed. Ultimately, if after many trials purity was
not attained, then the wicked and incurable soul
underwent a final sentence at the hands of Osiris,
Judge of the Dead, and being condemned to annihila-
tion, was destroyed upon the steps of heaven by Shu,
Egyptian morality. 41
the Lord of Light. The good soul, having first been
completely cleansed of its impurities by passing
through the basin of purgatorial fire guarded by the
four ape-faced genii, was made the companion of Osiris
for a period of three thousand years ; after which it
returned from Amenti, re-entered its former body,
and lived once more a human life upon the earth.
The process was repeated till a mystic number of
years had gone by, when, finally, the blessed attained
the crowning joy of union with God, being absorbed
into the Divine Essence, from which they had ema-
nated, and thus attaining the true end and full
perfection of their being.
Such a belief as this, if earnest and thorough,
should be productive of a high standard of moral
action ; and undoubtedly the Egyptians had a code
of morality that will compare favourably with that of
most ancient nations. It has been said to have
contained "three cardinal requirements — love of God,
love of virtue, and love of man." The hymns suffi-
ciently indicate the first ; the second may be allowed,
if by "virtue" we understand justice and truth ; the
third is testified by the constant claim of men, in their
epitaphs, to have been benefactors of their species. " I
was not an idler," says one ; " I was no listener to the
counsels of sloth ; my name was not heard in the
place of reproof ... all men respected me; I gave
water to the thirsty ; I set the wanderer on his path ;
I took away the oppressor, and put a stop to violence."
" I myself was just and true," writes another : "without
malice, having put God in my heart, and being quick
to discern His will. I have done good upon earth ;
42 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
I have harboured no prejudice ; I have not been
wicked ; I have not approved of any offence or
iniquity ; I have taken pleasure in speaking the
truth. . . . Pure is my soul ; while living I bore no
malice. There are no errors attributable to me ; no
sins of mine are before the judges. . . . The men of
the future, while they live, will be charmed by my re-
markable merits." And another: " I have not oppressed
any widow ; no prisoner languished in my days ; no
one died of hunger. When there were years of famine,
I had my fields ploughed. I gave food to the in-
habitants, so that there was no hungry person. I
gave the widow an equal portion with the married ;
I did not prefer the rich to the poor."
The moral standard thus set up, though satisfactory,
so far as it went, was in many respects deficient. It
did not comprise humility ; it scarcely seems to have
comprised purity. The religious sculptures of the
Egyptians were grossly indecent ; their religious fes-
tivals were kept in an indecent way ; phallic orgies
were a part of them, and phallic orgies of a gross
kind. The Egyptians tolerated incest, and could de-
fend it by the example of the gods. Osiris had married
his sister ; Khem was " the Bull of his mother."
The Egyptian novelettes are full of indecency and
immorality, and Egyptian travellers describe their
amours very much in the spirit of Ferdinand, Count
Fathom ; moreover, the complacency with which
each Egyptian declares himself on his tomb to have
possessed every virtue, and to have been free from
all vices, is most remarkable. " I was a good man
before the king ; I saved the population in the dire
Divisions of society. 43
calamity which befell all the land ; I shielded the weak
against the strong ; I did all good things when the
time came to do them ; I was pious towards my
father, and did the will of my mother ; I was kind-
hearted towards my brethren ... I made a good
sarcophagus for him who had no coffin. When the
dire calamity befell the land, I made the children to
live, I established the houses, I did for them all such
good things as a father does for his sons."
And, notwithstanding all this braggadocio, per-
formance seems to have lagged sadly behind profession.
Kings boast of slaying their unresisting prisoners
with their own hand, and represent themselves in the
act of doing so. They come back from battle with
the gory heads of their slain enemies hanging from
their chariots. Licentiousness prevailed in the palace,
and members of the royal harem intrigued with those
who sought the life of the king. A belief in magic
was general, and men endeavoured to destroy or injure
those whom they hated by wasting their waxen effigies
at a slow fire to the accompaniment of incantations.
Thieves were numerous, and did not scruple even to
violate the sanctity of the tomb in order to obtain
a satisfactory booty. A famous " thieves' society,"
formed for the purpose of opening and plundering
the royal tombs, contained among its members persons
of the sacerdotal order.
Social ranks in Egypt were divided somewhat
sharply. There was a large class of nobles, who were
mostly great landed proprietors living on their estates,
and having under them a vast body of dependents,
servants, labourers, artizans, &c. There was also a
44 THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT.
numerous official class, partly employed at the court,
partly holding government posts throughout the
country, which regarded itself as highly dignified,
and looked down de /unit en bas on " the people."
Commands in the army seem to have been among
the prizes which from time to time fell to the lot of
such persons. Further, there was a literary class,
which was eminently respectable, and which viewed
with contempt those who were engaged in trade or
handicrafts.
Below these three classes, and removed from them
by a long interval, was the mass of the population — ■
" the multitude " as the Egyptians called them. These
persons were engaged in manual labour of different
kinds. The greater number were employed on the
farms of the nobles, in the cultivation of the soil or in
the rearing of cattle. A portion were boatmen,
fishermen, or fowlers. Others pursued the various
known handicrafts. They were weavers, workers in
metal, stone-cutters, masons, potters, carpenters, up-
holsterers, tailors, shoe-makers, glass-blowers, boat-
builders, wig-makers, and embalmers. There were
also among them painters and sculptors. But all
these employments " stank " in the nostrils of the
upper classes, and were regarded as unworthy of any
one who wished to be thought respectable.
Still, the line of demarcation, decided as it was,
might be crossed. It is an entire mistake to suppose
that caste existed in Egypt. Men frequently bred up
their sons to their own trade or profession, as they do
in all countries, but they were not obliged to do so —
there was absolutely no compulsion in the matter.
CONDITION OF THE LOWER ORDERS. 45
The "public-schools" of Egypt were open to all
comers, and the son of the artizan sat on the same
bench with the son of the noble, enjoyed the same
education, and had an equal opportunity of dis^
tinguishing himself. If he showed sufficient promise,
he was recommended to adopt the literary life ; and
the literary life was the sure passport to State employ-
ment. State employment once entered upon, merit
secured advancement ; and thus there was, in fact, no
obstacle to prevent the son of a labouring man from
rising to the very highest positions in the administra-
tion of the empire. Successful ministers were usually
rewarded by large grants of land from the royal
domain ; and it follows that a clever youth of the
labouring class might by good conduct and ability make
his way even into the ranks of the landed aristocracy.
On the other hand, practically, the condition of the
labouring class was, generally speaking a hard and
sad one. The kings were entitled to employ as many
of their subjects as they pleased in forced labours, and
monarchs often sacrificed to their inordinate vanity the
lives and happiness of thousands. Private employers
of labour were frequently cruel and exacting ; their
overseers used the stick, and it was not easy for those
who suffered to obtain any redress. Moreover, taxation
was heavy, and inability to satisfy the collector sub-
jected the defaulter to the bastinado. Those who
have studied the antiquities of Egypt with most care,
tell us that there was not much to choose between
the condition of the ancient labourers and that of the
unhappy fellahin x of the present day.
1 A fellah is a peasant, one of the labouring class, just above the slave,
III.
THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
ALL nations, unless they be colonies, have a pre-
hi toric time — a dark period of mist and gloom,
before the keen light of history dawns upon them.
This period is the favourite playground of the myth-
spirits, where they disport themselves freely, or lounge
heavily and listlessly, according to their different
natures. The Egyptian spirits were of the heavier
and duller kind — not light and frolicsome, like the
Greek and the Indo-Iranian. It has been said that
Egypt never produced more than one myth, the
Osirid legend ; and this is so far true that in no other
case is the story told at any considerable length, or
with any considerable number of exciting incidents.
There are, however, many short legends in the
Egyptian remains, which have more or less of interest,
and show that the people was not altogether devoid
of imagination, though their imagination was far from
lively. Seb, for instance, once upon a time, took the
form of a goose, and laid the mundane egg, and
hatched it. Thoth once wrote a wonderful book, full
of wisdom and science, which told of everything con-
cerning the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea,
and the four-footed beasts of the earth. He who knew
EGYPTIAN MYTHS. 47
a single page of the book could charm the heaven, the
earth, the great abyss, the mountains, and the seas.
Thoth took the work and enclosed it in a box of gold,
and the box of gold he placed within a box of silver,
and the silver box within a box of ivory and ebony,
and that again within a box of bronze ; and the bronze
box he enclosed within a box of brass, and the brass
box within a box of iron ; and the box, thus guarded,
he threw into the Nile at Coptos. But a priest
discovered the whereabouts of the book, and sold the
knowledge to a young noble for a hundred pieces of
silver, and the young noble with great trouble fished
the book up. But the possession of the book brought
him not good but evil. He lost his wife ; he lost his
child ; he became entangled in a disgraceful intrigue.
He was glad to part with the book. But the next
possessor was not more fortunate ; the book brought
him no luck. The quest after unlawful knowledge
involved all who sought it in calamity.
Another myth had for its subject the proposed
destruction of mankind by Ra, the Sun-god. Ra
had succeeded Phthah as king of Egypt, and had
reigned for a long term of years in peace, contented
with his subjects and they with him. But a time
came when they grew headstrong and unruly ; they
uttered words against Ra ; they plotted evil things ;
they grievously offended him. So Ra called the council
of the gods together and asked them to advise him
what he should do. They said mankind must be
destroyed, and committed the task of destruction to
Athor and Sekhet, who proceeded to smite the men
over the whole land. But now fear came upon
48 THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
mankind ; and the men of Elephantine made haste,
and extracted the juice from the best of their fruits,
and mingled it with human blood, and filled seven
thousand jars, and brought them as an offering to
the offended god. Ra drank and was content, and
ordered the liquor that remained in the jars to be
poured out ; and, lo ! it was an inundation which
covered the whole land of Egypt ; and when Athor
went forth the next day to destroy, she saw no men
in the fields, but only water, which she drank, and it
pleased her, and she went away satisfied.
It would require another Euhemerus to find any
groundwork of history in these narratives. We must
turn away from the "shadow-land "which the Egyptians
called the time of the gods on earth, if we would find
trace of the real doings of men in the Nile valley,
and put before our readers actual human beings in
the place of airy phantoms. The Egyptians them-
selves taught that the first man of whom they had
any record was a king called M'na, a name which the
Greeks represented by Men or Menes. M'na was
born at Tena (This or Thinis) in Upper Egypt,
where his ancestors had borne sway before him. He
was the first to master the Lower country, and thus
to unite under a single sceptre the " two Egypts " —
the long narrow Nile valley and the broad Delta
plain. Having placed on his head the double crown
which thenceforth symbolized dominion over both
tracts, his first thought was that a new capital was
needed. Egypt could not, he felt, be ruled conve-
niently from the latitude of Thebes, or from any site
in the Upper country ; it required a capital which
SUPPOSED FIRST KING. 49
should abut on both regions, and so command both.
Nature pointed out one only fit locality, the junction
of the plain with the vale— " the balance of the two
regions," as the Egyptians called it ; the place where
the narrow " Upper Country " terminates, and Egypt
opens out into the wide smiling plain that thence
spreads itself on every side to the sea. Hence there
would be easy access to both regions ; both would
be, in a way, commanded ; here, too, was a readily
defensible position, one assailable only in front. Ex-
perience has shown that the instinct of the first founder
was right, or that his political and strategic foresight
was extraordinary. Though circumstances, once
and again, transferred the seat of government to
Thebes or Alexandria, yet such removals were short-
lived. The force of geographic fact was too strong to
be permanently overcome, and after a few centuries
power gravitated back to the centre pointed out by
nature.
If we may believe the tradition, there was, when
the idea of building the new capital arose, a difficulty
in obtaining a site in all respects advantageous. The
Nile, before debouching upon the plain, hugged for
many miles the base of the Libyan hills, and was thus
on the wrong side of the valley. It was wanted on
the other side, in order to be a water-bulwark against
an Asiatic invader. The founder, therefore, before
building his city, undertook a gigantic work. He
raised a great embankment across the natural course
of the river ; and, forcing it from its bed, made it
enter a new channel and run midway down the valley
or, if anything, rather towards its eastern side. He
50 THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
thus obtained the bulwark against invasion that he
required, and he had an ample site for his capital
between the new channel of the stream and the foot
of the western hills.
It is undoubtedly strange to hear of such a work
being constructed at the very dawn of history, by a
population that was just becoming a people. But in
Egypt precocity is the rule — a Minerva starts full-
grown from the head of Jove. The pyramids them-
selves cannot be placed very long after the supposed
reign of Menes ; and the engineering skill implied in
the pyramids is simply of a piece with that attributed
to the founder of Memphis.
In ancient times a city was nothing without a
temple ; and the capital city of the most religious
people in the world could not by any possibility lack
that centre of civic life which its chief temple always
was to every ancient town. Philosophy must settle
the question how it came to pass that religious ideas
were in ancient times so universally prevalent and so
strongly pronounced. History is only bound to note
the fact. Coeval, then, with the foundation of the
city of Menes was, according to the tradition, the
erection of a great temple to Phthah — " the Revealer,"
the Divine artificer, by whom the world and man
were created, and the hidden thought of the remote
Supreme Being was made manifest to His creatures.
Phthah's temple lay within the town, and was ori-
ginally a naos or "cell," a single building probably
not unlike that between the Sphinx's paws at Ghizeh,
situated within a temenos, or " sacred enclosure,"
watered from the river, and no doubt planted with
MEMPHIS AND ITS TEMPLE. 51
trees. Like the medieval cathedrals, the building
grew with the lapse of centuries, great kings continu-
ally adding new structures to the main edifice, and
enriching it with statuary and painting. Herodotus
saw it in its full glory, and calls it " a vast edifice,
very worthy of commemoration." Abd-el-Latif saw
it in its decline, and notes the beauty of its remains :
" the great monolithic shrine of breccia verde, nine
cubits high, eight long, and seven broad, the doors which
swung on hinges of stone, the well-carven statues, and
the lions terrific in their aspect." * At the present
day scarcely a trace remains. One broken colossus
of the Great Ramesses, till very recently prostrate, and
a few nondescript fragments, alone continue on the
spot, to attest to moderns the position of that antique
fane, which the Egyptians themselves regarded as
the oldest in their land.
The new city received from its founder the name
of Men-nefer — " the Good Abode." It was also
known as Ei-Ptah — " the House of Phthah." From
the former name came the prevailing appellations —
the "Memphis" of the Greeks and Romans, the
"Moph" of the Hebrews, the " Mimpi" of the Assy-
rians, and the name still given to the ruins, " Tel-
Monf." It was indeed a "good abode" — watered by
an unfailing stream, navigable from the sea, which at
once brought it supplies and afforded it a strong pro
tection, surrounded on three sides by the richest and
most productive alluvium, close to quarries of excel-
lent stone, warm in winter, fanned by the cool northern
breezes in the summer-time, within easy reach of the
1 R. Stuart Poole, " Cities of Egypt," pp. 24, 25.
52 THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
sea, yet not so near as to attract the cupidity of
pirates. Few capitals have been more favourably
placed. It was inevitable that when the old town
went to ruins, a new one should spring up in its
stead. Memphis still exists, in a certain sense, in the
glories of the modern Cairo, which occupies an ad-
jacent site, and is composed largely of the same
materials.
The Egyptians knew no more of their first king
than that he turned the course of the Nile, founded
Memphis, built the nucleus of the great temple of
Phthah, and " was devoured by a hippopotamus."
This last fact is related with all due gravity by
Manetho, notwithstanding that the hippopotamus
is a graminivorous animal, one that " eats grass like
an ox" (Job xi. 15). Probably the old Egyptian
writer whom he followed meant that M'na at last fell
a victim to Taourt, the Goddess of Evil, to whom the
hippopotamus was sacred, and who was herself figured
as a hippopotamus erect. This would be merely
equivalent to relating that he succumbed to death.
Manetho gave him a reign of sixty-two years.
The question is asked by the modern critics, who
will take nothing on trust, " Have we in Menes a real
Egyptian, a being of flesh and blood, one who truly
lived, breathed, fought, built, ruled, and at last died ?
Or are we still dealing with a phantom, as much as
when we spoke of Seb, and Thoth, and Osiris, and Set,
and Horus ?" The answer seems to be, that we can-
not tell. The Egyptians believed in Menes as a man ;
they placed him at the head of their dynastic lists ;
but they had no contemporary monument to show
M*NA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. $3
inscribed with his name. A name like that of Menes
is found at the beginning of things in so many
nations, that on that account alone the word would
be suspicious ; in Greece it is Minos, in Phrygia
Manis, in Lydia Manes, in India Menu, in Germany
Mannus. And again, the name of the founder is so
like that of the city which he founded, that another
suspicion arises — Have we not here one of the many
instances of a personal name made out of a local one,
as Nin or Minus from Nineveh (Ninua), Romulus
from Roma, and the like ? Probably we shall do
best to acquiesce in the judgment of Dr Birch :
" Menes must be placed among those founders of
monarchies whose personal existence a severe and
enlightened criticism doubts or denies."
The city was, however, a reality, the embankment
was a reality, the temple of Phthah was a reality, and
the founding of a kingdom in Egypt, which included
both the Upper and the Lower country some con-
siderable time before the date of Abraham, was a
reality, which the sternest criticism need not — nay,
cannot — doubt. All antiquity attests that the valley
of the Nile was one of the first seats of civilization.
Abraham found a settled government established
there when he visited the country, and a consecutive
series of monuments carries the date of the first
civilization at least as far back as B.C. 2700 — probably
further.
If the great Menes, then, notwithstanding all that
we are told of his doings, be a mere shadowy person-
age, little more than tnagni nominis umbra, what
shall we say of his twenty or thirty successors of the
54 THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
first, second, and third dynasties? What but that
they are shadows of shadows ? The native monuments
of the early Ramesside period (about B.C. 1 400-1 300)
assign to this time some twenty-five names of kings ;
but they do not agree in their order, nor do they
altogether agree in the names. The kings, if they
weie kings, have left no history — we can only by
co ijecture attach to them any particular buildings,
v\e can give no account of their actions, we can
iissign no chronology to their reigns. They are of no
more importance in the " story of Egypt " than the
Alban kings in the " story of Rome." " Non ragionam
di loro, maguarda e passi."
The first living, breathing, acting, flesh-and-blood
personage, whom so-called histories of Egypt present
to us, is a certain Sneferu, or Seneferu, whom the
Egyptians seem to have regarded as the first monarch
of their fourth dynasty. Sneferu — called by Manetho,
we know not why, Soris — has left us a representation
of himself, and an inscription. On the rocks of
Wady Magharah, in the Sinaitic peninsula, may be
seen to this day an incised tablet representing the
monarch in the act of smiting an enemy, whom he
holds by the hair of his head, with a mace. The
action is apparently emblematic, for at the side we
see the words Ta satit, " Smiter of the nations ; " and
it is a fair explanation of the tablet, that its intention
was to signify that the Pharaoh in question had re-
duced to subjection the tribes which in his time in-
habited the Sinaitic regions. The motive of the
attack was not mere lust of conquest, but rather the
desire of gain. The Wady Magharah contained
SNEFERU, THE FIRST CERTAIN KING.
65
mines of copper and of turquoise, which the Egyptians
desired to work ; and for this purpose it was necessary
to hold the country by a set of military posts, in
order that the miners might pursue their labours
without molestation. Some ruins of the fortifications
are still to be seen ; and the mines themselves, now
exhausted, pierce the sides of the rocks, and bear in
TABLET AT SNEFERU AT WADY-MAGHARAII.
many places traces of hieroglyphical inscriptions.
The remains of temples show that the expatriated
colonists were not left without the consolations of
religion, while a deep well indicates the care that was
taken to supply their temporal needs. Thousands of
stone arrow-heads give evidence of the presence of a
strong garrison, and make us acquainted with the
56 THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
weapon which they found most effectual against their
enemies.
Sneferu calls himself Neter aa, " the Great God,"
and Neb mat, " the Lord of Justice." He is also " the
Golden Horus," or "the Conqueror." Neb mat is not
a usual title with Egyptian monarchs ; and its as-
sumption by Sneferu would seem to mark, at any
rate, his appreciation of the excellence of justice, and
his desire to have the reputation of a just ruler.
Later ages give him the title of " the beneficent king,"
so that he would seem to have been a really unselfish
and kindly sovereign. His form, however, only just
emerges from the mists of the period to be again
concealed from our view, and we vainly ask ourselves
what exactly were the benefits that he conferred on
Egypt, so as to attain his high reputation.
Still, the monuments of his time are sufficient to
tell us something of the Egypt of his day, and of the
amount and character of the civilization so early
attained by the Egyptian people. Besides his own
tablet in the Wady Magharah, there are in the
neighbourhood of the pyramids of Ghizeh a number
of tombs which belong to the officials of his court
and the members of his family. These tombs contain
both sculptures and inscriptions, and throw consider-
able light on the condition of the country.
In the first place, it is apparent that the style of
writing has been invented which is called hiero-
glyphical, and which has the appearance of a picture
writing, though it is almost as absolutely phonetic as
any other. Setting apart a certain small number of
" determinatives," each sign stands for a sound — the
CIVILIZATION OF SNEFERU'S TIME. 5/
greater part for those elementary sounds which we
express by letters. An eagle is a, a leg and foot b,
a horned serpent/, a hand /, an owl ;//, a chicken n,
and the like. It is true that there are signs which
express a compound sound, a whole word, even a
word of two syllables. A bowl or basin represents
the sound of neb, a hatchet that of neter, a guitar that
of nefer, a crescent that of aah, and so on. Secondly,
it is clear that artistic power is considerable. The
animal forms used in the hieroglyphics — the bee, the
vulture, the ura^us, the hawk, the chicken, the eagle- —
are well drawn. In the human forms there is less
merit, but still they are fairly well proportioned and
have spirit. No rudeness or want of finish attaches
either to the writing or to the drawing of Sneferu's
time ; the artists do not attempt much, but what they
attempt they accomplish.
Next, we may notice the character of the tombs.
Already the tomb was more important than the
house; and while every habitation constructed for the
living men of the time has utterly perished, scores of
the dwellings assigned to the departed still exist,
many in an excellent condition. They are stone
buildings resembling small houses, each with its door
of entrance, but with no windows, and forming
internally a small chamber generally decorated with
sculptures. The walls slope at an angle of seventy-
five or eighty degrees externally, but in the interior
are perpendicular. The roof is composed of large
flat stones. Strictly speaking, the chambers are not
actual tombs, but mortuary chapels. The embalmed
body of the deceased, encased in its wooden coffin
58 THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
(Gen. 1. 26), was not deposited in the chamber, but in
an excavation under one of the walls, which was
carefully closed up after the coffin had been placed
inside it. The chamber was used by the relations for
sacred rites, sacrificial feasts, and the like, held in
honour of the deceased, especially on the anniversary
of his death and entrance into Amenti. The early
Egyptians indulged, like the Chinese, in a worship of
ancestors. The members of a family met from time
to time in the sepulchral chamber of their father, or
their grandfather, and went through various cere-
monies, sang hymns, poured libations, and made
offerings, which were regarded as pleasing to the
departed, and which secured their protection and
help to such of their descendants as took part in the
pious practices.
Sometimes a tomb was more pretentious than those
above described. There is an edifice at Meydoum,
improperly termed a pyramid, which is thought to be
older than Sneferu, and was probably erected by one
of the "shadowy kings" who preceded him on the
throne. Situated on a natural rocky knoll of some
considerable height, it rises in three stages at an angle
of 740 10' to an elevation of a hundred and twenty-
five feet. It is built of a compact limestone, which
must have been brought from some distance. The
first stage has a height a little short of seventy feet ;
the next exceeds thirty-two feet ; the third is a little
over twenty-two feet. It is possible that originally
there were more stages, and probable that the present
highest stage has in part crumbled away ; so that we
may fairly reckon the original height to have beep
PYRAMID OF MEYDOUM.
59
between a hundred and forty and a hundred and fifty
feet. The monument is generally regarded as a tomb,
from its situation in the Memphian necropolis and its
remote resemblance to the pyramids ; but as yet it
has not been penetrated, and consequently has not
been proved to have been sepulchral.
A construction, which has even a greater appear-
ance of antiquity than the Meydoum tower, exists at
PYRAMID OF MEYDOUM.
Saccarah. Here the architect carried up a monument
to the height of two hundred feet, by constructing it in
six or seven sloping stages, having an angle of j$° 30'.
The core of his building was composed of rubble, but
this was protected on every side by a thick casing of
limestone roughly hewn, and apparently quarried on
the spot. The sepulchral intention of the construction
is unquestionable. Tt covered a spacious chamber
excavated in the rock, whereon the monument was
60 THE DAWN OF HISTORV.
built, which, when first discovered, contained a sarco-
phagus and was lined with slabs of granite. Carefully
concealed passages connected the chamber with the
outer world, and allowed of its being entered by
those in possession of the " secrets of the prison-
house." In this structure we have, no doubt, the
tomb of a king more ancient than Sneferu — though
for our own part we should hesitate to assign the
monument to one king rather than another.
If we pass from the architecture of the period to
its social condition, we remark that grades of society
already existed, and were as pronounced as in later
times. The kings were already deities, and treated
with superstitious regard. The state-officials were a
highly privileged class, generally more or less con-
nected with the royal family. The land was partly
owned by the king (Gen. xlvii. 6), who employed his
own labourers and herdsmen upon it ; partly, mainly
perhaps, it was in the hands of great landed proprie-
tors— nobles, who lived in country houses upon their
estates, maintaining large households, and giving em-
ployment to scores of peasants, herdsmen, artizans,
huntsmen, and fishermen. The " lower orders" were
of very little account. They were at the beck and
call of the landed aristocracy in the country districts,
of the state-officials in the towns. Above all, the
monarch had the right of impressing them into his
service whenever he pleased, and employing them in
the " great works " by which he strove to perpetuate
his name.
There prevailed, however, a great simplicity of man-
ners. The dress of the upper classes was wonderfully
THE GREAT PYRAMID OF SACCARAH.
Ol
plain and unpretending-, presenting little variety and
scarcely any ornament. The grandee wore, indeed, an
elaborate wig, it being imperative on all men to shave
GREAT PYRAMID OF SACCARAH ( Present appearance).
SECTION' OF THE SAME, SHOWING ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION.
the head for the sake of cleanliness. But otherwise,
his costume was of the simplest and the scantiest.
Ordinarily, when he was employed in the common
duties of life, a short tunic, probably of white linen,
62 THE DAWN OF HISTORf.
reaching from the waist to a little above the knee,
was his sole garment. His arms, chest, legs, even his
feet, were naked ; for sandals, not to speak of stock-
ings or shoes, were unknown. The only decoration
which he wore was a chain or riband round the neck,
to which was suspended an ornament like a locket —
probably an amulet. In his right hand he carried a
long staff or wand, either for the purpose of be-
labouring his inferiors, or else to use it as a walking-
stick. On special occasions he made, however, a
more elaborate toilet. Doffing his linen tunic, he
clothed himself in a single, somewhat scanty, robe,
which reached from the neck to the ankles ; and
having exchanged his chain and locket for a broad
collar, and adorned his wrists with bracelets, he was
ready to pay visits or to receive company. He had
no carriage, so far as appears, not even a palanquin ;
no horse to ride, nor even a mule or a donkey. The
great men of the East rode, in later times, on " white
asses " (Judges v. 10) ; the Egyptian of Sneferu's age
had to trudge to court, or to make calls upon his
friends, by the sole aid of those means of locomotion
which nature had given him.
Women, who in most civilized countries claim to
themselves far more elaboration in dress and variety
of ornament than men, were content, in the Egypt of
which we are here speaking, with a costume, and a
personal decoration, scarcely less simple than that of
their husbands. The Egyptian matcrfamilias of the
time wore her hair long, and gathered into three
masses, one behind the head, and the other two in
front of either shoulder. Like her spouse, she had
Statuary of snefer&s time. 63
but a single garment — a short gown or petticoat
reaching from just below the breasts to half way down
the calf of the leg, and supported by two broad straps
passed over the two shoulders. She exposed her
GROUP OK STATUARY, CONSISTING OF A HUSBAND AND WIFE.
arms and bosom to sight, and her feet were bare, like
her husband's. Her only ornaments were bracelets.
There was no seclusion of women at any time
among the ancient Egyptians. The figure of the wife-
64 THE DAWN OF HISTORY.
on the early monuments constantly accompanies that
of her husband. She is his associate in all his oc-
cupations. Her subordination is indicated by her
representation being on an unduly smaller scale, and
by her ordinary position, which is behind the figure of
her " lord and master." In statuary, however, she
appears seated with him on the same seat or chair.
There is no appearance of her having been either a
drudge or a plaything. She was regarded as man's
true " helpmate," shared his thoughts, ruled his family,
and during their early years had the charge of his
children. Polygamy was unknown in Egypt during
the primitive period ; even the kings had then but
one wife. Sneferu's wife was a certain Mertitefs, who
bore him a son, Nefer-mat, and after his death became
the wife of his successor. Women were entombed
with as much care, and almost with as much pomp,
as men. Their right to ascend the throne is said to
have been asserted by one of the kings who pre-
ceded Sneferu ; and from time to time women actually
exercised in Egypt the royal authority.
IV.
THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
It is difficult for a European, or an American, who
has not visited Egypt, to realize the conception of a
Great Pyramid. The pyramidal form has gone en-
tirely out of use as an architectural type of monu-
mental perfection ; nay, even as an architectural
embellishment. It maintained an honourable position
in architecture from its first discovery to the time of
the Maccabee kings (i Mac. xiii. 28) ; but, never having
been adopted by either the Greeks or the Romans, it
passed into desuetude in the Old World with the
conquest of the East by the West. In the New
World it was found existent by the early discoverers,
and then held a high place in the regards of the native
race which had reached the furthest towards civiliza-
tion ; but Spanish bigotry looked with horror on
everything that stood connected with an idolatrous
religion, and the pyramids of Mexico were first
wantonly injured, and then allowed to fall into such
a state of decay, that their original form is by some
questioned. A visit to the plains of Teotihuacan
will not convey to the mind which is a blank on the
subject the true conception of a great pyramid. It
requires a pilgrimage to Ghizeh or Saccarah, or a
66 THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
lively and well-instructed imagination, to enable a
man to call up before his mind's eye the true
form and appearance and impressiveness of such a
structure.
Lord Houghton endeavoured to give expression to
the feelings of one who sees for the first time these
wondrous, these incomprehensible creations in the
following lines :
After the fantasies of many a night,
After the deep desires of many a day,
Rejoicing as an ancient Eremite
Upon the desert's edge at last I lay :
Before me rose, in wonderful array,
Those works where man has rivalled Nature most,
Those Pyramids, that fear no more decay
Than waves inflict upon the rockiest coast,
Or winds on mountain-steeps, and like endurance boast»
Fragments the deluge of old Time has left
Behind in its subsidence — long long walls
Of cities of their very names bereft, —
Lone columns, remnants of majestic halls,
Rich traceried chambers, where the night-dew falls, — ■
All have I seen with feelings due, I trow,
Yet not with such as these memorials
Of the great unremembered, that can show
The mass and shape they wore four thousand years ago.
The Egyptian idea of a pyramid was that tf a
structure on a square base, with four inclining sides,
each one of which should be an equilateral triangle, all
meeting in a point at the top. The structure might
be solid, and in that case might be either of hewn
stone throughout, or consist of a mass of rubble
merely held together by an external casing of stone ;
or it might contain chambers and passages, in which
case the employment of rubble was scarcely possible.
THE THREE PYRAMIDS OF GHIZEH. 6j
It has been demonstrated by actual excavation, that
all the great pyramids of Egypt were of the latter
character— that they were built for the express pur-
pose of containing chambers and passages, and of
preserving those chambers and passages intact. They
required, therefore, to be, and in most cases are, of a
good construction throughout.
There are from sixty to seventy pyramids in Egypt,
chiefly in the neighbourhood of Memphis Some of
them are nearly perfect, some more or less in ruins,
but most of them still preserving their ancient shape
when seen from afar. Two of them greatly exceed
all the othes in their dimensions, and are appropriately
designated as " the Great Pyramid " and " the Second
Pyramid." A third in their immediate vicinity is of
very inferior size, and scarcely deserves the pre-emin-
ence which has been conceded to it by the designation
of " the Third Pyramid."
Still, the three seem, all of them, to deserve descrip-
tion, and to challenge a place in "the story of Egypt,"
which has never yet been told without some account
of the marvels of each of them. The smallest of the
three was a square of three hundred and fifty-four feet
each way, and had a height of two hundred and
eighteen feet. It covered an area of two acres, three
roods, and twenty -one poles, or about that of an or-
dinary London square. The cubic contents amounted
to above nine million feet of solid masonry, and are
calculated to have weighed 702,460 tons. The height
was not very impressive. Two hundred and twenty
feet is an altitude attained by the towers of many
churches, and the "Pyramid of the Sun" at Teotihua-
68 THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
can did not fall much short of it ; but the mass was
immense, the masonry was excellent, and the in-
genuity shown in the construction was great. Sunk
in the rock from which the pyramid rose, was a series
of sepulchral chambers. One, the largest, almost
directly under the apex of the pyramid, was empty.
In another, which had an arched roof, constructed in
the most careful and elaborate way, was found the
sarcophagus of the king, Men-kau-ra, to whom tradi-
tion assigned the building, formed of a single mass of
blue-black basalt, exquisitely polished and beautifully
carved, externally eight feet long, three feet high, and
three feet broad, internally six feet by two. In the
sarcophagus was the wooden coffin of the monarch,
and on the lid of the coffin was his name. The
chambers were connected by two long passages with
the open air ; and another passage had, apparently,
been used for the same purpose before the pyramid
attained its ultimate size. The tomb- chamber, though
carved in the rock, had been paved and lined with
slabs of solid stone, which were fastened to the native
rock by iron cramps. The weight of the sarcophagus
which it contained, now unhappily lost, was three tons.
The " Second Pyramid," which stands to the north-
east of the Third, at the distance of about two hundred
and seventy yards, was a square of seven hundred and
seven feet each way, and thus covered an area of
almost eleven acres and a half, or nearly double that
of the greatest building which Rome ever produced —
the Coliseum. The sides rose at an angle of 520 10' ;
and the perpendicular height was four hundred and
fifty-four feet, or fifty feet more than that of the spire
A
,4
u i i ft
MASS OF THE SECOND PYRAMID. J I
of Salisbury Cathedral. The cubic contents are
estimated at 71,670,000 feet; and their weight is cal-
culated at 5,309,000 tons. Numbers of this vast
amount convey but little idea of the reality to an
ordinary reader, and require to be made intelligible
by comparisons. Suppose, then, a solidly built stone
house, with walls a foot thick, twenty feet of frontage,
and thirty feet of depth from front to back ; let the
walls be twenty-four feet high and have a foundation
of six feet ; throw in party -walls to one-third the
extent of the main walls — and the result will be a
building containing four thousand cubic feet of
masonry. Let there be a town of eighteen thousand
such houses, suited to be the abode of a hundred
thousand inhabitants — then pull these houses to
pieces, and pile them up into a heap to a height
exceeding that of the spire of the Cathedral of Vienna,
and you will have a rough representation of the
" Second Pyramid of Ghizeh." Or lay down the
contents of the structure in a line a foot in breadth
and depth — the line would be above 13,500 miles long,
and would reach more than half-way round the earth
at the equator. Again, suppose that a single man
can quarry a ton of stone in a week, then it would
have required above twenty thousand to be employed
constantly for five years in order to obtain the
material for the pyramid ; and if the blocks were
required to be large, the number employed and the
time occupied would have had to be greater.
The internal construction of the " Second Pyramid "
is less elaborate than that of the Third, but not very
different. Two passages lead from the outer air to a
72 THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
sepulchral chamber almost exactly under the apex of
the pyramid, and exactly at its base, one of them
commencing about fifty feet from the base midway
in the north side, and the other commencing a little
outside the base, in the pavement at the foot of the
pyramid. The first passage was carried through the
substance of the pyramid for a distance of a hundred
and ten feet at a descending angle of 250 55', after
which it became horizontal, and was tunnelled through
the native rock on which the pyramid was built. The
second passage was wholly in the rock. It began
with a descent at an angle of 21° 40', which continued
for a hundred feet ; it was then horizontal for fifty
feet ; after which it ascended gently for ninety-six
feet, and joined the first passage about midway
between the sepulchral chamber and the outer air.
The sepulchral chamber was carved mainly out of the
solid rock below the pyramid, but was roofed in by
some of the basement stones, which were sloped at an
angle. The chamber measured forty-six feet in length
and sixteen feet in breadth ; its height in the centre
was twenty- two feet. It contained a plain granite
sarcophagus, without inscription of any kind, eight
feet and a half in length, three feet and a half in
breadth, and in depth three feet. There was no coffin
in the sarcophagus at the time of its discovery, and
no inscription on any part of the pyramid or of its
contents. The tradition, however, which ascribed it
to the immediate predecessor of Men-kau-ra, may be
accepted as sufficient evidence of its author.
Come we now to the " Great Pyramid," "which is
still," says Lenormant, "at least in respect of its mass,
SARCOPHAGUS OF MYCERINUS.
'-■>-•
„ 1
SECTION OF THE SECOND PYRAMID.
THE GREAT PYRAMID. 75
the mvst prodigious of all human co?istructions." The
" Great Pyramid," or " First Pyramid of Ghizeh," as it
is indifferently termed, is situated almost due north-
east of the " Second Pyramid," at the distance of
about two hundred yards. The length of each side
at the base was originally seven hundred and sixty-
four feet, or fifty-seven feet more than that of the
sides of the " Second Pyramid." Its original per-
pendicular height was something over four hundred
and eighty feet, its cubic contents exceeded eighty-
nine million feet, and the weight of its mass 6,840,000
tons. In height it thus exceeded Strasburg Cathedral
by above six feet, St. Peter's at Rome by above thirty
feet, St. Stephen's at Vienna by fifty feet, St. Paul's,
London, by a hundred and twenty feet, and the
Capitol at Washington by nearly two hundred feet.
Its area was thirteen acres, one rood, and twenty-two
poles, or nearly two acres more than the area of the
" Second Pyramid," which was fourfold that of the
'• Third Pyramid," which, as we have seen, was that
of an ordinary London square. Its cubic contents
would build a city of twenty-two thousand such houses
as were above described, and laid in a line of cubic
squares would reach a distance of nearly seventeen
thousand miles, or girdle two-thirds of the earth's cir-
cumference at the equator. Herodotus says that its
construction required the continuous labour of a
hundred thousand men for the space of twenty years,
and moderns do not regard iheestimate as exaggerated.
The "Great Pyramid" presents, moreover, many
other marvels besides its size. First, there is the
massiveness of the blocks of which it is composed.
76
THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
The basement stones are in many cases thirty feet
long by five feet high, and four or five wide : they
must contain from six hundred to seven hundred and
fifty cubic feet each, and weigh from forty-six to fifty-
seven tons. The granite blocks which roof over the
upper sepulchral chamber are nearly nineteen feet
long, by two broad and from three to four deep. The
relieving stones above the same chamber, and those
SECTION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID.
of the entrance passage, are almost equally massive.
Generally the external blocks are of a size with which
modern builders scarcely ever venture to deal, though
the massiveness diminishes as the pyramid is as-
cended. The bulk of the interior is, however, of
comparatively small stones ; but even these are care-
fully hewn and squared, so as to fit together compactly.
Further, there are the passages, the long gallery,
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
7?
the ventilation shafts, and the sepulchral chambers
all of them remarkable, and some of them simply
astonishing. The "Great Pyramid" guards three
chambers. One lies deep in the rock, about a hundred
and twenty feet beneath the natural surface of the
ground, and is placed almost directly below the apex
king's chamber and chambers of construction,
great pyramid.
of the structure. It measures forty-six feet by twenty-
seven, and is eleven feet high. The access to it is by
a long and narrow passage which commences in the
north side of the pyramid, about seventy feet above
the original base, and descends for forty yards through
the masonry, and then for seventy more in the same
J& THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
line through the solid rock, when it changes its
direction, becoming horizontal for nine yards, and so
entering the chamber itself. The two oftier chambers
are reached by an ascending passage, which branches
off from the descending one at the distance of about
thirty yards from the entrance, and mounts up through
the heart of the pyramid for rather more than forty
yards, when it divides into two. A low horizontal
gallery, a hundred and ten feet long, leads to a
chamber which has been called "the Queen's " — a room
about nineteen feet long by seventeen broad, roofed
in with sloping blocks, and having a height of twenty
feet in the centre. Another longer and much loftier
gallery continues on for a hundred and fifty feet in
the line of the ascending passage, and is then con-
nected by a short horizontal passage with the upper-
most or "King's Chamber." Here was found a
sarcophagus believed to be that of King Khufu, since
the name of Khufu was scrawled in more than one
place on the chamber walls.
The construction of this chamber — the very kernel
of the whole building — is exceedingly remarkable.
It is a room of thirty-four feet in length, with a width
of seventeen feet, and a height of nineteen, composed
wholly of granite blocks of great size, beautifully
polished, and fitted together with great care. The
construction of the roof is particularly admirable.
First, the chamber is covered in with nine huge
blocks, each nearly nineteen feet long and four feet
wide, which are laid side by side upon the walls so as
to form a complete ceiling. Then above these blocks
is a low chamber similarly covered in, and this is
GALLERY IN THE GREAT PYRAMID. »1
repeated four times ; after which there is a fifth
opening, triangular, and roofed in by a set of huge
sloping blocks, which meet at the apex and support
each other. The object is to relieve the chamber
from any superincumbent weight, and prevent it from
being crushed in by the mass of material above it ;
and this object has been so completely attained that
still, at the expiration of above forty centuries, the
entire chamber, with its elaborate roof, remains intact,
without crack or settlement of any kind.
Further, from the great chamber are carried two
ventilation-shafts, or air - passages, northwards and
southwards, which open on the outer surface of the
pyramid, and are respectively two hundred and thirty-
three and one hundred and ninety-four feet long.
These passages are square, or nearly so, and have a
diameter varying between six and nine inches. They
give a continual supply of pure air to the chamber,
and keep it dry at all seasons.
The Great Gallery is also of curious construction.
Extending for a distance of one hundred and fifty feet,
and rising at an angle of 260 18', it has a width of five
feet at the base and a height of above thirty feet. The
side walls are formed of seven layers of stone, each pro-
jecting a few inches over that below it. The gallery
thus gradually contracts towards the top, which has a
width of four feet only, and is covered in with stones
that reach across it, and rest on the walls at either side.
The exact object of so lofty a gallery has not been
ascertained ; but it must have helped to keep the air
of the interior pure and sweet, by increasing the space
through which it had to circulate.
$2 THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
The " Pyramid Builders," or kings who constructed
thr three monuments that have now been described,
were, according to a unanimous tradition, three con-
secutive monarchs, whose native names are read as
Khufu, Shafra, and Menkaura. These kings belonged
to Manetho's fourth dynasty ; and Khufu, the first of
the three, seems to have been the immediate successor
of Sneferu. Theorists have delighted to indulge in
speculations as to the objects which the builders had
in view when they raised such magnificent construc-
tions. One holds that the Great Pyramid, at any
rate, was built to embody cosmic discoveries, as the
exact length of the earth's diameter and circumfe-
rence, the length of an arc of the meridian, and the
true unit of measure. Another believes the great
work of Khufu to have been an observatory, and the
ventilating passages to have been designed for " tele-
scopes," through which observations were to be made
upon the sun and stars ; but it has not yet been shown
that there is any valid foundation for these fancies,
which have been spun with much art out of the deli-
cate fabric of their propounders' brains. The one hard
fact which rests upon abundant evidence is this — the
pyramids were built for tombs, to contain the mum-
mies of deceased Egyptians. The chambers in their
interiors, at the time of their discovery, held within
them sarcophagi, and in one instance the sarcophagus
had within it a coffin. The coffin had an inscription
upon it, which showed that it had once contained the
body of a king. If anything more is necessary, we
may add that every pyramid in Egypt — and there are,
as we have said, more than sixty of them — was built
PYRAMIDS NOT GRADUAL ACCRETIONS. 8j
for the same purpose, and that they all occupy sites
in the great necropolis, or burial-ground opposite
Memphis, where the inhabitants are known to have
laid their dead.
The marvel is, how Khufu came suddenly to have
so magnificent a thought as that of constructing an
edifice double the height of any previously existing,
covering five times the area, and containing ten times
the mass. Architecture does not generally proceed
by " leaps and bounds ; " but here was a case of a
sudden extraordinary advance, such as we shall find
it difficult to parallel elsewhere. An attempt has
been made to solve the mystery by the supposition
that all pyramids were gradual accretions, and that
their size marks simply the length of a king's reign,
each monarch making his sepulchral chamber, with a
small pyramid above it, in his first year, and as his
reign went on, adding each year an outer coating ; so
that the number of these coatings tells the length
of his reign, as the age of a tree is known from the
number of its annual rings. In this case there would
have been nothing ideally great in the conception of
Khufu — he would simply have happened to erect the
biggest pyramid because he happened to have the
longest reign ; but, except in the case of the " Third
Pyramid," there is a unity of design in the structures
which implies that the architect had conceived the
whole structure in his mind from the first. The
lengths of the several parts are proportioned one to
another. In the " Great Pyramid," the main chamber
would not have needed the five relieving chambers
above it unless it was known that it would have to be
84 THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
pressed down by a superincumbent mass, such as
actually lies upon it. Moreover, how is it possible
to conceive that in the later years of a decrepid
monarch, the whole of an enormous pyramid could be
coated over with huge blocks — and the blocks are
largest at the external surface — the work requiring
to be pushed each year with more vigour, as becoming
each year greater and more difficult ? Again, what
shall we say of the external finish ? Each pyramid
was finally smoothed down to a uniform sloping sur-
face. This alone must have been a work of years.
Did a pyramid builder leave it to his successor to
finish his pyramid ? It is at least doubtful whether
any pyramid at all would ever have been finished had
he done so.
We must hold, therefore, that Khufu did suddenly
conceive a design without a parallel — did require his
architect to construct him a tomb, which should put
to shame all previous monuments, and should with
difficulty be surpassed, or even equalled. He must
have possessed much elevation of thought, and an
intense ambition, together with inordinate selfishness,
an overweening pride, and entire callousness to the
sufferings of others, before he could have approved
the plan which his master-builder set before him.
That plan, including the employment of huge blocks
of stone, their conveyance to the top of a hill a hun-
dred feet high, and their emplacement, in some cases,
at a further elevation of above 450 feet, involved,
under the circumstances of the time, such an amount
of human suffering, that no king who had any regard
for the happiness of his subjects could have consented
TYRANNY OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS. 8$
to it. Khufu must have forced his subjects to labour
for a long term of years — twenty, according to Hero-
dotus— at a servile work which was wholly unproduc-
tive, and was carried on amid their sighs and groans
for no object but his own glorification, and the sup-
posed safe custody of his remains. Shafra must have
done nearly the same. Hence an evil repute attached
to the pyramid builders, whose names were handed
down to posterity as those of evil-minded and impious
kings, who neglected the service of the gods to gratify
their own vanity, and, so long as they could exalt
themselves, did not care how much they oppressed
their people. There was not even the poor apology
for their conduct that their oppression fell on slaves,
or foreigners, or prisoners of war. Egypt was not
yet a conquering power ; prisoners of war were few,
slaves not very common. The labourers whom the
pyramid builders employed were their own free sub-
jects whom they impressed into the heavy service.
It is by a just Nemesis that the kings have in a
great measure failed to secure the ends at which they
aimed, and in hope of which they steeled their hearts
against their subjects' cries. They have indeed handed
down their names to a remote age : but it is as tyrants
and oppressors. They are world-famous, or rather
world-infamous. But that preservation of their cor-
poreal frame which they especially sought, is exactly
what they have missed attaining.
Let not a monument give you or me hopes,
Since not a pinch of dust remains of Chedps,
says the doggerel of the satiric Byron ; and it is the
86 THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
absolute fact that while thousands of mummies buried
in common graves remain untouched even to the
present day, the very grandeur of the pyramid
builders' tombs attracted attention to them, caused
the monuments to be opened, the sarcophagi to be
rifled, and the remains inclosed in them to be dis-
persed to the four winds of heaven.
Still, whatever gloomy associations attach to the
pyramids in respect of the sufferings caused by their
erection, as monuments they must always challenge
a certain amount of admiration. A great authority de-
clares : " No one can possibly examine the interior of
the Great Pyramid without being struck with astonish-
ment at the wonderful mechanical skill displayed in its
construction. The immense blocks of granite brought
from Syene, a distance of five hundred miles, polished
like glass, and so fitted that the joints can scarcely be
detected ! Nothing can be more wonderful than the
extraordinary amount of knowledge displayed in the
construction of the discharging chambers over the
roof of the principal apartment, in the alignment of
the sloping galleries, in the provision of the ventilating
shafts, and in all the wonderful contrivances of the
structure. All these, too, are carried out with such
precision that, notwithstanding the immense super-
incumbent weight, no settlement in any part can be
detected to an appreciable fraction of an inch. Nothing
more perfect mechanically has ever been erected since
that time." x
The architectural effect of the two greatest of the
pyramids is certainly magnificent. They do not
1 Fergusson, "History of Architecture," vol. i. pp. 91, 92.
*OL
sn loo ijo
^^^3
SECTION OF THE THIRD PYRAMID, SHOWING PASSAGES.
u
TOMB-CHAMBER OF THE THIRD PYRAMID.
IMPRESSIVENESS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 89
greatly impress the beholder at first sight, for a pyra-
mid, by the very law of its formation, never looks as
large as it is— it slopes away from the eye in every
direction, and eludes rather than courts observation.
But as the spectator gazes, as he prolongs his exami-
nation and inspection, the pyramids gain upon him,
their impressiveness increases. By the vastness of
their mass, by the impression of solidity and dura-
bility which they produce, partly also, perhaps, by
the symmetry and harmony of their lines and their
perfect simplicity and freedom from ornament, they
convey to the beholder a sense of grandeur and
majesty, they produce within him a feeling of aston-
ishment and awe, such as is scarcely caused by any
other of the erections of man. In all ages travellers
have felt and expressed the warmest admiration for
them. They impressed Herodotus as no works that
he had seen elsewhere, except, perhaps, the Baby-
lonian. They astonished Germanicus, familiar as he
was with the great constructions of Rome. They
furnished Napoleon with the telling phrase, " Soldiers,
forty centuries look down upon you from the top of
the pyramids." Greece and Rome reckoned them
among the Seven Wonders of the world. Moderns
have doubted whether they could really be the work
of human hands. If the)' possess only one of the
elements of architectural excellence, they possess that
element to so great an extent that in respect of it
they are unsurpassed, and probably unsurpassable.
These remarks apply especially to the first and
second pyramids. The " Third " is not a work of
any very extraordinary grandeur. The bulk is not
90 THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
greater than that of the chief pyramid of Saccarah,
which has never attracted much attention ; and the
height did not greatly exceed that of the chief Mexi-
can temple-mound.. Moreover, the stones of which
the pyramid was composed are not excessively mas-
sive. The monument aimed at being beautiful rather
than grand. It was coated for half its height with
blocks of pink granite from Syene, bevelled at the
edges, which remain still in place on two sides of the
structure. The entrance to it, on the north side, was
conspicuous, and seems to have had a metal orna-
mentation let into the stone. The sepulchral chamber
was beautifully lined and roofed, and the sarcophagus
was exquisitively carved. Menkaura, the constructor,
was not regarded as a tyrant, or an oppressor, but as
a mild and religious monarch, whom the gods ill-used
by giving him too short a reign. His religious temper
is indicated by the inscription on the coffin which
contained his remains: " O Osiris," it reads, " King of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Menkaura, living eternally,
engendered by the Heaven, born of Nut, substance of
Seb, thy mother Nut stretches herself over thee in
her name of the abyss of heaven. She renders thee
divine by destroying all thy enemies, O King Men-
kaura, living eternally.'*
The fashion of burying in pyramids continued to
the close of Manetho's sixth dynasty, but no later
monarchs rivalled the great works of Khufu and
Shafra. The tombs of their successors were monu-
ments of a moderate size, involving no oppression
of the people, but perhaps rather improving their
condition by causing a rise in the rate of wages.
CONDITION OF EGYPT UNDER THEM. 9 1
Certainly, the native remains of the period give a
cheerful representation of the condition of all classes.
The nation for the most part enjoys peace, and
applies itself to production. The wealth of the
nobles increases, and the position of their dependents
is improved. Slaves were few, and there was ample
employment for the labouring classes. We do not see
the stick at work upon the backs of the labourers in
the sculptures of the time ; they seem to accomplish
their various tasks with alacrity and gaiety of heart.
They plough, and hoe, and reap ; drive cattle or asses ;
winnow and store corn ; gather grapes and tread
them, singing in chorus as they tread ; cluster round
the winepress or the threshingfloor, on which the
animals tramp out the grain ; gather lotuses ; save
cattle from the inundation ; engage in fowling or
fishing ; and do all with an apparent readiness and
cheerfulness which seems indicative of real content.
There may have been a darker side to the picture,
and undoubtedly was while Khufu and Shafra held
the throne ; but kings of a morose and cruel temper
seem to have been the exception, rather than the rule,
in Egypt ; and the moral code, which required kind-
ness to be shown to dependents, seems, at this period
at any rate, to have had a hold upon the consciences,
and to have influenced the conduct, of the mass of the
people. "Happy the nation that has no history!"
Egypt during this golden age was neither assailed by
any aggressive power beyond her borders, nor had
herself conceived the idea of distant conquest. An
occasional raid upon the negroes of the South, or
chastisement of the nomades of the East, secured, her
92 tHE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
interests in those quarters, and prevented her warlike
virtues from dying out through lack of use. But
otherwise tranquillity was undisturbed, and the ener-
gies of the nation were directed to increasing its
material prosperity, and to progress in the arts.
Among the marvels of Egypt perhaps the Sphinx
is second to none. The mysterious being with the
head of a man and the body of a lion is not at all
uncommon in Egyptian architectural adornment, but
the one placed before the Second Pyramid (the
Pyramid of Shafra), and supposed to be contem-
porary with it, astonishes the observer by its gigantic
proportions. It is known to the Arabs as Abul-
hol, the father of terror. It measures more than one
hundred feet in length, and was partially carved from
the rocks of the Lybian hills. Between its out-
stretched feet there stands a chapel, uncovered in
1816, three walls of which are formed by tablets
bearing inscriptions indicative of its use and origin.
A small temple behind the great Sphinx, probably
also built by Shafra, is formed of great blocks of the
hardest red granite, brought from the neighbour-
hood of Syene and fitted to each other with a nicety
astonishing to modern architects, who are unable to
imagine what tools could have proved equal to the
difficult achievement. Mysterious passages pierce
the great Sphinx and connect it with the Second
Pyramid, three hundred feet west of it. In the face
of this mystery all questions are vain, and yet every
visitor adds new queries to those that others have
asked before him.
THE GREAT SPHINX. 93
Since what unnumbered year
Mast thou kept watch and ward,
And o'er the buried land of fear
So grimly held thy guard ?
No faithless slumber snatching,
Still couched in silence brave,
Like some fierce hound, long watching
Above her master's grave. . . .
Dost thou in anguish thus
Still brood o'er CEdipus ?
And weave enigmas to mislead anew.
And stultify the blind
Dull heads of human-kind,
And inly make thy moan,
That, mid the hated crew,
Whom thou so long couldst vex,
Bewilder and perplex,
Thou yet couldst find a subtler than thin.- iweT
Even now, methinks that those
Dark, heavy lips which close
In such a stern repose,
Seem burdened with some thought unsaid,
And hoard within their portals dread
Some fearful secret there,
Which to the listening earth
She may not whisper forth,
Not even to the air !
Of awful wonders hid
In yonder dread Pyramid,
The home of magic fears :
Of chambers vast and lonely,
Watched by the Genii only,
Who tend their masters' long-forgotten biers:
And treasures lhat have shone
On cavern walls alone,
For thousand, thousand years.
Would she but tell. She knows
Of the old Pharaohs;
Q4- THE PYRAMID BUILDERS.
Could count the Ptolemies' long line ;
Each mighty myth's original hath seen,
Apis, Anubis, — ghosts that haunt between
The bestial and divine, —
(Such he that sleeps in Philce, — he that stands
In gloom unworshipped, 'neath his rock-hewn fane,-
And they who, sitting on Memnonian sands,
Cast their long shadows o'er the desert plain :)
Hath marked Nitocris pass,
And Oxymandyas
Deep- versed in many a dark Egyptian wile,—
The Hebrew boy hath eyed
Cold to the master's bride ;
And that Medusan stare hath frozen the smile
Of all her love and guile,
For whom the Ccesar sighed,
And the world-loser died,—
The darling of the Nile.
v.
THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER, AND THE EARLY
THEBAN KINGS.
HITHERTO Egypt had been ruled from \ site at
the junction of the narrow Nile valley with the broad
plain o.f the Delta — a site sufficiently represented by
the modern Cairo. But now there was a shift of the
seat of power. There is reason to believe that some-
thing like a disruption of Egypt into separate king-
doms took place, and that for a while several distinct
dynasties bore sway in different parts of the country.
Disruption was naturally accompanied by weakness
and decline. The old order ceased, and opportunity
was offered for some new order — some new power —
to assert itself. The site on which it arose was one
three hundred and fifty miles distant from the ancient
capital, or four hundred and more by the river. Here,
about lat. 260, the usually narrow valley of the Nile
opens into a sort of plain or basin. The mountains
on either side of the river recede, as though by com-
mon consent, and leave between themselves and the
river's bank a broad amphitheatre, which in each case
is a rich green plain — an alluvium of the most pro-
ductive character — dotted with dom and date palms,
sometimes growing single, sometimes collected into
g6 THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER
clumps or groves. On the western side the Libyan
range gathers itself up into a single considerable
peak, which has an elevation of twelve hundred feet.
On the east the desert-wall maintains its usual level
character, but is pierced by valleys conducting to the
coast of the Red Sea. The situation was one favour-
able for commerce. On the one side was the nearest
route through the sandy desert to the Lesser Oasis,
which commanded the trade of the African interior ;
on the other the way led through the valley of Ham-
mamat, rich with breccia verde and other valuable and
rare stones, to a district abounding in mines of gold,
silver, and lead, and thence to the Red Sea coast,
from which, even in very early times, there was com-
munication with the opposite coast of Arabia, the
region of gums and spices.
In this position there had existed, probably from
the very beginnings of Egypt, a provincial city of
some repute, called by its inhabitants Ape or Apiu,
and, with the feminine article prefixed, Tape, or
Tapiu, which some interpret " The city of thrones."
To the Greeks the name " Tape " seemed to resemble
their own well-known " Thebai," whence they trans-
ferred the familiar appellation from the Baeotian to
the Mid-Egyptian town, which has thus come to be
known to Englishmen and Anglo-Americans as
" Thebes." Thebes had been from the first the
capital of a " nome." It lay so far from the court
that it acquired a character of its own — a special cast
of religion, manners, speech, nomenclature, mode of
writing, and the like — which helped to detach it from
Lower or Northern Egypt more even than its isola-
ANTEF I., THE FIRST KNOWN THEBAN KING. 97
tion. Still, it was not until the northern kingdom
sank into decay' from internal weakness and exhaus-
tion, and disintegration supervened in the Delta and
elsewhere, that Thebes resolved to assert herself and
claim independent sovereignty. Apparently, she
achieved her purpose without having recourse to arms.
The kingdoms of the north were content to let her
go. They recognized their own weakness, and allowed
the nascent power to develop itself unchecked and
unhindered.
The first known Theban monarch is a certain
Antef or Enantef, whose coffin was discovered in
the year 1827 by some Arabs near Qurnah, to the
west of Thebes. The mummy bore the royal
diadem, and the epigraph on the lid of the coffin
declared the body which it contained to be that of
" Antef, king of the tzvo Egypts." The phrase im-
plied a claim to dominion over the whole country,
but a claim as purely nominal as that of the kings
of England from Edward IV. to George III. to be
monarchs of France and Navarre. Antcf's rule may
possibly have reached to Elephantine on the one
hand, but is not likely to have extended much beyond
Coptos on the other. He was a local chieftain
posing as a great sovereign, but probably with no
intention to deceive either his own contemporaries
or posterity. His name appears in some of the later
Egyptian dynastic lists ; but no monument of his
time has come down to us except the one that has
been mentioned.
Antef I. is thought to have been succeeded by
Mentu-hotep I., a monarch even more shadowy.
g8 THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER.
known to us only from the " Table of Karnak." This
prince, however, is followed by one who possesses a
greater amount of substance — Antef-aa, or " Antef
the Great," grandson, as it would seem, of the first
Antef — a sort of Egyptian Nimrod, who delighted
above all things in the chase. Antefaa's sepulchral
monument shows him to us standing in the midst of his
dogs, who wear collars, and have their names engraved
over them. The dogs are four in number, and are of
distinct types. The first, which is called Mahut, or
" Antelope," has drooping ears, and long but somewhat
heavy legs ; it resembles a foxhound, and was no doubt
both swift and strong, though it can scarcely have
been so swift as its namesake. The second was called
Abakaru, a name of unknown meaning ; it has pricked
up, pointed ears, a pointed nose, and a curly tail.
Some have compared it with the German spitz dog,
but it seems rather to be the original dog of nature,
a near congener of the jackal, and the type to which
all dogs revert when allowed to run wild and breed
indiscriminately. The third, named Pahats or
Kamu, i.e. " Blacky," is a heavy animal, not unlike a
mastiff; it has a small, rounded, drooping ear, a
square, blunt nose, a deep chest, and thick limbs.
The late Dr. Birch supposed that it might have been
employed by Antefaa in " the chase of the lion ; " but
we should rather regard it as a watch-dog, the terror
of thieves, and we suspect that the artist gave it the
sitting attitude to indicate that its business was not to
hunt, but to keep watch and ward at its master's gate.
The fourth dog, who bears the name of Tekal, and
walks between his master's legs, has ears that seem
ANTEF II. AND II IS DOGS. gg
to have been cropped. He has been said to resemble
"the Dalmatian hound"; but this is questionable.
His peculiarities are not marked ; but, on the whole,
it seems most probable that he is " a pet house-dog " l
of the terrier class, the special favourite of his master.
Antefaa's dogs had their appointed keeper, the master
of his kennel, who is figured on the sepulchral tablet
behind the monarch, and bears the name of Tekenru.
The hunter king was buried in a tomb marked only
by a pyramid of unbaked brick, very humble in its
character, but containing a mortuary chapel in which
the monument above described was set up. An in-
scription on the tablet declared that it was erected to
the memory of Antef the Great, Son of the Sun, King
of Upper and Lower Egypt, in the fiftieth year of his
reign.
Other Mentu-hoteps and other Antefs continued on
the line of Theban kings, reigning quietly and inglo-
riously, and leaving no mark upon the scroll of time,
yet probably advancing the material prosperity of
their country, and preparing the way for that rise to
greatness which gives Thebes, on the whole, the fore-
most place in Egyptian history. Useful projects
occupied the attention of these monarchs. One of
them sank wells in the valley of Hammamat, to pro-
vide water for the caravans which plied between
Coptos and the Red Sea. Another established
military posts in the valley to protect the traffic and
the Egyptian quarrymen. Later on, a king called
Sankh-ka-ra launched a fleet upon the Red Sea waters,
1 So Mr. A. D. Bartlett, F.Z.S., in the " Transactions of the Society
of Biblical Archaeology," vol. iv. p. 195.
100 THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER.
and opened direct communications with the sacred
land of Punt, the region of odoriferous gums and cf
strange animals, as giraffes, panthers, hunting leopards,
cynoccphalous apes, and long-tailed monkeys. There
is some doubt whether " Punt " was Arabia Felix, or
the Somauli country. In any case, it lay far down
the Gulf, and could only be reached after a voyage of
many days.
The dynasty of the Antefs and Mentu-hoteps, which
terminated with Sankh-ka-ra, was followed by one
in which the prevailing names were Usurtasen and
Amenemhat. This dynasty is Manetho's twelfth,
and the time of its rule has been characterized as " the
happiest age of Egyptian history?"1 The second
phase of Egyptian civilization now set in — a phase
which is regarded by many as outshining the glories
of the first. The first civilization had subordinated
the people to the monarch, and had aimed especially
at eternizing the memory and setting forth the power
and greatness of king after king. The second had
the benefit and advantage of the people for its primary
object ; it was utilitarian, beneficent, appealing less to
the eye than to the mind, far-sighted in its aims, and
most successful in the results which it effected. The
wise rulers of the time devoted their energies and
their resources, not, as the earlier kings, to piling
up undying memorials of themselves in the shape
of monuments that " reached to heaven," but to
useful works, to the excavation of wells and reservoirs,
the making of roads, the encouragement of commerce,
and the development of the vast agricultural wealth
1 R. Stuart Poole, "Cities of Egypt," p. 52.
ACCESSION OF AM EN EM HAT I. iol
of the country. They also diligently guarded the
frontiers, chastised aggressive tribes, and checked
invasion by the establishment of strong fortresses in
positions of importance. They patronized art, em-
ploying themselves in building temples rather than
tombs, and adorned their temples not only with
reliefs and statues, but also with the novel architectural
embellishment of the obelisk, a delicate form, and one
especially suited to the country.
The founder of the " twelfth dynasty," Amenemhat
I., deserves a few words of description. He found
Thebes in a state of anarchy ; civil war raged on every
side ; all the traditions of the past were forgotten ;
noble fought against noble ; the poor were oppressed ;
life and property were alike insecure; "there was
stability of fortune neither for the ignorant nor for
the learned man." One night, after he had lain
down to sleep, he found himself attacked in his bed-
chamber ; the clang of arms sounded near at hand.
Starting from his couch, he seized his own weapons
and struck out ; when lo ! his assailants fled ; detected
in their attempt to assassinate him, they dared not
offer any resistance, thus showing themselves alike
treacherous and cowardly. Amenemhat, having once
taken arms, did not lay them down till he had
defeated every rival, and so fought his way to the
crown. Once acknowledged as king, he ruled with
moderation and equity ; he :l gave to the humble, and
made the weak to live ; " he "caused the afflicted to
cease from their afflictions, and their cries to be heard
no more ; " he brought it to pass that none hungered
or thirsted in the land ; he gave such orders to his
102 THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER.
servants as continually increased the love of his
people towards him. At the same time, he was an
energetic warrior. He " stood on the boundaries of
the land, to keep watch on its borders," personally
leading his soldiers to battle, armed with the khopesh
or falchion. He carried on wars with the Petti, or
bowmen of the Libyan interior, with the Sakti or
Asiatics, with the Maxyes or Mazyes of the north-
west, and with the Ua-uat and other negro tribes of
the south ; not, however, as it would seem, with any
desire of making conquests, but simply for the pro-
tection of his own frontier. With the same object he
constructed on his north-eastern frontier a wall or
fortress " to keep out the Sakti," who continually
harassed the people of the Eastern Delta by their
incursions.
The wars of Amenemhat I. make it evident that by
his time Thebes had advanced from the position of a
petty kingdom situated in a remote part of Egypt,
and held in check by two or more rival kingdoms in
the lower Nile valley and the Delta, to that of a
power which bore sway over the whole land from
Elephantine to the Mediterranean. " I sent my
messengers up to Abu (Elephantine) and my couriers
down to Athu " (the coast lakes), says the monarch in
his "Instructions" to his son — the earliest literary
production from a royal pen that has come down to
our days ; and there is no reason to doubt the truth
of his statement. In the Delta alone could he come
into contact with either the Mazyes or the Sakti, and
a king of Thebes could not hold the Delta without
being master also of the lower Nile valley from
. I MENEMHA T'S HUNTING PROWESS.
103
Coptos to Memphis. We must regard Egypt, then,
under the "twelfth dynast}-," as once more consoli-
dated into a single state — a state ruled, however, not
from Memphis, but from Thebes, a decidedly inferior
1" isil i< ui.
Amcncmhat I. is the only Egyptian king who
makes a boast of his hunting prowess. " I hunted
the lion," he says, "and brought back the crocodile
a prisoner." Lions do not at the present time frequent
Egypt, and, indeed, are not found lower down the
Nile valley than the point where the Great Stream
SPEARING THE CROCODILE.
receives its last tributary, the Atbara. But anciently
they seem to have haunted the entire desert tracts
on either side of the river. The Roman Emperor
Hadrian is said to have hunted one near Alexandria,
and the monuments represent lions as tamed and
used in the chase by the ancient inhabitants. Some-
times they even accompanied their masters to the
battlefield. We know nothing of Amenemhat's mode
of hunting the king of beasts, but may assume that it
104 THE RISE 0F THEBES TO POWER.
was not very different from that which prevailed at a
later date in Assyria. There, dogs and beaters were
employed to rouse the animals from their lairs, while
the king and his fellow- sportsmen either plied them
with flights of arrows, or withstood their onset with
swords and spears. The crocodile was certainly
sometimes attacked while he was in the water, the
hunters using a boat, and endeavouring to spear him
at the point where the head joins the spine ; but this
could not have been the mode adopted by Amenem-
hat, since it would have resulted in instant death,
whereas he tells us that he "brought the crocodile
home a prisoner." Possibly, therefore, he employed
the method which Herodotus says was in common
use in his day. This was to bait a hook with a joint
of pork and throw it into the water at a point where
the current would carry it out into mid-stream ; then
to take a live pig to the river-side, and belabour him
well with a stick till he set up the squeal familiar to
most ears. Any crocodile within hearing was sure
to come to the sound, and falling in with the pork on
the way, would instantly swallow it down. Upon
this the hunters hauled at the rope to which the hook
was attached, and, notwithstanding his struggles, drew
" leviathan " to shore. Amenemhat, having thus
" made the crocodile a prisoner," may have carried
his captive in triumph to his capital, and exhibited
him before the eyes of the people.
Amenemhat, having reigned as sole king for twenty
years, was induced to raise his eldest son, Usurtasen,
to the royal dignity, and associate him with himself
in the government of the empire. Usurtasen was a
REIGN OF USURTASEN I. I05
prince of much promise. He " brought prosperity to
the affairs of his father. He was, as a god, without
fears ; before him was never one like to him. Most
skilful in affairs, beneficent in his mandates, both in
his going out and in his coming in he made Egypt
flourish." His courage and his warlike capacity were
great. Already, in the lifetime of his father, he had
distinguished himself in combats with the Petti and
the Sakti. When he was settled upon the throne, he
made war upon the Cushite tribes who bordered
Egypt upon the south, employing the services of a
general named Ameni, but also taking a part per-
sonally in the campaign. The Cushites or Ethiopians,
who in later times became such dangerous neighbours
to Egypt, were at this early period weak and insigni-
ficant. After the king had made his expedition,
Ameni was able with a mere handful of four hundred
troops to penetrate into their country, to "conduct
the golden treasures" which it contained to the
presence of his master, and to capture and carry off a
herd of three thousand cattle.
It was through his sculptures and his architectural
works that the first Usurtasen made himself chiefly
conspicuous. Thebes, Abydos, Heliopolis or On, the
Fayoum and the Delta, were equally the scenes of his
constructive activity, and still show traces of his
presence. At Thebes, he carried to its completion
the cell, or naos, of the great temple of Ammon, in
later times the innermost sanctuary of the building,
and reckoned so sacred, that when Thothmes III.
rebuilt and enlarged the entire edifice he reproduced
the structure of Usurtasen, unchanged in form, and
100 THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER.
merely turned from limestone into granite. At
Abydos and other cities of Middle Egypt, he con-
structed temples adorned with sculptures, inscriptions,
and colossal statues. AtTanis, he set up his own statue,
exhibiting himself as seated upon his throne. In the
Fayoum he erected an obelisk forty-one feet high to
the honour of Aramon, Phthah, and Mentu, which
now lies prone upon the ground near the Arab village
of Begig. Indications of his ubiquitous activity are
found also at the Wady Magharah, in the Sinaitic
peninsula, and at Wady Haifa in Nubia, a little above
the Second Cataract ; but his grandest and most
elaborate work was his construction of the great
temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, and his best memorial
is that tall finger pointing to the sky which greets
the traveller approaching Egypt from the east as the
first sample of its strange and mystic wonders. This
temple the king began in his third year. After a
consultation with his lords and counsellors, he issued
the solemn decree : " It is determined to execute the
work ; his majesty chooses to have it made. Let the
superintendent carry it on in the way that is desired ;
let all those employed upon it be vigilant ; let them
see that it is made without weariness ; let every due
ceremony be performed ; let the beloved place arise."
Then the king rose up, wearing a diadem, and holding
the double pen ; and all present followed him. The
scribe read the holy book, and extended the measuring
cord, and laid the foundations on ths spot which the
temple was to occupy. A grand building arose ; but
it has been wholly demolished by the ruthless hand
of time and the barbarity of conquerors. Of all its
I
~-~-^tf*e;*»B
foil I llfifji | II
j|;:lfl i'|V
REIGN OF TtiE SECOND USURTASEN. IOg
glories nothing now remains but the one taper
obelisk of pink granite, which rises into the soft sleepy
air above the green cornfields of Matariyeh, no
longer tipped with gold, but still catching on its
summit the earliest and latest sun-rays, while wild-bees
nestle in the crannies of the weird characters cut into
the stone.
Usurtasen, after reigning ten years in conjunction
with his father and thirty-two years alone, associated
his son, Amcnemhat II., who became sole king about
three years later. His reign, though long, was undis-
tinguished, and need not occupy our attention. He
followed the example of his predecessors in associating
a son in the government ; and this son succeeded him,
and is known as Usurtasen-II. One event of interest
alone belongs to this time. It is the reception by
one of his great officials of a large family or tribe of
Semitic immigrants from Asia, who beg permission
to settle permanently in the fertile Egypt under the
protection of its powerful king. Thirty-seven Amu,
men, women, and children, present themselves at the
court which the great noble holds near the eastern
border, and offer him their homage, while they solicit
a favourable hearing. The men are represented
draped in long garments of various colours, and wear-
ing sandals unlike the Egyptian — more resembling,
in fact, open shoes with many straps. Their arms
are bows, arrows, spears, and clubs. One plays on a
seven-stringed lyre by means of a plectrum. Four
women, wearing fillets round their heads, with gar-
ments reaching below the knee, and wearing anklets
but no sandals, accompany them. A boy, armed with
110 THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER,
a spear, walks at the side of the women ; and two
children, seated in a kind of pannier placed on the
back of an ass, ride on in front. Another ass, carrying
a spear, a shield, and a pannier, precedes the man who
plays on the lyre. The great official, who is named
Khnum-hotep, receives the foreigners, accompanied
by an attendant who carries his sandals and a staff,
and who is followed by three dogs. A scribe, named
Nefer-hotep, unrolls before his master a strip of
papyrus, on which are inscribed the words, " The
sixth year of the reign of King Usurtasen Sha-khepr-
ra : account rendered of the Amu who in the lifetime
of the chief, Khnum-hotep, brought to him the mineral,
mastemut, from the country of Pit-shu — they are in
all thirty-seven persons." The mineral niastemut is
thought to be a species of stibium or antimony, used
for dying the skin around the eyes, and so increasing
their beauty. Besides this offering, the head of the
tribe, who is entitled khak, or " prince/' and named
Abusha, presents to Khnum-hotep a magnificent wild-
goat, of the kind which at the present day frequents
the rocky mountain tract of Sinai. He wears a richer
dress than his companions, one which is ornamented
with a fringe, and has a wavy border round the neck.
The scene has been generally recognized as strikingly
illustrating the coming of Jacob's family into Egypt
(Gen. xlvi. 28-34), and was at one time thought by
some to represent that occurrence ; but the date of
Abusha's coming is long anterior to the arrival in
Egypt of Jacob's family, the number is little more
than half that of the Hebrew immigrants, the names
do not accord ; and it is now agreed on all hands,
AFRICAN CONQUESTS OF USURTASEN III. Ill
that the interest of the representation is confined to its
illustrative force.
Usurtasen II. reigned for nineteen years. He does
not seem to have associated a son, but was succeeded
by another Usurtasen, most probably a nephew. The
third Usurtasen was a conquering monarch, and
advanced the power and glory of Egypt far more
than any other ruler belonging to the Old Empire.
He began his military operations in his eighth year,
and starting from Elephantine in the month Epiphi,
or May, moved southward, like another Lord Wolseley,
with a fixed intention, which he expressed in writing
upon the rocks of the Elephantine island, of per-
manently reducing to subjection " the miserable land
of Cush." His expedition was so far successful that
in the same year he established two forts, one on
cither side of the Nile, and set up two pillars with
inscriptions warning the black races that they were
not to proceed further northward, except with the
object of importing into Egypt cattle, oxen, goats, or
asses. The forts are still visible on either bank of
the river a little above the Second Cataract, and bear
the names of Koommeh and Semneh. They are
massive constructions, built of numerous squared
blocks of granite and sandstone, and perched upon
two steep rocks which rise up perpendicularly from
the river. Usurtasen, having made this beginning
proceeded, from his eighth to his sixteenth year, to
carry on the war with perseverance and ferocity in
the district between the Nile and the Red Sea — to
kill the men, fire the crops, and carry off the women
and children, much as recently did the Arab traders
whom Baker and Gordon strove to crush. The
112 THE RISE OF THEBES TO POWER.
memory of his razzias was perpetuated upon stone
columns set up to record his successes. Later on, in
his nineteenth year he made a last expedition, to
complete the conquest of " the miserable Kashi," and
recorded his victory at Abydos.
The effect of these inroads was to advance the
Egyptian frontier one hundred and fifty miles to the
south, to carry it, in fact, from the First to above the
Second Cataract. Usurtasen drew the line between
Egypt and Ethiopia at this period, very much where
the British Government drew it between Egypt and
the Soudan in 1885. The boundary is a somewhat
artificial one, as any boundary must be on the course
of a great river ; but it is probably as convenient a
point as can be found between Assouan (Syene) and
Khartoum. The conquest was regarded as redound-
ing greatly to Usurtasen's glory, and made him the
hero of the Old Empire. Myths gathered about his
name, which, softened into Sesostris, became a
favourite one in the mouths of Egyptian minstrels
and minnesingers. Usurtasen grew to be a giant
more than seven feet high, who conquered, not only
all Ethiopia, but also Europe and Asia ; his columns
were said to be found in Palestine, Asia Minor,
Scythia, and Thrace ; he left a colony atColchis,the city
of the golden fleece ; he dug all the canals by which
Egypt was intersected ; he invented geometry ; he set
up colossi above fifty feet high ; he was the greatest
monarch that had ruled Egypt since the days of Osiris !
No doubt these tales were, in the main, imaginary ;
but they marked the fact that in Usurtasen III. the
military glories of the Old Empire culminated.
VI.
THE GOOD AMENEMHAT AND HIS WORKS.
The great river to which Egypt owes her being, is
at once the source of all her blessings and her chiefest
danger. Swelling with a uniformity, well calculated
to call forth man's gratitude and admiration, almost
from a fixed day in each year, and continuing to rise
steadily for months, it gradually spreads over the
lands, covering the entire soil with a fresh coating of
the richest possible alluvium, and thus securing to
the country a perpetual and inexhaustible fertility.
Nature's mechanism is so perfect, that the rise year
after year scarcely varies a foot, and is almost exactly
the same now as it was when the first Pharaoh poured
his libation to the river-god from the embankment
which he had made at Memphis ; but though this
uniformity is great, and remarkable, and astonishing,
it is not absolute. There are occasions, once in two
or three centuries, when the rainfall in Abyssinia is
excessive. The Blue Nile and the Atbara pour into
the deep and steady stream of the White Nile torrents
of turbid water for months together. The windows of
heaven seem to have been opened, and the rain pours
down as if it would never cease. Then the river ot
the Egyptians assumes a threatening character ; faster
114 THE GOOD AMENEMHAT AND HIS WORKS.
and faster it rises, and higher and higher ; and further
and further it spreads, until it begins to creep up the
sides of the two ranges of hills. Calamitous results
ensue. The mounds erected to protect the cities, the
villages, and the pasture lands, arc surmounted, or
undermined, or washed away ; the houses, built often
of mud, and seldom of any better material than crude
brick, collapse ; cattle are drowned by hundreds ;
human life is itself imperilled ; the population has to
betake itself to boats, and to fly to the desert regions
which enclose the Nile valley to the east and west,
regions of frightful sterility, which with difficulty
support the few wandering tribes that are their normal
inhabitants. If the excessive rise continues long,
thousands or millions starve ; if it passes off rapidly,
then the inhabitants return to find their homes deso-
lated, their cattle drowned, their household goods
washed away, and themselves dependent on the few
rich men who may have stored their corn in stone
granaries which the waters have not been able to
penetrate. Disasters of this kind are, however, ex-
ceedingly rare, though, when they occur, their results
are terrible to contemplate.
The more usual form of calamity is of the opposite
kind. Once or twice in a century the Abyssinian
rainfall is deficient. The rise of the Nile is deferred
beyond the proper date. Anxious eyes gaze daily on
the sluggish stream, or consult the " Nilometers " which
kings and princes have constructed along its course
to measure the increase of the waters. Hopes and
fears alternate as good or bad news reaches the in-
habitants of the lower valley from those who dwell
EVILS OF A DEFICIENT INUNDATION. 115
higher up the stream. Each little rise is expected to
herald a greater one, and the agony of suspense is
prolonged until the "hundred days," traditionally
assigned to the increase, have gone by, and there is
no longer a doubt that the river has begun to fall.
Then hope is swallowed up in despair. Only the
lands lying nearest to the river have been inundated ;
those at a greater distance from it lie parched and
arid during the entire summer-time, and fail to pro-
duce a single blade of grass or spike of corn. Famine
stares the poorer classes in the face, and unless large
supplies of grain have been laid up in store previously,
or can be readily imported from abroad, the actual
starvation of large numbers is the inevitable con-
sequence. We have heartrending accounts of such
famines. In the year 457 of the Hegira (A.D. 1064)
a famine began, which lasted seven years, and was so
severe that dogs and cats, and even human flesh,
were eaten ; all the horses of the Caliph but three
perished, and his family had to fly into Syria.
Another famine in A.D. 1199 is recorded by Abd-el-
Latif, an eye-witness, in very similar terms.
There is reason to believe that, under the twelfth
dynasty, some derangement of meteoric or atmo-
spheric conditions passed over Abyssinia and Upper
Egypt, either in both the directions above noticed, or,
at any rate, in the latter and more ordinary one. An
official belonging to the later part of this period, in
enumerating his merits upon his tomb, tells us, " There
was no poverty in my days, no starvation in my time,
even when there were years of famine. I ploughed
all the fields of Mali to its southern and northern
Il6 THE GOOD AMENEMHAT AND HIS WORKS.
boundaries ; I gave life to its inhabitants, making its
food ; no one was starved in it. I gave to the widow
as to the married woman." As the late Dr. Birch
observes, " Egypt was occasionally subject to famines ;
and these, at the time of the twelfth dynasty, were
so important, that they attracted great attention, and
were considered worthy of record by the princes or
hereditary lords who were buried at Beni- Hassan.
Under the twelfth dynasty, also, the tombs of Abydos
show the creation of superintendents, or storekeepers
of the public granaries, a class of functionaries ap-
parently created to meet the contingency." *
The distress of his subjects under these circum-
stances seems to have drawn the thoughts of "the
good Amenemhat " to the devising of some system
which should effectually remedy these evils, by pre-
venting their occurrence. In all countries where the
supply of water is liable to be deficient, it is of the
utmost importance to utilize to the full that amount
of the life-giving fluid, be it more or be it less, which
the bounty of nature furnishes. Rarely, indeed, is
nature absolutely a niggard. Mostly she gives far
more than is needed, but the improvidence or the
apathy of man allows her gifts to run to waste.
Careful and provident husbanding of her store will
generally make it suffice for all man's needs and re-
quirements. Sometimes this has been effected in a
thirsty land by conducting all the rills and brooks
that flow from the highlands or hills into subterranean
conduits, where they are shielded from the sun's rays,
and prolonging these ducts for miles upon miles, till
1 " Records of the Past," vol. xii. p. 60.
POSSIBLE MODES OF STORIXG WATER. IIJ
every drop of the precious fluid has been utilized for
irrigation. Such is the kareez or kanat system of
Persia. In other places vast efforts have been made
to detain the abundant supply of rain which nature
commonly provides in the spring of the year, to store
it, and prevent it from flowing off down the river-
courses to the sea, where it is absolutely lost. For
this purpose, either huge reservoirs must be construc-
ted by the hand of man, or else advantage must be
taken of some facility which nature offers for storing
the water in convenient situations. Valleys may be
blocked by massive dams, and millions of gallons thus
imprisoned for future use, as is done in many parts of
the North of England, but for manufacturing and not
for irrigation purposes. Or naturally land-locked
basins may be found, and the overflow of streams at
their flood-time turned into them and arrested, to be
made use of later in the year.
In Egypt the one and only valley was that of the
Nile, and the one and only stream that which had
formed it, and flowed along it, at a lower or higher
level, ceaselessly. It might perhaps have been possible
for Egyptian engineering skill to have blocked the
valley at Silsilis, or at the Gebelein, and to have thus
turned Upper Egypt into a huge reservoir always
full, and always capable of supplying Lower Egypt
with enough water to eke out a deficient inundation.
But this could only have been done by an enormous
work, very difficult to construct, and at the sacrifice
of several hundred square miles of fertile territory,
thickly inhabited, which would have been covered
permanently by the artificial lake. Moreover, the
Il8 THE GOOD AMENEMHAT AND HIS WORKS.
Egyptians would have known that such an embank-
ment can under no circumstances be absolutely
secure, and may have foreseen that its rupture would
spread destruction over the whole of the lower coun-
try. Amenemhat, at any rate, did not venture to
adopt so bold a design. He sought for a natural
depression, and found one in the Libyan range of
hills to the west of the Nile valley, about a degree
south of the latitude of Memphis— a depression of
great depth and of ample expanse, fifty miles or more
in length by thirty in breadth, and containing an area
of six or seven hundred square miles. It was sepa-
rated from the Nile valley by a narrow ridge of hills
about two hundred feet high, through which ran from
south-east to north-west a narrow rocky gorge, giving
access to the depression. It is possible that in very
high floods some of the water of the inundation passed
naturally into the basin through this gorge ; but
whether this were so or no, it was plain that by the
employment of no very large amount of labour a
canal or cutting might be carried along the gorge,
and the Nile water given free access into the depres-
sion, not only in very high floods, but annually when
the inundation reached a certain moderate height.
This is, accordingly, what Amenemhat did. He dug
a canal from the western branch of the Nile — the
modern Bahr Yousuf-— leaving it at El-Lahoun, carried
his canal through the gorge, in places cutting deep
into its rocky bottom, and by a system of sluices
and flood-gates retained such an absolute control
over the water that he could e;ther admit or exclude
the inundation at his wil,', as it rose ; and wheo it
amenemhat's great reservoir. 119
fell, could either allow the water that had flowed in
to return, or imprison it and keep it back. Within
the gorge he had thus at all times a copious store of
the invaluable fluid, banked up to the height of high
Nile, and capable of being applied to purposes of
cultivation both within and without the depression by
the opening and shutting of the sluices.
So much appears to be certain. The exact size
and position of Amenemhat's reservoir within the
depression, which a French savant was supposed to
have discovered, are now called in question, and must
be admitted to be still sub judice. M. Linant dc
Bellefonds regarded the reservoir as occupying the
south-eastern or upper portion of the depression only,
as extending from north to south a distance of four-
teen miles only, and from east to west a distance
varying from six to eleven miles. He regarded it as
artificially confined towards the west and north by
two long lines of embankment, which he considered
that he had traced, and gave the area of the lake as
four hundred and five millions of square metres, or
about four hundred and eighty millions of square
yards. Mr. Cope Whitehouse believes that the
water was freely admitted into the whole of the
depression, which it filled, with the exception of
certain parts, which stood up out of the water as
islands, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
feet high. He believes that it was in places three
hundred feet deep, and that the circuit of its shores
was from three hundred to five hundred miles. It is
to be hoped that a scientific expedition will ere long
set this dispute at rest, and enable the modern student
120 THE GOOD AMENEMHAT AND HIS WORKS.
distinctly to grasp and understand the great work of
Amenemhat. Whatever may be the truth regarding
" Lake Mceris," as this great reservoir was called, it is
certain that it furnished the ancients one of the least
explicable of all the many problems that the remark-
able land of the Nile presented to them. Herodotus
added to the other marvels of the place a story about
two sitting statues based upon pyramids, which stood
three hundred feet above the level of the lake, and
a famous labyrinth, of which we shall soon speak.
Whether the reservoir of Amenemhat had the larger
or the smaller dimensions ascribed to it, there can be
no doubt that it was a grand construction, undertaken
mainly for the benefit of his people, and greatly con-
ducing to their advantage. Even if the reservoir had
only the dimensions assigned to it by M. de Belle-
fonds, it would, according to his calculations, have
contained water sufficient, not only for irrigating the
northern and western portions of the Fayoum through-
out the year, but also for the supply of the whole
western bank of the Nile from Beni-Souef to the
embouchure at Canopus for six months. This alone
would in dry seasons have been a sensible relief to
a large portion of the population. If the dimensions
exceeded those of De Bellefonds, the relief would have
been proportionately greater.
The good king was not, however, content merely to
benefit his people by increasing the productiveness of
Egypt and warding off the calamities that occasionally
befell the land ; he further gave employment to large
numbers, which was not of a severe or oppressive
kind, but promoted their comfort and welfare. In
" „,,. 'WlllWHiH^ °"%i
NJSSBfiss h&%i», rtsBS^
IftVfy;
"WBSSwwi
*
4 '%»%, #• f S
BENISONEr^A^ ?
' ^^ .,(1 ^Jp.
HIS LABYRINTH. 121
connection with his hydraulic works in the Fayoum
he constructed a novel species of building, which after
ages admired even above the constructions of the
pyramid-builders, and regarded as the most wonderful
edifice in all the world. " I visited the place," says
Herodotus,1 " and found it to surpass description ; for
if all the walls and other great works of the Greeks
could be put together in one, they would not equal,
either for labour or expense, this Labyrinth ; and yet
the temple of Ephesus is a building worthy of note,
and so is the temple of Samos. The pyramids like-
wise surpass description, and are severally equal to a
number of the greatest works of the Greeks ; but the
Labyrinth surpasses the pyramids. It has twelve
courts, all of them roofed, with gates exactly opposite
one another, six looking to the north, and six to the
south. A single wall surrounds the whole building.
It contains two different sorts of chambers, half of
them underground, and half above-ground, the
latter built upon the former ; the whole number is
three thousand, of each kind fifteen hundred. The
upper chambers I myself passed through and saw, and
what I say of them is from my own observation ;
of the underground chambers I can only speak from
report, for the keepers of the building could not be
induced to show them, since they contained (they
said) the sepulchres of the kings who built the
Labyrinth, and also those of the sacred crocodiles.
Thus it is from hearsay only that I can speak of
them ; but the upper chambers I saw with my own
eyes, and found them to excel all other human pro-
1 Euterpe, ch. 148.
122 THE GOOD AMENEMHAT AND HIS WORKS.
ductions ; for the passages through the houses, and
the varied windings of the paths across the courts,
excited in me infinite admiration, as I passed from
the courts into chambers, and from the chambers into
colonnades, and from the colonnades into fresh houses,
and again from these into courts unseen before. The
roof was, throughout, of stone, like the walls ; and the
walls were carved all over with figures ; every court
was surrounded with a colonnade, which was built
of white stones, exquisitely fitted together. At the
corner of the Labyrinth stands a pyramid, forty
fathoms high, with large figures engraved upon it,
which is entered by a subterranean passage."
The pyramid intended is probably that examined
by Perring and Lepsius, which had a base of three
hundred feet, and an elevation, probably, of about
one hundred and eighty-five feet. It was built of
crude brick mixed with a good deal of straw, and
cased with a white silicious limestone. The same
material was employed for the greater part of the
so-called " Labyrinth," but many of the columns
were of red granite, and some perhaps of porphyry.
Most likely the edifice was intended as a mausoleum
for the sacred crocodiles, and was gradually enlarged
for their accommodation — Amenemhat, whose prai-
nomen was found on the pyramid, being merely the
first founder. The number of the pillared courts,
and their similarity, made the edifice confusing to
foreigners, and got it the name of " The Labyrinth " ;
but it is not likely the designers of the building had
any intention to mislead or to confuse.
Amenemhat's praenomen, or throne-name, assumed
HIS NAME OF MCERIS. I23
(according to ordinary custom) on his accession, was
Ra-n-mat, " Sun of Justice " or " Sun of Righteous-
ness." The assumption of the title indicates his desire
to leave behind him a character for justice and equity.
It is perhaps noticeable that the name by which the
Greeks knew him was Moeris, which may mean " the
beloved," With him closes the first period of Theban
greatness. A cloud was impending, and darker days
about to follow ; but as yet Egypt enjoyed a time of
progressive, and in the main peaceful, development.
Commerce, art, religion, agriculture, occupied her.
She did not covet other men's lands, nor did other
men covet hers. The world beyond her borders knew
little of her, except that she was a fertile and well-
ordered land, whereto, in time of dearth, the needy
of other countries might resort with confidence.
VII.
ABRAHAM IN EGYPT.
" Now there was a famine in the land of Canaan ;
and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there"
(Gen. xii. io). Few events in the history of mankind
are more interesting than the visit which the author
of the Pentateuch thus places before us in less than
a dozen words. The " father of the faithful," the
great apostle of Monotheism, the wanderer from the
distant " Ur of the Chaldees," familiar with Baby-
lonian greatness, and Babylonian dissoluteness, an</
Babylonian despotism, having quitted his city homfl
and adopted the simple habits of a Syrian nomadic
sheikh, finds himself forced to make acquaintance
with a second form of civilization, a second great
organized monarchy, and to become for a time a
sojourner among the people who had held for cen-
turies the valley of the Nile. He had obeyed the
call which took him from Ur to Haran, from Haran
to Damascus, from Damascus to the hills of Canaan ;
he had divorced himself from city life and city usages;
he had embraced the delights of that free, wandering
existence which has at all times so singular a charm
for many, and had dwelt for we know not how many
years in different parts of Palestine, the chief of a
tribe rich in flocks and herds, moving with them from
WHY ABRAHAM VISITED EGYPT. 12$
place to place as the fancy took him. It was assuredly
with much reluctance that he quitted the open downs
and fresh breezes and oak groves of Canaan — the
land promised to him and to his seed after him, and
took his way through the " desert of the south " to
the great kingdom with which he and his race could
never hope to be on terms of solid friendship. But
the necessity which constrained him was imperative.
When, from the want of the ordinary spring rains,
drought and famine set in on the Palestinian uplands,
there was in ancient times but one resource. Egypt
was known as a land of plenty. Whether it were
Hebrew nomads, or Hittite warriors, or Phoenician
traders that suffered, Egypt was the sole refuge, the
sole hope. There the river gave the plenteous sus-
tenance which would be elsewhere sought in vain.
There were granaries and storehouses, and an old
established system whereby corn was laid up as a
reserve in case of need, both by private individuals of
the wealthier classes and by the kings. There among
the highest officers of state was the " steward of the
public granary," whose business it was, when famine
pressed, to provide, so far as was possible, both for
natives and foreigners, alleviating the distress of all,
while safeguarding, of course, the king's interests
(Gen. xlvii 13-26).
Abraham, therefore, when he found that "the famine
was grievous in the land " of Canaan, did the only
thing that it was possible for him to do — left Pales-
tine, and wended his way through the desert to the
Egyptian frontier. What company he took with him
is uncertain. A few years later we find him at the
126 ABRAHAM IN EGYPT.
head of a body of three hundred and eighteen men
capable of bearing arms — " trained servants born in
his house " — which implies the headship over a tribe
of at least twelve hundred persons. He can scarcely
have entered Egypt with a much smaller number. It
was before his separation from his nephew, Lot, whose
followers were not much fewer than his own. And to
leave any of his dependents behind would have been
to leave them to starvation. We must suppose a
numerous caravan organized, with asses and camels
to carry provisions and household stuff, and with the
women and the little ones conveyed as we see them
in the sculpture representing the arrival of Abusha
from the same quarter, albeit with a smaller entourage.
The desert journey would be trying, and probably
entail much loss, especially of the cattle and beasts ;
but at length, on the seventh or eighth day, as the
water was getting low in the skins and the camels
were beginning to faint and groan with the scant fare
and the long travel, a dark low line would appear
upon the edge of the horizon in front, and soon the
li: e would deepen into a delicate fringe, sparkling
here and there as though it were sown with diamonds.1
Then it would be recognized that there lay before
the travellers the fields and gardens and palaces and
obelisks of Egypt, the broad flood and rich plain of
the Nile, and their hearts would leap with joy, and
lift themselves up in thanksgiving to the Most High,
who had brought them through the great and terrible
wilderness to a land of plenty.
But now a fresh anxiety fell upon the spirit of the
1 Adapted from Kinglake's " Eothen," p. 20F.
HIS DECEIT RESPECTING SARAH. I27
chief. Tradition tells us that already in Babylonia
he had had experience of the violence and tyranny of
earthly potentates, and had with difficulty escaped
from an attempt which the king of Babylon made
upon his life. Either memory recalled this and
similar dangers, or reason suggested what the un-
bridled licence of irresponsible power might conceive
and execute under the circumstances. The Pharaohs
had, it is plain, already departed from the simple
manners of the earlier times, when each prince was
contented with a single wife, and had substituted for
the primitive law of monogamy that corrupt system
of hareem life which has kept its ground in the East
from an ancient date to the present day. Abraham
was aware of this, and " as he was come near to enter
into Egypt," but was not yet entered, he was seized
with a great fear. " Behold," he said to Sarai his wife,
" Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to
look upon ; therefore it shall come to pass, when the
Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is
his wife : and they will kill me, but they will save
thee alive." Under these circumstances Abraham,
with a craft not unnatural in an Oriental, but cer-
tainly far from commendable, resolved to dissemble
his relationship towards Sarah, and to represent her
as not his wife, but his sister. She was, in point of
fact, his half-sister, as he afterwards pleaded to Abi-
melech (Gen. xx. 12), being the daughter of Terah by
a secondary wife, and married to her half-brother.
" Say, I pray thee," he said, " thou art my sister, that
it may be well with me for thy sake ; and my soul
shall live because of thee." Sarah acquiesced ; and
128 ABRAHAM IN EGYPT.
no doubt the whole tribe was made acquainted with
the resolution come to, so that they might all be in
one story.
The frontier was then approached. We learn from
the history of Abusha, as well as from other scattered
notices in the papyri, how carefully the eastern
border was always guarded, and what precautions
were taken to apprise the Court when any consider-
able body of immigrants arrived. The chief official
upon the frontier, either Khnumhotep or some one
occupying a similar position, would receive the in-
comers, subject them to interrogation, and cause his
secretary to draw up a report, which would be for-
warded by courier to the capital. The royal orders
would be awaited, and meantime perhaps fresh reports
would be sent by other officials of the neighbourhood.
In the present instance, we are told that several
" princes of Pharaoh," having been struck with the
beauty of Sarah, commended her to their royal
master, who sent for her and had her brought into
his own house. Abraham himself was well received
and treated with much distinction " for her sake."
According to Eupolemus, he and his were settled in
th-=; sa red city of On or Heliopolis ; and there, in
thai seat of learning and religion, the Patriarch, as the
same authority declares, lived peacefully for many
years and taught the Egyptians the sciences of as-
tronomy and arithmetic. The author of Genesis says
nothing of the place of his abode, but simply informs
us of his well-being. " Pharaoh entreated Abram well
for Sarai's sake ; and he had sheep, and oxen, and
he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and
HIS DECEIT DISCOVERED. 129
she-asses, and camels." The collocation of the clauses
implies that all these were presents from the king.
The pleased monarch lavished on his brother-in-law
such gifts of honour as were usual at the time and
suitable to his circumstances. Abraham became "very
rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold " (Gen. xiii. 2).
He flourished greatly, whether for months or for years
the scripture does not say. He was separated from
his wife, and she was an inmate of Pharaoh's hareem ;
but he kept his secret, and no one betrayed him.
Apparently, he was content.
Ere long, however, a discovery was made. Calamity
came upon the royal house in some marked way, pro-
bably either in the form of sickness or of death. The
king became convinced that he was the object of a
Divine chastisement, and cast about for a cause to which
his sufferings might reasonably be attributed. How
had he provoked God's anger ? Either, as Josephus
thinks, the priests had by this time found out the truth,
and made the suggestion to him, that he was being
punished for having taken another man's wife into his
seraglio ; or possibly, as others have surmised, Sarah
herself divined the source of the calamities, and made
confession of the truth. At any rate, by some means
or other, the facts of the case became known ; and
the Pharaoh thereupon hastened to set matters right.
Sarah, though an inmate of the hareem, was probably
still in the probationary condition, undergoing the
purification necessary before the final completion of
her nuptials (Esth. ii. 12), and could thus be restored
intact. The Pharaoh sent for Abraham, reproached
him with his deceit, pointed out the ill consequences
13° ABRAHAM IN EGYPT.
which had followed, and, doubtless in some displea-
sure, required him to take his wife and depart. The
famine was at an end, and there was no reason why
he should linger. Beyond reproach, however, Pharaoh
inflicted no punishment. He " commanded his men
concerning Abraham ; and they sent him away, and
his wife, and all that he had."
Such is the account which has come down to us
of Abraham's sojourn in Egypt. If it be asked, Why
is it inserted into the " story of Egypt " at this point ?
the reply must be, because, on a dispassionate con-
sideration of all the circumstances, chronological and
other, which attach to the narrative, it has been gene-
rally agreed that the event belongs to about this time.
There is no special reign to which it can be definitely
assigned ; but the best critics acquiesce in the judg-
ment of Canon Cook upon the point, who says : " For
my own part, I regard it as all but certain that Abra-
ham visited Egypt in some reign between the middle
of the eleventh and the thirteenth dynasty, and most
probably under one of the earliest Pharaohs of the
twelfth." i
This is not the only entrance of Hebrews or people
of Semitic race into Egypt. Emigrants from less
favoured countries had frequently looked with interest
to the fertile Delta of the Nile, hoping that there they
might find homes free from the vicissitudes of their
own. Previous to this, one Amu had entered Egypt,
perhaps from Midian, with his family, counting thirty-
seven, the little ones riding upon asses, and had sought
the protection of the reigning sovereign. It was again
1 See " Speaker's Commentary," vol. i. p. 447, col. i.
OTHER SEMITIC IMMIGRANTS.
131
the experience of Kgypt to receive emigrants from the
north-east, from Syria or Northern Arabia, at a little
later period, when the nomads in those regions looked
over to the south and, by contrast with their over-
peopled country, thought they saw a sort of " fairy-
land of wealth, culture, and wisdom," which they
hoped to enjoy by force ; and they were not the last
to seek asylum there. We shall soon have to remark
on the familiar case of the immigration of the sons of
Jacob with their households. In process of time the
Semitic wanderers increased so materially that the
population in the eastern half of the Delta became
half Asiatic, prepared to submit readily to Asiatic
rule and to worship Semitic deities ; they had already
imposed a number of their words upon the language
of Egypt.
VIII.
THE GREAT INVASION — THE HYK30S OR SHEPHERD
KINGS— JOSEPH AND APEPI.
The prowess of the Egyptians had not yet been
put to any severe proof. They had themselves
shown little of an aggressive spirit. Attracted by
the mineral wealth of the Sinaitic peninsula, they had
indeed made settlements in that region, which had
involved them in occasional wars with the natives,
whom they spoke of as " Mena " or " Menti " ; and
they had had a contest of more importance with the
tribes of the south, negro and Ethiopic, in which
they had shown a decided superiority over those rude
barbarians ; but, as yet, they had attempted no im-
portant conquest, and had been subjected to no
serious attack. The countries upon their borders
were but sparsely peopled, and from neither the
Berber tribes of the northern African coast, nor from
the Sinaitic nomads, nor even from the negroes of the
south, with their allies — the " miserable Cushites " —
was any dangerous invasion to be apprehended.
Egypt had been able to devote herself almost wholly
to the cultivation of the arts of peace, and had not
been subjected to the severe ordeal, which most
nations pass through in their infancy, of a struggle
for existence with warlike and powerful enemies.
Movements in asia. 133"
The time was now come for a great change. Move-
ments had begun among the populations of Asia
which threatened a general disturbance of the peace
of the world. Asshur had had to " go forth " out of
the land of Shinar, and to make himself a habitation
further to the northward, which must have pressed
painfully upon other races. In Elam an aggressive
spirit had sprung up, and military expeditions had
been conducted by Elamitic kings, which started from
the shores of the Persian Gulf and terminated in
Southern Syria and Palestine. The migration of the
tribes which moved with Terah and Abraham from
Ur to Haran, and from Haran to Hebron, is but
one of many indications of the restlessness of the
period. The Hittites were growing in power, and
required an enlarged territory for their free expansion.
It was now probably that they descended from the
hills of Cappadocia upon the region below Taurus
and Amanus, where we find them dominant in later
ages. Such a movement on their part would dis-
place a large population in Upper Syria, and force it
to migrate southwards. There are signs of a pressure
upon the north-eastern frontier of Egypt on the part
of Asiatics needing a home a,s early as the com-
mencement of the twelfth dynasty ; and it is probable
that, while the dynasty lasted, the pressure was con-
tinually becoming greater. Asiatics were from time
to time received within the barrier of Amenemhat I.,
some to sojourn and some to dwell. The eastern
Delta was more or less Asiaticized ; and a large
portion of its inhabitants was inclined to welcome a
further influx from Asia.
134 THE GREAT INVASION.
We have one account only of the circumstances of
the great invasion by which Egypt fell under a
foreign yoke. It purports to come from the native
historian, Manetho ; but it is delivered to us directly
by Josephus, who, in his reports of what other writers
had narrated, is not always to be implicitly trusted.
Manetho, according to him, declared as follows :
" There was once a king of Egypt named Timaeus,
in whose reign the gods being offended, for I know
not what cause, with our nation, certain men of
ignoble race, coming from the eastern regions, had
the courage to invade the country, and falling upon
it unawares, conquered it easily without a battle.
After the submission of the princes, they conducted
themselves in a most barbarous fashion towards the
whole ot the inhabitants, slaying some, and reducing
to slavery the wives and the children of the others.
Moreover they savagely set the cities on fire, and
demolished the temples of the gods. At last, they
took one of their number called Salatis, and made
him king over them. Salatis resided at Memphis;,
where he received tribute both from Upper and Lowe.'
Egypt, while at the same time he placed garrisons ii;
all the most suitable situations. He strongly forti-
fied the frontier, especially on the side of the east,
since he foresaw that the Assyrians, who were then
exceedingly powerful, might desire to make them-
selves masters of his kingdom. Having found,
moreover, in the Sethroi'te nomc, to the east of the
Bubastite branch of the Nile, a city very favourably
situated, and called, on account of an ancient theo-
logical tradition, Avaris, he rebuilt it and strengthened
ITS OVERWHELMING FORCE. I35
it with walls of great thickness, which he guarded
with a body of two hundred and forty thousand men.
Each summer he visited the place, to see their sup-
plies of corn measured out for his soldiers and their
pay delivered to them, as well as to superintend their
military exercises, in order that foreigners might hold
them in respect."
The king, Timaeus, does not appear either in the
lists of Manctho or upon the monuments, nor is it
possible to determine the time of the invasion more
precisely than this — that it fell into the interval be-
tween Manetho's twelfth and his eighteenth dynasties.
The invaders are characterized by the Egyptians as
Mcnti or Sati ; but these terms are used so vaguely
that nothing definite can be concluded from them.
On the whole, it is perhaps most probable that the
invading army, like that of Attila, consisted of a vast
variety of races — "a collection of all the nomadic
hordes of Syria and Arabia " — who made common
cause against a foe known to be wealthy, and who all
equally desired settlements in a land reputed the
most productive in the East. An overwhelming
flood of men — a quarter of a million, if we may
believe Manetho — poured into the land, impetuous,
irresistible. All at once, a danger had come beyond
all possible previous calculation — a danger from
which there was no escape. It was as when the
northern barbarians swooped down in their count-
less thousands on the outlying provinces of the
Roman Empire, or as when the hordes of Jingis Khan
overran Kashgar and Kharesm — the contest was too
unequal for anything that can be called a struggle to
I36 THE GREAT INVASION.
be made. Egypt collapsed before the invader.
Manetho says that there was no battle ; and we can
readily understand that in the divided condition of
the country, with two or three subordinate dynasties
ruling in different parts of the Delta, and another
dynasty at Thebes, no army could be levied which
could dare to meet the enemy in the field. The
inhabitants fled to their cities, and endeavoured to
defend themselves behind walls ; but it was in vain.
The walls of the Egyptian cities were rather banks to
keep out the inundation than ramparts to repel an
enemy. In a short time the strongholds that re-
sisted were taken, the male population put to the
sword, the women and children enslaved, the houses
burnt, the temples ruthlessly demolished. An icono-
clastic spirit possessed the conquerors. The gods
and worship of Egypt were hateful to them. Where-
ever the flood passed, it swept away the existing
civilization, deeply impregnated as it was with
religion ; it covered the ground with the debris of
temples and shrines, with the fragments of statues
and sphinxes ; it crushed existing religious usages,
and for a time, as it would seem, substituted nothing
in their place. "A study of the monuments," says M.
Francois Lenormant, " attests the reality of the fright-
ful devastations which took place at the first moment
of the invasion. With a solitary exception, all the
temples anterior to the event have disappeared, and
no traces can be found of them except scattered
ruins which bear the marks of a destructive violence.
To say what during these centuries Egypt had to
endure in the way of upsetting of her past is impos-
LIMITS TO WHICH IT EXTENDED 1 37
sible. The only fact which can be stated as certain
is, that not a single monument of this desolate epoch
has come down to our days to show us what became
of the ancient splendour of Egypt under the Hyksos.
We witness under the fifteenth and sixteenth
dynasties a fresh shipwreck of Egyptian civilization.
Vigorous as it had been, the impulse given to it by
the Usurtasens suddenly stops ; the series of monu-
ments is interrupted, and Egypt informs us by her
very silence of the calamities with which she was
smitten." :
It was, fortunately, not the entire country that
was overrun. So far as appears, the actual occu-
pation of Egypt by the Hyksos was confined to the
Delta, to the Lower Nile valley, and to the district of
the Fayoum. Elephantine, Thebes, Abydos, escaped
the destroyers, and though forced to certain formal
acts of submission, to an acknowledgment of the
Hyks6s suzerainty, and to the payment of an annual
tribute, retained a qualified independence. The
Theban monuments of the eleventh and twelfth
dynasties were undisturbed. Even in Lower Egypt
there were structures that suffered little or nothing at
the conqueror's hands, being too humble to attract
his attention or too massive to yield to the means
of destruction known to him. Thus the pyramids
scarcely suffered, though it is possible that at this
time their sanctity was first violated and their con-
tents rifled. The great obelisk of Usurtasen I., which
still stands at Heliopolis, was not overthrown. The
humbler tombs at Ghizeh, so precious to the antiquary,
1 "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne de l'Orient, ' voli. p. 360.
I38 THE GREAT INVASION.
were for the most part untouched. Amentmhat's
buildings in the Fayoum may have been damaged,
but they were not demolished. Though Egyptian
civilization received a rude shock from the invasion,
it was not altogether swallowed up or destroyed ; and
when the deluge had passed it emerged once more,
and soon reached, and even surpassed, its ancient
glories.
The Hyksos king who led the invasion, or who, at
any rate, was brought to the front in its course, bore,
we are told, either the name of Salatis, or that of
Saites. Of these two forms the second is undoubtedly
to be preferred, since the first has in its favour only the
single authority of Josephus, while the second is sup-
ported by Africanus, Eusebius, George the Syncellus,
and to a certain extent by the monuments. The
"tablet of four hundred years" contains the name
of Sut-Aapehti as that of a king of Egypt who must
have belonged to the Middle Empire, and this name
may fairly be regarded as represented in an abbre-
viated form by the Greek " Saites." Saites, having
made himself absolute master of the Lower Country,
and forced the king of the Upper Country to become
his tributary, fixed his residence at Memphis, at the
same time strongly fortifying and garrisoning various
other towns in important positions. Of these the
most considerable was the city, called Auaris, or Avaris,
in the Sethroi'te nome, which lay east of the Pelusiac
branch of the Nile, and was probably not far from
Pelusium itself, if indeed it was not identical with that
city. Another strong fort, by means of which the
Delta was held and overawed, seems to have been
DURATION OF THE HVRSOS RULE. 130
Zan or Tanis, now San, situated on what was called
the Tanitic branch of the Nile, the next most easterly
branch to the Pelusiac. A third was in the Fayoum,
on the site now called Mit-Fares. A large body of
troops must also have been maintained at Memphis,
if the king, as we are told, ordinarily held his court
there.
How long the Egyptians groaned under the
tyranny of the " Shepherds," it is difficult to say.
The epitomists of Manetho are hopelessly at variance
on the subject, and the monuments are silent, or nearly
so. Moderns vary in the time, which they assign to
the period between two centuries and five. On the
whole, criticism seems to incline towards the shorter
term, though why Manetho, or his epitomists, should
have enlarged it, remains an insoluble problem. There
is but one dynasty of" Shepherd Kings " that has any
distinct historical substance, or to which we can assign
any names. This is a dynasty of six kings only,
whose united reigns are not likely to have exceeded
two centuries. Nor does it seem possible that, if the
duration of the foreign oppression had been much
longer, Egypt could have returned, so nearly as she
did, to the same manners and customs, the same reli-
gious usages, the same rules of art, the same system of
government, even the very same proper names, at the
end of the period, as had been in use at its begin-
ning. One cannot but think that the bouleversement
which Egypt underwent has been somewhat exagge-
rated by the native historian for the sake of rhetorical
effect, to enhance by contrast the splendour of the
New Empire.
140 THE GREAT INVASION.
In another respect, too, if he has not misrepresented
the rule of the " Shepherd Kings," he has failed to do
it justice. He has painted in lurid colours the advent
of the foreign race, the war of extermination in which
they engaged, the cruel usage to which they subjected
the conquered people ; he has represented the in-
vaders as rude, savage, barbarous, bent on destruction,
careless of art, the enemies of progress and civiliza-
tion. He has neglected to point out, that, as time
went on, there was a sensible change. The period of
constant bitter hostilities came to an end. Peace suc-
ceeded to war. In Lower Egypt the "Shepherds"
reigned over quiet and unresisting subjects ; in Upper
Egypt they bore rule over submissive tributaries.
Under these circumstances a perceptible softening of
their manners and general character took place. As
the Mongols and the Mandchus in China suffered
themselves by degrees to be conquered by the superior
civilization of the people whom they had overrun and
subdued, so the Hyksos yielded little by little to the
influences which surrounded them, and insensibly
assimilated themselves to their Egyptian subjects.
They adopted the Egyptian dress, titles, official lan-
guage, art, mode of writing, architecture. In Tanis,
especially, temples were built and sculptures set up
under the later " Shepherd Kings," differing little in
their general character from those of purely Egyptian
periods. The foreign monarchs erected their effigies
at this site, which were sculptured by native artists
according to the customary rules of Egyptian glyptic
art, and only differ from those of the earlier native
Pharaohs in the head-dress, the expression of the
BUST OF A SHEPHERD KING.
RELIGION OF THE HYKSOS. 143
countenance, and a peculiar arrangement of the
beard. A friendly intercourse took place during this
period between the kings of the North, established at
Tanis and Memphis, and those of the South, resident
at Thebes ; frequent embassies were interchanged ;
and blocks of granite and syenite were continually
floated down the Nile, past Thebes, to be employed
by the " Shepherds " in their erections at the southern
capitals.
The " Shepherds " brought with them into Egypt
the worship of a deity, whom they called Sut or
Sutckh, and apparently identified with the sun. He
was described as " the great ruler of heaven," and
identified with Baal in later times. The kings re-
garded themselves as especially under his protection.
&t the time of the invasion, they do not seem to have
considered this deity as having any special connection
with any of the Egyptian gods, and they consequently
made war indiscriminately against the entire Egyptian
Pantheon, plundering and demolishing all the temples
alike. But when the first burst of savage hostility
was gone by, when more settled times followed, and
the manners and temper of the conquerors grew
softened by pacific intercourse with their subjects,
a likeness came to be seen between Sutekh, their own
ancestral god, and the " Set " of the Egyptians. Set
in the old Egyptian mythology was recognized as
" the patron of foreigners, the power which swept the
children of the desert like a sand-storm over the
fertile land." He was a representative of physical,
but not of moral, evil ; a strong and powerful deity,
worthy of reverence and worship, but less an object of
144 THE GREAT INVASION.
love than of fear. The " Shepherds " acknowledged in
this god their Sutekh ; and as they acquired settled
habits, and assimilated themselves to their subjects,
they began to build temples to him, after the Egyptian
model, in their principal towns. After the dynasty had
borne rule for five reigns, covering the space perhaps of
one hundred and fifty years, a king came to the throne
named Apepi, who has left several monuments, and
is the only one of the " Shepherds " that stands out
for us in definite historical consistency as a living and
breathing person. Apepi built a great temple to
Sutekh at Zoan, or Tanis, his principal capital, com-
posed of blocks of red granite, and adorned it with
obelisks and sphinxes. The obelisks are said to have
been fourteen in number, and must have been dis-
persed about the courts, and not, as usual, placed
only at the entrance. The sphinxes, which differed
from the ordinary Egyptian sphinx in having a mane
like a lion and also wings, seem to have formed an
avenue or vista leading up to the temple from the
town. They are in diorite, and have the name of
Apepi engraved upon them.
The pacific rule of Apepi and his predecessors
allowed Thebes to increase in power, and her monu-
ments now recommence. Three kings who bore the
family name of Taa, and the throne name of Ra-
Sekenen, bore rule in succession at the southern
capital. The third of these, Taa-ken, or " Taa the
Victorious," was contemporary with Apepi, and paid
his tribute punctually, year by year, to his lawful
suzerain. He does not seem to have had any desire
to provoke war ; but Apepi probably thought that he
APE PI AND JOSEPH. I45
was becoming too powerful, and would, if unmolested,
shortly make an effort to throw off the Hyksos yoke.
He therefore determined to pick a quarrel with him,
and proceeded to send to Thebes a succession of
embassies with continually increasing demands. First
of all he required Taa-ken to relinquish the worship
of all the Egyptian gods except Amen-Ra, the chief
god of Thebes, whom he probably identified with his
own Sutekh. It is not quite clear whether Taa-ken
consented to this demand, or politely evaded it. At
any rate, a second embassy soon followed the first,
with a fresh requirement ; and a third followed the
second. The policy was successful, and at last Taa-
ken took up arms. It would seem that he was suc-
cessful, or was at any rate able to hold his own ; for
he maintained the war till his death, and left it to his
successor, Aahmes.
There was an ancient tradition, that the king who
made Joseph his prime minister, and committed into
his hands the entire administration of Egypt, was
Apepi. George the Syncellus says that the synchron-
ism was accepted by all. It is clear that Joseph's arrival
did not fall, like Abraham's, into the period of the
Old Empire, since under Joseph horses and chariots
are in use, as well as wagons or carts, all of which
were unknown till after the Hyksos invasion. It is
also more natural that Joseph, a foreigner, should
have been advanced by a foreign king than by a
native one, and the favour shown to his brethren, who
were shepherds (Gen. xlvi. 32), is consonant at any
rate with the tradition that it was a " Shepherd
King " who held the throne at the time of their
146 THE GREAT INVASION.
arrival. A priest of Heliopolis, moreover, would
scarcely have given Joseph his daughter in marriage
unless at a time when the priesthood was in a state of
depression. Add to this that the Pharaoh of Joseph
is evidently resident in Lower Egypt, not at Thebes,
which was the seat of government for many hundred
years both before and after the Hyksos rule.
If, however, we are to place Joseph under one of
the " Shepherd Kings," there can be no reason why we
should not accept the tradition which connects him
with Apepi. Apepi was dominant over the whole of
Egypt, as Joseph's Pharaoh seems to have been. He
acknowledged a single god, as did that monarch
(Gen. xli. 38, 39). He was a thoroughly Egyptianized
king. He had a council of learned scribes, a magni-
ficent court, and a peaceful reign until towards its
close. His residence was in the Delta, either at Tanis
or Auaris. He was a prince of a strong will, firm and
determined ; one who did not shrink from initiating
great changes, and who carried out his resolves in a
somewhat arbitrary way. The arguments in favour
of his identity with Joseph's master are, perhaps, not
wholly conclusive ; but they raise a presumption,
which may well incline us, with most modern his-
torians of Egypt, to assign the touching story of
Joseph to the reign of the last of the Shepherds.
IX.
HOW THE HYKS6S WERE EXPELLED FROM EGYPT.
At first sight it seems strange that the terrible
warriors who, under Set or Sai'tes, so easily reduced
Egypt to subjection, and then still further weakened
the population by massacre and oppression, should
have been got rid of, after two centuries or two cen-
turies and a half, with such comparative ease. But
the rapid deterioration of conquering races under cer-
tain circumstances is a fact familiar to the historian.
Elamites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, Persians,
Greeks, rapidly succeeded each other as the dominant
power in Western Asia, each race growing weaker
and becoming exhausted, after a longer or a shorter
interval, through nearly the same causes. Nor are
the reasons for the deterioration far to seek. Each
race when it sets out upon its career of conquest is
active, energetic, inured to warlike habits, simple in
its manners, or at any rate simpler than those which
it conquers, and, comparatively speaking, poor. It is
urged on by the desire of bettering its condition. If
it meets with a considerable resistance, if the conquest
occupies a long space, and the conquered are with
difficulty held under, rebelling from time to time,
and making frantic efforts to throw off the yoke
I|8 HYKSOS EXPELLED FROM EGYPT.
which galls and Acts them, then the warlike habits
of the conquerors are kept up, and their dominion
may continue for several centuries. Or, if the nation
is very energetic and unresting, not content with its
earlier conquests, or willing" to rest upon its oars, but
continually seeking out fresh enemies upon its borders,
and regarding war as the normal state of its existence,
then the centuries may be prolonged into millennia,
and it may be long indeed before any tendency to
decline shows itself ; but, ordinarily, there is no very
prolonged resistance on the one side, and no very
constant and unresting energy on the other. A poor
and hardy people, having swooped down upon one
that is softer and more civilized, easily carries all
before it, acquires the wealth and luxury which it
desires, and being content with them, seeks for
nothing further, but assimilates itself by degrees to
the character and condition of the people whom it
has conquered. A standing army, disposed in camps
and garrisons, may be kept up ; but if there is a ces-
sation of actual war even for a generation, the seve-
rity of military discipline will become relaxed, the
use of arms will grow unfamiliar, the physical type
will decline, the belligerent spirit will die away, and
the conquerors of a century ago will have lost all the
qualities which secured them success when they made
their attack, and have sunk to the level of their sub-
jects. When this point is reached, thoughts of rebel-
lion are apt to arise in the hearts of these latter ; the
old terror which made the conqueror appear irre-
sistible is gone, and is perhaps succeeded by contempt
— the subjects feel that they have at least the ad van-
POSITION OF THEBES UNDER THEM. I4.9
tage of numbers on their side ; they have also pro-
bably been leading harder and more bracing lives ;
they see that, man for man, they are physically
stronger than their conquerors ; and at last they
rebel, and are successful.
In Egypt there was, further, this peculiarity — the
conquered people occupied two entirely distinct posi-
tions. In the Delta, the Fayoum, and the northern
Nile valley, they were completely reduced, and lived
intermixed with their conquerors, a despised class,
suffering more or less of oppression. In Upper Egypt
the case was different. There the people had sub-
mitted in a certain sense, acknowledged the Hyksos
monarchs as their suzerains, and indicated their sub-
jection by the payment of an annual tribute ; but they
retained their own native princes, their own adminis-
tration and government, their own religion, their own
laws ; they did not live intermixed with the new
comers ; they were not subject to daily insult or ill-
treatment ; the fact that they paid a tribute did not
hinder their preserving their self-respect, and conse-
quently they suffered neither moral nor physical
deterioration. Further, it would seem to have been
possible for them to engage in wars on their own
account with the races living further up the Nile, or
with the wild tribes of the desert, and thus to maintain
warlike habits among themselves, while the Hyksos
were becoming unaccustomed to them. The Ra-
Sekenens of Thebes, who called themselves "great "
and " very great," had probably built up a considerable
power in Upper Egypt during the reigns of the later
" Shepherd Kings ; " had improved their military
I50 HYKSOS EXPELLED FROM EGYPT.
system by the adoption of the horse and the chariot,
which the Hyksos had introduced ; had practised
their people in arms, and acquired a reputation as
warriors.
More particularly must this have been the case with
Ra-Sekenen III., the contemporary of Apepi. Ra-
Sekenen the Third called himself " the great victorious
Taa." He surrounded himself with acouncil of "mighty
chiefs, captains, and expert leaders." He acquired so
much repute, that he provoked Apepi's jealousy before
he had in any way transgressed the duties which he
owed him as a feudatory. In the long negotiation
between the two, of which the " First Sallier Papyrus "
gives an account, it is evident that, while Ra-Sekenen
has committed no act whereof Apepi has any right to
complain, he has awoke in him feelings of such hos-
tility, that Apepi will be content with nothing less
than either unqualified submission to every demand
that he chooses to make, or war a entrance. Never
was a subject monarch more goaded, and driven intc
rebellion against his inclination by over-bearing con-
duct on the part of his suzerain than was Ra-Sekenen
by the last " Shepherd King." The disinclination of
himself and his court to fight is almost ludicrous :
they " are silent and in great dismay ; they know not
how to answer the messenger sent to them, good or
ill." Ra-Sekenen, powerful as he had become,
" victorious " as he may have been against Libyans
and negroes, and even Cushites, dreaded exceedingly
to engage in a struggle with the redoubted people
which, two centuries previously, had shown itself so
irresistible.
WAR FORCED UPON RA-SEKENEN. 151
It would seem, however, that he was forced to take
up arms at last. We have, unfortunately, no descrip-
tion of the war which followed, so far as it was con-
ducted by this monarch. But it is evident that
Apepi was completely disappointed in his hope of
crushing the rising native power before it had grown
too strong. He had in fact delayed too late. Ra-
Sekenen, compelled to defend himself against his
aggressive suzerain, raised the standard of national
independence, invited aid from all parts of Egypt, and
succeeded in bringing a large army into the field. At
the first he simply held his own against Apepi, but
by degrees he was able to do more. The Hyksos,
who marched against Thebes, found enemies rise up
against them in their rear, as first one and then
another native chief declared against them in this
or that city ; their difficulties continually increased ;
they had to re-descend the Nile valley and to concen-
trate their forces nearer home. But each year they
k>st ground. First the Fayoum was yielded, then
Memphis, then Tanis. At last nothing remained to
the invaders but their great fortified camp, Uar or
Auaris, which they had established at the time of
their arrival upon the eastern frontier, and had ever
since kept up. In this district, which was strongly
fortified by walls and moats, and watered by canals
derived from the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, they had
concentrated themselves, we are told, to the number
of 240,000 men, determined to make there a final
stand against the Egyptians.
It was when affairs were in this position that Ra-
Sekenen died, and was succeeded by a king of a
152 HYKSOS EXPELLED FROM EGYPT.
different family, the first monarch of the " Eighteenth
Dynasty," Aahmes. Aahmes was a prince of great
force of character, brave, active, energetic, liberal,
beloved by his subjects. He addressed himself at
once to the task of completing the liberation of his
country by dislodging the Hyksos from Auaris, and
driving them beyond his borders. With this object
he collected a force, which is said to have amounted
to nearly half a million of men, and at the same time
placed a flotilla of ships upon the Nile, which was of
the greatest service in his later operations. Auaris
was not only defended by broad moats connected
with the waters of the Nile, but also bordered upon
a lake, or perhaps rather a lagoon, of considerable
dimensions. Hence it was necessary that it should
be attacked not only by land, but also by water.
Aahmes seems to have commanded the land forces in
person, riding in a war-chariot, the first of which we
have distinct mention. A favourite officer, who bore
the same name as his master, accompanied him,
sometimes marching at his side as he rode in his
chariot, sometimes taking his place in one of the war-
vessels, and directing the movements of the fleet.
After a time formal siege was laid to Auaris ; the
fleet was ordered to attack the walls on the side of
the lagoon, while the land force was engaged in
battering the defences elsewhere. Assaults were
made day after day with only partial success ; but at
last the defenders were wearied out — a panic seized
them, and, hastily evacuating the place, they retired
towards Syria, the quarter from which they had
originally come. Aahmes may have been willing
A AH MRS TAKES AUARIS. 153
that they should escape ; since, if they had been
completely blocked in and driven to bay, they might
have made a desperate resistance, and caused the
Egyptians an enormous loss. He followed, however,
upon their footsteps, to make sure that they did not
settle anywhere in his neighbourhood, and was not
content till they had crossed the desert and entered
the hill country of Palestine. Even then he still
hung upon their rear, harassing them and cutting off
their stragglers ; finally, when they made a stand at
Sharuhen in Southern Palestine, he laid siege to the
town, took it, and made a great slaughter of the
hapless defenders.
The war did not terminate until the fifth year of
Aahmes' reign. Its result was the complete defeat
of the invading hordes which had held Lower and
Middle Egypt for so long, and their expulsion from
Egypt with such ignominy and loss that they made
no effort to retaliate or to recover themselves. Vast
numbers must have been slain in the battles, or have
perished amid the hardships of the retreat; and many
thousands were, no doubt, made prisoners and carried
back into Egypt as slaves. It is thought that these
captives were so numerous as to become an important
element in the population of the eastern Delta, and
even to modify the character of the Egyptian race in
that quarter. The lively imagination of M. Francois
Lenormant sees their descendants in the " strange
people, with robust limbs, an elongated face, and a
severe expression, which to this day inhabits the tract
bordering on Lake Menzaleh." r
1 "Manuel d'Histoire Ancicnne de l'Orient," vol. i. p. 368
154 HYKSOS EXPELLED FROM EGYPT.
It is probable that Aahmes had for allies in his war
with the " Shepherds " the great nation which adjoined
Egypt on the south, and which was continually grow-
ing in power — the Kashi, Cushites, or Ethiopians.
His wife appears by her features and complexion to
have been a Cushite princess, and the marriage is
likely to have been less one of inclination than of
policy. The Egyptians admired fair women rather
than dark ones, as is plain from the unduly light
complexions which the artists, in their desire to flatter,
ordinarily assign to women, as well as from the attrac-
tiveness of Sarah, even in advanced age. When a
Theban king contracted marriage with an Ethiopian
of ebon blackness, we are entitled to assume a political
motive ; and the most probable political motive under
the circumstances of the time was the desire for
military assistance. Though in the early wars be-
tween the Kashi and the Egyptians the prowess of
the former is not represented as great, and the desig-
nation of " miserable Cushites " is evidently used in
depreciation of their warlike qualities, yet the very
use of the epithet implies a feeling of hostility which
could scarcely have been provoked by a weak people.
And the Cushites certainly advanced in prowess and
in military vigour as time went on. They formed the
most important portion of the Egyptian troops for
some centuries ; at a later period they conquered
Egypt, and were the dominant power for a hundred
years ; still further on, they defied the might of
Persia when Egypt succumbed to it. Aahmes, in
contracting his marriage with the Ethiopian princess,
to whom he gave the name of Nefertari-Aahmes — or
HEAD OK NEFERTARI-AAHMES.
AAHMES HELPED BY THE CUSHITES.
157
"the good companion of Aahmes" — was, we may be
tolerably sure, bent on obtaining a contingent of those
stalwart troops whose modern representatives are
either the Blacks of the Soudan or the Gallas of
the highlands of Abyssinia. The " Shepherds " thus
yielded to a combination of the North with the South,
of the Egyptians with the Ethiopians, such as in
later times, on more than one occasion, drove the
Assyrians out of the country.
X.
THOTHMES I., THE FIRST GREAT EGYPTIAN
CONQUEROR.
Thothmes I. was the grandson of the Aahmes
who drove out the Hyksos. He had thus heredi-
tary claims to valour and military distinction. The
Ethiopian blood which flowed in his veins through
his grandmother, Nefertari-Aahmes, may have given
him an additional touch of audacity, and certainly
showed itself in his countenance, where the short
depressed nose and the unduly thick lips are of the
Cushite rather than of the Egyptian type. His
father, Amen-hotep I., was a somewhat undistin-
guished prince ; so that here, as so often, where
superior talent runs in a family, it seems to have
skipped a generation, and to have leapt from the grand-
sire to the grandson. Thothmes began his military
career by an invasion of the countries upon the Upper
Nile, which were still in an unsettled state, notwith-
standing the campaigns which had been carried on,
and the victories which had been gained in them,
during the two preceding reigns, by King Aahmes,
and by the generals of Amen-hotep. He placed a
flotilla of ships upon the Nile above the Second
Cataract, and supporting it with his land forces on
ACCESSION OF THOTHMES 1.
i59
cither side of the river, advanced from Semneh, the
boundary established by Usurtasen III., which is in
lat. 21° 50' to Tombos, in lat. 19° conquering the
tribes, Nubian and Cushite, as he proceeded, and
from time to time distinguishing himself in personal
combats with his enemies. On one occasion, we
are told, " his majesty became more furious than a
panther," and placing an arrow on his bowstring,
BUST OF THOTHMES I.
directed it against the Nubian chief so surely that it
struck him, and remained fixed in his knee, where-
upon the chief "fell fainting down before the royal
diadem." He was at once seized and made a prisoner ;
his followers were defeated and dispersed ; and he
himself, together with others, was carried off on board
the royal ship, hanging with his head downwards, to
the royal palace at the capital. This victory was the
160 THE FIRST GREAT EGYPTIAN CONQUEROR.
precursor of others ; everywhere " the Petti of Nubia
were hewed in pieces, and scattered all over their
lands," till "their stench filled the valleys." At last a
general submission was made, and a large tract of
territory was ceded. The Egyptian terminus was
pushed on from the twenty-second parallel to the
nineteenth, and at Tombos, beyond Dongola, an
inscription was set up, at once to mark the new'
frontier, and to hand down to posterity the glory
of the conquering monarch. The inscription still
remains, and is couched in inflated terms, which show
a departure from the old official style. Thothmes
declares that " he has taken tribute from the nations
of the North, and from the nations of the South, as
well as from those of the zvJiole earth ; he has laid hold
of the barbarians ; he has not let a single one of them
escape his gripe upon their hair ; the Petti of Nubia
have fallen beneath his blows ; he has made their
waters to flow backwards ; he has overflowed their
valleys like a deluge, like waters which mount and
mount. He has resembled Horus, when he took
possession of his eternal kingdom ; all the countries
included within the circumference of the entire earth
are prostrate under his feet." Having effected his
conquest, Thothmes sought to secure it by the ap-
pointment of a new officer, who was to govern the
newly-annexed country under the title of " Prince of
Cush," and was to have his ordinary residence at
Semneh.
Flushed with his victories in this quarter, and
intoxicated with the delight of conquest, Thothmes,
on his return to Thebes, raised his thoughts to a still
HOW MOVED TO INVADE ASIA. l6l
grander and more adventurous enterprize. Egypt
had a great wrong to avenge, a huge disgrace to wipe
out. She had been invaded, conquered, plundered,
by an enemy whom she had not provoked by any
aggression ; she had seen her cities laid in ashes, her
temples torn down and demolished, the images of
her gods broken to pieces, her soil dyed with her
children's blood ; she had been trampled under the
iron heel of the conqueror for centuries ; she had been
exhausted by the payment of taxes and tribute ; she
had had to bow the knee, and lick the dust under the
conqueror's feet — was not retribution needed for all
this ? True, she had at last risen up and expelled
her enemy, she had driven him beyond her borders,
and he seemed content to acquiesce in his defeat, and
to trouble her no more ; but was this enough ? Did
not the law of eternal justice require something more ?
" Nee lex justior ulla est,
Quam necis artifices arte perire sua."
Was it not proper, fitting, requisite for the honour
of Egypt, that there should be retaliation, that the
aggressor should suffer what he had inflicted, should
be attacked in his own country, should be made to feel
the grief, the despair, the rage, the shame, that he had
forced Egypt to feel for so many years ; should expiate
his guilt by a penalty, not only proportioned to the
offence, but its exact counterpart ? Such thoughts,
we may be sure, burned in the mind of the young
warrior, when, having secured Egypt on the south, he
turned his attention to the north, and asked himself
the question how he should next employ the power
l62 THE FIRST GREAT EGYPTIAN CONQUEROR.
that he had inherited, and the talents with which
nature had endowed him.
It is uncertain what amount of knowledge the
Egyptians of the time possessed concerning the in-
ternal condition, population, and resources, of the
continent which adjoined them on the north-east.
We cannot say whether Thothmes and his counsellors
could, or. could not, bring before their mind's eye a
fairly correct view of the general position of Asiatic
affairs, and form a reasonable estimate of the pro-
babilities of success or discomfiture, if a great ex-
pedition were led into the heart of Asia. Whatever
may have been their knowledge or ignorance, it will
be necessary for the historical student of the present
day to have some general ideas on the subject, if he
is to form an adequate conception either of the dangers
which Thothmes affronted, or of the amount of credit
due to him for his victories. We propose, therefore,
in the present place, to glance our eye over the
previous history of Western Asia, and to describe, so
far as is possible, its condition at the time when
Thothmes began to contemplate the invasion which
it is his great glory to have accomplished.
Western Asia is generally allowed to have been
the cradle of the human race. Its more fertile portions
were thickly peopled at a very early date. Monarchy,
it is probable, first grew up in Babylonia, towards the
mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates. But it was not
long ere a sister kingdom established itself in Susiana,
or Elam, the fertile tract between the Lower Tigris
and the Zagros mountains. The ambition of con-
quest first showed itself in this latter country, whence
STATE OF ASIA AT THE TIME. 163
Kudur-Nakhunta, about B.C. 2300, made an attack
on Erech, and Chedor-laomer (about B.C. 2000)
established an empire which extended from the
Zagros mountains on the one hand to the shores of
the Mediterranean on the other (Gen. xiv. 1-4)
Shortly after this, a third power, that of the Hittites,
grew up towards the north, chiefly perhaps in Asia
Minor, but with a tendency to project itself southward
into the Mesopotamian region. Upper Mesopotamia,
Syria, and Palestine, were at this time inhabited by
weak tribes, each under its own chief, with no co-
herence, and no great military spirit. The chief of
these tribes, at the time when Thothmes I. ascended
the Egyptian throne, were the Rutennu in Syria, and
the Nahari or Nai'ri in Upper Mesopotamia. The
two monarchies of the south, Elam and Babylon
were not in a flourishing condition, and exercised no
suzerainty beyond their own natural limits. They
were, in fact, a check upon each other, constantly
engaged in feuds and quarrels, which prevented either
from maintaining an extended sway for more than a
few years. Assyria had not yet acquired any great
distinction, though it was probably independent, and
ruled by monarchs who dwelt at Asshur (Kileh-
Sherghat). The Hittites, about B.C. 1900, had received
a severe check from the Babylonian monarch, Sargon,
and had withdrawn themselves into their northern
fortresses. Thus the circumstances of the time were,
on the whole, favourable to the enterprize of Thothmes.
No great organized monarchy was likely to take the
field against him, or to regard itself as concerned to
interfere with the execution of his projects, unless
164 THE FIRST GREAT EGYPTIAN CONQUEROR.
they assumed extraordinary dimensions. So long as
he did not proceed further north than Taurus, of
further cast than the western Khabour, the great
affluent of the Euphrates, he would come into contact
with none of the " great powers " of the time ; he
would have, at the worst, to contend with loose
confederacies of tribes, distrustful of each other, un-
accustomed to act together, and, though brave,
possessing no discipline or settled military organiza-
tion. At the same time, his adversaries must not be
regarded as altogether contemptible. The Philistines
and Canaanites in Palestine, the Arabs of the Sinaitic
and Syrian deserts, the Rutennu of the Lebanon and
of Upper Syria, the Nai'ri of the western Mesopo-
tamian region, were individually brave men, were
inured to warfare, had a strong love of independence,
and were likely to resist with energy any attempt to
bring them under subjection. They were also, most
of them, well acquainted with the value of the horse
for military service, and could bring into the field a
number of war-chariots, with riders well accustomed
to their management. Egypt had only recently added
the horse to the list of its domesticated animals,
and followed the example of the Asiatics by or-
ganizing a chariot force. It was open to doubt
Whether this new and almost untried corps would be
able to cope with the experienced chariot-troops of
Asia.
The country also in which military operations were
to be carried on was a difficult one. It consisted
mainly of alternate mountain and desert. First, the
sandy waste called El Tij— the "Wilderness of the
DESCRIPTION OF THE TOPOGRAPHY. 165
Wanderings '' — had to be passed, a tract almost wholly
without water, where an army must carry its own
supply. Next, the high upland of the Negeb would
present itself, a region wherein water may be pro-
cured from wells, and which in some periods of the
world's history has been highly cultivated, but which
in the time of Thothmes was probably almost as
unproductive as the desert itself. Then would come
the green rounded hills, the lofty ridges, and the deep
gorges of Palestine, untraversed by any road, in
places thickly wooded, and offering continually greater
obstacles to the advance of an army, as it stretched
further and further towards the north. From Palestine
the Lebanon region would have to be entered on,
where, though the Code-Syrian valley presents a
comparatively easy line of march to the latitude of
Antioch, the country on cither side of the valley is
almost untraversable, while the valley itself contains
many points where it can be easily blocked by a
small force. The Orontes, moreover, and the Litany,
are difficult to cross, and in the time of Thothmes I.
would be unbridged, and form no contemptible
obstacles. From the lower valley of the Orontes,
first mountains and then a chalky desert had to be
crossed in order to reach the Euphrates, which could
only be passed in boats, or else by swimming.
Beyond the Euphrates was another dreary and in-
fertile region, the tract about Haran, where Crassus
lost his army and his life.
How far Thothmes and his counsellors were aware
of these topographical difficulties, or of the general con-
dition of Western Asia, it is, as already observed, ira-
l66 THE FIRST GREAT EGYPTIAN CONQUEROR.
possible to determine. But, on the whole, there are
reasons foi believing that intercourse between nation
and nation was, even in very early times, kept up,
and that each important country had its " intelligence
department," which was not badly served. Merchants,
refugees, spies, adventurers desirous of bettering their
condition, were continually moving, singly or in bodies,
from one land to another, and through them a consi-
derable acquaintance with mundane affairs generally
was spread abroad. The knowledge was, of course,
very inexact. No surveys were made, no plans of
cities or fortresses, no maps ; the military force that
could be brought into the field by the several nations
was very roughly estimated ; but still, ancient con-
querors did not start off on their expeditions wholly
in the dark as to the forces which they might have to
encounter, or the difficulties which were likely to beset
their march.
Thothmes probably set out on his expedition into
Asia in about his sixth or seventh year. He was
accompanied by two officers, who had served his father
and his grandfather, known respectively as " Aahmes,
son of Abana," and " Aahmes Pennishem." Both of
them had been engaged in the war which he had
conducted against the Petti of Nubia and their
Ethiopian allies, and both had greatly distinguished
themselves. Aahmes, the son of Abana, boasts that
he seven times received the prize of valour — a collar
of gold — for his conduct in the field ; and Aahmes
Pennishem gives a list of twenty-nine presents given
to him as military rewards by three kings. It does
not appear that any resistance was offered to the
INVASION OF ASIA. W7
invading force as it passed through Palestine ; but in
Syria Thothmes engaged the Rutennu, and " exacted
satisfaction " from them, probably on account of the
part which they had taken in the Hyksos struggle ;
after which he crossed the Euphrates and fell upon
the far more powerful nation of the NaTri. The NaTri,
when first attacked by the Assyrians, had twenty-three
cities, and as many kings ; they were rich in horses
and mules, and had so large a chariot force that we
hear of a hundred and twenty chariots being taken
from them in a single battle. At this time the number
of the chariots was probably much smaller, for each of
the two officers named Ahmes takes great credit to
himself on account of the capture of one such vehicle.
It is uncertain whether more than a single battle was
fought. All that we are told is, that " His Majesty,
having arrived in Naharina " {i.e. the NaTri country),
" encountered the enemy, and organized an attack.
His Majesty made a great slaughter of them ; an im-
mense number of live captives was carried off by His
Majesty." These words would apply equally to a
single battle and to a series of battles. All that can
be said is, that Thothmes returned victorious from his
Asiatic expedition, having defeated the Rutennu and
the NaTri, and brought with him into Egypt a goodly
booty, and a vast number of Asiatic prisoners.
The warlike ambition of Thothmes I. was satisfied
by his Nubian and Asiatic victories. On his return
to Egypt at the close of his Mesopotamian campaign,
he engaged in the peaceful work of adorning and
beautifying his capital cities. At Thebes he greatly
enlarged the temple of Ammon, begun by Amenem-
l68 THE FIRST GREAT EGYPTIAN CONQUEROR.
hat I., and continued under his son, the first Usurtasen.
by adding to it the cloistered court in front of the
central cell — a court two hundred and forty feet long
by sixty-two broad, surrounded by a colonnade, of
which the supports were Osirid pillars, or square piers
with a statue of Osiris in front. This is the first
known example of the cloistered court, which became
afterwards so common ; though it is possible that
constructions of a similar character may have been
made by the " Shepherd Kings " at Tanis. Thoth-
mes also adorned this temple with obelisks. In front
of the main entrance to his court he erected two vast
monoliths of granite, each of them seventy-five feet in
height, and bearing dedicatory inscriptions, which
indicated his piety and his devotion to all the chief
deities of Egypt.
Further, at Memphis he built a new royal palace,
which he called " The Abode of Aa-khepr-ka-ra," a
grand building, afterwards converted into a magazine
for the storage of grain.
The greatness of Thothmes I. has scarcely been
sufficiently recognized by historians. It may be true
that he did not effect much ; but he broke ground
in a new direction ; he set an example which led on to
grand results. To him it was due that Egypt ceased
to be the isolated, unaggressive power that she had re-
mained for perhaps ten centuries, that she came boldly
to the front and aspired to bring Asia into subjection.
Henceforth she exercised a potent influence beyond
her borders — an influence which affected, more or less,
all the western Asiatic powers. She had forced her
way into the comity of the great nations. Henceforth,
GREATNESS OE THOTHMES I.
169
whether it was for good or for evil, she had to take
her place among them, to reckon with them, as they
reckoned with her, to be a factor in the problem which
the ages had to work out — What should be the general
march of events, and what states and nations should
most affect the destiny of the world.
XL
QUEEN HATASU AND HER MERCHANT FLEET.
HASHEPS, or Hatasu, was the daughter of the great
warrior king, Thothmes the First, and, according to
some, vyas, during his later years, associated with him
in the government. An inscription is quoted in which
he assigns to her her throne-name of Ra-ma-ka, and
calls her " Queen of the South and of the North." But
it was not till after the death of her father that she
came prominently forward, and assumed a position
not previously held by any female in Egypt, unless it
were Net-akret (Nitocris). Women in Egypt had been,
it is true, from very early times held in high estimation,
were their husbands' companions, not their playthings
or their slaves, appeared freely in public, and enjoyed
much liberty of action. One of the ancient mythical
monarchs, of the time before Sneferu, is said to have
passed a law permitting them to exercise the sove-
reign authority. Nitocris of the sixth dynasty of
Manetho ruled, apparently, as sole queen ; and Sabak-
nefru-ra of the twelfth, the wife of Amenemhat IV.,
reigned for some years conjointly with her husband.
Hatasu's position was intermediate between these.
Her father had left behind him two sons, as well as a
daughter ; and the elder of these, according to Egyp-
HEAD OF TIIOTIlMlb II.
HF.AD OF HATASU
HATASU AS REGENT FOR THOTHMES II. I73
tian law, succeeded him. He reigned as Thothmes-
nefer-shau, and is known to moderns as Thothmes the
Second. He was, however, a mere youth, of a weak
and amiable temper ; while Hatasu, his senior by
some years, was a woman of great energy and of a
masculine mind, clever, enterprizing, vindictive, and
unscrupulous. The contrast of their portrait busts is
remarkable, and gives a fair indication of the character
of each of them. Thothmes has the appearance of a
soft and yielding boy: he has a languishing eye, a
short upper lip, a sensuous mouth and chin. Hatasu
looks the Amazon : she holds her head erect, has a
bold aquiline nose, a firmly-set mouth, and a chin that
projects considerably, giving her an indescribable air
of vigour and resolution. The effect is increased, no
doubt, by her having attached to it the male appen-
dage of an artificial beard ; but even apart from
this, her face would be a strong one, expressive of
firmness, pride, and decision. It is thought that she
contracted a marriage with her brother, such unions
being admissible by the Egyptian marriage law, and
not infrequent among the Pharaohs, whether of the
earlier or the later dynasties. In any case, it is certain
that she took the direction of affairs under his reign,
reducing him to a cipher, and making her influence
paramomiL in every department of the government.
At this period of her life the ambition of Queen
Hatasu was to hand her name down to posterity as a
constructor of buildings. She made many additions
to the old temple of Ammon at Karnak ; and she also
built at Medinet Abou, in the vicinity of Thebes, a
temple of a more elaborate character than any that
174 QUEEN HATASU AND HER MERCHANT FLEET.
had preceded it, the remains of which are still standing(
and have attracted much attention from architects,
Egyptian temple-architecture is here seen tentatively
making almost its first advances from the simple
cell of Usurtasen I. towards that richness of com-
plication and multiplicity of parts which it ulti°
mately reached. Pylons, courts, corridors supported
by columns, pillared apartments, meet us here in
their earliest germ ; while there are also indica-
tions of constructive weakness, which show that the
builders were aspiring to go beyond previous models.
The temple is cruciform in shape, but the two arms
of the cross are unequal. In front, two pylons of
moderate dimensions, not exceeding twenty-four feet
in height, and built with the usual sloping sides and
strongly projecting cornice, guarded a doorway which
gave entrance into a court, sixty feet long by thirty
broad. At the further end of the court stood a porch,
thirty feet long and nine deep, supported by four
square stone piers, emplaced at equal distances. The
porch led into the cell, a long, narrow chamber of
extreme plainness, about twenty-five feet long by nine
wide, with a doorway at either end. At either side
of the cell were corridors, supported, like the porch, by
square piers, and roofed in by blocks of stone from
nine to ten feet long. These blocks have in some
instances shown signs of giving way ; and, to counter-
act the tendency, octagonal pillars have been intro-
duced at the weak points, without regard to exact
regularity or correspondence. Behind the cell are
chambers for the officiating priests, which are six in
number, and on either side of the porch are also
„ — _4
3 r zi tzf
,/*U
□
Q
O l-3 a ©
s i a i
]rn
GROUND-PLAN OF TEMPLE AT MEDINE T-ABOU.
HATASU ACTUAL QUEEN. lj?
chambers, forming the arms of the cross, but of un-
equal dimensions. That on the left is nearly square,
about fifteen feet by twelve ; that on the right is ob-
long, twenty-seven feet by fifteen, and has needed the
support of two pillars internally, which seem, however,
to have been part of the original design. This chamber
is open towards the north-east, terminating in a porch
of three square piers.
The joint reign of Hatasu and Thothmes II. did
not continue for more than a few years. It is sus-
pected that she engaged in a conspiracy against him
in order to rid herself of the small restraint which
his participation in the sovereignty exercised upon
her, and was privy to his murder. But there is no
sufficient evidence to substantiate these charges, which
have been somewhat recklessly made. All that dis-
tinctly appears is, that Thothmes II. died while he
was still extremely young, and when he had reigned
only a short time, and that after his death Hatasu
showed her hostility to his memory by erasing his
name wherever it occurred on the monuments, and
substituting for it either her own name or that of her
father. She appears also at the same time to have
taken full possession of the throne, and to have been
accepted as actual sovereign of the Egyptian people.
She calls herself " The living Horus, abounding in
divine gifts, the mistress of diadems, rich in years, the
golden Horus, goddess of diadems, Queen of Upper
and Lower Egypt, daughter of the Sun, consort ot
Amnion, living for ever, and daughter of Ammon,
dwelling in his heart." Nor was she content
with attributes which made acknowledgment of her
178 QUEEN HATASU AND HER MERCHANT FLEET.
sex. She wished to be regarded as a man, assumed
male apparel and an artificial beard, and gave herself
on many of her monuments the style and title of a
king. Her name of Hatasu she changed into Hatasu-
Khnum-Ammon, thus identifying herself with two of
the chief Egyptian gods. She often represented her-
self as crowned with the tall plumes of Ammon. She
took the titles of " son of the sun," " the good god"
"lord of the two lands," "beloved of Ammon, the
protector of kings." A curious anomaly appears in
some of her inscriptions, where masculine and femi-
nine forms are inextricably mixed up ; though spoken
of consistently as " the king," and not " the queen,"
yet the personal and possessive pronouns which refer
to her are feminine for the most part, while sometimes
such perplexing expressions occur as "le roi qui est
bien aitnie par Ammon," or " His Majesty herself."
The legal position which Hatasu occupied during
the sixteen years that followed the death of Thothmes
II. was probably that of regent for Thothmes III.,
his (and her) younger b'other ; but practically she
was full sovereign of Egypt. It was now that she
formed her grand schemes of foreign commerce, and
had them carried out by her officers. First of all, she
caused to be built, in some harbour on the western
coast of the Red Sea, a fleet of ships, certainly not
fewer than five, each constructed so as to be propelled
both by oars and sails, and each capable of accommo-
dating some sixty or seventy passengers. Of these
thirty were the rowers, whose long sweeps were to
plough the waves, and bring the vessels into port,
whether the wind were favourable or no ; some ten or
THE FLEET SETS SAIL. l8l
twelve formed the crew ; and the remainder consisted
of men-at-arms, whose services, it was felt, might be
required, if the native tribes were not sufficiently im-
pressed with the advantages of commercial dealings.
An expedition then started from Thebes under the
conduct of a royal ambassador, who was well furnished
with gifts for distribution among the barbarian chiefs,
and instructed to proceed with his fleet down the Red
Sea to its mouth, or perhaps even further, and open
communications with the land of "Punt," which was
in this quarter. " Punt " has been generally identified
with Southern Arabia, and it is certainly in favour of
this view that the chief object of the expedition was
to procure incense and spices, which Arabia is known
to have produced anciently in profusion. But among
the other products of the land mentioned in the in-
scriptions of Hatasu, there are several which Arabia
could not possibly have furnished ; and the conjecture
has therefore been made that Punt, or at any rate the
Punt of this expedition, was not the Arabian penin-
sula, or any part of it, but the African tract outside
the Gulf, known to moderns as "the Somauli coun-
try." However this may have been, it is certain that
the fleet weighed anchor, and sailed down the Red
Sea, borne by favourable winds, which were ascribed
to the gracious majesty of Ammon, and reached their
destination, the Ta-netcr, or " Holy Land " — the
* abode of Athor," and perhaps the original home of
Ammon himself — without accident or serious diffi-
culty. The natives gave them a good reception.
They were simple folk, living in rounded huts or
cabins, which were perched on floors supported by
182 QUEEN HATASU AND HER MERCHANT FLEET.
piles, probably on account of the marshiness of the
ground, and which had to be entered by means of
ladders. Cocoa-nut palms overshadowed the huts,
interspersed with incense trees, while neai them
flowed a copious stream, in which were a great variety
of fishes. The principal chief of the country was a cer-
tain Parihu, who was married to a wife of an extra-
ordinary appearance. A dwarf, hunchbacked, with a
drawn face and short, deformed legs, she can scarcely,
HOME BUILT ON PILES IN THE LAND OF PUNT
one would think, have been a countrywoman 01 tne
Queen of Sheba. She belonged, more probably, to
one of the dwarfish tribes of which Africa has so
many, as Dokos, Bosjesmen, and others. The royal
couple were delighted with their visitors, and with
the presents which they received from them ; they
made a sort of acknowledgment of the suzerainty of
the Pharaohs, but at the same time stipulated that the
peace and liberty of the land of Punt should be re-
FREE TRADE IN THE LAND OF PUNT.
183
spected by the Egyptians. Perfect freedom of trade
was established. The Egyptians had permission to
enter the incense forests, and either to cut down the
trees for the sake of the resin which they exuded, or
to dig them up and convey them to the ships. We
see the trees, or rather bushes, dug up with as much
earth as possible about their roots, then slung on
poles and carried to the sea-shore, and finally placed
THE QUEEN OF PUNT, AS SHE APPEARED AT THE COURT OF HATASU.
upright upon the ships' decks, and screened from the
heat of the sun's rays by an awning. Thirty-one
trees were thus embarked, with the object of trans-
planting them to Egypt, where it was hoped that they
might grow and flourish. A large quantity of the resin
was also collected and packed in sacks, which were
tied at the mouth and piled up upon the decks.
Various other products and commodities were likewise
brought to the beach by the natives, and exchanged
184 QUEEN HATASU AND HER MERCHANT FLEEt.
for those which the Egyptians had taken care to
bring with them in their ships' holds. The most prized
were gold, silver, ivory, ebony and other woods, cassia,
kohl or stibium, apes, baboons, dogs, slaves, and
leopard skins. The utmost friendliness prevailed
during the whole period of the Egyptians' stay in the
country ; and at their departure, a number of the
natives, of their own free-will, accompanied them to
Egypt. Among these would seem to have been the
deformed queen and several chiefs.
The return journey to Thebes was effected partly by
wayof the Nile. No doubt the sea-going ships sailed
back to the harbour from which they had started ;
while the incense trees and other commodities were
disembarked, and conveyed across the desert tract
which borders the Nile valley towards the east ; but
instead of being brought to Thebes by land they were
re-shipped on board a number of large Nile boats, and
conveyed down the river to the capital. The day of
their arrival was made a grand gala-day. All the
city went out to meet the returning travellers. There
was a grand parade of the household troops, and also
of those which had accompanied the expedition ; the
incense trees, the strange animals, the many products
of the distant country, were exhibited ; a tame leopard,
with his negro keeper, followed the soldiers ; a band
of natives, called Tamahu, engaged in a sort of sham-
fight or war-dance. The misshapen queen and the
chiefs of the land of Punt, together with a number of
Nubian hunters from the region of Chent-hen-nefer,
which lay far up the course of the Nile, were con-
ducted to the presence of Hatasu, offered their homage
REJOICINGS ON THE FLEET S RETURN. 185
to her as she sat upon her throne, and presented her
with valuable gifts. " Homage to thy countenance,"
they said, " O Queen of Egypt, Sun beaming like the
sun-disk, Aten. Arabia's mistress." An offering was
then made by Hatasu to the god Ammon ; a bull was
sacrificed, and two vases of the precious frankincense
presented to him by the queen herself. Sacrifice was
likewise made and prayers offered to Athor, " Queen
of Punt " and " Mistress of Heaven." The incense trees
were finally planted in ground prepared for them, and
the day concluded with general festivity and rejoicing.
The complete success of so important and difficult
an cnterprize might well please even a great queen.
Hatasu, delighted with the result, did her best to pre-
vent it fading away from human remembrance by
building a new temple to Ammon, and representing
the entire expedition upon its walls. At Tel-el-
Bahiri, in the valley of El-Assasif, near Thebes, she
found a convenient site for her new structure, which
she imposed upon four steps, and covered internally
with a series of bas-reliefs, highly coloured, depicting
the chief scenes of the expedition. Here are to be
seen, even at the present day, the ships — the most
ancient representations of sea-going ships that the
world contains — the crews, the incense-trees, the chiefs
and queen of Punt, the native dwellings, the trees and
fish of the land, the arrival of the expedition at Thebes
in twelve large boats, the prostration of the native
chiefs before Hatasu, the festival held on the occasion,
and the offerings made to the gods. It is seldom that
any single event of ancient history is so profusely
illustrated as this expedition of Queen Hatasu, which
186 QUEEN HATASU AND HER MERCHANT FLEET.
is placed before our eyes in all its various phases,
from the gathering of the fleet on the Red Sea coast
to the return of those engaged in it, in gladness and
triumph, to Thebes.
After exercising all the functions of sovereignty for
fifteen years, during which she kept her royal brother
in a subjection that probably became very galling to
him, Hatasu found herself under the necessity of
admitting him to a share in the royal authority, and
allowed his name to appear on her monuments in a
secondary and subordinate position. About this time
she was especially engaged in the ornamentation of
the old temple of Ammon at Thebes, begun by Usur-
tasen I., and much augmented by her father, Thcth-
mes I. The chief of all her works in this quarter
were two obelisks of red granite, or syenite, drawn
from the quarries of Elephantine, and set up before
the entrance, which her father had made in front of
Usurtasen's construction. These great works are
unexcelled, in form, colour, and beauty of engraving,
by any similar productions of Egyptian art, either
earlier or later. They measure nearly a hundred feet
in height, and are covered with the most delicately
finished hieroglyphics. On them Hatasu declares
that she "has made two great obelisks for her father,
Ammon, from a heart that is full of love for him."
They are " of hard granite of the South, each of a
single stone, without any joining or division." The
summit of each, or cap of the pyramidion, is " of pure
gold, taken from the chiefs of nations," so that they
" are seen from a distance of many leagues — Upper
and Lower Egypt are bathed in their splendour " (!).
death of hatasU. 187
Hatasu reigned conjointly with Thothmes III. for
the space of seven years. Their common monuments
have been found at Thebes, in the Wady Magharah,
and elsewhere. It is not probable that the relations
of the brother and sister during this period were very
cordial. Hatasu still claimed the chief authority, and
placed her name before that of her brother on all
public documents. She was, as she has been called,
" a bold, ambitious woman," and evidently admitted
with reluctance any partner of her greatness. Thoth-
mes III., a man of great ambition and no less
ability, is not likely to have acquiesced very willingly
in the secondary position assigned to him. Whether
he openly rebelled against it, broke with Hatasu, and
deprived her of the throne, or even put her to death,
is wholly uncertain. The monuments hitherto dis-
covered are absolutely silent as to what became of
this great queen. She may have died a natural death,
opportunely for her brother, who must have wished to
find himself unshackled ; or she may have been the
victim of a conspiracy within the palace walls. All
that we know is that she disappears from history in
about her fortieth year, and that her brother and suc-
cessor, the third Thothmes, actuated by a strong and
settled animosity, caused her name to be erased, as
far as possible, from all her monuments. There is
scarcely one on which it remains intact. The greatest
of Egyptian queens — one of the greatest of Egyptian
sovereigns — is indebted for the continuance of her
memory among mankind to the accident that the
stonemasons employed by Thothmes to carry out
his plan of vengeance were too careless or too idle to
l88 QUEEN IIATASU AND HER MERCHANT FLEET.
effect the actual obliteration of the name, which they
everywhere marred with their chisels. Hatred, for
once, though united with absolute power, missed its
aim ; and Hatasu's great constructions, together with
her " Merchant Fleet," are among the indisputable
facts of history which can never be forgotten.
XII.
THOTHMES THE THIRD AND AMENHOTEP THE
SEO >ND.
No sooner had Thothmes III. burst the leading-
strings in which his sister had held him for above
twenty years, then he showed the metal of which he
was made by at once placing himself at the head of
his troops, and marching into Asia. Persuaded that
the great god, Ammon, had promised him a long
career of victory, he lost no time in setting to work
to accomplish his glorious destiny. Starting from an
Egyptian post on the Eastern frontier, called Garu or
Zalu, in the month of February, he took his march
along the ordinary coast route, and in a short time
reached Gaza, the strong Philistine city, which was
already a fortress of repute, and regarded as " the
key of Syria." The day of his arrival was the anni-
versary of his coronation, and according to his reckon-
ing the first day of his twenty-third year. Gaza made
no resistance: its chief was friendly to the Egyptians,
and gladly opened his gates to the invading army.
Having rested at Gaza no more than a single night,
Thothmes resumed his march, and continuing to
skirt the coast, arrived on the eleventh day at a forti-
fied town called Jaham, probably Jamnia. Here he
igO THOTHMES III. AND AMENHOTEP 11.
was met by his scouts, who brought the intelligence
that the enemy was collected at Megiddo, on the
edge of the great plain of Esdraelon, the ordinary
battle-field of the Palestinian nations. They con-
sisted of " all the people dwelling between the river
of Egypt on the one hand and the land of Naharain
(Mesopotamia) on the other." At their head was the
king of Kadesh, a great city on the upper Orontes,
which afterwards became one of the chief seats of the
Hittite power, but was at this time in the possession
of the Rutennu (Syrians). They were strongly posted
at the mouth of a narrow pass, behind the ridge of
hills which connects Carmel with the Samaritan up-
land, and Thothmes was advised by his captains to
avoid a direct attack, and march against them by a
circuitous route, which was undefended. But the
intrepid warrior scorned this prudent counsel. " His
generals," he said, " might take the roundabout road,
if they liked ; lie would follow the straight one."
The event justified his determination. Megiddo was
reached in a week without loss or difficulty, and a
great battle was fought in the fertile plain to the
north-west of the fortress, in which the Egyptian
king was completely victorious, and his enemies were
scattered like chaff before him. The Syrians must
have fled precipitately at the first attack ; for they
lost in killed no more than eighty-three, and in
prisoners no more than two hundred and forty, or
according to another account three hundred and forty,
while the chariots taken were nine hundred and
twenty-four, and the captured horses 2,132. Megiddo
was near at hand, and the bulk of the fugitives would
FIRST SYRIAN CAMPAIGN OF THOTHMES. igi
reach easily the shelter of its walls. Others may
have dispersed themselves among the mountains. The
Syrian camp was, however, taken, together with vast
treasures in silver and gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and
alabaster ; and the son of the king of Kadesh fell
into Thothmes' hands. Megiddo itself, soon after-
wards, surrendered, as did the towns of Inunam,
Anaugas, and Hurankal or Herinokol. An immense
booty in corn and cattle was also carried off.
Thothmes returned to Egypt in triumph, and held a
prolonged testival to Ammon-Ra in Thebes, accom-
panied by numerous sacrifices and offerings. Among
the last we find included three of the cities taken
from the Rutennu, which were assigned to the god in
order that they might "supply a yearly contribution
to his sacred food."
It is a familiar saying, that " increase of appetite
doth grow by what it feeds on." Thothmes certainly
found his appetite for conquest whetted, not satiated,
by his Syrian campaign. If we may trust M.
Lenormant, he took the field in the very year that
followed his victory of Megiddo, and after traversing
the whole of Syria, and ravaging the country about
Aleppo, proceeded to Carchemish, the great Hittite
town on the Upper Euphrates, and there crossed the
river into Naharai'n, or Mesopotamia, whence he
carried off a number of prisoners. Two other cam-
paigns, which cannot be traced in detail, belong to
the period between his twenty- fourth and his twenty-
ninth year. Thenceforward to his fortieth year his
military expeditions scarcely knew any cessation. At
one time he would embark his troops on board a fleet,
I92 THOTHMES III. AND AMENHOTEP II.
and make descents upon the coast of Syria, coming
as unexpectedly and ravaging as ruthlessly as the
Normans of the Middle Ages. He would cut down
the fruit trees, carry off the crops, empty the maga-
zines of grain, lay hands upon all valuables that were
readily removable, and carry them on board his ships,
returning to Egypt with a goodly store of gold and
silver, of lapis lazuli and other precious stones, of
vases in silver and in bronze, of corn, wine, incense,
balsam, honey, iron, lead, emery, and male and female
slaves. At another, he would march by land, besiege
and take the inland towns, demand and obtain the
sons of the chiefs as hostages, exact heavy war con-
tributions, and bring back with him horses and
chariots, flocks and herds, strange animals, trees, and
plants.
Of all his expeditions, that undertaken in his
thirty-third year was perhaps the most remarkable.
Starting from the country of the Rutennu, he on this
occasion directed the main force of his attack upon
the Mesopotamian region, which he ravaged far and
wide, conquering the towns, and " reducing to a level
plain the strong places of the miserable land of
Nahara'i'n," capturing thirty kings or chiefs, and
erecting two tablets in the region, to indicate its sub-
jection/ It is possible that he even crossed the Tigris
into Adiabene or the Zab country, since he relates
that on his return he passed through the town of Ni
or Nini, which many of the best historians of Egypt
identify with Nineveh. Nineveh was not now (about
B.C. 1500) the capital of Assyria, which was lower
down the Tigris, at Asshur or Kileh Shcrghat, but
THOTHMES INVADES MESOPOTAMIA. 193
was only a provincial town of some magnitude. Still,
it was within the dominions of the Assyrian monarch
of the time, and any attack upon it would have been
an insult and a challenge to the great power of Upper
Mesopotamia, which ruled from the alluvium to the
mountains. It is certain that the king of Assyria did
not accept the challenge, but preferred to avoid an
encounter with the Egyptian troops. Both at this
time and subsequently he sent envoys with rich
presents to court the favour of Thothmes, who ac-
cepted the gifts as " tribute," and counted " the chief
of Assuru" among his tributaries. Submission was
also made to him at the same time by the " prince of
Senkara," a name which still exists in the lower
Babylonian marsh region. Among the gifts which
this prince sent was " lapis lazuli of Babylon." It
is an exaggeration to represent the expedition as
having resulted in the conquest of the great empires
of Assyria and Babylon ; but it is quite true to say
that it startled and shook those empires, that it filled
them with a great fear of what might be coming, and
brought Egypt into the position of the principal
military power of the time. Assyrian influence
especially was checked and curtailed. There is reason
to believe, from the Egyptian remains found at Arban
on the Khabour,1 that Thothmes added to the
Egyptian empire the entire region between the Eu-
phrates and its great eastern affluent — a broad tract
of valuable territory — and occupied it with permanent
garrisons. The Assyrian monarch bought off the
further hostility of his dangerous neighbour by an
1 Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 280-282.
194 THOTHMES III. AND AMENHOTEP II.
annual embassy which conveyed rich gifts to the
court of the Pharaohs, gifts that were not recipro-
cated. Among these we find enumerated gold and
silver ornaments, lapis lazuli, vases of Assyrian stone
(alabaster ?), slaves, chariots adorned with gold and
silver, silver dishes and silver beaten out into sheeta
incense, wine, honey, ivory, cedar and sycomore wood,
mulberry trees, vines, and fig trees, buffaloes, bulls,
and a gold habergeon with a border of lapis lazuli.
A curious episode of the expedition is related by
Amenemheb, an officer who accompanied it, and was
in personal attendance upon the Egyptian monarch.
It appears that in the time of Thothmcs III. the
elephant haunted the woods and jungles of the Meso-
potamian region, as he now does those of the penin-
sula of Hindustan. The huge unwieldy beasts were
especially abundant in the neighbourhood of Ni or
Nini, the country between the middle Tigris and the
Zagros range. As Amenemhat I. had delighted in the
chase of the lion and the crocodile, so Thothmes III,
no sooner found a number of elephants within his
reach than he proceeded to hunt and kill them,
mainly no doubt for the sport, but partly in order to
obtain their tusks. No fewer than a hundred and
twenty are said to have been killed or taken. On
one occasion, however, the monarch ran a great risk.
He was engaged in the pursuit of a herd, when the
"rogue," or leading elephant, turned and made a rush
at the royal sportsman, who would probably have
fallen a victim, gored by a tusk or trampled to death
under the huge beast's feet, had not Amenemheb
hastened to the rescue, and by wounding the creature's
FURTHER WARS IN SYRIA AND MESOPOTAMIA. I95
trunk drawn its rage upon himself. The brute
was then, after a short struggle, overpowered and
captured.
Further expeditions were led by Thothmes into Asia
in his thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, thirty-eighth, thirty-
ninth, fortieth, and forty-second years ; but in none
of them does he seem to have outdone the exploits
of the great campaign of the year 55. The brunt
of his attacks at this time fell upon the Zahi, or
Tahai, of northern Phoenicia, and upon the Na'iri of
the Mesopotamia!! region, who continually rebelled,
and had to be reconquered. The Rutennu seem for
the most paVt to have paid their tribute without re-
sistance and without much difficulty. This may have
been partly owing to the judicious system which
Thothmes had established among them, whereby
each chief was forced to give a son or brother as
hostage for his good behaviour, and if the hostage
died to send another in his place. It was certainly
not because the tribute was light, since it consisted
of a number of slaves, silver vases of the weight of
762 pounds, nineteen chariots, 276 head of cattle,
1,622 goats, several hundredweight of iron and lead,
a number of suits of armour, and " all kinds of good
plants." The Rutennu had also to supply the stations
along the military road, whereby Thothmes kept up
the communications between Egypt and Mesopo-
potamia, with bread, wine, dates, incense, honey, and
figs.
While thus engaged in enlarging the limits of his
empire towards the north and the north-east, the care-
ful monarch did not allow the regions brought under
ig6 THOTHMES III. AND AMENHOTEP II.
Egyptian influence by former rulers to escape him.
He took a tribute of gold, spices, male and female
slaves, cattle, ivory, ebony, and panther skins from the
land of Punt, of cattle and slaves from Cush, and ot
the same products from the Uauat. Altogether he
is said to have carried off from the subject countries
above 11,000 captives, 1,670 chariots, 3,639 horses,
4,491 of the larger cattle, more than 35,000 goats,
silver to the amount of 3,940 pounds, and gold to the
amount of 9,054 pounds. He also conveyed to Egypt
from the conquered lands enormous quantities of
corn and wine, together with incense, balsam, honey,
ivory, ebony and other rare woods, lapis lazuli, fur-
niture, statues, vases, dishes, basins, tent-poles, bows,
habergeons, fruit trees, live birds, and monkeys !
With a curiosity which was insatiable, he noted all
that was strange or unusual in the lands which he
visited, and sought to introduce the various novelties
into his own proper country. Two unknown kinds
of birds, and a variety of the goose, which he found
in Mesopotamia, and transported from the valley of
the Khabour to that of the Nile, are said to have
been "dearer to the king than anything else." His
artists had instructions to make careful studies of the
different objects, and to represent them faithfully on
his monuments. We see on these " water-lilies as
high as trees, plants of a growth like cactuses, all
sorts of trees and shrubs, leaves, flowers, and fruits,
including melons and pomegranates ; oxen and
calves also figure, and among them a wonderful
animal with three horns. There are likewise herons,
sparrow-hawks, geese, and doves. All these objects
Iff AVAL POWER OF THOTHMES. 197
appear gaily intermixed in the pictures, as suited the
simple childlike conception of the artist." z An in-
scription tells the intention of the monarch. " Here,"
it runs, " are all sorts of plants and all sorts of flowers
of the Holy Land, which the king discovered when
he went to the land of Ruten to conquer it. Thus
says the king — I swear by the sun, and I call to
witness my father Ammon, that all is plain truth ;
there is no trace of deception in that which I relate.
What the splendid soil brings forth in the way of
productions, I have had portrayed in these pictures,
with the intention of offering them to my father
Ammon, as a memorial for all times."
Besides his army, Thothmes also maintained a
naval force, and used it largely in his expeditions.
According to one writer, he placed a fleet on the
Euphrates, and in an action which took place with the
Assyrians, defeated and chased the enemy for a dis-
tance of between seven and eight miles. He certainly
upon some occasions made his attacks on Syria and
Phoenicia from the sea ; nor is it improbable that
his maritime forces reduced Cyprus (which was con-
quered and held in a much less flourishing period by
Amasis) and plundered the coast of Cilicia ; but a
judicious criticism will scarcely extend the voyages
of his fleet, as has been done by another writer, to
Crete, and the islands of the ALgean, the sea-boards
of Greece and Asia Minor, the southern coast of Italy,
Algeria, and the waters of the Euxine ! There is no
evidence in the historical inscriptions of Thothmes of
any such far-reaching expeditions. The supposed
1 Brugsch, " History of Egypt," vol. i. pp. 367, 368.
I98 THOTHMES III. AND AMENHOTEP II.
evidence for them is in a song of victory, put into the
mouth of the god, Ammon, and inscribed on one of
the walls of the great temple of Karnak. The song
is interesting, but it scarcely bears out the deductions
that have been drawn from it, as will appear from the
subjoined translation.
(Ammon loquitur.)
I came, and thou smotest the princes of Zahi ;
I scattered them under thy feet over all their lands ;
I made them regard thy Holiness as the blazing sun ;
Thou shinest in sight of them in my form.
I came, and thou smotest them that dwell in Asia °,
Thou tookest captive the goat-herds of Ruten ;
I made them behold thy Holiness in thy royal adornments,
As thou graspest thy weapons in the war-chariot.
I came, and thou smotest the land of the East ;
Thou marchedst against the dwellers in the Holy Land ;
I made them behold thy Holiness as the star Canopus,
Which sends forth its heat and disperses the dew.
I came, and thou smotest the land of the West ;
Kefa and Asebi (i.e. Phoenicia and Cyprus) held thee in fear J
I made them look upon thy Holiness as a young bull,
Courageous, with sharp horns, which none can approach.
1 came, and thou smotest the subjects of their lords ;
The land of Mathen trembled for fear of thee ;
I made them look upon thy Holiness as upon a crocodile.
Terrible in the waters, not to be encountered.
I came, and thou smotest them that dwelt in the Great Sea •
The inhabitants of the isles were afraid of thy war-cry ;
I made them behold thy Holiness as the Avenger,
Who shews himself at the back of his victim.
I came, and thou smotest the land of the Tahennu %
The people of Uten submitted themselves to thy power ;
I made them see thy Holiness as a lion, fierce of eye,
Who leaves his den and stalks through the valleys.
Great buildings of thothmes. 199
I came, and thou smotest the hinder [i.e. northern) lands ;
The circuit of the Great Sea is bound in thy grasp ;
I made them behold thy Holiness as the hovering hawk,
Which seizes with his glance whatever pleases him.
I came, and thou smotest the lands in front ;
Those that sat upon the sand thou carriedst away captive; (
I made them behold thy Holiness like the jackal of the South,
Which passes through the lands as a hidden wanderer.
I came, and thou smotest the nomad tribes of Nubia,
Even to the land of Shut, which thou boldest in thy grasp ;
I made them behold thy Holiness like thy pair of brothers,
Whose hands I have united to give thee power.1
It is impossible to conclude this sketch of Thoth-
mes III. without some notice of his buildings. He
was the greatest of Egyptian conquerors, but he was
also one of the greatest of Egyptian builders and
patrons of art. The grand temple of Ammon at
Thebes was the especial object of his fostering care ;
and he began his career of builder and restorer by
repairs and restorations, which much improved and
beautified that edifice. Before the southern propylaea
he re-erected, in the first year of his independent
reign, colossal statues of his father, Thothmes I., and
his grandfather, Amenhotep, which had been thrown
down in the troublous time succeeding Thothmes the
First's death. He then proceeded to rebuild the
central sanctuary, the work of Usurtasen I., which
had probably begun to decay, and, recognizing its
importance as the very penetrale of the temple, he
resolved to reconstruct it in granite, instead of
common stone, that he might render it, practically,
1 Brugsch, " History of Egypt " (first ed., 1879), vol. i. pp. 371, 372.
200 THOTHMES III. AND AMENHUTEP II.
imperishable. With a reverence and a self-restrain/
that it might be wished restorers possessed more com-
monly, he preserved all the lines and dimensions of
the ancient building, merely reproducing in a better
material the work of his great predecessor. Having
accomplished this pious task, he gave a vent to his
constructive ambition by a grand addition to the temple
on its eastern side. Behind the cell, at the distance of
about a hundred and fifty feet, he erected a magni-
ficent hall, or pillared chamber, of dimensions pre-
viously unknown in Egypt, or elsewhere in the world
at the time — an oblong square, one hundred and forty-
three feet long by fifty-three feet wide, or nearly half
as large again as the nave of Canterbury Cathedral.
The whole of the apartment was roofed in with slabs
of solid stone ; it was divided in its longest direction
into five avenues or vistas by means of rows of pillars
and piers, the former being towards the centre, and
attaining a height of thirty feet, with bell capitals,
and the latter towards the sides, with a height of
twenty feet. This arrangement enabled the building
to be lighted by means of a clerestory, in the manner
shown by the accompanying woodcut. In connection
with this noble hall, on three sides of it, northwards,
eastwards, and southwards, Thothmes further erected
chambers and corridors, partly open, partly supported
by pillars, which might form convenient store-chambers
for the vestments of the priests and the offerings of
the people.
Thothmes also added propylaea to the temple on
the south, and erected in front of the grand entrance
— which was (as usual) between the pylons of the
PILLARED HALL AND OBELISKS.
20I
propylaea, two or perhaps four great obelisks, one of
which exists to the present day, and is the largest and
most magnificent of all such monuments now extant.
It stands in front of the Church of St. John Lateran
at Rome, and has a height of a hundred and five feet,
exclusive of the base, with a width diminishing from
nine feet six inches to eight feet seven inches. It is
estimated to weigh above four hundred and fifty tons,
and is covered with well-cut hieroglyphics. No other
obelisk approaches within twelve feet of its elevation,
or within fifty tons of its weight. Yet, if we may
believe an inscription of Thothmes, found on the spot,
SECTION OF PILLARED HALL OF THOTHMES III. AT KARNAK.
the pair of obelisks whereof this was one shrank into
insignificance in comparison with another pair, also
placed by him before his propylaea, the height of
which was one hundred and eight cubits, or one
hundred and sixty-two feet, and their weight con-
sequently from seven hundred to eight hundred tons !
As no trace has been found of these monsters, and as
it seems almost impossible that they should have
been removed, and highly improbable that they could
have been broken up without leaving some indication
of their existence, perhaps we may conclude that they
were designed rather than executed, and that the
202 THOTHMES III. AND AMENHOTEP It.
inscription was set up in anticipation of an achieve-
ment contemplated but never effected.
Other erections of the Great Thothmes are the
enclosure of the famous Temple of the Sun at Helio-
polis, the temple of Phthah at Thebes, the small temple
at Medinet-Abou, a temple to Kneph adorned with
obelisks at Elephantine, and a series of temples and
monuments erected at Ombos, Esneh, Abydos,
Coptos, Denderah, Eileithyia, Hermonthis, and Mem-
phis in Egypt, and at Amada, Corte, Talmis, Pselcis,
Semneh, Koummeh, and Napata in Nubia. Exten-
sive ruins of many of these buildings still remain,
particularly at Koummeh, Semneh, Napata, Denderah,
and Ombos. Altogether, Thothmes III. is pro-
nounced to have left behind him more monuments
than any other Pharaoh excepting Rameses II., and
though occasionally showing himself, as a builder, some-
what capricious and whimsical, still, on the whole, to
have worked in a pure style and proved that he was
not deficient in good taste.1
It has happened, moreover, by a curious train
of circumstances, that Thothmes III. is, of all the
Pharaohs, the one whose great works are most widely
diffused, and display Egyptian skill and taste to the
largest populations, and in the most important cities,
of the modern world. Rome, as we have seen, pos-
sesses his grandest obelisk, which is at the same time
the greatest of all extant monoliths. The millions
who have flocked to Rome in all ages have learnt the
lesson of Egyptian greatness from the monument
erected before the Church of St. John Lateran. Con-
1 Wilkinson in Rawlinson's " Herodotus," vol. ii. p. 302.
THOTHMES COMPARED TO ALEXANDER. 203
stantinople holds an obelisk of Thothmes III., which
is placed in the middle of the Atmeidan. London
has put on its embankment, half-way between St.
Paul's and the Palace and Abbey of Westminster,
another obelisk of the same monarch, erected origi-
nally at Heliopolis, thence removed to Alexandria
by Augustus, and now adorning the banks of the
Thames, nearly in the centre of the most populous
city that the world has ever seen. The companion
monument, after having, similarly, stood at Heliopolis
for fifteen centuries, and then at Alexandria for
eighteen, has crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and now
teaches the million residents, and the tens of thou-
sands of visitors, of New York what great things
could be done by the Egyptian engineers and artists
of the time of the eighteenth dynasty.
Thothmes III. has been called "the Alexander of
Egyptian history." The phrase is at once exagge-
rated and misleading. It is exaggerated as applied
to his military ability ; for, though beyond a doubt
this monarch was by far the greatest of Egyptian con-
querors, and possessed considerable military talent,
much personal bravery, and an energy that has seldom
been exceeded, yet, on the other hand, his task was
trivial as compared with that of the Macedonian
general, and his achievements insignificant. Instead
of plunging with a small force into the midst of popu-
lous countries, and contending with armies ten or
twenty times as numerous as his own, defeating them,
and utterly subduing a vast empire, Thothmes
marched at the head of a numerous disciplined army
into thinly peopled regions, governed by petty chiefs
204 THOTHMES III. AND AMENHOTEP It.
jealous one of another, fought scarcely a single great
battle, and succeeded in conquering two regions of a
moderate size, Syria and Upper Mesopotamia, as far
as the Khabour river. Alexander overran and sub-
dued the entire tract between the ^Egean and the
Sutlej, the Persian Gulf and the Oxus. He conquered
Egypt, and founded a dynasty there which endured
for nearly three centuries. Thothmes subdued not a
tenth part of the space, and the empire which he
established did not endure for much more than a
century. It is thus absurd to compare Thothmes III.
to Alexander the Great as a conqueror.
Alexander was, besides, much more than a con-
queror ; he was a first-rate administrator. Had he
lived twenty years longer he would probably have
built up a universal monarchy, which might have
lasted for a millenium. As it was, he so organized
the East that it continued for nearly three centuries
mainly under Greek rule, in the hands of the monarchs
who are known as his " successors." Thothmes III.,
on the contrary, organized nothing. He left his con-
quests in such a condition that they, all of them, re-
volted at his death. His successor had to reconquer
all the countries that had submitted to his father,
and to re-establish over them the Egyptian sove-
reignty.
In person the great Egyptian monarch was not
remarkable. He had a long, well-shaped, and some-
what delicate nose, which was almost in line with his
forehead, an eye prominent and larger than that of
most Egyptians, a shortish upper lip, a resolute mouth
with rather over-full lips, and a rounded, slightly
PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF THOTIIMES.
205
retreating chin. The expression of his portrait statues
is grave and serious, but lacks strength and determi-
nation. Indeed, there is something about the whole
countenance that is a little womanish, though his
character certainly presents no appearance of effemi-
nacy. He died after a reign of fifty-four years,
according to his own reckoning, having practically
BUST OF THOTHMES III.
exercised the sovereign power for about thirty-two
of the fifty-four. His age at his death must have
been about sixty.
During these stirring times, what were the children
of Israel doing? We have supposed that Joseph was
minister of the last of the Shepherd Kings, under
whose reign his people had entered upon the peaceful
206 THOTHMES III. AND AMENHOTEP II.
occupation of the land of Goshen, where they were
received with hospitality by a population of the same
simple pastoral habits with themselves ; and it seems
probable that, under Thothmes III., they were increas-
ing abundantly and waxing mighty, and that the
land between the Sebennytic and Pelusiac branches
of the Nile was gradually being filled by them. Their
period of severe oppression had not yet begun ; there
had as yet arisen no sufficient reason for any measures
of repression, such as were pursued by the new king who
" knew not Joseph." The name and renown of the
great minister seems still to have protected his kins-
men in the peaceful enjoyment of their privileges in
the land that must by this time have lost for them
most of its strangeness.
Thothmes III. was succeeded by his son, Amen-
hotep, whom historians commonly term Amenophis
the Second. This king was a warrior like his father,
and succeeded in reducing, without much difficulty,
the various nations that had thrown off the authority
of Egypt on receiving the news of his father's death.
He even carried his arms, according to some, as far
as Nineveh, which he claims to have besieged and
taken ; he does not, however, mention the Assyrians
as his opponents. His contests were with the Na'i'ri,
the Rutennu, and the Shasu (Arabs) in Asia, with
the Tahennu (Libyans) and Nubians in Africa. On
all sides victory crowned his arms ; but he stained
the fair fame that his victories would have other-
wise secured him by barbarous practices, and cruel
and unnecessary bloodshed. He tells us that at
Takhisa in northern Syria he killed seven kings with
CRUELTIES OF AMENHOTEP. 20J
his own hand, and he represents himself in the act of
destroying them with his war-club, not in the heat of
battle, but after they have been taken prisoners. He
further adds that, after killing them, he suspended
their bodies from the prow of the vessel in which he
returned to Egypt, and brought them, as trophies of
victory, to Thebes, where he hung six of the seven
outside the walls of the city, as the Philistines hung
the bodies of Saul and Jonathan on the wall of Beth-
shan (i Sam. xxxi. 10, 12) ; while he had the seventh
conveyed to Napata in Nubia, and there similarly
exposed, to terrify his enemies in that quarter. It
has been said of the Russians — not perhaps without
some justice — " Grattez le Russe et vous trouverez le
Tartare ; " with far greater reason may we say of the
ancient Egyptians, that, notwithstanding the veneer
of civilization which they for the most part present to
our observation, there was in their nature, even at the
best of times, an underlying ingrained barbarism which
could not be concealed, but was continually showing
itself.
Amenophis II. appears to have had a short reign ;
his seventh year is the last noted upon his monu-
ments. As a builder he was unenterprizing. One
temple at Amada, one hall at Thebes, and his tomb
at Abd-el-Qurnah, form almost the whole of his known
constructions. None of them is remarkable. Egypt
under his sway had a brief rest before she braced her-
self to fresh efforts, military and architectural.
XIII.
AMENHOTEP III. AND HIS GREAT WORKS
VOCAL MEMNON.
THE
The fame of Amen-hotep the Third, the grandson
of the great Thothmes, rests especially upon his Twin
Colossi, the grandest, if not actually the largest, that
the world has ever beheld. Imagine sitting figures,
formed of a single solid block of sandstone, which
have sat on for above three thousand years, moulder-
ing gradually away under the influence of time and
weather changes, yet which are still more than sixty
feet high, and must originally, when they wore the
tall crown of an Egyptian king, have reached very
nearly the height of seventy feet ! We think a statue
vast, colossal, of magnificent dimensions, if it be as
much as ten or twenty feet high — as Chantrey's statue
of Pitt, or Phidias's chryselephantine statue of
Jupiter. What, then, must these be, which are of a
size so vastly greater ? Let us hear how they impress
an eye-witness of world-wide experience. " There
they sit," says Harriet Martineau, " together, yet
apart, in the midst of the plain, serene and vigilant,
still keeping their untired watch over the lapse of
ages and the eclipse of Europe. I can never believe
that anything else so majestic as this pair has been
TWIN COLOSSI OP AMEM10TEP III. 211
conceived of by the imagination of art. Nothing
certainly, even in nature, ever affected me so unspeak-
ably ; no thunderstorms in my childhood, nor any
aspect of Niagara, or the great lakes of America, or
the Alps, or the Desert, in my later years. . . . The
pair, sitting alone amid the expanse of verdure, with
islands of ruins behind them, grew more striking to
us every day. To-day, for the first time, we looked
up to them from their base. The impression of sub-
lime tranquillity which they convey when seen from
distant points, is confirmed by a nearer approach.
There they sit, keeping watch — hands on knees, gazing
straight forward ; seeming, though so much of the
face is gone, to be looking over to the monumental
piles on the other side of the river, which became
gorgeous temples, after these throne-seats were placed
here — the most immovable thrones that have ever
been established on this earth ! " :
The design of erecting two such colossi must be
attributed to the monarch himself, and we must esti-
mate, from the magnificence of the design, the gran-
deur of his thoughts and the wonderful depth of his
artistic imagination ; but the skill to execute, the
genius to express in stone such dignity, majesty, and
repose as the statues possess, belongs to the first-rate
sculptor, who turned the rough blocks of stone, hewn
by the masons in a distant quarry, into the glorious
statues that have looked down upon the plain for so
many ages. The sculptors of Egyptian works are, in
general, unknown ; but, by good fortune, in this par-
ticular case, the name of the artist has remained on
1 " Eastern Life," vol. i. pp. 84, 289.
212 AMENHOTEP III. AND HIS GREAT WORKS.
record, and he has himself given us an account of
the feelings with which he saw them set up in the
places where they still remain. The sculptor, who
bore the same name as his royal master, i.e. Amen-
hotep or Amen-hept, declares in the exultation of his
heart : " I immortalized the name of the king, and no
one has done the like of me in my works. I executed
two portrait-statues of the king, astonishing for their
breadth and height ; their completed form dwarfed
the temple tower — forty cubits was their measure ;
they were cut in the splnndid sandstone mountain on
either side, the eastern and the western. I caused to
be built eight ships, whereon the statues were carried
up the river ; they were emplaced in their sublime
temple ; they will last as long as heaven. A joyful
event was it when they were landed at Thebes and
raised up in their place."
A peculiar and curious interest attaches to one —
the more eastern — of the two statues. It was known
to the Romans of the early empire as " The Vocal
Memnon," and formed one of the chief attractions
which drew travellers to Egypt, from the fact, which
is quite indisputable, that at that time, for two cen-
turies or perhaps more, it emitted in the early morning
a musical sound, which was regarded as a sort of
standing miracle. The fact is mentioned by Strabo,
Pliny the elder, Pausanias, Tacitus, Juvenal, Lucian,
Philostratus, and others, and is recorded by a number
of ear- witnesses on the lower part of the colossus itself
in inscriptions which may be seen at the present day.
Amenhotep, identified by the idle fancy of some Greek
or Roman scholar with the Memnon of Homer, son
THE VOCAL MEM N ON. 213
of Tithonus and The Dawn, who led an army of
Ethiopians to the assistance of Priam of Troy against
the Greeks, was regarded as a god, and to hear the
sound was not only to witness a miracle, but to
receive an assurance of the god's favourable regard.
For the statue did not emit a sound — the god did not
speak — every day. Sometimes travellers had to depart
disappointed altogether, sometimes they had to make
a second, a third, or a fourth visit before hearing the
desired voice. But still it was a frequent phenomenon ;
and a common soldier has recorded the fact on the
base of the statue, that he heard it no fewer than thir-
teen times. The origin of the sound, the time when
it began to be heard, and the circumstances under
which it ceased, are all more or less doubtful. Some
of those exceedingly clever persons who find priest-
craft everywhere, think that the musical sound was
the effect of human contrivance, and explain the
whole matter to their entire satisfaction by "the jug-
glery of the priests." The priests either found a
naturally vocal piece of rock, and intentionally made
the statue out of it ; or they cunningly introduced a
pipe into the interior of the figure, by which they
could make musical notes issue from the mouth at
their pleasure. It is against this view that in the
palmy days of the Egyptian hierarchy, the vocal
character of the statue was entirely unknown ; we
have no evidence of the sound having been heard
earlier than the time of Strabo (B.C. 25-10), when
Egypt was in the possession of the Romans, and the
priests had little influence. Moreover, the theory is
disproved by the fact that, during the two centuries of
214 AMENHOTEP III. AND HIS GREAT WORKS.
the continuance of the marvel, there were occasions
when Memnon was obstinately silent, though the
priests must have been most anxious that he should
speak, while there were others when he spoke freely,
though they must have been perfectly indifferent. The
wife of a prefect of Egypt made two visits to the spot
to no purpose ; and the Empress Sabina, wife of the
Emperor Hadrian, was, on her first visit, also disap-
pointed, so that " her venerable features were in-
flamed with anger." On the other hand, as already
mentioned, a common Roman soldier heard the sound
thirteen times.
With respect to the time when, and the circumstances
under which, the phenomenon first showed itself, all
that can be said is, that the earliest literary witness to
the fact is Strabo (about B.C. 25) ; that the earliest of the
inscriptions on the base that can be dated belongs to
the reign of Nero, and that it is at least questionable
whether the sound ever issued from the stone before
B.C. 27. In that year there was an earthquake which
wrought great havoc at Thebes ; and it is an acute
suggestion, that it was this earthquake which at once
shattered the upper part of the colossus, and so
affected the remainder of the block of stone that it
became vocal then for the first time. For centuries
the figure remained a torso, and it was while a torso
that it emitted the musical tone —
" Dimidio magicse resonabant Memnone chordae."
After a long interval of years, probably about A.D,
174, that restoration of the monument took place
which is to be seen to the present day. Five blocks
THE VOCAL MEMNON. 21 5
of stone, rudely shaped into a form like that of the
unharmed colossus, were emplaced upon the torso,
which was thus reconstructed. The intention was to
do Memnon honour ; but the effect was to strike him
dumb. The peculiar condition of the stone, which
the earthquake had superinduced, and which made it
vocal, being changed by the new arrangement, the
sound ceased, and has been heard no more.
It is a fact well known to scientific persons at the
present day, that musical sounds are often given
forth both by natural rocks and by quarried masses
of stone, in consequence of a sudden change of tem-
perature. Baron Humboldt, writing on the banks of
the Oronooko, says : " The granite rock on which we
lay is one of those where travellers have heard from
time to time, towards sunrise, subterraneous sounds,
resembling those of the organ. The missionaries call
these stones loxas de musica. * It is witchcraft,' said
our young Indian pilot. . . . But the existence of a
phenomenon that seems to depend on a certain state
of the atmosphere cannot be denied. The shelves of
rock are full of very narrow and deep crevices. They
are heated during the day to about 50° I often found
their temperature during the night at 390. It may
easily be conceived that the difference of temperature
between the subterraneous and the external air would
attain its maximum about sunrise." Analogous phe-
nomena occur among the sandstone rocks of El
Nakous, in Arabia Petraea, near Mount Maladetta in
the Pyrenees, and (perhaps) in the desert between
Palestine and Egypt. "On the fifth day of my
journey," says the accomplished author of ' Eothen,'
2 lb AMENHOTEP III. AND HIS GREAT WORKS.
" the sun growing fiercer and fiercer, ... as I drooped
my head under his fire, and closed my eyes against
the glare that surrounded me, I slowly fell asleep—
for how many minutes or moments I cannot tell —
but after a while I was gently awakened by a peal of
church bells — my native bells — the innocent bells of
Marlen that never before sent forth their music beyond
the Blagdon hills ! My first idea naturally was that
I still remained fast under the power of a dream. I
roused myself, and drew aside the silk that covered
my eyes, and plunged my bare face into the light.
Then at least I was well enough awakened, but still
those old Marlen bells rang on, not ringing for joy,
but properly, prosily, steadily, merrily ringing ' for
church.' After a- while the sound died away slowly ;
it happened that neither I nor any of my party had a
watch to measure the exact time of its lasting ; but it
seemed to me that about ten minutes had passed be-
fore the bells ceased." * The gifted writer proceeds
to give a metaphysical explanation of the phenomena;
but it may be questioned whether he did not hear
actual musical sounds, emitted by the rocks that lay
beneath the sands over which he was moving.
And similar sounds have been heard when the
stones that sent them forth were quarried blocks, no
longer in a state of nature, but shaped by human
tools, and employed in architecture. Three members
of the French Expedition, MM. Jomard, Jollois, and
Devilliers, were together in the granite cell which
forms the centre of the palace-temple of Karnak,
when, according to their own account, they "heard a
Kinglake, "Eothen,"pp. i3S, 189.
AMENHOTEP'S PALACE-TEMPLES. 2IJ
sound, resembling that of a chord breaking, issue
from the blocks at sunrise." Exactly the same com-
parison is employed by Pausanias to describe the
sound that issued from " the vocal Memnon."
On the whole, we may conclude that the musical
qualities of his remarkable colossus were unknown
alike to the artist who sculptured the monument and
to the king whom it represented. To them, in its
purpose and object, it belonged, not to Music, but
wholly to the sister art of Architecture. "The Pair"
sat at one extremity of an avenue leading to one of
the great palace-temples reared by Amenhotep III. —
a palace-temple which is now a mere heap of sand-
stone, " a little roughness in the plain." The design
of the king was, that this grand edifice should be ap-
proached by a dramas, or paved way, eleven hundred
feet long, which should be flanked on either side by
nine similar statues, placed at regular intervals along
the road, and all representing himself. The egotism
of the monarch may perhaps be excused on account
of the grandeur of his idea, which we nowhere else
find repeated, avenues of sphinxes being common in
Egypt, and avenues of sitting human life-size figures
not unknown to Greece, but the history of art con-
taining no other instance of an avenue of colossi.
Another of Amenhotep's palace-temples has been
less unkindly treated by fortune than the one just
mentioned. The temple of Luxor, or El-Uksur, on
the eastern bank of the river, about a mile and a
half to the south of the great temple of Karnak, is a
magnificent edifice to this day ; and though some
portions of it, and some of its most remarkable
2l8 AMENHOTEP III. AND HIS GREAT WORKS.
features, must be assigned to Rameses II., yet still it
is, in the main, a construction of Amenhotep's, and
must be regarded as being, even if it stood alone,
sufficient proof of his eminence as a builder. The
length of the entire building is about eight hundred
feet, the breadth varying from about one hundred
feet to two hundred. Its general arrangement com-
prised, first, a great court, at a di/ferent angle from
the rest, being turned so as to face Karnak. In
front of this stood two colossal statues of the
founder, together with two obelisks, one of which
has been removed to France, and now adorns the
centre .of the Place de la Concorde at Paris. Be-
hind this was a great pillared hall, of which only the
two central ranges of columns are now standing.
Still further back were smaller halls and numerous
apartments, evidently meant for the king's residence,
rather than for a temple or place exclusively devoted
to worship. The building is remarkable for its marked
affectation of irregularity. " Not only is there a con-
siderable angle in the direction of the axis of the
building, but the angles of the courtyards are hardly
ever right angles ; the pillars are variously spaced, and
pains seem to have been gratuitously taken to make
it as irregular as possible in nearly every respect." "
Besides this grand edifice, Amenhotep built two
temples at Karnak to Ammon and Maut, embellished
the old temple of Ammon there with a new propylon,
raised temples to Kneph, or Khnum, at Elephantine
and built a shrine to contain his own image at Soleb
in Nubia, another shrine at Napata, and a third at
1 Fergusson, " Handbook of Architecture," vol. i. p. 234.
WARS OF AMENHOTEP III. 2ig
Sedinga. He left traces of himself at Semneh, in
the island of Konosso, on the rocks between Philae
and Assouan, at El-Kaab, at Toora near Memphis,
at Silsilis, and at Sarabit-el-Khadim in the Sinaitic
peninsula. Me was, as M. Lenormant remarks, " un
prince essentiellement batisseur." The scale and
number of his works are such as to indicate unremit-
ting attention to sculpture and building during the
entire duration of his long reign of thirty-six years.
On the other hand, as a general he gained little
distinction. He maintained, indeed, the dominion
over Syria and Western Mesopotamia, which had
been established by Thothmes III., and his cartouche
has been found at Arban on the Khabour ; but there
is no appearance of his having made any additional
conquests in this quarter. The subjected peoples
brought their tribute regularly, and the neighbouring
nations, whether Hittites, Assyrians, or Babylonians,
gave him no trouble. The dominion of Egypt over
Western Asia had become " an accomplished fact,"
and was generally recognized by the old native king-
doms. It did not extend, however, beyond Taurus
and Niphates towards the north, or beyond the
Khabour eastward or southward, but remained fixed
within the limits which it had attained under the
Third Thothmes.
The only quarter in which Amenhotep warred
was towards Ethiopia. He conducted in person
several expeditions up the valley of the Nile, against
the negro tribes of the Soudan. But these attacks
were not so much wars as raids, or razzias. They
were not made with the object of advancing the
220 AMENHOTEP III. AND HIS GREAT WORKS.
Egyptian frontier, or even of extending Egyptian
influence, but partly for the glorification of the
monarch, who thus obtained at a cheap rate the credit
of military successes, and partly — probably mainly —
for the material gain which resulted from them through
the capture of highly valuable slaves. The black
races have always been especially sought for this
purpose, and were in great demand in the Egyptian
slave-market : ladies of rank were pleased to have for
their attendants negro boys, whom they dressed in a
fanciful manner; and the court probably indulged in a
similar taste. Amenhotep's aim was certainly rather
to capture than to kill. In one of his most successful
raids the slain were only three hundred and twelve,
while the captives consisted of two hundred and five
men, two hundred and fifty women, and two hundred
and eighty-five children, or a total of seven hundred
and forty ; and the proportion in the others was
similar. The trade of slave hunting was so lucrative
that even a Great King could not resist the tempta-
tion of having a share in its profits.
When Amenhotep was not engaged in hunting men
his favourite recreation was to indulge in the chase
of the lion. On one of his scarabsei he states that
between his first and his tenth year he slew with his own
hand one hundred and ten of these ferocious beasts.
Later on in his reign he presented to the priests who had
:he charge of the ancient temple of Karnak a number
)f live lions, which he had probably caught in traps.
The lion was an emblem both of Horus and of Turn,
ind may, when tamed, have been assigned a part in
eligious processions. It is uncertain what was Amen-
HIS LION-HUNTING.
221
hotep's hunting-ground ; but the large number of his
victims makes it probable that the scene of his ex-
ploits was Mesopotamia rather than any tract bordering
on Egypt : since lions have always been scarce animals
in North-Eastern Africa, but abounded in Mesopo-
BUST OF AMEMIOTEP III.
tamia even much later than the time of Amenhotep,
and are " not uncommon " there even at the present
day. We may suppose that he had a hunting pavilion
at Arban, where one of his scarabs has been found,
and from that centre beat the reed-beds and jungles
of the Khabour.
222 AMENHOTEP 111. AND HIS GREAT WORKS.
In person, Amenhotep III. was not remarkable.
His features were good, except that his nose was
somewhat too much rounded at the end ; his expres-
sion was pensive, but resolute ; his forehead high,
his upper lip short, his chin a little too prominent.
He left behind him a character for affectionateness,
kindliness, and generosity. Some historians have
reproached him with being too much under female
influence ; and certainly in the earlier portion of his
reign he deferred greatly to his mother, Mutemua,
and in the latter portion to his wife, Tii or Taia ; but
there is no evidence that any evil result followed, or
that these princesses did not influence him for good.
It is too much taken for granted by many writers that
female influence is corrupting. No doubt it is so in
some cases ; but it should not be forgotten that there
are women whom to have known is " a liberal educa-
tion." Mutemua and Tii may have been of the
number.
XIV.
KIIUENATEN AND THE DISK-WORSHIPPERS.
On the death of Amenhotep III., his son, Amen-
hotep IV., mounted the throne. Left by Amenhotep
III. to the guardianship of his mother, Tii, who was
of some entirely foreign race, he embraced a new
form of religion, which she appears to have introduced,
and shocked the Egyptians by substituting, so far as
he found to be possible, this new creed for the old
polytheism of the country. The heresy of Amen-
hotep IV. has been called " Disk-worship ;" and he,
and the next two or three kings, are known in Egyp-
tian history as "the Disk-worshippers." It is difficult
to discover what exactly was the belief professed.
Externally, it consisted, primarily, in a marked pre-
ference of a single one of the Egyptian gods over all
the others, and a certain hatred or contempt for the
great bulk of the deities composing the old Pantheon.
Thus far it resembled the religion which Apepi, the
last " Shepherd King,'' had endeavoured to introduce ;
but the new differed from the old reformation in the
matter of the god selected for special honour. Apepi
had sought to turn the Egyptians away from all other
worships except the worship of Set ; Amenhotep
desired their universal adhesion to the worship of
224 KHUENATEN AND THE DISK-WORSHIPPERS.
Aten. Aten, in Egyptian theology, had hitherto
represented a particular aspect or character of Ra,
" the sun " — that aspect which is expressed by the
phrase, "the solar disk." How it was possible tc
keep Aten distinct from the other sun-gods, Ra,
Khepra, Turn, Shu, Mentu, Osiris, and Horus or
Harmachis, is a puzzle to moderns ; but it seems to
have been a difficulty practically overcome by the
Egyptians, to whom it did not perhaps even present
itself as a difficulty at all. Disk-worship consisted
then, primarily, in an undue exaltation of this god,
who was made to take the place of Ammon-Ra in
the Pantheon, and was ordinarily represented by a
circle with rays proceeding from it, the rays mostly
terminating in hands, which frequently presented the
symbols of life and health and strength to the wor-
shipper.
What was the inward essence of the religion ? Was
it simple sun-worship — the adoration of the visible
material sun — considered as the ruling and vivifying
power in the universe, whence heat and light, and so
life, proceeded ? Of all the forms of nature worship
this was the most natural, and in the old world it was
widely spread. Men adored the orb of day as the
grandest object which nature presented to them, as
the great quickencr of all things upon the earth, the
cause of germination and growth, of fruitage and har-
vest, the dispenser to man of ten thousand blessings,
the sustainer of his life and health and happiness.
With some the worship was purely and wholly mate-
rial— the sun was viewed as a huge mass of fiery
matter, uninformed by any animate life, unintelligent,
NATURE OF THE DISK-WORSHIP.
225
impersonal ; but with others, sun-worship was some-
thing higher than this : the orb of day was regarded
as informed by a good, wise, bright, beneficent Spirit,
which lived in it, and worked through it, and was the
true benefactor of mankind and sustainer of life and
KHUF.NATEN WORSHIPPING THE SOLAR DISK.
of the universe. Sun-worship of this latter kind was
no mean form of natural religion. If not purged
from the debasing element of materialism, if not
incompatible with a certain kind of polytheism, it is
yet consistent with the firmest belief in the absolute
supremacy of one God over all others, with the con-
226 KHUENATEN AND THE DISK-WORSHIPPERS .
ception of that God as all-wise, all-powerful, pure,
holy, kind, loving, and with the entire devotion of the
worshipper to Him exclusively. And this latter form
of sun-worship was, quite conceivably, the religion of
the " Disk worshippers." " Aten " is probably the
same as "Adon," the root of Adonis and Adonai, and
has the signification of " Lord " — a term implying
personality, and when used specially of one Being,
implying absolute mastery and lordship, an exclusive
right to worship, homage, and devotion. It is not
unlikely that the " Disk-worshippers " were drawn on
towards their monotheistic creed by the presence in
Egypt at the time of a large monotheistic population,
the descendants of Joseph and his brethren, who by
this time had multiplied greatly, and must have at-
tracted attention, from their numbers and from the
peculiarity of their tenets. A historian of Egypt
remarks that " curious parallels might be drawn
between the external forms of the worship of the
Israelites in the desert and those set up by the Disk-
worshippers at Tel-el-Amarna ; portions of the sacred
furniture, as the ' table of shewbread,' described in
the Book of Exodus as placed within the Tabernacle,
are repeated among the objects belonging to the
worship of Aten, and do not occur among the repre-
sentations of any other epoch." He further notes
that the commencement of the persecution of the
Israelites in Egypt coincides nearly with the downfall
of the " Disk-worshippers " and the return of the
Egyptians to their old creed, as if the captive race had
been involved in the discredit and the odium which
attached to Amenhotep and his immediate succes-
sors on account of their religious reformation.
DISK-WORSHIP A COURT RELIGION. 22?
The aversion of the " Disk-worshippers " to the old
Egyptian religion was shown (1) in the change of his
own name which the new monarch made soon after
his accession, from Amenhotep to Khu-en-Aten,
whereby he cleared himself from any connection with
the old discarded head of the Pantheon, and associ-
ated himself with the new supreme god, Aten ; (2) in
the obliteration of the name of Ammon from monu-
ments ; and (3) in the removal of the seat of govern-
ment from the site polluted by Ammon-worship and
polytheism to a new site at Tel-el-Amarna, where
Aten alone was worshipped and alone represented in
the temples. The enmity, however, was not indiscri-
minate. Amenhotep took for one of his titles the
epithet, " Mi-Harmakhu," or " beloved by Harmachis,"
probably because he could look on Harmachis, a
purely sun-god, as a form of Aten ; and to this god
he erected an obelisk at Silsilis. His monumental
war upon the old religion seems also not to have been
general, but narrowly circumscribed, being, in fact,
confined to the erasure of Ammon's name, especially
at Thebes, and the mutilation of his form in a few
instances ; but there does not appear to have been
any such general iconoclasm practised by the " Disk-
worshippers " as by the " Shepherd Kings," or any
such absolute requirement that " one god alone should
be worshipped in all the land " as was put forth by
Apepi. The " Disk-worshippers " did not so much
attempt to change the religion of Egypt as to estab-
lish for themselves a peculiar court-religion of a pure
and elevated character.
It has been remarked above that the motive power
228 KHUENATEN AND THE DISK-WORSHIPPERS.
which brought about the religious revolution is pro-
bably to be found in the powerful influence and the
peculiar views of the queen mother, Tii or Taia.
This princess was of foreign origin ; her complexion
was fair, her eyes blue, her hair flaxen, her cheeks
rosy ; she probably brought her " disk-worship " with
her from her own country, whether it were Syria, or
Arabia, or any other. Already in the lifetime of her
husband, Amenhotep III., she had prevailed on him,
as his wives prevailed on Solomon (i Kings xi. 4-8),
to allow her the free exercise of her own religion, and
to provide her with the means of carrying it on with all
proper pomp and ceremony. At her instance, Amen-
hotep III. constructed a great lake or basin, more
than a mile long and a thousand feet broad, to be
made use of for religious purposes on the queen's
special festival day. It was proper on that festival day
that " the barge of the most beautiful Disk " should
perform a voyage on a sheet of water in the presence
of his worshippers — a voyage probably representing
the course of the sun through the heavens during the
year. There is evidence that this festival was kept
on the sixteenth day of the month Athor, in the
eleventh year of Amenhotep III., and that the king
himself took part in it.
So far, Queen Taia succeeded in introducing her
religion into Egypt while her husband was alive. At
his death she found herself regent for her son, or, at
any rate, associated with him upon the throne, and
saw that a fresh opportunity for pushing her religious
views offered itself. Amenhotep IV. was of a most
extraordinary physique and physiognomy. His ap-
Personal appearance of khuenaten. 229
pearancc was rather that of a woman than of a man ;
he had a slanting forehead, a long aquiline nose, a
flexible projecting mouth, and a strongly developed
chin. His neck, which is represented as most un-
usually long, seems scarcely equal to the support of
HEAD OF AMENHOTEP IV. (KHUENATEN).
his head ; and his spindle shanks seem ill adapted to
sustain the weight of his over-corpulent frame. He
readily yielded himself to his mother's influence, and
completed her work in the manner which has been
already described. As Thebes opposed itself to his
230 KHUENATEN AND THE DISK-WORSHIFPERS.
reforms, he deserted it, withdrew his court to Tel-el-
Amarna, and there raised the temples, palaces, and
other monuments, in a " very advanced " style of art,
which may be seen at the present day.
Amenhotep also introduced certain changes into
the court ceremonial. He surrounded himself with
officials of foreign race, probably kinsmen of his
mother, and required from them an open display of
submission and servility which Egyptian courts had
not witnessed previously. An abject prostration
was enforced on all, while the king posed before his
courtiers as a benevolent god, who showered down
his gifts upon them from a superior sphere, since his
greatness did not permit a closer contact. He was
himself the " Light of the Solar Disk," an apaugasma.
or " Light proceeding from Light ; " it behoved him
to imitate the Sun god, and perpetually bestow his
gifts on men, but it behoved them to veil their faces
from his radiance and receive his bounty prostrate in
the dust beneath him.
The peculiar views of Khuen-Aten, or Amenhotep
IV., were maintained by the two or three succeeding
kings, who had short and disturbed reigns. After
them there arose a king called Horus, or Har-em-
hebi, who utterly swept away the " Disk-worshippers,"
ruined their new city, obliterated their names, muti-
lated their monuments, and restored the ancient
religion of the Egyptians to its former place as the
religion, not only of the people, but of the court.
Henceforth, what was called " heresy " ceased to show
itself in the land.
XV.
BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
THE internal troubles connected with the '' Disk-
worship " had for about forty years distracted the
attention of the Egyptians from their Asiatic posses-
sions ; and this circumstance had favoured the de-
velopment of a highly important power in Western
Asia. The Hittites, whose motto was " recuier pour
mieux sauter," having withdrawn themselves from
Syria during the time of the Egyptian attacks, retain-
ing, perhaps, their hold on Carchemish (Jerabus), but
not seeking to extend themselves further southward,
took heart of grace when the Egyptian expeditions
ceased, and descending from their mountain fast-
nesses to the Syrian plains and vales, rapidly estab-
lished their dominion over the regions recently
conquered by Thothmes I. and Thothmes III. With-
out absorbing the old native races, they reduced them
under their sway, and reigned as lords paramount
over the entire region between the Middle Euphrates
and the Mediterranean, the Taurus range and the
borders of Egypt. The chief of the subject races
were the Kharu, in the tract bordering upon Egypt ;
the Rutennu, in Central and Northern Palestine ; and
in Southern Ccelesyria, the Amairu or Amorites. The
232 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT4.
Hittites themselves occupied the lower Ccelesyrian
valley, and the tract reaching thence to the Euphrates.
They were at this period so far centralized into a
nation as to have placed themselves under a single
monarch ; and about the time when Egypt had re-
covered from the troubles caused by the " Disk-wor-
shippers," and was again at liberty to look abroad,
Saplal, Grand-Duke of Khita, a great and puissant
sovereign, sat upon the Hittite throne.
Saplal's power, and his threatening attitude on the
north-eastern border of Egypt, drew upon him the
jealousy of Ramesses I., father of the great Seti, and
(according to the prevalent tradition) founder of the
" nineteenth dynasty." To defend oneself it is often
best to attack, and Ramesses, taking this view, in his
first or second year plunged into the enemy's do-
minions. He had the piea that Palestine and Syria,
and even Western Mesopotamia, belonged of right to
Egypt, which had conquered them by a long scries
of victories, and had never lost them by any defeat or
disaster. His invasion was a challenge to Saplal
either to fight for his ill-gotten gains, or to give them
up. The Hittite king accepted the challenge, and
a short struggle followed with an indecisive result.
At its close peace was made, and a formal treaty of
alliance drawn out. Its terms are unknown ; but
it was probably engraved on a silver plate in the
languages of the two powers — the Egyptian hiero-
glyphics, and the now well-known Hittite picture-
writing — and set up in duplicate at Carchemish and
Thebes.
A brief pause followed the conclusion of the first
War of seti i. with the Hittites. 233
act of the drama. On the opening of the second act
we find the dramatis persona changed. Saplal and
Ramesses have alike descended into the grave, and
their thrones arc occupied respectively by the son of
the one and the grandson of the other. In Egypt,
Seti - Menephthah I., the Sethos of Manetho, has
succeeded his father, Ramesses I.; in the Hittite king-
dom, Saplal has left his sceptre to his grandson
Mautenar, the son of Marasar, who had probably died
before his father. Two young and inexperienced
princes confront one the other in the two neighbour
lands, each distrustful of his rival, each covetous of
glory, each hopeful of success if war should break
out. True, by treaty the two kings were friends and
allies — by treaty the two nations were bound to
abstain from all aggression by the one upon the other:
but such bonds are like the " green withes " that
bound Samson, when the desire to burst them seizes
those upon whom they have been placed. Seti and
Mautenar were at war before the latter had been on
the throne a year, and their swords were at one
another's throats. Seti was, apparently, the aggressor.
We find him at the head of a large army in the heart
of Syria before we could have supposed that he had had
time to settle himself comfortably in his father's seat.
Mautenar was taken unawares. He had not ex-
pected so prompt an attack. He had perhaps been
weak enough to count on his adversary's good faith,
or, at any rate on his regard for appearances. But
Seti, as a god upon earth, could of course do no
wrong, and did not allow himself to be trammelled
by the moral laws that were binding upon ordinary
234 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
mortals. He boldly rushed into war at the first
possible moment, crossed the frontier, and having
chastised the Shasu, who had recently made an inva-
sion of his territory, fell upon the Kharu, or Southern
Syrians, and gave them a severe defeat near Jamnia
in the Philistine country. He then pressed forward
into the country of the Rutennu, overcame them in
several pitched battles, and, assisted by a son who
fought constantly at his side, slaughtered them almost
to extermination. His victorious progress brought
him, after a time, to the vicinity of Kadesh, the im-
portant city on the Orontes which, a century earlier,
had been besieged and taken by the Great Thothmes.
Kadesh was at this time in possession of the Amorites,
who were tributary to the Khita (Hittites) and held
the great city as their subject allies. Seti, having
carefully concealed his advance, came upon the
stronghold suddenly, and took its defenders by sur-
prise. Outside the city peaceful herdsmen were
pasturing their cattle under the shade of the trees,
when they were startled by the appearance of the
Egyptian monarch, mounted on his war-chariot drawn
by two prancing steeds. At once all was confusion :
every one sought to save himself; the herds with their
keepers fled in wild panic, while the Egyptians plied
them with their arrows. But the garrison of the town
resisted bravely : a portion sallied from the gates and
met Seti in the open field, but were defeated with great
slaughter ; the others defended themselves behind
the walls. But all was in vain. The disciplined troops
of Egypt stormed the key of Northern Syria, and the
whole Orontes valley lay open to the conqueror.
TREATY OF PEACE. 235
Hitherto the Hittites had not been engaged in the
struggle. Attacked at a disadvantage, unprepared,
they had left their subject allies to make such resist-
ance as they might find possible, and had reserved
themselves for the defence of their own country.
Mautenar had, no doubt, made the best preparations
of which circumstances admitted — he had organized
his forces in three bodies, "on foot, on horseback, and
in chariots." At the head of them, he gave battle to
the invaders so soon as they attacked him in his own
proper country, and a desperate fight followed, in
which the Egyptians, however, prevailed at last. The
Hittites received a " great overthrow." The song of
triumph composed for Seti on the occasion declared :
" Pharaoh is a jackal which rushes leaping through
the Hittite land ; he is a grim lion exploring the
hidden ways of all regions ; he is a powerful bull with
a pair of sharpened horns. He has struck down the
Asiatics ; he has thrown to the ground the Khita ;
he has slain their princes ; he has overwhelmed them
in their own blood ; he has passed among them as a
flame of fire ; he has brought them to nought."
The victory thus gained was followed by a treaty
of peace. Mautenar and Seti agreed to be henceforth
friends and allies, Southern Syria being restored to
Egypt, and Northern Syria remaining under the do-
minion of the Hittites, probably as far as the sources
of the Orontes river. A line of communication must,
however, have been left open between Egypt and
Mesopotamia, for Seti still exercised authority over
the Nairi, and received tribute from their chiefs. He
was also, by the terms of the treaty, at liberty to
236 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
make war on the nations of the Upper Syrian coast,
for we find him reducing the Tahai, who bordered on
Cilicia, without any disturbance of his relations with
Mautenar. The second act in the war between the
Egyptians and the Hittites thus terminated with an
advantage to the Egyptians, who recovered most
of their Asiatic possessions, and had, besides, the
prestige of a great victory.
The third act was deferred for a space of some
thirty-five years, and fell into the reign of Ramesses
II., Seti's son and successor. Before giving an ac-
count of it, we must briefly touch the other wars of
Seti, to show how great a warrior he was, and mention
one further fact in his warlike policy indicative of
the commencement of Egypt's decline as a military
power. Seti, then, had no sooner concluded his peace
with the great power of the North, than he turned his
arms against the West and South, invading, first of
all, "the blue-eyed, fair-skinned nation of the Ta-
hennu," who inhabited the North African coast from
the borders of Egypt to about Cyrene, and engaging
in a sharp contest with them. The Tahennu were
a wild, uncivilized people, dwelling in caves, and
having no other arms besides bows and arrows. For
dress they wore a long cloak or tunic, open in front ;
and they are distinguished on the Egyptian monu-
ments by wearing two ostrich feathers and having all
their hair shaved excepting one large lock, which is
plaited and hangs down on the right side of the head.
This unfortunate people could make only a poor re-
sistance to the Egyptian trained infantry and powerful
chariot force. They were completely defeated in a
SETfS LONG WALL. 237
pitched battle ; numbers of the chiefs were made
prisoners, while the people generally fled to their
caves, where they remained hidden, " like jackals,
through fear of the king's majesty." Seti, having
struck terror into their hearts, passed on towards the
south, and fiercely chastised the Cushites on the
Upper Nile, who during the war with the Hittitcs
had given trouble, and showed themselves inclined to
shake off the Egyptian yoke. Here again he was
successful ; the negroes and Cushites submitted after
a short struggle ; and the Great King returned to
his capital victorious on all sides — " on the south to
the arms of the Winds, and on the north to the Great
Sea."
Seti was not dazzled with his military successes.
Notwithstanding his triumphs in Syria, he recognized
the fact that Egypt had much to fear from her
Asiatic neighbours, and could not hope to maintain
for long her aggressive attitude in that quarter. With-
out withdrawing from any of the conquered countries,
while still claiming their obedience and enforcing the
payment of their tributes, he began to made preparation
for the changed circumstances which he anticipated by
commencing the construction of a long wall on his
north-eastern frontier, as a security against invasion
from Asia. This wall began at Pelusium, and was
carried across the isthmus in a south-westerly direc-
tion by Migdol to Pithom, or Heroopolis, where the
long line of lagoons began, which were connected
with the upper end of the Red Sea. It recalls to the
mind of the historical student the many ramparts
raised by nations, in their decline, against aggressive
238 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
foes — as the Great Wall of China, built to keep off the
Tartars ; the Roman wall between the Rhine and
Danube, intended to restrain the advance of the
German tribes ; and the three Roman ramparts in
Great Britain, built to protect the Roman province
from its savage northern neighbours. Walls of this
kind are always signs of weakness ; and when Seti
began, and Ramesses II. completed, the rampart of
Egypt, it was a confession that the palmy days of the
empire were past, and that henceforth she must look
forward to having to stand, in the main, on the
defensive.
Before acquiescing wholly in this conclusion,
Ramesses II., who, after reigning conjointly with his
father for several years, was now sole king, resolved
on a desperate and prolonged effort to re-assert for
Egypt that dominant position in Western Asia which
she had held and obtained under the third Thothmes.
Mautenar, the adversary of Seti, appears to have
died, and his place to have been taken by his brother,
Khita-sir, a brave and enterprizing monarch. Khita-
sir, despite the terms of alliance on which the Hittites
stood with Egypt, had commenced a series of intrigues
with the nations bordering on Upper Syria, and
formed a confederacy which had for its object to resist
the further progress of the Egyptians, and, if possible,
to drive them from Asia. This confederacy embraced
the Nai'ri, or people of Western Mesopotamia, reckoned
by the Egyptians among their subjects ; the Airatu
or people of Aradus ; the Masu or inhabitants of the
Mous Masius ; the Leka, perhaps Lycians ; the inhabi-
tants of Carchemish, of Kadesh on the Orontes, o£
H1TTITE WAR OF RAM ESSES II. 239
Aleppo, Anaukasa, Akarita, &c. — all warlike races,
and accustomed to the use of chariots. Khitasir's
proceedings, having become known to Ramesses,
afforded ample grounds for a rupture, and quite justified
him in pouring his troops into Syria, and doing his best
to meet and overcome the danger which threatened
him. Unaware at what point his enemy would elect
to meet him, he marched forward cautiously, having
arranged his troops in four divisions, which might
mutually support each other. Entering the Coelesyrian
valley from the south, he had proceeded as far as the
lake of Hems, and neighbourhood of Kadesh, before
he received any tidings of the position taken up by
the confederate army. There his troops captured
two of the enemy's scouts, and on questioning them
were told that the Hittite army had been at Kadesh,
but had retired on learning the Egyptian's advance
and taken up a position near Aleppo, distant nearly
a hundred miles to the north-east. Had Ramesses
believed the scouts, and marched forward carelessly,
he would have fallen into a trap, and probably suffered
defeat ; for the whole confederate army was massed
just beyond the lake, and there lay concealed by the
embankment which blocks the lake at its lower end.
But the Egyptian king was too wary for his adversary.
He ordered the scouts to be examined by scourging,
to see if they would persist in their tale, whereupon
they broke down and revealed the true position of the
army. The battle had thus the character of a regular
pitched engagement, without surprise or other acci-
dent on either side. Khitasir, finding himself foiled,
quitted his ambush, and marched openly against the
24O BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
Egyptians, with his troops marshalled in exact and
orderly array, the Hittite chariots in front with their
lines carefully dressed, and the auxiliaries and ir-
regulars on the flanks and rear. Of the four divisions
of the Egyptian army, one seems to have been absent,
probably acting as a rear-guard ; Ramesses, with one.
marched down the left bank of the stream, while the
two remaining divisions proceeded along the right
bank, a slight interval separating them. Khitasir
commenced the fight by a flank movement to the
left, which brought him into collision with the extreme
Egyptian right, " the brigade of Ra," as it was called,
and enabled him to engage that division separately.
His assault was irresistible. " Foot and horse of King
Ramesses," we are told, " gave way before him," the
" brigade of Ra " was utterly routed, and either cut to
pieces or driven from the field. Ramesses, informed
of this disaster, endeavoured to cross the river to
the assistance of his beaten troops ; but, before he
could effect his purpose, the enemy had anticipated
him, had charged through the Orontes in two lines,
and was upon him. The adverse hosts met. The
chariot of Ramesses, skilfully guided by his squire,
Menna, seems to have broken through the front line
of the Hittite chariot force ; but his brethren in arms
were less fortunate, and Ramesses found himself
separated from his army, behind the front line and
confronted by the second line of the hostile chariots,
in a position of the greatest possible danger. Then
began that Homeric combat, which the Egyptians
were never tired of celebrating, between a single
warrior on the one hand, and the host of the
BATTLE OF KADESH. 2\\
Hittites, reckoned at two thousand five hundred
chariots, on the other, in which Ramesses, like Diomed
or Achilles, carried death and destruction whither-
soever he turned himself. " I became like the god
Mentu," he is made to say ; " I hurled the dart with
my right hand, I fought with my left hand ; I was
like Baal in his fury against them. I had come upon
two thousand five hundred pairs of horses ; I was in
the midst of them ; but they were dashed in pieces
before my steeds. Not one of them raised his hand
to fight ; their heart shrank within them ; their limbs
gave way, they could not hurl the dart, nor had they
strength to thrust with the spear. As crocodiles fall
into the water, so I made them fall ; they tumbled
headlong one over another. I killed them at my
pleasure, so that not one of them looked back behind
him, nor did any turn round. Each fell, and none
raised himself up again."
The temporary isolation of the monarch, which is
the main point of the heroic poem of Pentaour, and
which Ramesses himself recorded over and over again
upon the walls of his magnificent constructions, must
no doubt be regarded as a fact ; but it is not likely to
have continued for more than a few minutes. The
minutes may have seemed as hours to the king ; and
there may have been time for him to perform several
exploits. But we may be sure that, when his com-
panions found that he was lost to their sight, they at
once made frantic efforts to recover him, dead or
alive ; they forced openings in the first Hittite chariot
line, and sped to the rescue of their sovereign. He
had, perhaps, already emptied many chariots of the
242 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT,
second line, which Mas paralysed by his audacity ;
and his companions found it easy to complete the
work which he had begun. The broken second line
turned and fled ; the confusion became general ; a
headlong flight carried the entire host to the banks
of the Orontes, into which some precipitated them-
selves, while others were forced into the water by their
pursuers. The king of Khirabu (Aleppo) was among
these, and was with great difficulty drawn out by
his friends, exhausted and half dead, when he reached
the eastern shore. But the great bulk of the Hittite
army perished, either in the battle or in the river.
Among the killed and wounded were Grabatasa, the
charioteer of Khitasir ; Tarakennas, the commander
of the cavalry; Rabsuna, another general ; Khirapusar,
a royal secretary ; and Matsurama, a brother of the
Hittite king.
On the next day the battle was renewed ; but, after
a short time, Khitasir retired, and sent a humble em-
bassy to the camp of his adversary to implore for
peace. Ramesses held a council of war with his
generals, and by their advice agreed to accept the
submission made to him, and, without entering into
any formal engagement, to withdraw his army and
return to Egypt. It seems probable that his victory
had cost him dear, and that he was not in a condition
to venture further from his resources, or to affront new
dangers in a difficult, and to him unknown, region.
Experience tells us that it is one thing to gain a
battle, quite another to be successful in the result of a
long war. Whatever glory Ramesses obtained by the
battle of Kadesh, and the other victories which he
PEACE MADE WITH THE HITTITES. 243
claims to have won in the Syrian campaigns of
several succeeding years, it is certain that he com-
pletely failed to break the power of the Hittites, and
that he was led in course of time to confess his failure,
and to adopt a policy of conciliation towards the
people which he found himself unable to subdue.
Sixteen years after the battle of Kadesh he concluded
a solemn treaty with Khitasir, which was engraved on
silver and placed under the most sacred sanctions,
whereby an exact equality was established between
the high contracting powers. Each nation bound
itself under no circumstances to attack the other ;
each promised to give aid to the other, if requested,
in case of its ally being attacked ; each pledged itself
to the extradition both of criminals flying from justice
and of any other subjects wishing to change their
allegiance ; each stipulated for an amnesty of offences
in the case of all persons thus surrendered. Thirteen
years after the conclusion of the treaty the close
alliance between the two powers was further cemented
by a marriage, which, by giving the two dynasties
common interests, greatly strengthened the previously
existing bond. Ramesses requested and received in
marriage a daughter of Khitasir in the thirty-fourth
year of his sole reign, when he had borne the royal
title for forty-six years. He thus became the son-in-
law of his former adversary, whose daughter was
thenceforth recognized as his sole legitimate queen.
A considerable change in the relations of Egypt to
her still remaining Asiatic dependencies accompanied
this alteration in the footing upon which she stood
with the Hittites. "The bonds of their subjection
244 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
became much less strict than they had been under
Thothmes III. ; prudential motives constrained the
Egyptians to be content with very much less — with
such acknowledgments, in fact, as satisfied their
vanity, rather than with the exercise of any real
power." From and after the conclusion of peace and
alliance between Ramesses and Khitasir, Egyptian
influence in Asia grew vague, shadowy, and discon-
tinuous. At long intervals monarchs of more enter-
prize than the ordinary run asserted it, and a brief
success generally crowned their efforts ; but, speaking
broadly, we may say that her Asiatic dominion was
lost, and that Egypt became once more an African
power, confined within nearly her ancient limits.
If, from a military point of view, the decline of
Egypt is to be dated from the reigns, partly joint
reigns, of Seti I. and Ramesses II., from the stand-
point of art the period must be pronounced the very
apogee of Egyptian greatness. The architectural
works of these two monarchs transcend most de-
cidedly all those of all other Pharaohs, either earlier
or later. No single work, indeed, of eithei king equals
in mass either the First or the Second Pyramid ; but
in number, in variety, in beauty, in all that constitutes
artistic excellence, the constructions of Seti and Ra-
messes are unequalled, not only among Egyptian
monuments, but among those of all other nations.
Greece is, of course, unapproachable in the matter of
sculpture, whether in the way of statuary, or of high
or low relief ; but, apart from this, Egypt in her archi-
tectural works will challenge comparison with any
country that ever existed, or any people that ever gave
GREAT PILLARED HALL OF SETl. 24$
itself to the embodiment of artistic conceptions in stone
or marble. And Egyptian architecture culminated
under Seti and his son Ramesses. The greatest of all
Seti's works was his pillared hall at Karnak, the most
splendid single chamber that has ever been built by
any architect, and, even in its ruins, one of the
grandest sights that the world contains. Seti's hall is
three hundred and thirty feet long, by one hundred
and seventy feet broad, having thus an internal area
of fifty-six thousand square feet, and covers, together
with its Willis and pylons, an area of eighty-eight thou-
sand such feet, or a larger space than that covered by
the Dom of Cologne, the largest of all the cathedrals
north of the Alps. It was supported by one hundred
and sixty-four massive stone columns, which were
divided into three groups — twelve central ones, each
sixty-six feet high and thirty-three feet in circumfer-
ence, formed the main avenue down its midst ; while
on either side, two groups of sixty-one columns, each
forty-two feet high and twenty-seven round, supported
the huge wings of the chamber, arranged in seven
rows of seven each, and two rows of six. The whole
was roofed over with solid blocks of stone, the light-
ing being, as in the far smaller hall of Thothmes III.,
by means of a clerestory. The roof and pillars and
walls were everywhere covered with painted bas-
reliefs and hieroglyphics, giving great richness of
effect, and constituting the whole building the most
magnificent on which the eye of man has ever rested.
Fergusson, the best modern authority on architecture,
says of it : " No language can convey an idea of its
beauty, and no artist has yet been able to- reproduce
246 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
its form so as to convey to those who have not seen
it an idea of its grandeur. The mass of its central
piers, illumined by a flood of light from the clere-
story, and the smaller pillars of the wings gradually
fading into obscurity, are so arranged and lighted as
to convey an idea of infinite space ; at the same time
the beauty and massiveness of the forms, and the
brilliancy of their coloured decoration:-;, all combine
to stamp this as the greatest of mans architectural
works, but such a one as it would be impossible to
reproduce, except in such a climate, and in that indi-
vidual style, in which and for which it was created."1
As Seti constructed the most wonderful of all the
palatial buildings which Egypt produced, so he also
constructed what is, on the whole, the most wonderful
of the tombs. The pyramids impose upon us by their
enormity, and astonish by the engineering skill shown
in their execution ; but they embody a single simple
idea ; they have no complication of parts, no elabora-
tion of ornament ; they are taken in at a glance ;
they do not gradually untold themselves, or furnish a
succession of surprises. But it is otherwise with the
rock-tombs, whereof Seti's is the most magnificent.
The rock-tombs are " gorgeous palaces, hewn can; of
the rock, and painted with all the decorations that
could have been seen in palaces." They contain a
succession of passages, chambers, corridors, staircases,
and pillared halls, each further removed from the
entrance than the last, and all covered with an infinite
variety of the most finished and brilliant paintings.
The tomb of Seti contains three pillared halls, respec-
1 " History of Architecture," vol. i. pp. 1 19, 120.
SETfS EXCAVATED TOMB. 247
tively twenty-seven feet by twenty-five, twenty-eight
feet by twenty-seven, and forty-three feet by seventeen
and a half; a large saloon with an arched roof, thirty
feet by twenty-seven ; six smaller chambers of dif-
ferent sizes ; three staircases, and two long corridors.
The whole series of apartments, from end to end of
the tomb, is continuously ornamented with painted
bas-reliefs. " The idea is that of conducting the king to
the world of death. The further you advance into the
tomb, the deeper you become involved in endless pro-
cessions of jackal-headed gods, and monstrous forms
of genii, good and evil ; and the goddess of Justice,
with her single ostrich feather ; and barges carrying
mummies, raised aloft over the sacred lake ; and
mummies themselves ; and, more than all, everlast-
ing convolutions of serpents in every possible form
and attitude — human-legged, human-headed, crowned,
entwining mummies, enwreathing or embraced by
processions, extending down whole galleries, so that
meeting the head of a serpent at the top of a stair-
case, you have to descend to its very end before you
reach his tail. At last you arrive at the close of all —
the vaulted hall, in the centre of which lies the
immense alabaster sarcophagus, which ought to
contain the body of the king. Here the processions,
above, below, and around, reach their highest pitch —
meandering round and round — white, and black, and
red, and blue — legs and arms and wings spreading in
enormous forms over the ceilings ; and below lies the
sarcophagus itself." 1
* Adapted from Dean Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine," Introduction,
p. xl.
248 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
The greatest of the works of Ramesses are of a dif-
ferent description, and are indicative of that inordinate
vanity which is the leading feature of his character.
They are colossal images of himself. Four of these,
each seventy feet in height, form the facade of the
marvellous rock-temple of Ipsambul — "the finest of
its class known to exist anywhere " — and constitute
one of the most impressive sights which the world
has to offer. There stands the Great King, four times
repeated, silent, majestic, superhuman — with features
marked by profound repose and tranquillity, touched
perhaps with a little scorn, looking out eternally on
the grey-white Nubian waste, which stretches far
away to a dim and distant horizon. Here, as you sit
on the deep pure sand, you seem to see the monarch,
who did so much, who reigned so long, who covered,
not only Egypt, but Nubia and Ethiopia with his
memorials. " You can look at his features inch by
inch, see them not only magnified to tenfold their
original size, so that ear and mouth and nose, and
every link of his collar, and every line of his skin,
sinks into you with the weight of a mountain ; but
those features are repeated exactly the same three
times over — four times they once were, but the upper
part of the fourth statue is gone. Look at them as
they emerge — the two northern figures — from the sand
which reaches up to their throats ; the southernmost,
as he sits unbroken, and revealed from the top of his
royal helmet to the toe of his enormous foot." * Look
at them, and remember that you have here portrait-
statues of one of the greatest of the kings of the Old
1 Stanley, " Sinai and Palestine," p. xlvii.
RAMESSES II., ISRAEL'S OPPRESSOR. 249
World, of the world that was " old " when Greece
and Rome were either unborn or in their swaddling
clothes ; portrait-statues, moreover, of the king who,
if either tradition or chronology can be depended on,
was the actual great oppressor of Israel — the king
who sought the life of Moses — the king from whom
Moses fled, and until whose death he did not dare to
return out of the land of Midian.
According to the almost unanimous voice of those
most conversant with Egyptian antiquities, the
"great oppressor" of the Hebrews was this Ramesses.
Seti may have been the originator of the scheme for
crushing them by hard usage, but, as the oppression
lasted close upon eighty years (Ex. ii. I ; vii. 7), it
must have covered at least two reigns, so that, if it began
under Seti, it must have continued under his son and
successor. The bricks found at Tel-el-Maskoutah
show Ramesses as the main builder of Pithom (Pa-
Turn), and the very name indicates that he was the
main builder of Raamses (Pa-Ramessu). We must
thus ascribe to him, at any rate, the great bulk of that
severe and cruel affliction, which provoked Moses
(Ex. ii. 12), which made Israel "sigh" and "groan"
(ib. 23, 24), and on which God looked down with
compassion (ib. iii. 7). It was he especially who
" made their lives bitter in mortar, and in brick, and
in all manner of service in the field" — service which
was " with rigour." Ramesses was a builder on the
most extensive scale. Without producing any single
edifice so perfect as the " Pillared Hall of Seti," he
was indefatigable in his constructive efforts, and no
Egyptian king came up to him in this respect. The
250 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
monuments show that he erected his buildings chiefly
by forced labour, and that those employed on them
were chiefly foreigners. Some have thought that the
Hebrews are distinctly mentioned as employed by
him on his constructions under the term " Aperu," or
HEAD OF SETI I.
"Aperiu"; but this view is not generally accepted.
Still, " the name is so often used for foreign bondsmen
engaged in the very work of the Hebrews, and
especially during the oppression, that it is hard not
to believe it to be a general term in which they are
included, though it does not actually describe them." x
1 Stuart Poole, " Cities of Egypt," p. 105.
BUST OF R A MESSES II.
2=11
The physiognomies of Seti I. and Ramesses II., as
represented on the sculptures,1 offer a curious con
BUST OF RAMESSES II.
1 The mummy of Seti I. has been recently uncovered. It was in
good condition, and is said to have revealed a face very closely re-
sembling that of Harnesses IT., with fine delicate features, and alto-
gether of an elevated type. "The nose, mouth, chin, in short all the
features," says M. Maspero, "are the same ; but in the father they are
more refined, more intelligent, more spiritual, than when reproduced
in the son. Seti I. is, as it were, the idealized type of Ramesses II."
(Letter of M. Maspero in The Times of July 23, 1886.) It may per-
haps be doubted whether the shrunken mummy, 3300 years old, is
better evidence of the living reah ty than the contemporary sculptures
252 BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE OF EGYPT.
trast. Seti's face is thoroughly African, strong, fierce,
prognathous, with depressed nose, thick lips, and a
heavy chin. The face of Ramesses is Asiatic. He
has a good forehead, a large, well-formed, slightly
aquiline nose, a well-shaped mouth, with lips that
are not too full, a small delicate chin, and an eye
that is thoughtful and pensive. We may conclude
that Seti was of the true Egyptian race, with per-
haps an admixture of more southern blood ; while
Ramesses, born of a Semitic mother, inherited through
her Asiatic characteristics, and, though possessing
less energy and strength of character than his father,
had a more sensitive temperament, a wider range of
taste, and a greater inclination towards peace and
tranquillity. His important wars were all concluded
within the limit of his twenty-first year, while his
entire reign was one of sixty-seven years, during
fifty of which he held the sole sovereignty. Though
he left the fame of a great warrior behind him, his
chief and truest triumphs seem to have been those
of peace — the Great Wall for the protection of Egypt
towards the east, with its strong fortresses and " store-
cities," the canal which united the Nile with the Red
Sea, and the countless buildings, excavations, obelisks,
colossal statues, and other great works, with which he
adorned Egypt from one end to the other.
CHAPTER XVI.
MENEPHTHAH I., THE PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS.
MENEPHTHAH, the thirteenth son and immediate
successor of Ramesses II., came to the throne under
circumstances which might at first sight have seemed
favourable. Egypt was on every side at peace with
her neighbours. The wall of Ramesses, and his treaty
with the Hittites, cemented as it had been by a
marriage, secured the eastern frontier. No formidable
attack had ever yet fallen upon Egypt from the west
or from the south, and so no danger could well be
apprehended from those quarters. Internal tranquillity
might not be altogether assured, so long as there was
within the limits of Egypt a large subject population,
suffering oppression and bitterly discontented with
its lot. But this population was quite unwarlike,
and had hitherto passively submitted itself to the will
of its rulers, without giving any indication that it
might become actively hostile. Menephthah, who
was perhaps not more than five and twenty, may have
been justified in looking forward to a long, quiet, and
uneventful reign, during which he might indulge the
natural apathy of his temper, or dream away life, like
his fabled neighbours, the Lotus-Eaters.
Menephthah's features were soft and womanly. He
254 MENEPHTHAH I.
had a full but sleepy eye, a slightly aquiline nose, art
extremely short upper- lip, a broad cheek, and a
rounded chin. In character he was weak, irresolute,
wanting in physical courage, yet, as so often happens
with weak characters, harsh, oppressive, and treacher-
ous. The monuments depict him as neither a soldier
nor an administrator, but as "one whose mind was
turned almost exclusively towards the chimeras of
sorcery and magic," which he regarded as of the
utmost importance. Still, had the times been quiet,
had the prospect of tranquillity which seemed to lie
before him on his accession been realized, he might
perhaps have so conducted affairs as to bring neither
discredit nor injury upon his country. But the
circumstances of the period were against him. The
unclouded prospect of his early years gave place, after
a brief interval, to storm and tempest of the most
fearful kind ; a terrible invasion carried fire and sword
into the heart of his dominions ; and he had scarcely
escaped this danger by meeting it in a way not very
honourable to himself, when internal troubles broke
out : a subject race, highly valued for services which it
was compelled to render, insisted on quitting the
land ; a great loss was incurred in an attempt to
compel it to remain ; then open rebellion broke out
in the weakened state ; and the reign, which had
commenced under such fair auspices, terminated in
calamity and confusion. Menephthah was quite
incompetent to deal with the difficulties and com-
plications wherewith he found himself surrounded ;
he hesitated, temporized, made concessions, retracted
them, and finally conducted Egypt to a catastrophe
from which she did not recover for a generation.
LIBYAN INVASION OF EGYPT
255
The first great trouble which disturbed the tran-
quillity of his reign was an invasion of his territories
from the north-west. Hitherto, though no serious
danger had ever threatened from this quarter, there
had been frequent raids into Egypt on the part of the
native Africans, and most of the more warlike of the
HEAD OF MENTll'HTHAH.
Egyptian monarchs had regarded it as incumbent on
them to lead from time to time expeditions into the
region, for the purpose of weakening the wild tribes,
Tahennu, Maxyes, and others, and inspiring them
with a wholesome dread of the Egyptian power.
Ramesses II. had on one occasion warred in this
256 MENEPHTHAH I.
quarter, as already related, and had met with a certain
amount of success. But since that time many years had
passed. A new generation had grown up, which the
Egyptians had allowed to remain unmolested, and
which felt no fear of its quiet, peaceful, and industrious
neighbours. Population had probably multiplied in
the region, and the tribes began to feel stinted for
room. Above all, new relations had been contracted
between the old inhabitants of the tract and some
other races, now for the first time heard of in authentic
history, who had been brought into contact with them.
A league of nations had become possible ; and the
force of the united league must have been consider-
able. Might not an actual conquest be effected, and
the half-starved nomads of Marmarica and the Cyre-
naica become the lords and masters of the rich plain,
so long coveted, which adjoined upon their eastern
frontier ?
The leading spirit of the combination was a native
African prince, Marmaiu, the son of Deid. Having
determined on a serious invasion of Eg)'pt, for the
purpose of conquest, not of plunder, he first of all
collected his native forces, Lubu, Tahennu, Mashuash,
Kahaka, to the number of twenty-five or thirty
thousand, and then purchased the services of a
number of auxiliaries, who raised his force probably
to a total of thirty-five or forty thousand men. A
peculiar interest attaches to these auxiliaries. They
consisted of contingents from five nations, whose
names are read as Akausha, Luku, Tursha, Shartana
or Shardana, and Sheklusha. and whom most modern
historians of Egypt identify with the Achseans,
THE LIBYAN ALLIES. 2$>/
Laconians, Tyrscnians, Sardinians, and Sicilians. Ii
these identifications are accepted — and they are at
least plausible — we shall have to suppose that, as early
as the fourteenth century B.C., the nations of Southern
Europe were so far advanced as to launch fleets upon
the Mediterranean, to enter into a regular league with
an African prince, and in conjunction with him to
make an attack on one of the chief civilized monarchies
of the world, the old kingdom of the Pharaohs. We
shall have to imagine the Achaeans of the Peloponnese,
a century before the time of Agamemnon, braving the
perils of the Levant in their cockle-shells of ships, and
not merely plundering the coasts, but landing large
bodies of men on the North African shore to take
part in a regular campaign. We shall have to picture
to ourselves the Laconians — the people of Menelaus —
about the time of his grandfather, Atreus, or his
great-grandfather, Pelops, similarly employed, and
contending with the Pharaoh of the Exodus on the
soil of the Delta. Nay, we shall have to antedate
the rise of the Tyrscnians to naval greatness by about
seven hundred years, and to suppose that the Sicels
and Sardi, whom the Greeks and Romans found
living the life of savages in Sicily and Sardinia, when
they first visited their shores, about B.C. 750-600,
were flourishing peoples and skilful navigators half a
millennium earlier. The picture which we thus obtain
of the ancient world is very surprising, and quite
unlike anything that could be gathered from the
literature of the Greeks ; but it is not to be regarded
as beyond the range of possibility, since nations are
quite as apt to lapse from civilization into barbarism
258 MENEPHTHAH I.
as to emerge out of barbarism into civilization. It is
quite conceivable that the nations of South-Eastern
Europe were more advanced in civilization and the
arts of life about B.C. 1400-1300 than they are found
to have been six centuries later, the false dawn having
been succeeded by a time of darkness before the true
dawn came.
However this may have been, it is certain that
Menephthah, in the fifth year of his reign, had to
meet a formidable, and apparently unprovoked, attack
from a combination of nations, the like of which we
do not again meet with in Egyptian history, either
earlier or later. Marmaiu, son of Deid, led against
him a confederate army, consisting of three princi-
pal tribes of the Tahennu — the Lubu (Libyans), the
Mashuash (Maxyes), and the Kahaka — together with
auxiliaries from five other tribes or peoples, the
Akausha, the Luku, the Tursha, the Shartana, and
the Sheklusha. The entire number of the army, as
already stated, was probably not less than forty
thousand ; they had numerous chariots, and were
armed with bows and arrows, cuirasses, and bronze
or copper swords. They had skin tents, and brought
with them their wives and children, with the intention
of settling in Egypt, as the Hyksos had done five
hundred years earlier. They had also with them a
considerable number of cattle, as bulls, oxen, and
goats. The chiefs came provided with thrones, and
both they and their officers had numerous drinking
vessels of bronze, of silver, and of gold.
The attack was made on the western side of Egypt,
towards the apex of the Delta. It was at first com-
PREPARATIONS FOR RESISTANCE. 259
plctcly successful. The small frontier towns were
taken by assault, and " turned into heaps of rubbish ;"
the Delta was entered upon, and a position taken up
in the nomc of Paari-sheps, or Prosopis, which lay
between the Canobic and Sebennytic branches of the
Nile, commencing at the point of their separation.
From this position Memphis and Heliopolis were
alike menaced. Menephthah hastily fortified these
cities, or rather, we must suppose, strengthened their
existing defences. Meanwhile the Libyans and their
allies ravaged the open country. " The like had not
been seen," as the native scribe observes, "even in
the times of the kings of Lower Egypt, when the
plague (i.e. the Hyksos power) was in the land, and
the kings of Upper Egypt were unable to drive it
out." Egypt was desolated ; its people " trembled
like geese ; " the fertile lands were overrun and wasted ;
the cities were pillaged ; even the harbours were in
some cases ruined and destroyed. Menephthah for a
time remained on the defensive, shut up within the
walls of Memphis, whose god Phthah he viewed as
his special protector. He made, however, strenuous
efforts to gather together a powerful force ; his
captains collected the native troops from the various
provinces of Egypt, while he sent a number of emis-
saries into Asia, who were instructed to raise a large
body of mercenaries in that quarter. At last all was
ready, and Menephthah appointed the fourteenth day
as that on which he would place himself at the head
of his army and lead them in person against the
enemy ; but, before the day came, his courage failed
him. He " saw in a dream " — at least so he himself
260 MENEPHTHAH I.
declares — "as it were a figure of the god Phthah,
standing so as to prevent his advance ; " and the
figure said to him, " Stay where thou art, and let thy
troops proceed against the enemy." So the pious
king, in obedience to this convenient vision, remained
secure behind the walls of Memphis, and sent his
forces, native and mercenary, into the nome of Pro-
sopis against the Libyans. The two armies joined
battle on the 3rd of Epiphi (May 18), and a desperate
engagement took place, in which, after six hours of
hard fighting, the Egyptians were victorious, and the
confederates suffered a severe defeat. Menephthah
charges the Libyan chief with cowardice, but only
because, after the battle was lost, he precipitately
quitted the field, leaving behind him, not only his
camp-equipage, but his throne, the ornaments of his
wives, his bow, his quiver, and his sandals. The
reproaches uttered recoil upon himself. Whose con-
duct is the more cowardly, that of the man who fights
at the head of his troops for six hours against an
enemy, probably more numerous, certainly better
armed and better disciplined, and only quits the field
when his forces are utterly overthrown and put to
flight ; or that of one who avoids exposing himself to
danger, and lurks behind the walls of a fortress while
his soldiers are affronting wounds and death in the
battlefield ? There is no evidence that Marmaiu, son
of Deid, in the battle of Prosopis, conducted himself
otherwise than as became a prince and a general ;
there is abundant evidence that Menephthah, son of
Ramesses, who declined to be present at the engage-
ment, showed the white feather.
BATTLE OF PROSOPIS, AND ITS RESULTS. 261
The defeat of Prosopis was decisive. Marmaiu
lost in slain between eight thousand and nine thou-
sand of his troops, or, according to another esti-
mate, between twelve thousand and thirteen thousand.
Above nine thousand were made prisoners. The
tents, camp-equipage, and cattle, fell into the hands
of the enemy. The expedition at once broke up and
dispersed. Marmaiu returned into his own land with
a shattered remnant of his grand army, and devoted
himself to peaceful pursuits, or at any rate abstained
from any further collision with the Egyptians. The
mercenaries, whatever the races to which they in
reality belonged, learned by experience the wisdom
of leaving the Libyans to fight their own battles, and
are not again found in alliance with them. The
Akaiusha and Luku appear in Egyptian history no
more. The Tursha and Sheklusha do not wholly
disappear, but receive occasional mention among the
races hostile to Egypt. As for the Shartana or
Shardana, they were struck with so much admiration
of the Egyptian courage and conduct, that they
shortly afterwards entered the Egyptian service, and
came to hold a place among the most trusted of the
Egyptian troops.
Despite his cowardice in absenting himself from the
battle of Prosopis under the transparent device of a
divine vision, Menephthah took to himself the whole
credit of the victory, and gloried in it as much as if
he had really had a hand in bringing about the result.
"The Lubu," he says, "were meditating to do evil in
Egypt ; they were as grasshoppers ; every road was
blocked by their hosts. Then I vowed to lead them
262 MENEPHTHAH I.
captive. Lo, I vanquished them ; I slaughtered them,
making a spoil of their country. I made the land of
Egypt traversable once more ; I gave breath to those
who were in the cities." Egyptian generals, like
Roman poets, had to content themselves with com-
plaining secretly, " Sic vos non vobis."
So far as we can tell, no long period elapsed
between the expedition of Marmaiu, son of Deid, and
the second great trouble in which Menephthah was
involved. Moses must have returned to Egypt from
his sojourn in Midian within a year or two of the
death of Ramesses II., and cannot have allowed any
very long time to elapse before he proffered the
demand which he was divinely commissioned to
make. Still, as he was timid, and a somewhat un-
willing messenger, he may have delayed both his
return and his first address to Pharaoh as long as he
dared (Ex. iv. 19) ; and if the invasion of Marmaiu
had begun before he had summoned courage to
address Pharaoh a second time, he would then
naturally wait until the danger was past, and the king
could again be approached without manifest impro-
priety. In this case, the severe oppression of the
Israelites, which followed the first application of
Moses (Ex. v. 5-23) may have lasted longer than has
generally been supposed ; and it may not have been
till Menephthah's sixth or seventh year that the
divine messenger became urgent, and began to press
his request, and to show the signs and wonders
which alone, as he had been told (Ex vii. 2-4), would
break the spirit of the king. The signs then followed
each other at moderately short intervals, the entire
MENEPHTHAH AND MOSES. 263
series of the plagues not covering a longer space than
about six months, from October till April. None of
the plagues affected the king greatly except the last,
through which he lost his own eldest son, a bereave-
ment mentioned in an inscription. This loss, com-
bined with the dread power shown in the infliction
during one night of not less than a million of deaths,
produced a complete revolution in the mind of the
king, and made him as anxious at the moment to
get rid of the Israelites out of his country as he
had previously been anxious to retain them. So he
called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, " Rise
up, get you forth from among my people, both ye and
the children of Israel, and go, serve the Lord, as ye
have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as
ye have said, and be gone ; and bless me also "
(Ex. xii. 31, 32). Moses was prepared for the event,
and had prepared his people. All were ready, with
their loins girded, their sandals on their feet, and
their staves in their hands ; the word was given, and
the exodus began. " The children of Israel journeyed
from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand
on foot that were men, beside children ; and a mixed
multitude went up also with them ; and flocks, and
herds, even very much cattle."
Hereupon the king's mind underwent another
change. " Unstable as water," he was certain not
to " excel." Learning that the Israelites, instead of
marching away into the desert, had after reaching
its edge turned southward, and were "entangled"
in a corner of his territory, between high mountains
on the one hand, and on the other the Red Sea,
264 MENEPHTHAH I.
which then stretched far further to the north than
at present, perhaps to Lake Timseh, at any rate
as far as the " Bitter Lakes," he thought he saw an
opportunity of following and recovering the fugitives,
whose services as bondsmen he highly valued. Rapidly
calling together such troops as were tolerably near at
hand, he collected a considerable force of infantry and
chariots — of the latter more than six hundred — and
following upon the steps of the Hebrews, he caught
them on the western shore of the Red Sea, encamped
"between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-
Zephon." The exact spot cannot be fixed, on account
of the alterations in the bed of the Red Sea, and the
uncertainty of the ancient geography of Egypt, in
which names so often repeat themselves ; but it was
probably some part of the region that is now dry
land, between Suez and the southern extremity of
the Bitter Lakes. Here in high tides the sea and the
lakes communicated ; but on the evening of Meneph-
thah's arrival, an unusual ebb of the tide, co-operating
with a " strong east wind " which held back the water
of the Bitter Lakes, left the bed of the sea bare for a
certain space ; and the Israelites were thus able to
cross during the night from one side of the sea to the
other. As morning dawned, Menephthah, once more
carefully guarding his own person, sent his chariots
in pursuit. The force entered on the slippery and
dangerous ground, and advanced half-way ; but its
progress was slow ; the chariot-wheels sank into the
soft ooze, the horses slipped and floundered ; all was
disorder and confusion. Before the troops could
extricate themselves, the waters returned on either
THE DISASTER IN THE RED SEA. 265
hand ; a high flow of the tide, the necessary conse-
quence of a low ebb, brought in the whelming flood
from the south-east ; a strong wind from the Medi-
terranean, drove down upon them the pent up
waters of the Bitter Lakes from the north-west. The
channel, which had lately been dry land, became once
more sea, and the entire force that had entered it
in pursuit of the Israelites perished. Safe on the
opposite shore, the Israelites saw the utter destruction
of their adversaries, whose dead bodies, driven before
the gale, were cast up in hundreds upon the coast
where they sate encamped (Ex. xiv. 30).
The disaster paralyzed the monarch, and he made
no further effort. If the loss was not great numeri-
cally, it affected the most important arm of the service,
and it was the destruction of the very elite of the
Egyptian troops. It was a blow in which the anger
of the Egyptian gods may well have been seen by
some, while others may have regarded it as a revela-
tion of the incompetence of the monarch. The blow
seems to have been followed, within a short time, by
revolt. Menephthah's last monumental year is his
eighth. A pretender to the crown arose in a certain
Amon-mes, or Amon-meses, who contested the throne
with Seti II., Menephthah's son, and succeeded in
establishing himself as king ; but for many years
there raged in Egypt, as so often happens when a
state is suddenly weakened, civil war, bloodshed, and
confusion.
The two dynasties that have last occupied us con-
stitute the most brilliant period of Egyptian architec-
ture ; for, as Fergusson. the latest historian of archi-
266 MENEPHTHAH I.
tecture, has said, the hall of Seti at Karnak is " the
greatest of man's architectural works," the building
to which it belongs is " the noblest effort of archi-
tectural magnificence ever produced by the hand of
man," and the rock-cut temple of Ipsambul is "the
finest of its class known to exist anywhere." Thes^
works combine enormous mass and size with a pro-
fusion of elaborate ornamentation. Covering nearly
as much ground as the greatest of the pyramids, and
containing equally enormous blocks of stone, the
Theban palace-temples unite a wealth of varied orna-
mentation almost unparalleled among the edifices
erected by man. Here are long avenues of sphinxes
and colossi, leading to tall, tapering obelisks which
shoot upwards like the pinnacles, towers, and spires of
a modern cathedral, while beyond the obelisks are
vistas of gateways and courts, of colonnades and
pillared halls, that impress the beholder with a deep
sense of the constructive imagination of the architect
who could design them, no less than with admiration
of the ruler whose resources were sufficient to make
them realities.
Truly the Egyptians were, as Mr. Fergusson en-
thusiastically asserts, " the most essentially a building
people of all those we are acquainted with, and the
most generally successful in all that they attempted
in this way. The Greeks, it is true, surpassed them
in refinement and beauty of detail, and in the class
of sculpture with which they ornamented their build-
ings, while the Gothic architects far excelled them in
constructive cleverness ; but with these exceptions,
no other styles can be put into competition with
ARCHITECTURE AND ART OF THE TIME. 267
them. At the same time, neither Grecian nor Gothic
architects understood more perfectly all the grada-
tions of art, and the exact character that should be
given to every form and every detail. . . . They
understood also better than any other nation, how to
use sculpture in combination with architecture, and
to make their colossi and avenues of sphinxes group
themselves into parts of one great design, and at the
same time to use historical paintings, fading by in-
sensible degrees into hieroglyphics on the one hand,
and into sculpture on the other, linking the whole
together with the highest class of phonetic utterance.
With the most brilliant colouring, they thus har-
monized all these arts into one great whole, unsur-
passed by anything the world has seen during the
thirty centuries of struggle and aspiration that have
elapsed since the brilliant days of the great kingdom
of the Pharaohs."
Not only did architecture and the glyphic art reach
such perfection during this period, but the arts of life
made considerable progress. The royal costumes be-
came suddenly most elaborate ; brilliant colours, costly
armlets and bracelets, many-hued collars, complicated
head dresses, elegant sandals, jewels of price, gay
sashes, and wigs with conventional adornment, came
into vogue. Luxury was exhibited in the designs of
the dwellings of the wealthy ; the grounds were laid
out with formal courts and alleys, palms and vines
adorned them, ponds and reservoirs gave freshness to
the summer temperature, irrigation clothed the lawns
with verdure. Inside, there was richly carved furni-
ture covered with cushions of delicate stuffs, and
268 MENEPHTHAH I.
adding the harmony of colour to the luxurious
scene.
The horse, which had been introduced from Asia,
helped in the march of extravagance and refinement ;
the chariot took the place of the palanquin, and there
was a new opportunity for adornment in the trappings,
as well as in the construction of light or heavy
vehicles.
At the same time, letters made equal progress ;
men of wisdom devoted themselves to the preserva-
tion of the knowledge of the past, and to the com-
position of original works in history, divinity, poetry,
correspondence, and practical philosophy, for the
preservation of which a public library was established
at Thebes under a competent director. The highest
perfection thus reached in the arts of peace seems to
have been coincident with an advance in sensualism ;
indecency in apparel was common, polygamy in-
creased, woman lost her former degree of purity ;
cruelty and barbarism were more and more common
in war ; taxation bore heavily and without pity upon
the lower orders, and the wretched fcllahin were
beaten by the severest of tyrants, the irresponsible
tax-gatherer ; women as well as men were stripped
for the indignity and pain of the terrible bastinado ;
and even dead enemies were mutilated for the purpose
of preserving evidence of their numbers.
XVII.
THE DECLINE OF EGYPT UNDER THE LATER
RA MLS SIDES-
TlIE troublous period which followed the death of
Menephthah issued finally in complete anarchy. Egypt
broke up into nomes, or cantons, the chiefs of which
acknowledged no superior. It was as though in Eng-
land, after centuries of centralized rule, the Heptarchy
had suddenly returned and re-established itself. But
even this was not the worst. The suicidal folly of
internal division naturally provokes foreign attack ;
and it was not long before Aarsu, a Syrian chieftain,
took advantage of the state of affairs in Egypt to
extend his own dominion over one nome after another,
until he had made almost the whole country subject
to him. Then, at last, the spirit of patriotism awoke.
Egypt felt the shame of being ruled by a foreigner of
a race that she despised ; and a prince was found
after a time, a descendant of the Ramesside line, who
unfurled the national banner, and commenced a war
of independence. This prince, who bore the name
of Set-nekht, or " Set the victorious," is thought by
some to have been a son of Seti II., and so a grand-
son of Menephthah ; but the evidence is insufficient to
establish any such relationship. There is reason to
270 EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSIDES.
believe that the blood of the nineteenth dynasty, of
Seti I. and Ramesses II., ran in his veins; but no
particular relationship to any former monarch can be
made out. And certainly he owed his crown less to
his descent than to his strong arm and his stout heart.
It was by dint of severe fighting that he forced his
way to the throne, defeating Aarsu, and gradually
reducing all Egypt under his power.
Set-nekht's reign must have been short. He set
himself to " put the whole land in order, to execute
the abominables, to set up the temples, and re-estab-
lish the divine offerings for the service of the gods,
as their statutes prescribed." But he was unable to
effect very much. He could not even discharge
properly the main duty of a king towards himself,
which was to prepare a fitting receptacle for his re-
mains when he should quit the earth. To excavate
a rock-tomb in the style fashionable at the day was
a task requiring several years for its due accomplish-
ment ; Set-nekht felt that he could not look forward
to many years — perhaps not even to many months —
of life. In this difficulty, he felt no shame in appro-
priating to himself a royal tomb recently constructed
by a king, named Siphthah, whom he looked upon as
a usurper, and therefore as unworthy of consideration.
In this sepulchre we see the names of Siphthah and
his queen, Taouris, erased by the chisel from their
cartouches, and the name of Set-nekht substituted
in their place. By one and the same act the king
punished an unworthy predecessor, and provided
himself with a ready - made tomb befitting his
dignity.
ACCESSION OF RAM ESSES III. 2J1
It was also, probably, on account of his advanced
age at his accession, that he almost immediately asso-
ciated in the kingdom his son Ramesses, a prince of
much promise, whom he made " Chief of On," and
viceroy over Lower Egypt, with Heliopolis (On) for
his residence and capital. Ramesses the Third, as he
is commonly called, was one of the most distinguished
of Egyptian monarchs, and the last who acquired any
great glory until we come down to the time of the
Ethiopians, Shabak and Tirhakah. He reigned as
sole monarch for thirty-one years, during the earlier
portion of which period he carried on a number of
important wars, while during the later portion he
employed himself in the construction of those mag-
nificent buildings, which have been chiefly instru-
mental in carrying his name down to posterity, and
in other works of utility. Lenormant calls him " the
last of the great sovereigns of Egypt," and observes
with reason, that though he never ceased, during the
whole time that he occupied the throne, to labour
hard to re-establish the integrity of the empire abroad,
and the prosperity of the country at home, yet his
wars and his conquests had a character essentially
defensive ; his efforts, like those of the Trajans, the
Marcus Aurelius's and the Septimius Scverus's of his-
tory, were directed to making head against the ever
rising flood of barbarians, which had already before
his time burst the dykes that restrained it, and though
once driven back, continued to dash itself on every
side against the outer borders of the empire, and to
presage its speedy overthrow. His efforts were, on
the whole, successful ; he was able to uphold and
272 EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSlDE$.
preserve for some considerable time longer the terri-
torial greatness which the nineteenth dynasty had
built up a second time. The monumental temple of
Medinet-Abou, near Thebes, is the Pantheon erected
to the glory of this great Pharaoh. Every pylon,
every gateway, every chamber, relates to us the
exploits which he accomplished. Sculptured com-
positions of large dimensions represent his principal
battles.
There are times in the world's history when a rest-
less spirit appears to seize on the populations of large
tracts of country, and, without any clear cause that
can be alleged, uneasy movements begin. Subdued
mutterings are heard ; a tremor goes through the
nations, expectation of coming change stalks abroad ;
the air is rife with rumours ; at last there bursts out
an eruption of greater or less violence — the destruc-
tive flood overleaps its barriers, and flows forth,
Carrying devastation and ruin in one direction or
another, until its energies are exhausted, or its pro-
gress stopped by some obstacle that it cannot over-
come, and it subsides reluctantly and perforce. Such
a time was that on which Ramesses III. was cast.
Wars threatened him on every side. On his north-
eastern frontier the Shasu or Bedouins of the desert
ravaged and plundered, at once harrying the Egyptian
territory and threatening the mining establishments
of the Sinaitic region. To the north-west the Libyan
tribes, Maxyes, Asbystae, Auseis, and others, were
exercising a continuous pressure, to which the Egyp-
tians were forced to yield, and gradually a foreign
population was " squatting " on the fertile lands, and
War of ramesses hi. with the Libyans. 273
driving the former possessors of the soil back upon
the more eastern portion of the Delta. " The Lubu
and Mashuash," says Ramesses, " were seated in
Egypt ; they took the cities on the western side
from Memphis as far as Karbana, reaching the Great
River along its entire course (from Memphis north-
wards), and capturing the city of Kaukut. For many
years had they been in Egypt." Ramesses began his
warlike operations by a campaign against the Shasu,
whose country he invaded and overran, spoiling and
destroying their cabins, capturing their cattle, slaying
all who resisted him, and carrying back into Egypt a
vast number of prisoners, whom he attached to the
various temples as " sacred slaves." He then turned
against the Libyans, and coming upon them unex-
pectedly in the tract between the Sebennytic branch
of the Nile and the Canopic, he defeated in a great
battle the seven tribes of the Mashuash, Lubu, Mer-
basat, Kaikasha, Shai, Hasa, and Bakana, slaughtering
them with the utmost fury, and driving them before
him across the western branch of the river. " They
trembled before him," says the native historian, "as
the mountain goats tremble before a bull, who stamps
with his foot, strikes with his horns, and makes the
mountains shake as he rushes on whoever opposes
him." The Egyptians gave no quarter that memo-
rable day. Vengeance had free course : the slain
Libyans lay in heaps upon heaps — the chariot wheels
passed over them — the horses trampled them in the
mire. Hundreds were pushed and forced into the
marshes and into the river itself, and, if they escaped
the flight of missiles which followed, found for the
274 EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSIDES.
most part a watery grave in the strong current.
Ramesses portrays this flight and carnage in the
most graphic way. The slain enemy strew the ground,
as he advances over them with his prancing steeds
and in his rattling war-car, plying them moreover
with his arrows as they vainly seek to escape. His
chariot force and his infantry have their share in the
pursuit, and with sword, or spear, or javelin, strike
down alike the resisting and the unresisting. No one
seeks to take a prisoner. It is a day of vengeance
and of down-treading, of fury allowed to do its worst,
of a people drunk with passion that has cast off all
self-restraint.
Even passion exhausts itself at last, and the arm
grows weary of slaughtering. Having sufficiently
revenged themselves in the great battle, and the
pursuit that followed it, the Egyptians relaxed some-
what from their policy of extreme hostility. They
made a large number of the Libyans prisoners, branded
them with a hot iron, as the Persians often did their
prisoners, and forced them to join the naval service
and serve as mariners on board the Egyptian fleet.
The chiefs of greater importance they confined in
fortresses. The women and children became the
slaves of the conquerors ; the cattle, " too numerous
to count," was presented by Ramesses to the Priest-
College of Ammon at Thebes.
So far success had crowned his arms ; and it may
well be that Ramesses would have been content with
the military glory thus acquired, and have abstained
from further expeditions, had not he been forced
within a few years to take the field against a powerful
INVASION OF EGYPT BY LAND AND SEA. 2J$
combination of new and partly unheard-of enemies.
The uneasy movement among the nations, which has
been already noticed, had spread further afield, and
now agitated at once the coasts and islands of South-
Eastern Europe, and the more western portion of
Asia Minor. Seven nations banded themselves to-
gether, and resolved to unite their forces, both naval
and military, against Egypt, and to attack her both
by land and sea, not now on the north-western frontier,
where some of them had experienced defeat before,
but in exactly the opposite quarter, by way of Syria
and Palestine. Of the seven, three had been among
her former adversaries in the time of Menephthah,
namely, the Sheklusha, the Shartana, and theTursha ;
while four were new antagonists, unknown at any
former period. There were, first, the Tanauna, in
whom it is usual to see either the Danai of the
Peloponnese, so celebrated in Homer, or the Daunii
of south-eastern Italy, who bordered on the Iapyges ;
secondly, the Tekaru, or Teucrians, a well-known
people of the Troad ; thirdly, the Uashasha, who are
identified with the Oscans or Ausones, neighbours of
the Daunians ; and fourthly, the Purusata, whom some
explain as the Pelasgi, and others as the Philistines.
The lead in the expedition was taken by these last.
At their summons the islands and shores of the
Mediterranean gave forth their piratical hordes — the
sea was covered by their light galleys and swept
by their strong oars — Tanauna, Shartana, Sheklusha,
Tursha, and Uashasha combined their squadrons into
a powerful fleet, while Purusata and Tekaru advanced
in countless numbers along the land. The Purusata
276 EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSIDES.
were especially bent on effecting a settlement ; they
marched into Northern Syria from Asia Minor accom-
panied by their wives and children, who were mounted
upon carts drawn by oxen, and formed a vast un-
wieldy crowd. The other nations sent their sailors
and their warriors without any such encumbrances.
Bursting through the passes of Taurus, the combined
Purusata and Tekaru spread themselves over Northern
Syria, wasting and plundering the entire country of
the Khita, and proceeding eastward as far as Carche-
mish "by Euphrates," while the ships of the remain-
ing confederates coasted along the Syrian shore.
Such resistance as the Hittites and Syrians made was
wholly ineffectual. '; No people stood before their
arms." Aradus and Kadesh fell The conquerors
pushed on towards Egypt, anticipating an easy vic-
tory. But their fond hopes were doomed to disap-
pointment.
Ramesses had been informed of the designs and
approach of the enemy, and had had ample time to
make all needful preparations. He had strengthened
his frontier, called out all his best-disciplined troops
and placed the mouths of the Nile in a state of
defence by means of forts, strong garrisons, and
flotillas upon the stream and upon the lakes adjacent.
He had selected an eligible position for encountering
the advancing hordes on the coast route from Gaza
to Egypt, about half-way between Raphia and Pelu-
sium, where a new fort had been built by his orders.
At this point he took his stand, and calmly awaited
his enemies, not having neglected the precaution to
set an ambush or two in convenient places. Here, as
Double defeat of the invaders. 277
he kept his watch, the first enemy to arrive was the
land host of the Purusata, encumbered with its long
train of slowly moving bullock-carts, heavily laden
with women and children. Harnesses instantly at-
tacked them — his ambushes rose up out of their
places of concealment — and the enemy was beset on
every side. They made no prolonged resistance.
Assaulted by the disciplined and seasoned troops of
the Egyptians, the entire confused mass was easily
defeated. Twelve thousand five hundred men were
slain in the fight ; the camp was taken ; the army
shattered to pieces. Nothing was open to the sur-
vivors but an absolute surrender, by which life was
saved at the cost of perpetual servitude.
The danger, however, was as yet but half over-
come— the snake was scotched but not killed. For
as yet the fleet remained intact, and might land its
thousands on the Egyptian coasts and carry fire and
sword over the broad region of the Delta. The
Tanauna and their confederates — Sheklusha, Shar-
tana, and Tursha — made rapidly for the nearest
mouth of the Nile, which was the Pclusiac, and did
their best to effect a landing. But the precautions
taken by Ramesses, before he set forth on his march,
proved sufficient to frustrate their efforts. The Egyp-
tian fleet met the combined squadrons of the enemy
in the shallow waters of the Pelusiac lagoon, and con-
tended with them in a fierce battle, which Ramesses
caused to be represented in his sculptures — the
earliest representation of a sea-fight that has come
down to us. Both sides have ships propelled at once
by sails and oars, but furl their sails before engaging
278 EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSIDES.
Each ship has a single yard, constructed to carry a
single large square-sail, and hung across the vessel's
single mast at a short distance below the top. The
mast is crowned by a bell-shaped receptacle, large
enough to contain a man, who is generally a slinger
or an archer, placed there to gall the enemy with
stones or arrows, and so to play the part of our own
sharpshooters in the main-tops. The rowers are from
sixteen to twenty-two in number, besides whom each
vessel carries a number of fighting men, armed with
shields, spears, swords, and bows. The fight is a
promiscuous melee, the two fleets being intermixed,
and each ship engaging that next to it, without a
thought of combined action or of manoeuvres. One
of the enemy's vessels is represented as capsized and
sinking ; the rest continue the engagement. Several
are pressing towards the shore of the lagoon, and
the men-at-arms on board them are endeavouring to
effect a landing ; but they are met by the land-force
under Ramesses himself, who greet them with such a
hail of arrows as renders it impossible for them to
carry out their purpose.
It would seem that Ramesses had no sooner
defeated and destroyed the army of the Purusata
and Tekaru than he set off in haste for Pelusium, and
marched with such speed as to arrive in time to
witness the naval engagement, and even to take a
certain part in it. The invading fleet was so far
successful as to force its way through the opposing
vessels of the Egyptians, and to press forward towards
the shore ; but here its further progress was arrested.
"A wall of iron," says Ramesses, "shut them in upon
THE FIRST KNOWN SEA-FIGHT. 281
the lake." The best troops of Egypt lined the banks
of the lagoon, and wherever the invaders attempted
to land they were foiled. Repulsed, dashed to the
ground, hewn down or shot down at the edge of the
water, they were slain "by hundreds of heaps of
corpses." "The infantry," says the monarch in his
vainglorious inscription, set up in memory of the
event, "all the choicest troops of the army of Egypt,
stood upon the bank, furious as roaring lions ; the
chariot force, selected from among the heroes that
were quickest in battle, was led by officers confident
in themselves. The war-steeds quivered in all their
limbs, and burned to trample the nations under their
feet I myself was like the god Mentu, the warlike ;
I placed myself at their head, and they saw the
achievements of my hands. I, Ramesses the king,
behaved as a hero who knows his worth, and who
stretches out his arm over his people in the day of
combat. The invaders of my territory will gather no
more harvests upon the earth, their life is counted to
them as eternity. . . . Those that gained the shore, I
caused to fall at the water's edge, they lay slain in
heaps ; I overturned their vessels ; all their goods
sank in the waves." After a brief combat, all resist-
ance ceased. The empty ships, floating at random
upon the still waters of the lagoon, or stuck fast in
the Nile mud, became the prize of the victors, and
were found to contain a rich booty. Thus ended this
remarkable struggle, in which nations widely severed
and of various bloods — scarcely, as one would have
thought, known to each other, and separated by a
diversity of interests — united in an attack upon the
282 EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSIDES.
foremost power of the known world, traversed several
hundreds of miles of land or sea successfully, neither
quarrelling among themselves nor meeting with dis-
aster from without, and reached the country which
they had hoped to conquer, but were there completely
defeated and repulsed in two engagements — one by
land, the other partly by land and partly by sea — so
that "their spirit was annihilated, their soul was taken
from them." Henceforth no one of the nations which
took part in the combined attack is found in arms
against the power that had read them so severe a
lesson.
It was not long after repulsing this attack upon the
independence of Egypt that Ramesses undertook his
"campaign of revenge." Starting with a fleet and
army along the line that his assailants had followed, he
traversed Palestine and Syria, hunting the lion in the
outskirts of Lebanon, and re-establishing for a time
the Egyptian dominion over much of the region which
had been formerly held in subjection by the great
monarchs of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties.
He claims to have carried his arms to Aleppo and
Carchemish, in which case we must suppose that he
defeated the Hittites, or else that they declined to
meet him in the field ; and he gives a list of thirty-
eight conquered countries or tribes, which are thought
to belong to Upper Syria, Southern Asia Minor, and
Cyprus. In some of his inscriptions he even speaks
of having recovered Naharaina, Kush, and Punt ; but
there is no evidence that he really visited — much less
conquered — these remote regions.
The later life of Ramesses III. was, on the whole,
CLOSING YEARS OF RAMESSES III. 283
a time of tranquillity and repose. The wild tribes of
North Africa, after one further attempt to establish
themselves in the western Delta, which wholly failed,
acquiesced in the lot which nature seemed to have
assigned them, and, leaving the Egyptians in peace,
contented themselves with the broad tract over which
they were free to rove between the Mediterranean and
the Sahara Desert. On the south Ethiopia made no
sign. In the east the Hittites had enough to do to
rebuild the power which had been greatly shattered
by the passage of the hordes of Asia Minor through
their territory, on their way to Egypt and on their
return from it. The Assyrians had not yet com-
menced their aggressive wars towards the north and
west, having probably still a difficulty in maintaining
their independence against the attacks of Babylon.
Egypt was left undisturbed by her neighbours for the
space of several generations, and herself refrained from
disturbing the peace of the world by foreign expedi-
tions. Ramesses turned his attention to building,
commerce, and the planting of Egypt with trees. He
constructed and ornamented the beautiful temple of
Ammon at Medinct-Abou, built a fleet on the Red
Sea and engaged in trade with Punt, dug a great
reservoir in the country of Aina (Southern Palestine),
and " over the whole land of Egypt planted trees and
shrubs, to give the inhabitants rest under their cool
shade."
The general decline of Egypt must, however, be re-
garded as having commenced in his reign. His Eastern
conquests were more specious than solid, resulting in a
nominal rather than a real subjection of Palestine and
284 EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSIDES.
Syria to his yoke. His subjects grew unaccustomed
to the use of arms during the last twenty, or five and
twenty, years of his life. Above all, luxury, intrigue,
and superstition invaded the court, where the eunuchs
and concubines exercised a pernicious influence.
Magic was practised by some of the chief men in the
State, and the belief was widely spread that it was
possible by charms, incantations, and the use of
waxen images, to bewitch men, or paralyse their
limbs, or even to cause their deaths. Hags were to
be found about the court as wicked as Canidia, who
were willing to sell their skill in the black art to the
highest bidder. The actual person of the monarch
was not sacred from the plottings of this nefarious
crew, who planned assassinations and hatched con-
spiracies in the very purlieus of the royal palace.
Ramesses himself would, apparently, have fallen a
victim to a plot of the kind, had not the parties to it
been discovered, arrested, tried by a Royal Com-
mission, and promptly executed.
The descendants of Ramesses III. occupied the
throne from his death (about B.C. 1280) to B.C. 1100.
Ten princes of the name of Ramesses, and one called
Meri-Tum, bore sway during this interval, each of
them showing, if possible, greater weakness than the
last, and all of them sunk in luxury, idle, effeminate,
sensual. Ramesses III. provoked caricature by his
open exhibition of harem-scenes on the walls of his
Medinet-Abou palace. His descendants, content with
harem life, scarcely cared to quit the precincts of the
royal abode, desisted from all war, and even devolved
the task of government on other shoulders. The
RAPID DECLINE OF THE ARTS. 285
Pharaohs of the twentieth dynasty bcame absolute
faineants, and devolved their duties on the high-
priests of the great temple of Ammon at Thebes, who
"set themselves to play the same part which at a
distant period was played by the Mayors of the
Palace under the later French kings of the Mero-
vingian line."
In an absolute monarchy, the royal authority is the
mainspring which controls all movements and all
actions in every part of the State. Let this source of
energy grow weak, and decline at once shows itself
throughout the entire body politic. It is as when a
fatal malady seizes on the seat of life in an individual
— instantly evejy member, every tissue, falls away,
suffers, shrinks, decays, perishes. Egyptian archi-
tecture is simply non-existent from the death of
Ramesses III. to the age of Sheshonk ; the "grand
style " of pictorial art disappears ; sculpture in relief
becomes a wearisome repetition of the same stereo-
typed religious groups ; statuary deteriorates and is
rare ; above all, literature declines, undergoing an
almost complete eclipse. A galaxy of literary talent
had, as we have seen, clustered about the reigns of
Ramesses II. and Menephthah, under whose en-
couragement authors had devoted themselves to
history, divinity, practical philosophy, poetry, episto-
lary correspondence, novels, travels, legend. From the
time of Ramesses III. — nay, from the time cf Seti II.
— all is a blank : " the true poetic inspiration appears
to have vanished," literature is almost dumb ; instead
of the masterpieces of Pentaour, Kakabu, Nebsenen,
Enna, and others, which even moderns can peruse
286 EGYPT UNDER THE LATER RAMESSIDES.
with pleasure, we have only
documents in which " the dry
official tone " prevails — • ab-
stracts of trials, lists of func-
tionaries, tiresome enumera-
tions in the greatest detail of
gifts made to the gods, together
with fulsome praises of the
kings, written either by them-
selves or by others, which we
are half inclined to regret the
lapse of ages has spared from
destruction. At the same time
morals fall off. Sensuality dis-
plays itself in high places.
Intrigue enters the charmed
circle of the palace. The mon-
arch himself is satirized in in-
decent drawings. Presently,
the whole idea of a divinity
hedging in the king departs ;
and a " thieves' society " is
formed for rifling the royal
tombs, and tearing the jewels,
with which they have been
buried, from the monarchs'
persons. The king's life is
aimed at by conspirators, who
do not scruple to use magical
arts ; priests and high judicial
functionaries are implicated in
the proceedings. Altogether,
DECLINE OF MORALS.
287
the old order seems to be changed, the old ideas
to be upset ; and no new principles, possessing
any vital efficacy, are introduced. Society gradually
settles upon its lees ; and without some violent appli-
cation of force from without, or some strange upheaval
from within, the nation seems doomed to fall rapidly
into decav and dissolution.
XVIII.
THE PRIEST-KINGS — PINETEM AND SOLOMON.
The position of the priests in Egypt was, from the
first, one of high dignity and influence. Though not,
strictly speaking, a caste, they formed a very distinct
order or class, separated by important privileges, and
by their habits of life, from the rest of the community,
and recruited mainly from among their own sons, and
other near relatives. Their independence and freedom
was secured by a system of endowments. From a
remote antiquity a considerable portion of the land of
Egypt — perhaps as much as one-third — was made
over to the priestly class, large estates being attached
to each temple, and held as common property by the
"colleges," which, like the chapters of our cathedrals,
directed the worship of each sacred edifice. These
priestly estates were, we are told, exempt from taxa-
tion of any kind ; and they appear to have received
continual augmentation from the piety or superstition
of the kings, who constantly made over to their
favourite deities fresh " gardens, orchards, vineyards,
fields," and even " cities."
The kings lived always in a considerable amount
of awe of the priests. Though claiming a certain
qualified divinity themselves, they yet could not but
RELATIONS OF THE KINGS AND PRIESTS. 289
be aware that there were divers flaws and imper-
fections in their own divinity — " little rifts within the
lute " — which made it not quite a safe support to
trust to, or lean upon, entirely. There were other
greater gods than themselves — gods from whom their
own divinity was derived ; and they could not be
certain what power or influence the priests might not
have with these superior beings, in whose existence
and ability to benefit and injure men they had the
fullest belief. Consequently, the kings are found to
occupy a respectful attitude towards the priests
throughout the whole course of Egyptian history,
from first to last ; and this respectful attitude is
especially maintained towards the great personages
in whom the hierarchy culminates, the head officials,
or chief priests, of the temples which are the principal
centres of the national worship — the temple of Ra, or
Turn, at Heliopolis, that of Phthah at Memphis, and
that of Ammon at Thebes. According to the place
where the capital was fixed for the time being, one or
other of these three high-priests had the pre-emi-
nence ; and, in the later period of the Ramessides,
Tnebes having enjoyed metropolitan dignity for be-
tween five and six centuries, the Theban High-Priest
of Ammon was recognized as beyond dispute the chief
of the sacerdotal order, and the next person in the
kingdom after the king.
It had naturally resulted from this high position,
and the weight of influence which it enabled its pos-
sessor to exercise, that the office had become here-
ditary. As far back as the reign of Ramesses IX.,
we find that the holder of the position has succeeded
2gO THE PRIEST-KINGS — PINETEM AND SOLOMON.
his father in it, and regards himself as high-priest
rather by natural right than by the will of the king.
The priest of that time, Amenhotep by name, the
son of Ramesses-nekht, undertakes the restoration of
the Temple of Ammon at Thebes of his own proper
motion, " strengthens its walls, builds it anew, makes
its columns, inserts in its gates the great folding-
doors of acacia wood." Formerly, the kings were the
builders, and the high-priests carried out their direc-
tions and then in the name of the gods gave thanks
to the kings for their pious munificence. Under
the ninth Ramesses the order was reversed — " now
it is the king who testifies his gratitude to the High-
Priest of Ammon for the care bestowed on his temple
by the erection of new buildings and the improve-
ment and maintenance of the older ones." The
initiative has passed out of the king's hands into
those of his subject ; he is active, the king is passive ;
all the glory is Amenhotep's ; the king merely comes
in at the close of all, as an ornamental person, whose
presence adds a certain dignity to the final ceremony.
Under the last of the Ramessides the High-Priest
of Ammon at Thebes was a certain Her-hor. He was
a man of a pleasing countenance, with features that
were delicate and good, and an expression that was
mild and agreeable. He had the art so to ingratiate
himself with his sovereign as to obtain at his hands
at least five distinct offices of state besides his sacred
dignity. He was " Chief of Upper and Lower Egypt,"
'• Royal son of Cush," " Fanbearer on the right hand
of the King," "Principal Architect," and "Admini-
strator of the Granaries." Some of these offices
HER-HOR. THE EIRST PRIEST-KLXG.
2gi
may have been honorary; but the duties of others
must have been important, and their proper discharge
would have required a vast amount of varied ability.
It is not likely that Herhor possessed all the needful
HI-.AL) OF HKR-HOR.
qualifications ; rather we must presume that he
grasped at the multiplicity of appointments in order
to accumulate power, so far as was possible, in his
own hands, and thereby to be in a better position
2^2 THE PRIEST-KINGS — PINETEM AND SOLOMON.
to seize the royal authority on the monarch's demise.
If Harnesses III. died without issue, his task must
have been facilitated ; at any rate, he seems to have
had the skill to accomplish it without struggle or
disturbance ; and if, as some suppose, he banished
the remaining descendants of Ramesses III. to the
Great Oasis, at any rate he did not stain his priestly
hands with bloodshed, or force his way to the throne
through scenes of riot and confusion. Egypt, so far
as appears, quietly acquiesced in his rule, and perhaps
rejoiced to find herself once more governed by a
prince of a strong and energetic nature.
For some time after he had mounted the throne,
Herhor did not abandon his priestly functions. He
bore the title of High-Priest of Ammon regularly
on one of his royal escutcheons, while on the other
he called himself " Her-Hor Si-Ammon," or " Her-
Hor, son of Ammon," following the example of
former kings, who gave themselves out for sons of
Ra, or Phthah, or Mentu, or Horus. But ultimately
he surrendered the priestly title to his eldest son,
Piankh, and no doubt at the same time devolved
upon him the duties which attached to the high-
priestly office. There was something unseemly in a
priest being a soldier, and Herhor was smitten with
the ambition of putting himself at the head of an
army, and reasserting the claim of Egypt to a su-
premacy over Syria. He calls himself " the conqueror
of the Ruten," and there is no reason to doubt that
he was successful in a Syrian campaign, though to
what distance he penetrated must remain uncertain.
The Egyptian monarchs are not very exact in their
PINETEM I. SUCCEEDS HER-HOR. 293
geographical nomenclature, and Hcrhor may have
spoken of Ruten, when his adversaries were really
the Bedouins of the desert between Egypt and Pales-
tine. The fact that his expedition is unnoticed in
the Hebrew Scriptures renders it tolerably certain
that he did not effect any permanent conquest, even
of Palestine.
Herhor's son, Piankh, who became High-Priest of
Ammon on his father's abdication of the office, does
not appear to have succeeded him in the kingdom.
Perhaps he did not outlive his father. At any rate,
the kingly office seems to have passed from Herhoi
to his grandson, Pinetem, whe was a monarch of some
distinction, and had a reign of at least twenty-five
years. Pinetem's right to the crown was disputed
by descendants of the Ramesside line of kings ; and
he thought it worth while to strengthen his title by
contracting a marriage with a princess of that royal
stock, a certain Ramaka, or Rakama, whose name
appears on his monuments. But compromise with
treason has rarely a tranquillizing effect ; and Pine-
tem's concession to the prejudices which formed the
stock-in-trade of his opponents only exasperated
them and urged them to greater efforts. The focus
of the conspiracy passed from the Oasis to Thebes,
which had grown disaffected because Pinetem had
removed the seat of government to Tanis in the
Delta, which was the birthplace of his grandfather,
Herhor. So threatening had become the general
aspect of affairs, that the king thought it prudent to
send his son, Ra-men-khepr or Men-khepr-ra, the
existing high-priest of the Temple of Ammon at
294 THE PRIEST-KINGS — PINETEM AND SOLOMON.
Thebes, from Tan is to the southern capital, in ordef
that he should make himself acquainted with the
secret strength, and with the designs of the disaffected,
and see whether he could not either persuade or
coerce them. It was a curious part for the Priest of
Ammon to play. Ordinarily an absentee from Thebes
and from the duties of his office, he visits the place
as Royal Commissioner, entrusted with plenary
powers to punish or forgive offenders at his pleasure.
His fellow-townsmen are in the main hostile to him ;
but the terror of the king's name is such that they do
not dare to offer him any resistance, and he singles
out those who appear to him most guilty for punish-
ment, and has them executed, while he grants the
royal pardon to others without any let or hindrance
on the part of the civic authorities. Finally, having re-
moved all those whom he regarded as really dangerous,
he ventured to conclude his commission by granting
a general amnesty to all persons implicated in the
conspiracy, and allowing the political refugees to
return from the Oasis to Thebes and to live there
unmolested.
Men-khepr-ra soon afterwards became king. He
married a wife named Hesi-em-Kheb, who is thought
to have been a descendant of Seti I., and thus gave an
additional legitimacy to the dynasty of Priest-Kings.
He also adorned the city of Kheb, the native place
of his wife, with public buildings ; but otherwise
nothing is known of the events of his reign. As a
general rule, the priest-kings were no more active or
enterprizing than their predecessors, the Ramessides
of the twentieth dynasty. They were content to rule
&MP1RL OF DAVID AND SOLOMON. -!<J5
Egypt in peace, and enjoy the delights of sovereignty,
without fatiguing themselves either with the construc-
tion of great works or the conduct of military ex-
peditions. If the people that has no history is rightly
pronounced happy, Egypt may have prospered under
their rule ; but the historian can scarcely be expected
to appreciate a period which supplies him with no
materials to work upon.
The inaction of Egypt was favourable to the growth
and spread of other kingdoms and empires. Towards
the close of the Ramesside period Assyria had greatly
increased in power, and extended her authority be-
yond the Euphrates as far as the Mediterranean.
After this, causes that are still obscure had caused
her to decline, and, Syria being left to itself, a new
power grew up in it. In 'die later half of the eleventh
century, probably during the reign of Men-khepr-ra
in Egypt, David began that series of conquests by
which he gradually built up an empire, uniting in one
all the countries and tribes between the river of
Egypt (Wady-el-Arish) and the Euphrates. Egypt
made no attempt to interfere with his proceedings ;
and Assyria, after one defeat (i Chron. xix. 16-19),
withdrew from the contest. David's empire was
inherited by Solomon (1 Kings iv. 21-24); ar>d
Solomon's position was such as naturally brought
him into communication with the great powers be-
yond his borders, among others with Egypt. A
brisk trade was carried on between his subjects and
the Egyptians, especially in horses and chariots
(ib. x. 28, 29) : and diplomatic intercourse was no
doubt established between the courts of Tanis and
2g6 THE PRIEST-KINGS— PINETEM AAD SOLOMON.
Jerusalem. It is a little uncertain which Egyptian
prince was now upon the throne ; but Egyptologers
incline to Pinetem II., the second in succession after
Men-khepr-ra, and the last king but one of the
dynasty. The Hebrew monarch having made over-
tures through his ambassador, this prince, it would
seem, received them favourably ; and, soon after
his accession (i Kings iii. i), Solomon took to wife
his daughter, an Egyptian princess, receiving with
her as a dowry the city and territory of Gezer,
which Pinetem had recently taken from its inde-
pendent Canaanite inhabitants (ib. ix. 16). The
new connection had advantages and disadvantages.
The excessive polygamy, which had been affected
by the Egyptian monarchs ever since the time of
Ramesses II., naturally spread into Judea, and "King
Solomon loved many strange women, together with
the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites,
Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites ....
and he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and
three hundred concubines ; and his wives turned away
his heart" (ib. xi. I, 3). On the other hand, com-
merce was no doubt promoted by the step taken,
and much was learnt in the way of art from the
Egyptian sculptors and architects. The burst of
architectural vigour which distinguishes Solomon's
reign among those of other Hebrew kings, is mani-
festly the direct result of ideas brought to Jerusalem
from the capital of the Pharaohs. The plan of the
Temple, with its open court in front, its porch, its
Holy Place, its Holy of Holies, and its chambers,
was modelled after the Egyptian pattern. The two
EGYPTIAN INFLUENCE ON HEBREW ART. 2yJ
pillars, Jachin and Boaz, which stood in front of the
porch, took the place of the twin obelisks, which in
every finished example of an Egyptian temple stood
just in front of the principal entrance. The lions on
the steps of the royal throne (ib. x. 20) were imita-
tions of those which in Egypt often supported the
seat of the monarch on either side ; and " the house
of the forest of Lebanon " was an attempt to repro-
duce the effect of one of Egypt's "pillared halls."
Something in the architecture of Solomon was clearly
learnt from Phoenicia, and a little — a very little — may
perhaps have been derived from Assyria ; but Egypt
gave at once the impulse and the main bulk of the
ideas and forms.
The line of priest-kings terminated with Hor-pa-
seb-en-sha, the successor of Pinetem II. They held
the throne for about a century and a quarter ; and if
they cannot be said to have played a very important
part in the " story of Egypt," or in any way to have
increased Egyptian greatness, yet at least they escape
the reproach, which rests upon most of the more
distinguished dynasties, of seeking their own glory in
modes which caused their subjects untold suffering.
STh-
XIX.
SH1SHAK AND HIS DYNASTY.
The rise of the twenty-second resembles in many
respects that of the twenty-first dynasty. In both
cases the cause of the revolution is to be found in the
weakness of the royal house, which rapidly loses its
pristine vigour, and is impotent to resist the first
assault made upon it by a bold aggressor. Perhaps
the wonder is rather that Egyptian dynasties con-
tinued so long as they did, than that they were not
longer-lived, since there was in almost every instance
a rapid decline, alike in the physique and in the mental
calibre of the holders of sovereignty ; so that nothing
but a little combined strength and audacity was
requisite in order to push them from their pedestals.
Shishak was an official of a Semitic family long
settled in Egypt, which had made the town of Bu-
bastis its residence. We may suspect, if we like, that
the family had noble — shall we say royal ?— blood in
its veins, and could trace its descent to dynasties
which had ruled at Nineveh or Babylon. The con-
nexion is possible, though scarcely probable, since no
eclat attended the first arrival of the Shishak family
in Egypt, and the family names, though Semitic, are
decidedly neither Babylonian nor Assyrian. It is
shishak's foreign origin. 299
tempting to adopt the sensational views of writers,
who, out of half a dozen names, manufacture an
Assyrian conquest of Egypt, and the establishment
on the throne of the Pharaohs of a branch derived
from one or other of the royal Mesopotamian houses ;
but "facts are stubborn things," and the imagination
is scarcely entitled to mould them at its will. It is
necessary to face the two certain facts — (1) that no One
of the dynastic names is the natural representative of
any name known to have been borne by any Assyrian
or Babylonian ; and (2) that neither Assyria noi
Babylonia was at the time in such a position as to
effect, or even to contemplate, distant enterprizes.
Babylonia did not attain such a position till the time
of Nabopolassar ; Assyria had enjoyed it about B.C.
1 1 50-1 100, but had lost it, and did not recover it til}
B.C. 890. Moreover, Solomon's empire blocked the
way to Egypt against both countries, and required to
be shattered in pieces before either of the great Meso-
potamian powers could have sent a corps d'ariuce into
the land of the Pharaohs.
Sober students of history will therefore regard
Shishak (Sheshonk) simply as a member of a family
which, though of foreign extraction, had been long
settled in Egypt, and had worked its way into a high
position under the priest-kings of Herhor's line, re-
taining a special connection with Bubastis, the place
which it had from the first made its home. Shcshonk:s
grandfather, who bore the same name, had had the
honour of intermarrying into the royal house, having
taken to wife Meht-en-hont, a princess of the blood,
whose exact parentage is unknown to us. His father,
300 SHISHAK AND HIS DYNASTY.
Namrut, had held a high military office, being com-
mander of the Libyan mercenaries, who at this time
formed the most important part of the standing army.
Sheshonk himself, thus descended, was naturally in
the front rank of Egyptian court-officials. When we
first hear of him he is called " His Highness," and
given the title of " Prince of the princes," which is
thought to imply that he enjoyed the first rank among
all the chiefs of mercenaries, of whom there were
many. Thus he held a position only second to that
occupied by the king, and when his son became a suitor
for the hand of a daughter of the reigning sovereign,
no one could say that etiquette was infringed, or an
ambition displayed that was excessive and unsuitable.
The match was consequently allowed to come off, and
Sheshonk became doubly connected with the royal
house, through his daughter-in-law and through his
grandmother. When, therefore, on the death of
Hor-pa-seb-en-sha, he assumed the title and func-
tions of king, no opposition was offered : the crown
seemed to have passed simply from one member of
the royal family to another.
In monarchies like the Egyptian, it is not very diffi-
cult for an ambitious subject, occupying a certain
position, to seize the throne ; but it is far from easy
for him to retain it Unless there is a general im-
pression of the usurper's activity, energy, and vigour,
his authority is liable to be soon disputed, or even set
at nought. It behoves him to give indications of
strength and breadth of character, or of a wise, far-
seeing policy, in order to deter rivals from attempting
to undermine his power. Sheshonk early let it be
JEROBOAM AT SIIISHAK'S COURT. 30I
seen that he possessed both caution and far-reaching
views by his treatment of a refugee who, shortly after
his accession, sought his court. This was Jeroboam,
one of the highest officials in the neighbouring king-
dom of Israel, whom Solomon, the great Israelite
monarch, regarded with suspicion and hostility, on
account of a declaration made by a prophet that he
was at some future time to be king of Ten Tribes
out of the Twelve. To receive Jeroboam with favour
was necessarily to offend Solomon, and thus to re-
verse the policy of the preceding dynasty, and pave
the way for a rupture with the State which was
at this time Egypt's most important neighbour.
Sheshonk, nevertheless, accorded a gracious reception
to Jeroboam ; and the favour in which he remained
at the Egyptian court was an encouragement to the
disaffected among the Israelites, and distinctly fore-
shadowed a time when an even bolder policy would
be adopted, and a strike made for imperial power.
The time came at Solomon's demise. Jeroboam was
at once allowed to return to Palestine, and to foment
the discontent which it was foreseen would terminate
in separation. The two kings had, no doubt, laid
their plans. Jeroboam was first to see what he could
effect unaided, and then, if difficulty supervened, his
powerful ally was to come to his assistance. For the
Egyptian monarch to have appeared in the first in-
stance would have roused Hebrew patriotism against
him. Sheshonk waited till Jeroboam had, to a certain
extent, established his kingdom, had set up a new
worship blending Hebrew with Egyptian notions, and
had sufficiently tested the affection or disaffection
302 SHISHAK AND HIS DYNASTY,
towards his rule of the various classes of his subjects.
He then marched out to his assistance. Levying a
force of twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand horse
(? six thousand), and footmen " without number " (2
Chron. xii. 3), chiefly from the Libyan and Ethiopian
mercenaries which now formed the strength of the
Egyptian armies, he proceeded into the Holy Land,
entering it " in three columns," and so spreading his
troops far and wide over the southern country. Re-
hoboam, Solomon's son and successor, had made such
preparation as was possible against the attack. He
had anticipated it from the moment of Jeroboam's
return, and he had carefully guarded the main routes
whereby his country could be approached from the
south, fortifying, among other cities, Shoco, Adullam,
Azekah, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Tekoa, and Hebron
(2 Chron. xi. 6-10). But the host of Sheshonk was
irresistible. Never before had the Hebrews met in
battle the forces of their powerful southern neighbour
— never before had they been confronted with huge
masses of disciplined troops, armed and trained alike,
and soldiers by profession. The Jewish levies were a
rude and untaught militia, little accustomed to war-
fare, or even to the use of arms, after forty years of
peace, during which " every man had dwelt safely
under the shade of his own vine and his own fig-tree"
(1 Kings iv. 25). They must have trembled before the
chariots, and cavalry, and trained footmen of Egypt.
Accordingly, there seems to have been no battle, and
no regularly organized resistance. As the host of
Sheshonk advanced along the chief roads that led to
the Jewish capital, the cities, fortified with so much
smsiiAK Invades jl'dj:a. 303
Care by Rchoboam, cither opened their gates to him,
or fell after brief sieges (2 Chron. xii. 4). Sheshonk's
march was a triumphal progress, and in an incredibly
short space of time he appeared before Jerusalem,
where Rchoboam and "the princes of Judah " were
tremblingly awaiting his arrival. The son of Solomon
surrendered at discretion ; and the Egyptian conqueror
entered the Holy City, stripped the Temple of its
most valuable treasures, including the shields of gold
which Solomon had made for his body-guard, and
plundered the royal palace (2 Chron xii. 9). The
city generally does not appear to have been sacked ;
nor was there any massacre. Rehoboam's submission
was accepted ; he was maintained in his kingdom ;
but he had to become Sheshonk's "servant" (2 Chron.
xii. 8), i.e., he had to accept the position of a tributary
prince, owing fealty and obedience to the Egyptian
monarch.
The objects ot Sheshonk's expedition were not yet
half accomplished. By the long inscription which he
set up on his return to Egypt, we find that, after
having made Judea subject to him, he proceeded with
his army into the kingdom of Israel, and there also
took a number of towns which were peculiarly cir-
cumstanced. The Levites of the northern kingdom
had from the first disapproved of the religious changes
effected by Jeroboam ; and the Levitical cities within
his dominions were regarded with an unfriendly eye
by the Israel ice monarch, who saw in them hotbeds
of rebellion. He had not ventured to make a direct
attack upon them himself, since he would thereby
have lighted the torch of civil war within his own
304 SHISHAK AND HIS DYNASTY.
borders ; but, having now an Egyptian army at his
beck and call, he used the foreigners as an instrument
at once to free him from a danger and to execute
his vengeance upon those whom he looked upon as
traitors. Sheshonk was directed or encouraged to
attack and take the Levitical cities of Rehob, Gibeon,
Mahanaim, Beth-horon, Kedemoth, Bileam or Ibleams
Alemoth, Taanach, Golan, and Anem, to plunder
them and carry off their inhabitants as slaves ; while
he was also persuaded to reduce a certain number of
Canaanite towns, which did not yield Jeroboam a
very willing obedience. We may trace the march of
Sheshonk by Megiddo, Taanach, and Shunem, to
Beth-shan,and thence across the Jordan to Mahanaim
and Aroer ; after which, having satisfied his vassal,
Jeroboam, he proceeded to make war on his own
account with the Arab tribes adjoining on Trans-
Jordanic Israel, and subdued the Temanites, the
Edomites, and various tribes of the Hagarenes. His
dominion was thus established from the borders of
Egypt to Galilee, and from the Mediterranean to the
Great Syrian Desert.
On his return to Egypt from Asia, with his
prisoners and his treasures, it seemed to the vic-
torious monarch that he might fitly follow the example
of the old Pharaohs who had made expeditions into
Palestine and Syria, and commemorate his achieve-
ments by a sculptured record. So would he best
impress the mass of the people with his merits, and
induce them to put him on a par with the Thoth-
meses and the Amenhoteps of former ages. On the
southern external wall of the great temple of Karnak,
RECORD OF yVDMA'S CONQUEST.
305
he caused himself to be represented twice — once as
holding by the hair of their heads thirty-eight captive
Asiatics, and threatening them with uplifted mace ;
and a second time as leading captive one hundred
and thirty-three cities or tribes, each specified by
name and personified in an individual form, the form,
however, being incomplete. Among these representa-
FIGURE RECORDING THE CONQUEST OF JUDAEA BY SHISHAK.
tions is one which bears the inscription " Yuteh
Malek," and which must be regarded as figuring the
captive Judaean kingdom.
Thus, after nearly a century and a half of repose,
Egypt appeared once more in Western Asia as a
conquering power, desirious of establishing an empire.
The political edifice raised with so much trouble by
306 SHISHAK and his dynasty,
David, and watched over with such care by Solomon,
had been shaken to its base by the rebellion of Jero-
boam ; it was shattered beyond all hope of recovery
by Shishak. Never more would the fair fabric of an
Israelite empire rear itself up before the eyes of men ;
never more would Jerusalem be the capital of a State
as extensive as Assyria or Babylonia, and as populous
as Egypt. After seventy years, or so, of union, Syria
was broken up — the cohesion effected by the war-
like might of David and the wisdom of Solomon
ceased — the ill-assimilated parts fell asunder ; and
once more the broad and fertile tract intervening be-
tween Assyria and Egypt became divided among a
score of petty States, whose weakness invited a con-
queror.
Sheshonk did not live many years to enjoy the glory
and honour brought him by his Asiatic successes.
He died after a reign of twenty-one years, leaving his
crown to his second son, Osorkon, who was married
to the Princess Keramat, a daughter of Sheshonk's
predecessor. The dynasty thus founded continued
to occupy the Egyptian throne for the space of about
two centuries, but produced no other monarch of any
remarkable distinction. The Asiatic dominion, which
Sheshonk had established, seems to have been main-
tained for about thirty years, during the reigns of
Osorkon I., Sheshonk's son, and Takelut I., his grand-
son ; but in the reign of Osorkon II., the son of Take-
lut, the Jewish monarch of the time, Asa, the grandson
of Rehoboam, shook off the Egyptian yoke, re-estab-
lished Judaean independence, and fortified himself
against attack by restoring the defences of all those
JUDJEA REVOLTS UNDER ASA.
307
cities which Sheshonk had dismantled, and " making
about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars" (2
Chron. xiv. 7 . At the same time he placed under
arms the whole male population of his kingdom,
which is reckoned by the Jewish historian at 580,000
u
••*- -il
*^%4fe
HEAD OF SHISHAK.
men. The " men of Judah " bore spears and targets,
or small round shields ; the " men of Benjamin " had
shields of a larger size, and were armed with the bow
(ib. ver. 8). "All these," says the historian, "were
mighty men of valour." It was not to be supposed
that Egypt would bear tamely this defiance, or sub-
30& &HIS1IAK AND HIS DYNASTY.
mit to the entire loss of her Asiatic dominion, which
was necessarily involved in the revolt of Judaea,
without an effort to retain it. Osorkon II., or who-
ever was king at the time, rose to the occasion. If it
was to be a contest of numbers, Egypt should show
that she was certainly not to be outdone numerically ;
so more mercenaries than ever before were taken into
pay, and an army was levied, which is reckoned at
" a thousand thousand " (ib. ver. 9), consisting of
Cushites or Ethiopians, and of Lubim (ib. xvi. 8),
or natives of the North African coast-tract. With
these was sent a picked force of three hundred war-
chariots, probably Egyptian ; and the entire host was
placed under the command of an Ethiopian general,
who is called Zerah. The host set forth from Egypt,
confident of victory, and proceeded as far as Mareshah
in Southern Judaea, where they were met by the un-
daunted Jewish king. What force he had brought with
him is uncertain, but the number cannot have been
very great. Asa had recourse to prayer, and, in words
echoed in later days by the great Maccabee (1 Mac.
iii. 18, 19), besought Jehovah to help him against the
Egyptian " multitude." Then the two armies joined
battle ; and, notwithstanding the disparity of numbers,
Zerah was defeated. " The Ethiopians and the Lubim,
a huge host, with very many chariots and horse-
men" (2 Chron. xvi. 8) fled before Judah — they were
K( overthrown that they could not recover themselves,
and were destroyed before Jehovah and before His
host " (ib. xiv. 1 3). The Jewish troops pursued them
as far as Gerar, smiting them with a great slaughter
taking their camp, and loading themselves with spoil.
DEFEAT OF ZERAI1 — ITS CONSEQUENCES. 309
"What became of Zerah we arc not told. Perhaps he
fell in the battle ; perhaps he carried the news of his
defeat to his Egyptian master, and warned him against
any further efforts to subdue a people which could
defend itself so effectually.
The direct effect of the victory of Asa was to put
an end, for three centuries, to those dreams of Asiatic
dominion which had so long floated before the eyes
of Egyptian kings, and dazzled their imaginations. If
a single one of the petty princes between whose rule
Syria was divided could defeat and destroy the largest
army that Egypt had ever brought into the field, what
hope was there of victory over twenty or thirty of such
chieftains ? Henceforth, until the time of the great
revolution brought about in Western Asia through the
destruction of the Assyrian Empire by the Medes, the
eyes of Egypt were averted from Asia, unless when
attack threatened her. She shrank from provoking
the repetition of such a defeat as Zerah had suffered,
and was careful to abstain from all interference with
the affairs of Palestine, except on invitation. She
learnt to loo!; upon the two Israelite kingdoms as her
bulwarks against attack from the East, and it became
an acknowledged part of her policy to support them
against Assyrian aggression. If she did not succeed
in rendering them any effective assistance, it was not
for lack of good-will. She was indeed a " bruised
reed " to lean upon, but it was because her strength
was inferior to that of the great Mesopotamian power.
From the time of Osorkon II., the Sheshonk dy-
nasty rapidly declined in power. A system of consti-
tuting appanages for the princes of the reigning house
310 SHISHAK AND HIS DYNASTY,
grew up, and in a short time conducted the country
to the verge of dissolution. " For the purpose of
avoiding usurpations analogous to that of the High-
Priests of Ammon," says M. Maspero, " Sheshonk
and his descendants made a rule to entrust all posi-
tions of importance, whether civil or military, to the
princes of the blood royal. A son of the reigning
Pharaoh, most commonly his eldest son, held the office
of High-Priest of Ammon and Governor of Thebes ;
another commanded at Sessoun (Hermopolis) ; an-
other at Hakhensu, others in all the large towns of
the Delta and of Upper Egypt. Each of them had
with him several battalions of those Libyan soldiers —
Matsiou and Mashuash — who formed at this time the
strength of the Egyptian army, and on whose fidelity
it was always safe to count. Ere long these com-
mands became hereditary, and the feudal system,
which had anciently prevailed among the chiefs of
nomes or cantons, re-established itself for the advantage
of the members of the reigning house. The Pharaoh
of the time continued to reside at Memphis, or at
Bubastis, to receive the taxes, to direct as far as was
possible the central administration, and to preside at
the grand ceremonies of religion, such as the enthrone-
ment or the burial of an Apis-Bull ; but, in point of
fact, Egypt found itself divided into a certain number
ot principalities, some of which comprised only a few
towns, while others extended over several continuous
cantons. After a time the chiefs of these principali-
ties were emboldened to reject the sovereignty of the
Pharaoh altogether ; relying on their bands of Libyan
mercenaries, they usurped, not only the functions of
DISINTEGRATION OF EGYPT. 311
royalty, but even the title of king, while the legitimate
dynasty, cooped up in a coiner of the Delta, with
difficulty preserved a certain remnant of authority."
Upon disintegration followed, as a natural conse-
quence, quarrel and disturbance. In the reign of
Takelut II., the grandson of Osorkon II., troubles
broke out both in the north and in the south. Take-
lut's eldest son, Osorkon, who was High-Priest of
Ammon, and held the government of Thebes and the
other provinces of the south, was only able to main-
tain the integrity of the kingdom by means of per-
petual civil wars. Under his successors, Sheshonk III.,
Pamai, and Sheshonk IV., the revolts became more
and more serious. Rival dynasties established them-
selves at Thebes, Tanis, Memphis, and elsewhere.
Ethiopia grew more powerful as Egypt declined, and
threatened ere long to establish a preponderating
influence over the entire Nile valley. But the Egyp-
tian princes were too jealous of each other to appre-
ciate the danger which threatened them. A very
epidemic of decentralization set in ; and by the
middle of the eighth century, just at the time when
Assyria was uniting together and blending into one
all the long-divided tribes and nations of Western
Asia, Egypt suicidally broke itself up into no fewer
than twenty governments !
Such a condition of things was, of course, fatal to
literature and art. Art, as has been said, " did not so
much decline as disappear." After Sheshonk I. no
monarch of the line left any building or sculpture of
the slightest importance. The very tombs became
unpretentious, and merely repeated antique forms
J 12 SIIISHAK AND HIS DYNASTY.
without any of the antique spirit. Each Apis, indeed,
had, in his turn, his arched tomb cut for him in the
solid rock of the Serapeum at Memphis, and was laid
to rest in a stone sarcophagus, formed of a single
block. A stela, moreover, was in every case inscribed
and set up to his memory : but the stela; were rude
memorials, devoid of all artistic taste ; the tombs
were mere reproductions of old models ; and the in-
scriptions were of the dullest and most prosaic kind.
Here is one, as a specimen : " In the year 2, the
month Mechir, on the first day of the month, under
the reign of King Pimai, the god Apis was carried to
his rest in the beautiful region of the west, and was
laid in the grave, and deposited in his everlasting
house and his eternal abode. He was born in the year
28, in the time of the deceased king, Sheshonk III.
His glory was sought for in all places of Lower Egypt.
He was found after some months in the city of Hashed-
abot. He was solemnly introduced into the temple
of Phthah, beside his father — die Memphian god
Phthah of the south wall — by the high-priest in the
temple of Phthah, the great prince of the Mashuash,
Petise, the son of the high-priest of Memphis and
great prince of the Mashuash, Takelut, and of the
princess of royal race, Thes-bast-per, in the year 28, in
the month of Paophi, on the first day of the month.
The full lifetime of this god amounted to twenty-six
years." Such is the historical literature of the period.
The only other kind of literature belonging to it
which has come down to us, consists of what are called
" Magical Texts." These are to the following effect : —
" When Horus weeps, the water that falls from his
DECLINE OF ART AND LITERATURE.
3*3
eyes grows into plants producing a sweet perfume.
When Typhon lets fall blood from his nose, it grows
into plants changing to cedars, and produces turpen-
tine instead of the water. When Shu and Tefnut
weep much, and water falls from their eyes, it changes
into plants that produce incense. When the Sun
weeps a second time, and lets water fall from his eyes,
it is changed into working bees ; they work in the
flowers of each kind, and honey and wax arc produced
instead of the water. When the Sun becomes weak,
he lets fall the perspiration of his members, and this
changes to a liquid." Or again — " To make a magic
mixture : Take two grains of incense, two fumiga-
tions, two jars of cedar-oil, two jars of tas, two jars of
wine, two jars of spirits of wine. Apply it at the
place of thy heart. Thou art protected against the
accidents of life ; thou art protected against a violent
death ; thou art protected against fire ; thou art not
ruined on earth, and thou escapest in heaven."
XX.
THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS — EGYPT
UNDER THE ETHIOPIANS
The name of Ethiopia was applied in ancient times,
much as the term Soudan is applied now, vaguely to
the East African interior south of Egypt, from about
lat. 24° to about lat. 90, The tract was for the most
part sandy or rocky desert, interspersed with oases,
but contained along the course of the Nile a valuable
strip of territory ; while, south and south-east of the
point where the Nile receives the Atbara, it spread
out into a broad fertile region, watered by many
streams, diversified by mountains and woodlands, rich
in minerals, and of considerable fertility. At no time
did the whole of this vast tract — a thousand miles
long by eight or nine hundred broad — form a single
state or monarchy. Rather, for the most part, was it
divided up among an indefinite number of states,
or rather of tribes, some of them herdsmen, others
hunters or fishermen, very jealous of their indepen-
dence, and frequently at war one with another.
Among the various tribes there was a certain com-
munity of race, a resemblance of physical type, and
a similarity of language. Their neighbours, the
Egyptians, included them all under a single ethnic
EGYPTIAN INFLUENCE IN ETHIOPIA. 315
name, speaking of them as Kashi or Kushi — a term
manifestly identical with the Cush or Cushi of the
Hebrews. They were a race cognate with the Egyp-
tians, but darker in complexion and coarser in feature
— not by any means negroes, but still more nearly
allied to the negro than the Egyptians were. Their
best representatives in modern times are the pure-
bred Abyssinian tribes, the Gallas, Wolai'tzas, and
the like, who arc probably their descendants.
The portion of Ethiopia which lay nearest to Egypt
had been from a very early date penetrated by
Egyptian influence. Wars with "the miserable
Kashi " began as far back as the time of Usurtasen
I.; and Usurtasen III. carried his arms beyond the
Second Cataract, and attached the northern portion
of Ethiopia to Egypt. The great kings of the
eighteenth dynasty, Thothmes III., Amenhotep II.,
and Amenhotep III., proceeded still further south-
ward ; and the last of these monarchs built a temple
to Amnion at Napata, near the modern Gebel Berkal.
The Ethiopians of this region, a plastic race, adopted
to a considerable extent the Egyptian civilization,
worshipped Egyptian gods in Egyptian shrines, and
set up inscriptions in the hieroglyphic character and
in the Egyptian tongue. Napata, and th° Nile valley
both below it and above it, was already half Egyp-
tianized, when, on the establishment of the Sheshonk
dynasty in Egypt, the descendants of Herhor re-
solved to quit their native country, and remove them-
selves into Ethiopia, where they had reason to expect
a welcome. They were probably already connected
by marriage with some of the leading chiefs of
jl6 THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS.
Napata, and their sacerdotal character gave them a
great hold on a peculiarly superstitious people. The
" princes of Noph " received them with the greatest
favour, and assigned them the highest position in the
state. Retaining their priestly office, they became at
once Ethiopian monarchs, and High-Priests of the
Temple of Ammon which Amenhotep III. had
erected at Napata. Napata, under their government,
flourished greatly, and acquired a considerable archi-
tectural magnificence. Fresh temples were built, in
which the worship of Egyptian was combined with
that of Ethiopian deities ; avenues of sphinxes
adorned the approaches to these new shrines ; the
practice of burying the members of the royal house
in pyramids was reverted to ; and the necropolis of
Napata recalled the glories of the old necropolis of
Memphis.
Napata was also a place of much wealth. The
kingdom, whereof it was the capital, reached south-
ward as far as the modern Khartoum, and eastward
stretched up to the Abyssinian highlands, including
the valleys of the Atbara and its tributaries, together
with most of the tract between the Atbara and the
Blue Nile. This was a region of great natural wealth,
containing many mines of gold, iron, copper, and salt,
abundant woods of date-palm, almond - trees, and
ilex, some excellent pasture-ground, and much rich
meadow-land suitable for the growth of doom and
other sorts of grain. Fish of many kinds, and ex-
cellent turtle, abounded in the Atbara and the other
streams ; while the geographical position was favour-
able for commerce with the tribes of the interior, who
PI AS Kill OF NAP AT A AND HIS RIVALS. 31;
were able to furnish an almost inexhaustible supply
of ivory, skins, and ostrich feathers.
The first monarch of Napata, whose name has come
down to us, is a certain Piankhi, who called himself
Mi-Ammon, or Meri- Amnion — that is to say, " beloved
of Ammon." lie is thought to have been a descen-
dant of Herhor, and to have begun to reign about
B.C. 755. At this time Egypt had reached the state
of extreme disintegration described in the last section.
A prince named Tafnekht, probably of Libyan origin,
ruled in the western Delta, and held Sai's and Mem-
phis ; an Osorkon was king of the eastern Delta, and
held his court at Bubastis ; Petesis was king of
Athribis, near the apex of the Delta ; and a prince
named Aupot, or Shupot, ruled in some portion of
the same region. In Middle Egypt, the tract imme-
diately above Memphis formed the kingdom of Pefaa-
bast, who had his residence in Sutensenen, or Hera-
cleopolis Magna, and held the Fayoum under his
authority ; while further south the Nile valley was in
the possession of a certain Namrut, whose capital was
Sesennu, or Hermopolis. Bek-en-nefi, and a Sheshonk,
had also principalities, though in what exact position
is uncertain ; and various towns, including Mendes,
were under the government of chiefs of mercenaries,
of whom it is reckoned that there were more than
a dozen. Thebes and Southern Egypt from about the
latitude of Hermopolis had already been absorbed
into the kingdom of Napata, and were ruled directly
by Piankhi.
Such being the state of affairs when he came to the
throne, Piankhi contrived between his first and his
Jl8 THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS.
twenty- first year (about B.C. 755-734) gradually to
extend his authority over the other kings, and to
reduce them to the position of tributary princes or
feudatories. It is uncertain whether he used force
to effect his purpose. Perhaps the fear of the As-
syrians, who, under Tiglath-pileser II., were about this
time (B.C. 745-730) making great advances in Syria
and Palestine, may have been sufficiently strong to
induce the princes voluntarily to adopt the protection
of Piankhi, whom they may have regarded as an
Egyptian rather than a foreigner. At any rate, we
do not hear of violence being used until revolt broke
out. In the twenty-first year of Piankhi, news reached
him that Tafnekht, king of Memphis and Sa'i's, had
rebelled, and, not content with throwing off his alle-
giance, had commenced a series of attacks upon the
princes that remained faithful to their suzerain, and
was endeavouring to make himself master of the whole
country. Already had he fallen upon Pafaabast, and
forced him to surrender at discretion; he was advanc-
ing up the river ; Namrut had joined him ; and he
would soon threaten Thebes, unless a strenuous re-
sistance were offered. Piankhi seems at first to have
despised his enemy. He thought it enough to send
two generals, at the head of a strong body of troops,
down the Nile, with orders to suppress the revolt,
and bring the arch -rebel into his presence. The ex-
pedition left Thebes. On its way down the river, it
fell in with the advancing fleet of the enemy, and
completely defeated it. The rebel chiefs, who now
included Petesis, Osorkon, and Aupot, as well as
Tafnekht, Pefaabast, and Namrut, abandoning Her-
PlANKHl'S WAR WITH THE PETTY PRINCES. 319
mopolis and the Middle Nile, fell back upon Suten-
scnen or Heraclcopolis Magna, where they concen-
trated their forces, and awaited a second attack. This
was not long delayed. Piankhi's fleet and army,
having besieged and taken Hermopolis, descended
the river to Sutensenen, gave the confederates a
second naval defeat, and disembarking, followed up
their success with another great victory on land, com-
pletely routing the rebels, and driving them to take
refuge in Lower Egypt, or in the towns on the river
bank below Heracleopolis. But now a strange reverse
of fortune befell them. Namrut, the Hermopolitan
monarch, hearing of the occupation of his capital by
Piankhi's army, resolved on a bold attempt to retake
it ; and, having collected a number of ships and
troops, quitted his confederates, sailed up the Nile,
besieged the Ethiopian garrison which had been left
to hold the place, overpowered them, and recovered
his city.
This unexpected blow roused Piankhi from his.
inaction. Having collected a fresh army, he quitted
Napata in the first month of the year, and reached
Thebes in the second, where he stopped awhile to
perform a number of religious ceremonies ; at their
close, he descended the Nile to Hermopolis, invested
it, and commenced its siege. Moveable towers were
brought up against the walls, from which machines
threw stones and arrows into the city ; the defenders
suffered terribly, and after a short time insisted on
a surrender. Namrut made his peace with his offended
sovereign through the intercession of his wife with
Piankhi's wives, sisters, and daughters, and was allowed
320 THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS.
once more to do homage to his lord in the temple of
Thoth, leading his war-horse in one hand and holding
a sistrum, the instrument wherewith it was usual to
approach a god, in the other. Piankhi entered Her-
mopolis, and examined the treasury, store - houses,
and stables, finding in the last a number of horses,
which had been reduced almost to starvation by the
siege. Either on this account, or for some other
reason, Piankhi treated the Hermopolitan prince with
PIANKHI RECEIVING THE SUBMISSION OF NAMRUT AND OTHERS.
coldness, and did not for some time reinstate him in
his kingdom.
Continuing his triumphal march towards the north
Piankhi received the submission of Heracleopolis
the capital of Pefaabast, and of various other cities
on either bank of the Nile, and in a short time
appeared before Memphis and summoned it to
surrender ; but his summons was set at nought.
Tafnekht had recently visited the city, had strength-
ened its defences, augmented its supplies, and rein-
forced its garrison with an addition of eight thousand
men, thereby greatly inspiriting them. It was resolved
PIANKHI VICTORIOUS. 32 1
to resist to the uttermost. So the gates were shut,
the walls manned, and Piankhi challenged to do his
worst. "Then was His Majesty furious against
them, like a panther." Piankhi attacked the city
fiercely, both by land and water. Taking the com-
mand of the fleet in person, he sailed down the Nile,
and, bringing his vessels close up to the walls and
towers on the riverside, made use of the masts and
yards as ladders, and so scaled the fortifications ; then
after slaughtering thousands on the ramparts, he forced
an entrance into the town, Memphis, upon this, sur-
rendered. Piankhi entered the town, and sacrificed to
the god Phthah A number of the princes, including
Aupot and Merkaneshu, a leader of mercenaries,
came in and made their submission ; but two of the
principal rebels still remained unsubdued — Tafnekht,
the leader of the revolt, and Osorkon, king of Bubastis.
Piankhi proceeded against the latter. Advancing
first on Meliopolis, instead of resistance he was re-
ceived with acclamations, the people, priests, and
soldiery having gone over to his side. " Nothing
succeeds like success." Egypt was as prone as other
countries to " worship the rising sun ; " and Piankhi's
victories had by this time marked him out in the eyes
of the Egyptians as the favourite of Heaven, their pre-
destined monarch and ruler. Accordingly, Heliopolis
received him gladly, hailing him as "the indestructible
Horus " — he was allowed to bathe in the sacred lake
within the precincts of the great temple, to offer sacri-
fice to Ra, and to enter through the folding-doors
into the central shrine, where were laid up the sacred
boats of Ra and Turn. After this surrender, Osorkon
322 THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS.
thought it vain to attempt further resistance. He
quitted Bubastis, and, seeking the presence of the
victorious Piankhi, submitted himself and renewed
his homage. At the same time, Petisis, king of
Athribis, made his submission.
The only prince who still remained unsubdued was
Tafnekht, the original rebel. Tafnekht had fled after
the fall of Memphis, and had taken refuge either in
one of the islands of the Delta, or beyond the seas, in
Aradus or Cyprus. But he saw that further resistance
was vain ; and that, if he was to rule an Egyptian
principality, it must be as a secondary monarch.
Accordingly he, too, submitted himself, and was re-
stored to his former kingdom. Piankhi returned up
the Nile to his own city of Napata amid songs and
rejoicings — whether sincere or feigned, who shall say ?
His own account of the matter is the following:
"When His Majesty sailed up the river, his heart was
glad ; all its banks resounded with music. The in-
habitants of the west and of the east betook them-
selves to making melody at His Majesty's approach.
To the notes of the music they sang, ' O king, thou
conqueror! O Piankhi, thou conquering king ! Thou
hast come and smitten Lower Egypt ; thou madest
the men as women. The heart of the mother rejoices
who bare such a son, for he who begat thee dwells in
the vale of death. Happiness be to thee, O cow that
hast borne the Bull ! Thou shalt live for ever in after
ages. Thy victory shall endure, O king and friend
of Thebes ! ' "
This happy condition of things did not, however,
continue long. Piankhi, soon after his return to his
SHABAK BURNS BEK-EN-RANF. 323
capital, died without leaving issue ; and the race of
Herhor being now extinct, the Ethiopians had to
elect a king from the number of their own nobles.
Their choice fell on a certain Kashta, a man of little
energy, who allowed Egypt to throw off the Ethiopian
sovereignty without making any effort to prevent it.
Bek-en-ranf, the son of Tafnekht, was the leader of
this successful rebellion, and is said to have reigned
over all Egypt for six years. He got a name for
wisdom and justice, but he could not alter that con-
dition of affairs which had been gradually brought
about by the slow working of various more or less
occult causes, whereby Ethiopia had increased and
Egypt diminished in power, their relative strength, as
compared with former times, having become inverted.
Ethiopia, being now the stronger, was sure to reassert
herself, and did so in Bek-en-ranf's seventh year.
Shabak, the son of Kashta, whose character was cast
in a far stronger mould than that of his father, having
mounted the Ethiopian throne, lost no time in swoop-
ing down upon Egypt from the upper region, and,
carrying all before him, besieged and took Sai's, made
Bek-en-ranf a prisoner, and barbarously burnt him
alive for his rebellion. His fierce and sensuous
physiognomy is quite in keeping with this bloody
deed, which was well cilculated to strike terror into
the Egyptian nation, and to ensure a general sub-
mission.
The rule of the Ethiopians was now for some fifty
years firmly established. Shabak founded a dynasty
which the Egyptians themselves admitted to be legi-
timate, and which the historian Manetho declared to
324 The land shadowing with wings.
have consisted of three kings — Sabacos (or Shabak),
Sevechus (or Shabatok), and Taracus (or Tehrak),
the Hebrew Tirhakah. The extant monuments con-
firm the names, and order of succession, of these
monarchs. They were of a coarser and ruder fibre
than the native Egyptians, but they did not rule
Egypt in any alien or hostile spirit. On the contrary,
they were pious worshippers of the old Egyptian
gods ; they repaired and beautified the old Egyptian
temples ; and, instead of ruling Egypt, as a conquered
province, from Napata, they resided permanently, or
at any rate occasionally, at the Egyptian capitals,
Thebes and Memphis. There are certain indications
which make it probable that to some extent they
pursued the policy of Piankhi, and governed Lower
Egypt by means of tributary kings, who held their
courts at Sa'i's, Tanis, and perhaps Bubastis. But
they kept a jealous watch over their subject princes,
and allowed none of them to attain a dangerous pre-
eminence.
By a curious coincidence the Ethiopic sway, or ex-
tension of influence over Egypt by the great monarchy
of the south, exactly synchronized with the develop-
ment of Assyrian power in south-western Asia, which
bordered Egypt upon the north ; and thus were
brought into hostile collision, the two greatest mili-
tary powers of the then known world who fought
over the prostrate Egypt, like Achilles ad Hector
over the corpse of Patroclus. Shabak's conquest of
the Lower Nile valley took place about B.C. 725 or
724. Exactly at that time Shalmaneser IV. was pro-
ceeding to extremities against the kingdom of Israel,
shabak's dealings with hosea.
325
and was thus threatening to sweep away one of the last
two feeble barriers which had hitherto been interposed
between the Assyrian territory and the Egyptian.
Shabak, entreated by Iloshea, the last Israelite mon-
arch, to lend him aid, consented to take the kingdom
of Israel under his protection (2 Kings xvii. 4),
HEAD OF SHAliAK (SABACO).
actuated no doubt by an enlightened view of his own
interest. But when Samaria was besieged (B.C. 723)
and the danger became pressing, he had not the
courage to act up to his engagements. The stout
resistance offered by the Israelite capital for more
326 THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS.
than two years (2 Kings xvii. 5) drew forth no corres-
ponding effort on the part of the Ethiopic king.
Hoshea was left to his own resources, and in B.C.
722 was forced to succumb. His capital was taken
by storm, its inhabitants seized and carried off by
the conqueror, the whole territory absorbed into that
of Assyria, and the cities occupied by Assyrian
colonists (2 Kings xvii. 24). Assyria was brought
one step nearer to Egypt, and it became more than
ever evident that contact and collision could not be
much longer deferred.
The collision came in B.C. 720. In that year
Sargon, the founder of the last and greatest of the
Assyrian dynasties, who had succeeded Shalmaneser
IV. in B.C. 722, having arranged matters in Samaria
and taken Hamath, pressed on against Philistia, the
last inhabited country on the route which led to
Egypt. Shabak, having made alliance with Hanun,
king of Gaza, marched to his aid. The opposing
hosts met at Ropeh, the Raphia of the Greeks, on the
very borders of the desert. Sargon commanded in
person on the one side, Shabak and Hanun on the
other. A great battle was fought, which was for a
long time stoutly contested ; but the strong forms,
the superior arms, and the better discipline of the
Assyrians, prevailed. Asia proved herself, as she has
generally done, stronger than Africa ; the Egyptians
and Philistines fled away in disorder ; Hanun was
made a prisoner ; Shabak with difficulty escaped.
Negotiations appear to have followed, and a conven-
tion to have been drawn up, to which the Ethiopian
and Assyrian monarchs attached their seals. The
SH ABATOR SUCCEEDS SHABAK. 327
lump of clay which received the impressions was
found by Sir A. Layard at Nineveh, and is now in
the British Museum.
Shortly afterwards, about B.C. 712, Shabak died, and
was succeeded in Egypt by his son Shabatok, in
Ethiopia by a certain Tehrak, who appears to have
been his nephew. Tehrak exercised the paramount
authority over the whole realm, but resided at Napata,
while Shabatok held his court at Memphis and ruled
Lower Egypt as Tehrak's representative. Assyrian
SEAL OF SHABAK.
aggression still continued. In B.C. 711 Sargon took
Ashdod, and threatened an invasion of Egypt, which
Shabatok averted by sending a submissive embassy
with presents.
Six years afterwards Sargon died, and his son,
Sennacherib, mounted the Assyrian throne. At once
south-western Asia was in a ferment. The Phoenician
and Philistine kings recently subjected by Tiglath-
Pilescr and Sargon, broke out in open revolt. Heze-
kiah, king of Judah, joined the malcontents. The
aid of Egypt was implored, and certain promises of
328 THE LAND SHADOWING WITH WINGS.
support and assistance received, in part from Tehrak,
in part from Shabatok and other native rulers of
nomes and cities. Sennacherib, in B.C. 701, led his
army into Syria to suppress the rebellion, reduced
Phoenicia, received the submission of Ashdod, Ammon,
Moab, and Edom ; took Ascalon, Hazor, and Joppa,
and was proceeding against Ekron, when for the first
time he encountered an armed force in the field. A
large Egyptian and Ethiopian contingent had at last
reached Philistia, and, having united itself with the
Ekronites, stood prepared to give the Assyrians battle
near Eltekeh. The force consisted of chariots, horse-
men, and footmen, and was so numerous that Senna-
cherib calls it " a multitude that no man could number."
Once more, however, Africa had to succumb. Senna-
cherib at Eltekeh defeated the combined forces of
Egypt and Ethiopia with as much ease and complete-
ness as Sargon at Raphia ; the multitudinous host
was entirely routed, and fled from the field, leaving in
the hands of the victors the greater portion of their
war-chariots and several sons of one of their kings.
After this defeat, it is not surprising that Tehrak
made no further effort. Hezekiah, the last rebel
unsubdued, was left to defend himself as he best
might. The Egyptians retreated to their own borders,
and there awaited attack. It seemed as if the triumph
of Assyria was assured, and as if her yoke must
almost immediately be imposed alike upon Judea,
upon Egypt, and upon the kingdom of Napata ; but
an extraordinary catastrophe averted the immediate
danger, and gave to Egypt and Ethiopia a respite of
thirty-four years. Sennacherib's army, of nearly two
StNNACliERIB, HLZEKiAH, AM) TIRHAKAH. 329
hundred thousand men, was almost totally destroyed in
one night. " The angel of the Lord went forth," says the
contemporary writer, Isaiah, "and smote in the camp
of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five
thousand ; and when they arose early in the morning,
behold, they were all dead corpses" (Isa. xxxvii. 36).
Whatever the agency employed in this remarkable
destruction — whether it was caused by a simoon, or a
pestilence, or by a direct visitation of the Almighty,
HEAD OF TEHRAK (TIRHAKAH).
as different writers have explained it — the event is cer-
tain. Its truth is written in the undeniable facts of later
history, which show us a sudden cessation of Assyrian
attack in this quarter, the kingdom of Judea saved
from absorption, and the countries on the banks of
the Nile left absolutely unobstructed by Assyria for
the third part of a century. As the destruction hap-
pened on their borders, the Egyptians naturally
enough ascribed it to their own gods, and made a
boast of it centuries after. Everything marks, as
330 The land shadowing with wings.
one of the most noticeable facts in history, this
annihilation of so great a portion of the army of the
greatest of all the kings of Assyria.
The reign of Tirhakah (Tehrak) during this period
appears to have been glorious. He was regarded by
Judea as its protector, and exercised a certain influ-
ence over all Syria as far as Taurus, Amanus, and the
Euphrates. In Africa, he brought into subjection the
native tribes of the north coast, carrying his arms,
according to some, as far as the Pillars of Hercules.
He is exhibited at Medinet-Abou in the dress of a
warrior, smiting with a mace ten captive foreign
princes. He erected monuments in the Egyptian
style at Thebes, Memphis, and Napata. Of all the
Ethiopian sovereigns of Egypt he was undoubtedly
the greatest ; but towards the close of his life re-
verses befell him, which require to be treated of in
another section.
XXL
THE FIGHT OVER THE CARCASE — ETHIOPIA
V. ASSYRIA.
The miraculous destruction of his army was ac-
cepted by Sennacherib as a warning to desist from all
further attempts against the independence of Judea,
and from all further efforts to extend his dominions
towards the south-west. He survived the destruction
during a period of seventeen years, and was actively
engaged in a number of wars towards the east, the
north, and the north-west, but abstained carefully
from further contact with either Palestine or Egypt.
His son Esarhaddon succeeded him on the throne in
B.C. 68 1, and at once, to a certain extent, modified
this policy. He re-established the Assyrian dominion
over Upper Syria, Phoenicia, and even Edom ; but
during the first nine years of his reign the memory of
his father's disaster caused him to leave Judea and
Egypt unattacked. At last, however, in B.C. 672,
encouraged by his many military successes, by the
troubled state of Judea under the idolatrous Manasseh,
who " shed innocent blood very much from one end
of Jerusalem to the other" (2 Kings xxi. 16), and by
the advanced age of Tehrak, which seemed to render
him a less formidable antagonist now than formerly,
332 THE FIGHT OVER THE CARCASE.
he resumed the designs on Egypt which his father
and grandfather had entertained, swept Manasseh
from his path by seizing him and carrying him off a
prisoner to Babylon, marched his troops from Aphek
along the coast of Palestine to Raphia. and there
made the dispositions which seemed to him best cal-
culated to effect the conquest of the coveted country.
As Tirhakah, aware of his intentions, had collected
all his available force upon his north-east frontier,
about Pelusium and its immediate neighbourhood, the
Assyrian monarch took the bold resolution of pro-
ceeding southward through the waste tract, known to
the Hebrews as " the desert of Shur," in such a way
as to turn the flank of Tirhakah's army, to reach
Pithom (Heroopolis) and to attack Memphis along
the line of the Old Canal. The Arab Sheikhs of the
desert were induced to lend him their aid, and facili-
tate his march by conveying the water necessary for
his army on the backs of their camels in skins. The
march was thus made in safety, though the soldiers
are said to have suffered considerably from fatigue
and thirst, and to have been greatly alarmed by the
sight of numerous serpents.
Tehrak, on his part, did all that was possible. On
learning Esarhaddon's change of route, he broke up
from Pelusium, and, by a hasty march across the
eastern Delta succeeded in interposing his army
between Memphis and the host of the Assyrians,
which had to follow the line taken by Sir Garnet
Wolseley in 1884, and encountered the enemy, j 10-
bably, not far from the spot where the British general
completely defeated the troops of Arabi. Here for
TEHRAK DEFEATED BY ESARHADDON. 2>Z2>
the third time Asia and Africa stood arrayed the one
against the other. Assyria brought into the field a host
of probably not fewer than two hundred thousand men,
including a strong chariot force, a powerful cavalry, and
an infantry variously armed and appointed — some with
huge shields and covered by almost complete pano-
plies, others lightly equipped with targe and dart, or
even simply with slings. Egypt opposed to her a
force, probably, even more numerous, but consisting
chiefly of a light-armed infantry, containing a large
proportion of mercenaries whose hearts would not be
in the fight, deficient in cavalry, and apt to trust
mainly to its chariots. In the flat Egyptian plains
lightly accoutred troops fight at a great disadvantage
against those whose equipment is of greater solidity and
strength ; cavalry are an important arm, since there
is nothing to check the impetus of a charge ; and
personal strength is a most important element in
determining the result of a conflict. The Assyrians
were more strongly made than the Egyptians ; they
had probably a better training ; they certainly wore
more armour, carried larger shields and longer spears,
and were better equipped both for offence and
defence. We have, unfortunately, no description of
the battle ; but it is in no way surprising to iearn that
the Assyrians prevailed ; Tehrak's forces suffered a
complete defeat, were driven from the field in con-
fusion, and hastily dispersed themselves.
Memphis was then besieged, taken, and given up to
pillage. The statu of the gods, the gold and silver,
the turquoise and lapis lazuli, the vases, censers, jars,
goblets, amphorae, the stores of ivory, ebony, cinna-
334 THE FIGHT OVER THE CARCASE.
mon, frankincense, fine linen, crystal, jasper, alabaster,
embroidery, with which the piety of kings had en-
riched the temples — especially the Great Temple of
Phthah — during fifteen or twenty centuries, were
ruthlessly carried off by the conquerors, who destined
them either for the adornment of the Ninevite shrines
or for their own private advantage. Tehrak's wife
and concubines, together with several of his children
and numerous officers of his court, left behind in con-
sequence of his hurried flight, fell into the enemy's
hands. Tehrak himself escaped, and fled first to
Thebes, and then to Napata ; while the army of
Esarhaddon, following closely on his footsteps, ad-
vanced up the valley of the Nile, scoured the open
country with their cavalry, stormed the smaller towns,
and after a siege of some duration took " populous
No," or Thebes, " that was situate among the rivers,
that had the waters round about it, whose rampart
was the great deep " (Nahum iii. 8). All Egypt was
overrun from the Mediterranean to the First Cataract ;
thousands of prisoners were taken and carried away
captive ; the Assyrian monarch was undisputed master
of the entire land of Mizrai'm from Migdol to Syene
and from Pelusium to the City of Crocodiles.
Upon conquest followed organization. The great
Assyrian was not content merely to overrun Egypt ;
he was bent upon holding it. Acting on the Roman
principle, " Divide et impera" he broke up the country
into twenty distinct principalities, over each of which
he placed a governor, while in the capital of each he
put an Assyrian garrison. Of the governors, by far
the greater number were native Egyptians ; but in
EGYPT SUBDUED AXD DIVIDED UP.
335
one or two instances the command was given to an
Assyrian. For the most part, the old divisions of the
nomes were kept, but sometimes two or more nomes
were thrown together and united under a single
governor. Neco, an ancestor of the great Pharaoh
who bore the same name (2 Kings xxiii. 29-35), had
Sai's, Memphis, and the nomes that lay between them ;
Mentu-em-ankh had Thebes and southern Egypt as
far as Elephantine. Satisfied with these arrangements
FIGURE OF ESAR-HADDON AT THE NAHR-EL-KELB.
the conqueror returned to Nineveh, having first, how-
ever, sculptured on the rocks at the mouth of the
Nahr-el-Kelb a representation of his person and an
account of his conquests.
Egypt lay at the feet of Assyria for about three or
four years (B.C. 672-669). Then the struggle was
renewed. Tehrak, who had bided his time, learning
that Esarhaddon was seized with a mortal malady,
issued (B.C. 669) from his Ethiopian fastnesses, de-
336 THE FIGHT OVER THE CARCASE.
scended the valley of the Nile, expelled the governors
whom Esarhaddon had set up, and possessed himself
of the disputed territory. Thebes received him with
enthusiasm, as one attached to the worship of Ammon ;
and the priests of Phthah opened to him the gates of
Memphis, despite the efforts of Neco and the Assyrian-
garrison. The religious sympathy between Ethiopia
and Egypt was an important factor in the as yet
undecided contest, and helped much to further the
Ethiopic cause. But in war sentiment can effect but
little. Physical force, on the whole, prevaib, unless in
the rare instances where miracle intervenes, or where
patriotic enthusiasm is exalted to such a pitch as to
strike physical force with impotency
In the conflict that was now raging patriotism had
little part. Ethiopia and Assyria were contending,
partly for military pre-eminence, partly for the prey
that lay between them, inviting a master — the rich
and now weak Egyptian kingdom. Tehrak's success,
communicated to the Assyrian Court by the dispos-
sessed governors, drew forth almost immediately a
counter effort on the part of Assyria, which did not
intend to relinquish without a struggle the important
addition that Esarhaddon had made to the empii'2.
In B.C. 668, Asshur-bani-pal, the Sardanapalus of the
Greeks, having succeeded his father Esarhaddon,
put the forces of Assyria once more in motion, and
swooping down upon the unhappy Egypt, succeeded
in carrying all before him, defeatec Tehrak at Kar-
banit in the Delta, recovered Memphis and Thebes,
forced Tehrak to take refuge at Napata, re-established
in power the twenty petty kings, and restored the
THE STRUGGLE RENEWED AND CONTINUED. ^37
country In all respects to the condition into which it
had been brought four years previously by Esarhaddon.
Egypt thus passed under the Assyrians for the second
time, Ethiopia relinquishing her hold upon the prey
as soon as Assyria firmly grasped it.
Still the matter was not yet settled, the conflict
was not yet ended. The petty kings themselves
began now to coquet with Tehrak, and to invite his
co-operation in an attempt, which they promised they
would make, to throw off the yoke of the Assyrians.
Detected in this intrigue, Neco and two others were
arrested by the Assyrian commandants, loaded with
chains, and sent as prisoners to Nineveh. But their
arrest did not check the movement. On the contrary,
the spirit of revolt spread. The commandants tried
to stop it by measures of extreme severity : they
sacked the great cities of the Delta — Sais, Mendes,
and Tarn's or Zoan ; but all was of no avail. Tehrak
once more took the Held, descended the Nile valley,
recovered Thebes, and threatened Memphis. Asshur-
bani-pal upon this hastily sent Neco from Nineveh
at the head of an Assyrian army to exert his influence
on the Assyrian side — which he was content to do,
since the Ninevite monarch had made him chief of
the petty kings, and conferred the principality of
Athribis on his son, Psamatik. Tehrak, in alarm,
retreated from his bold attempt, evacuated Thebes,
and returned to his own dominions, where he shortly
afterwards died (B.C. 667).
It might have been expected that the death of the
aged warrior-king would have been the signal for
Ethiopia to withdraw .from the struggle so long main-
338 fhlE FIGHT OVER THE CARCASE.
tained, and relinquish Egypt to her rival ; but the
actual result was the exact contrary. Tehrak was
succeeded at Napata by his step-son, Rut-Ammon, a
young prince of a bold and warlike temper. Far
from recoiling from the enterprize which Tehrak had
adjudged hopeless, he threw himself into it with the
utmost ardour. Once more an Ethiopian army de-
scended the Nile valley, occupied Thebes, engaged
and defeated a combined Egyptian and Assyrian
force near Memphis, took the capital, made its gar-
rison prisoners, and brought under subjection the
greater portion of the Delta. Neco, having fallen into
the hands of the Ethiopians, was cruelly put to death.
His son, Psamatik, saved himself by a timely flight.
History now "repeated itself." In B.C. 666 Asshur-
bani-pal made, in person, a second expedition into
Egypt, defeated Rut-Ammon upon the frontier, re-
covered Memphis, marched upon Thebes, Rut-Ammon
retiring as he advanced, stormed and sacked the great
city, inflicted wanton injury on its temples, carried
off its treasures, and enslaved its population. The
triumph of the Assyrian arms was complete. Very
shortly all resistance ceased. The subject princes
were replaced in their principalities. Asshur-bani-
pal's sovereignty was universally acknowledged, and
Ethiopia, apparently, gave up the contest.
One more effort was, however, made by the southern
power. On the death of Rut-Ammon, Mi-Ammon-
Nut, probably a son of Tirhakah's, became king of
Ethiopia, and resolved on a renewal of the war.
Egyptian disaffection might always be counted on,
whichever of the two great powers held temporary
LAST EFFORTS OF ETHIOPIA. 339
possession of the country ; and Mi-Ammon-Nut
further courted the favour of the Egyptian princes,
priests, and people, by an ostentatious display of zeal
for their religion. Assyria had al loved the temples
to fall into decay ; the statues of the gods had in
some instances been cast down, the temple revenues
confiscated, the priests restrained in their conduct of
the religious worship. Mi-Ammon-Nut proclaimed
himself the chosen of Amnion, and the champion of
the gods of Egypt. On entering each Egyptian town
he was careful to visit its chief temple, to offer sacri-
fices and gifts, to honour the images and lead them
in procession, and to pay all due respect to the college
of priests. This prudent policy met with complete
success. As he advanced down the Nile valley, he
was everywhere received with acclamations. " Go
onward in the peace of thy name," they shouted, " go
onward in the peace of thy name. Dispense life
throughout all the land — that the temples may be
restored which are hastening to ruin ; that the statues
of the gods may be set up after their manner ; that
their revenues may be given back to the gods and
goddesses, and the offerings of the dead to the de-
ceased ; that the priest may be established in his
place, and all things be fulfilled according to the
Holy Ritual." In many places where it had been
intended to oppose his advance in arms, the news
of his pious acts produced a complete revulsion of
feeling, and " those whose intention it had been to
fight were moved with joy." No one opposed him
until he had nearly reached the northern capital,
Memphis, which was doubtless held in force by the
3 1-0 THE FIGHT OVER THE CARCASE.
Assyrians, to whom the princes of Lower Egypt were
still faithful. A battle, accordingly, was fought before
the walls, and in this Mi-Ammon-Nut was victorious ;
the Egyptians probably did not fight with much zeal,
and the Assyrians, distrusting their subject allies,
may well have been dispirited. After the victory,
Memphis opened her gates, and soon afterwards the
princes of the Delta thought it best to make their sub-
mission— the Assyrians, we must suppose, retired — Mi-
Ammon-Nut's authority was acknowledged, and the
princes, having transferred their allegiance to him,
were allowed to retain their governments.
The consequences of this last Ethiopian invasion
of Egypt appear to have been transient. Mi-
Ammon-Nut did not live very long to enjoy his
conquest, and in Egypt he had no successor. He
was not even recognized by the Egyptians among
their legitimate kings. Egypt at his death reverted
to her previous position of dependence upon Assyria,
feeling herself still too weak to stand alone, and
perhaps not greatly caring, so that she had peace,
which of the two great powers she acknowledged as
her suzerain. She had now (about B.C. 650) for above
twenty years been fought over by the two chief
kingdoms of the earth — each of them had traversed
with huge armies, as many as five or six times, the
Nile valley from one extremity to the other ; the
cities had been half ruined, harvest after harvest
destroyed, trees cut down, temples rifled, homesteads
burnt, villas plundered. Thebes, the Hundred-gated,
probably for many ages quite the most magnificent
city in the world, had become a by-word for desola-
WRETCHED CONDITION OF EGYPT.
34*
tion (Nahum iii. 8, 9) ; Memphis, Heliopolis, Tanis,
Sals, Mcndcs, Bubastis, Hcraclcopolis, Hermopolis,
Crocodilopolis, had been taken and retaken repeatedly;
the old building's and monuments had been allowed
to fell into decay ; no king had been firmly enough
established on his throne to undertake the erection
of any but insignificant new ones. Egypt was "fallen,
fallen, fallen — fallen from her high estate; " an apathy,
not unlike the stillness of death, brooded over her ;
literature was silent, art extinct ; hope of recovery
can scarcely have lingered in many bosoms. As
events proved, the vital spark was not actually fled ;
but the keenest observer would scarcely have ventured
to predict, at any time between B.C. 750 and B.C. 650,
such a revival as marked the period between B.C. 650
and B.C. 530.
XXII.
THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AGAIN — PSAMATIK I.
AND HIS SON NECO.
When a country has sunk so gradually, so per-
sistently, and for so long a series of years as Egypt had
now been sinking, if there is a revival, it must almost
necessarily come from without. The corpse cannot
rise without assistance — the expiring patient cannot
cure himself. All the vital powers being sapped, all
the energies having departed, the Valley of the
Shadow of Death having been entered, nothing can
arrest dissolution but some foreign stock, some blood
not yet vitiated, some " saviour " sent by Divine pro-
vidence from outside the nation (Isa. xix. 20), to
recall the expiring life, to revivify the paralyzed
frame, to infuse fresh energy into it, and to make it
once more live, breathe, act, think, assert itself. Yet
the saviour must not be altogether from without. He
must not be a conqueror, for conquest necessarily
weakens and depresses ; he must not be too remote
in blood, or he will lack the power fully to understand
and sympathize with the nation which he is to restore,
and without true understanding and true sympathy
he can effect nothing ; he must not be a stranger to
FokUiGN ORIGIN OP psaMatik I. 343
the nation's recent history, or he will make mistakes
that will be irremediable. What is wanted is a scion
of a foreign stock, connected by marriage and other-
wise with the nation that he is to regenerate, and
well acquainted with its circumstances, character,
position, history, virtues, weaknesses. No entirely
new man can answer to these requirements ; he must
be found, if he is to be found at all, among the prin-
cipal men of the time, whose lot has for some con-
siderable period been cast in with the State which is
to be renovated.
In Egypt, at the time of which we are speaking,
exactly this position was occupied by Psamatik, son
of Neco. He was, according to all appearance, of
Libyan origin ; his stock was new ; his name and his
father's name are unheard of hitherto in Egyptian
history ; etymologically, they are non-Egyptian ; and
Psamatik has a non-Egyptian countenance. He was
probably of the same family as " Inarus the Libyan,"
whose father was a Psamatik. He belonged thus to
a Libyan stock, which had, however, been crossed,
more than once, with the blood of the Egyptians.
The family was one of those Libyan families which
had long been domiciled at Sai's, and had intermarried
with the older Saites, who were predominantly Egyp-
tian. He had also for twenty years or more been an
important unit in the Egyptian political system,
having shared the vici: situdes of his father's fortunes
from B.C. 672 to B.C. 667, and having then been placed
at the head of one of the many principalities into
which Egypt was divided. In the same, or the next,
year he seems to have succeeded his father : and he
344 THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AGAIN.
had reigned at Sa'i's for sixteen or seventeen years
before he felt himself called upon to take any step
that was at all abnormal, or attempt in any way to
change his position.
Familiar with the politics and institutions of Egypt,
yet, as a semi- Libyan, devoid of Egyptian prejudices.
HEAD OF PSAMATIK I.
and full of the ambition which naturally inspires
young princes of a vigorous stock, Psamatik had at
once the desire to shake off the yoke of Assyria, and
reunite Egypt under his own sway, and also a willing-
ness to adopt any means, however new and strange,
by which such a result might be accomplished. He
PSAMATIK AND GYGES OF LYDIA. 345
had probably long watched for a favourable moment
at which to give his ambition vent, and found it at
last in the circumstances that ushered in the second half
of the seventh century. Assyria was, about B.C. 651,
brought into a position of great difficulty, by the revolt
of Babylon in alliance with Elam, and was thus quite
unable to exercise a strict surveillance over the more
distant parts of the Empire. The garrison by which
she held Egypt had probably been weakened by the
withdrawal of troops for the defence of Assyria Proper;
at any rate, it could not be relieved or strengthened
under the existing circumstances. At the same time
a power had grown up in Asia Minor, which was
jealous of Assyria, having lately been made to tremble
for its independence. Gyges of Lydia had, in a
moment of difficulty, been induced to acknowledge
himself Assyria's subject ; but he had emerged trium-
phant from the perils surrounding him, had reasserted
his independent authority, and was anxious that the
power of Assyria should be, as much as possible,
diminished. Psamatik must have been aware of this.
Casting his eyes around the political horizon in
search of any ally at once able and willing to lend
him aid, he fixed upon Lydia as likely to be his best
auxiliary, and dispatched an embassy into Asia Minor.
Gyges received his application favourably, and sent
him a strong Asiatic contingent, chiefly composed of
Ionians and Carians. Both races were at this time
warlike, and wore armour of much greater weight and
strength than any which the Egyptians were accus-
tomed to carry. It was in reliance, mainly, on these
foreigners, that Psamatik ventured to proclaim him-
346 THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AGAh\.
self" King of the Two Countries," and to throw out a
gage of defiance at once to his Assyrian suzerain and
to his nineteen fellow-princes.
The gage was not taken up by Assyria. Immersed
in her own difficulties, threatened in three quarters,
on the south, on the south-east, and on the east by
Babylonia, by Elam, and by Media, she had enough
to do at home in guarding her own frontiers, and
seeking to keep under her immediate neighbours, and
was therefore in no condition to engage in distant
expeditions, or even to care very much what became
of a remote and troublesome dependency. Thus
Assyria made no sign. But the petty princes took
arms at once. To them the matter was one of life
or death ; they must either crush the usurper or be
themselves swept out of existence. So they gathered
together in full force. Pakrur from Pisabtu, and Petu-
bastes from Tan is, and Sheshonk from Busiris, and
Tafnekht from Prosopitis, and Bek-en-nefi from Ath-
ribis, and Nakh-he from Heracleopolis, and Pimai from
Mendes, and Lamentu from Hermopolis, and Mentu-
em-ankh from Thebes, and other princes from other
cities, met and formed their several contingents into a
single army, and stood at bay near Momemphis, the
modern Menouf, in the western Delta, on the borders of
the Libyan Desert. Here a great battle was fought,
which was for some time doubtful ; but the valour of
the Greco-Carians, and the superiority of their equip-
ment, prevailed. The victory rested with Psamatik ;
his adversaries were defeated and dispersed ; follow-
ing up his first success, he proceeded to attack city
after city, forcing all to submit, and determined that
PSAMATIK SOLE KING OF EGYPT. 347
he would nowhere tolerate even the shadow of a rival.
Disintegration had been the curse of Egypt for the
space of above a century ; Psamatik put an end to it.
No more princes of Bubastis, or of Tanis, or of Sai's,
or of Mcndes, or of Heracleopolis, or of Thebes ! No
more eikosiarchies, dodecarchies, or heptarchies even i
Monarchy pure, the absolute rule of one and one only
sovereign over the whole of Egypt, from the cataracts
of Syene to the shores of the Mediterranean, and from
Pelusium and Migdol to Momemphis and Marea, was
established, and henceforth continued, as long as
Egyptian rule endured. The lesson had been learnt
at a tremendous cost, but it had now at last been
thoroughly learnt, that only in unity is there strength
— that the separate sticks of the faggot are impotent
to resist the external force which the collective bundle
might without difficulty have defied and scorned.
Psamatik had gained the object of his ambition —
sovereignty over all Egypt ; he had now to consider
how it might best be kept. And first, as that which
is won by the sword must be kept by the sword, he
made arrangements with the troops sent to his aid by
Gyges, that they should take permanent service under
his banner, and form the most important element in
his standing army. His native troops were quartered
at Elephantine, in the extreme south, and in Marea
and Daphne, at the two extremities of the Delta
towards the west and east. The new accession to his
military strength he stationed at no great distance
from the capital, settling them in permanent camps on
cither side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, near
the citv of Bubastis. We are told that this exaltation
34^ THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AGAlti.
of the new corps to the honourable position of keep-
ing watch upon the capital, greatly offended the
native troops, and induced 200,000 of them to quit
Egypt and seek service with the Ethiopians. The
' facts have probably been exaggerated, for Ethiopia
certainly does not gain, or Egypt lose, in strength,
either at or after this period.
Psamatik, further, for the better securing of his
throne against pretenders, thought it prudent to con-
tract a marriage with the descendant of a royal stock
held in honour by many of his subjects. The princess,
Shepenput, was the daughter of a Piankhi, who claimed
descent from the unfortunate Bek-en-ranf, the king
burnt alive by Shabak, and who had also probably
some royal Ethiopian blood in his veins. By his
nuptials with this princess, Psamatik assured to his
crown the legitimacy which it had hitherto lacked.
Uniting henceforth in his own person the rights of
the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth dynasties, those of
the Sai'tes and those of the Ethiopians, he became
the one and only legal king, and no competitor could
possibly arise with a title to sovereignty higher or
better than his own.
Being now personally secure, he could turn his at-
tention to the restoration and elevation of the nation-
ality of which he had taken it upon him to assume
the direction. He could cast his eyes over the un-
happy Egypt — depressed, down-trodden, well-nigh
trampled to death — and give his best consideration to
the question what was to be done to restore her to
her ancient greatness. There she lay before his eyes
in a deplorable state of misery and degradation. All
REVIVAL OF EGYPT UNDER PSAMAT1K. 349
the great cities, her glory and her boast in former
days, had suffered more or less in the incessant wars ;
Memphis had been besieged and pillaged half a dozen
times ; Thebes had been sacked and burnt twice ;
from Syene to Pelusium there was not a town which
had not been injured in one or other of the many
invasions. The canals and roads, carefully repaired
by Shabak, had since his decease met with entire
neglect ; the cultivable lands had been devastated,
and the whole population decimated periodically.
Out of the ruins of the old Egypt, Psamatik had to
raise up a new Egypt. He had to revivify the dead
corpse, and put a fresh life into the stiff and motion-
less limbs. With great energy and determination he
set himself to accomplish the task. Applying him-
self, first of all, to the restoration of what was decayed
and ruined, he re-established the canals and the roads,
encouraged agriculture, favoured the development of
the population. The ruined towns were gradually
repaired and rebuilt, and vast efforts made every-
where to restore, and even to enlarge and beautify
the sacred edifices. At Memphis, Psamatik built the
great southern portal which gave completeness to the
ancient temple of the god Phthah, and also constructed
a grand court for the residence of the Apis-Bulls,
surrounded by a colonnade, against the piers of which
stood colossal figures of Osiris, from eighteen to
twenty feet in height. At Thebes he re-erected the
portions of the temple of Karnak, which had been
thrown down by the Assyrians ; at Sals, Mendes,
Ileliopolis, and Phila? he undertook extensive works.
The entire valley of the Nile became little more than
35^ THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AGAIN.
one huge workshop, where stone-cutters and masons^
bricklayers and carpenters, laboured incessantly.
Under the liberal encouragement of the king and of
his chief nobles, the arts recovered themselves and
began to flourish anew. The engraving and painting
of the hieroglyphics were resumed with success, and
carried out with a minuteness and accuracy that pro-
vokes the admiration of the beholder. Bas-reliefs of
extreme beauty and elaboration characterize the
period. There rests upon some of them "a gentle and
almost feminine tenderness, which has impressed upon
the imitations of living creatures the stamp of an
incredible delicacy both of conception and execution."
Statues and statuettes of merit were at the same time
produced in abundance. The " Sai'tie art," as that of
the revival under the Psamatiks has been called, is
characterized by an extreme neatness of manipula-
tion in the drawings and lines, the fineness of which
often reminds us of the performances of a seal-en-
graver, by grace, softness, tenderness, and elegance.
It is not the broad, but somewhat realistic style of
the Memphitic period, much less the highly imagina-
tive and vigorous style of the Ramesside kings ; but
it is a style which has quiet merits of its own, sweet
and pure, full of refinement and delicacy.
Egypt was thus rendered flourishing at home ; her
magnificent temples and other edifices put off their
look of neglect ; her cities were once more busy seats
of industry and traffic ; her fields teemed with rich
harvests ; her population increased ; her whole aspect
changed. But the circumstances of the time led
Psamatik to attempt something more. His employ-
ENCOURAGEMENT OF FOREIGNERS.
351
merit of Greek and Carian mercenaries naturally led
him on into an intimacy with foreigners, and into a
regard and consideration for them quite unknown to
previous Pharaohs, and in contradiction to ordinary
Egyptian prejudices. Egypt was the China of the
Old World., and had for ages kept herself as much as
BAb-KELIEFS OF THE TIME OK PSAMAT1K I.
possible aloof from foreigners, and looked upon them
with aversion. Foreign vessels were, until the time
of Psamatik, forbidden to enter any of the Nile
mouths, or to touch at an Egyptian port. Psamatik
saw that the new circumstances required an extensive
change. The mercenaries, if they were to be content
352 THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AG AW.
with their position, must be allowed to communicate
freely with the cities and countries from which they
came, and intercourse between Greece and Egypt
must be encouraged rather than forbidden. Accord-
ingly the Greeks were invited to make settlements in
the Delta, and Naucratis, favourably situated on the
Canopic branch of the Nile, was specially assigned to
them as a residence. Most of the more enterprizing
among the commercial states of the time took advan-
tage of the opening, and Miletus, Phocaea, Rhodes,
Samos, Chios, Mytilene, Halicarnassus, and yEgina
established factories at the locality specified, built
temples there to the Greek gods, and sent out a body
of colonists. A considerable trade grew up between
Egypt and Greece. The Egyptians of the higher
classes especially appreciated the flavour and quality
of the Greek wines, which were consequently im-
ported into the country in large quantities. Greek
pottery and Greek glyptic art also attracted a certain
amount of favour. On her side Egypt exported corn,
alum, muslin and linen fabrics, and the excellent
paper which she made from the Cyperus Papyrus.
The trade thus established was carried on mainly,
if not wholly, in Greek bottoms, the Egyptians having
a distaste to the sea, and regarding commerce with no
great favour. Nevertheless, the life and stir which
foreign commerce introduced among them, the
familiarity with strange customs and manners, engen-
dered by daily intercourse with the Greeks, the acquisi-
tion (on the part of some) of the Greek language, the
sight of Greek modes of worship, of Greek painting
and Greek sculpture, the insight into Greek habits of
VARIOUS CORRUPTING INFLUENCES. 35J
thought, which could not but follow, produced no
inconsiderable effect upon the national character o(
the Egyptians, shaking them out of their accustomed
groove, and awakenjng curiosity and inquiry. The
effect was scarcely beneficial. Egyptian national life
had been eminently conservative and unchanging.
The introduction of novelty in ten thousand shapes
unsettled and disturbed it. The old beliefs were
shaken, and a multitude of superstitions rushed in.
The corruptions introduced by the Greeks were more
easy of adoption and imitation than the sterling points
of their character, their intelligence, their unwearied
energy, their love of truth. Egypt was awakened to
a new life by the novel circumstances of the Psamatik
period ; but it was a fitful life, unquiet, unnatural,
feverish. The character of the men lost in dignity
and strength by the discontinuance of military training
consequent upon the substitution for a native army of
an army of mercenaries. The position of the women
sank through the adoption of those ideas concerning
them which their contact with orientals had engrained
into the minds of the Asiatic Greeks. The national
spirit of the people was sapped by the concentration
of the royal favour on a race of foreigners whose
manners and customs were abhorrent to them, and
whom they regarded with envy and dislike. If some
improvement is to be seen on the surface of Egyptian
life under the Psamatiks, some greater activity and
enterprise, some increased intellectual stir, some im-
proved methods in art, these ameliorations scarcely
compensate for the indications of decline which lie
deeper, and which in the sequel determined the actual
fate of the nation.
3j4 TIIE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AG AIM.
The later years of the reign of Psamatik were
coincident with a time of extreme trouble and confu-
sion in Asia, in the course of which the Assyrian
Monarchy came to an end, and south-western Asia
was partitioned between the Medes and the Baby-
lonians. A tempting field was laid open for an
ambitious prince, who might well have dreamt of
Syrian or even Mesopotamian conquest, and of re-
calling the old glories of Seti, Thothmes, and
Amenhotep. Psamatik did go so far as to make an
attack upon Philistia, but met with so little success
that he was induced to restrain any grander aspirations
which he may have cherished, and to leave the Asiatic
monarchs to settle Asiatic affairs as it pleased them.
Ashdod, we are told, resisted the Egyptian arms for
twenty-nine years ; and though it fell at last, the pros-
pect of half-a-dozen such sieges was not encouraging.
Psamatik, moreover, was an old man by the time that
the Assyrian Empire fell to pieces, and we can under-
stand his shrinking from a distant and dangerous ex-
pedition. He left the field open for his son, Neco,
having in no way committed him, but having secured
for him a ready entrance into Asia by his conquest of
the Philistine fortress.
Neco, the son of Psamatik I., from the moment that
he ascended the throne, resolved to make the bold
stroke for empire from which his father had held back.
Regarding his mercenary army as a sufficient land
force, he concentrated his energies on the enlargement
and improvement of his navy, which was weak in
numbers and of antiquated construction. Naval archi-
tecture had recently made great strides, first by the
iXkCO BUILbS TWO FLEETS.
355
inventiveness of the Phoenicians, who introduced the
bircme, and then by the skill of the Greeks, who, im-
proving on the hint furnished them, constructed the
trireme. Neco, by the help of Greek artificers, built
two fleets, both composed of triremes, one in the ports
which opened on the Red Sea, the other in those upon
the Mediterranean. He then, with the object of uniting
HEAD OI-' NliCO.
the two fleets into one, when occasion should require,
made an attempt to re-open the canal between the
Nile and the Red Sea, which had been originally con-
structed by Seti I. and Ramesses II., but had been
allowed to fall into disrepair. The Nile mud and the
desert sand had combined to silt it up. Neco com-
menced excavations on a large scale, following the line
of the old cutting, but greatly widening it, so that
J56 THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AGAIN.
triremes might meet in it and pass each other, without
shipping their oars. After a time, however, he felt
compelled to desist, without effecting his purpose,
owing to an extraordinary mortality among the
labourers. According to Herodotus, 120,000 of them
perished. At any rate, the suffering and loss of life,
probably by epidemics, was such as induced him to
relinquish his project, and to turn his thoughts toward
gaining his end in another way.
Might not Nature have herself established a water
communication between the two seas by which Egypt
was washed ? It was well known that the Mediter-
ranean and the Red Sea both communicated with an
open ocean, and it was the universal teaching of the
Greek geographers, that the ocean flowed round the
whole earth. Neco determined to try whether Africa
was not circumnavigable. Manning some ships with
Phoenician mariners, as the boldest and most experi-
enced, accustomed to brave the terrors of the Atlantic
outside the Pillars of Hercules, he dispatched them
from a port on the Red Sea, with orders to sail south-
wards, keeping the coast of Africa on their right, and
see if they could not return to Egypt by way of the
Mediterranean. The enterprise succeeded. The ships,
under the skilful guidance of the Phoenicians, antici-
pated the feat of Vasco di Gama — rounded the Cape of
Storms, and returned by way of the Atlantic, the Straits
of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean to the land from
which they had set o.it. But they did not reach Egypt
till the third year. The success obtained was thus of
no practical value, so far as the Pharaoh's warlike
projects were concerned. He had to relinquish the
NECO DEFEATS JOSIAH AT MEG ID DO. 357
idea of uniting his two fleets in one, owing to the
length of the way and the dangers of the navigation.
He had, however, no mind to relinquish his warlike
projects. Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine were still in
an unsettled state, the yoke of Assyria being broken,
and that of Babylon not yet firmly fixed on them.
Josiah was taking advantage of the opportunity to
extend his authority over Samaria. Phoenicia was
hesitating whether to submit to Nabopolassar or to
assert her freedom. The East generally was in a fer-
ment. Neco in 13 C. 608, determined to make his ven-
ture. At the head of a large army, consisting mainly
of his mercenaries, he took the coast route into Syria,
supported by his Mediterranean fleet along the shore,
and proceeding through the low tracts of Philistia
and Sharon, prepared to cross the ridge of hills which
shuts in on the south the great plain of Esdraelon ;
but here he found his passage barred by an army.
Josiah, either because he feared that, if Neco were
successful, his own position would be imperilled, or be-
cause he had entered into engagements with Nabopo-
lassar. had resolved to oppose the further progress of
the Egyptian army, and had occupied a strong position
near Megiddo, on the southern verge of the plain. In
vain did Neco seek to persuade him to retire, and leave
the passage free, josiah was obstinate, and a battle
became unavoidable. As was to be expected, the
Jewish army suffered complete defeat ; Neco swept it
from his path, and pursued his way, while Josiah,
mortally wounded, was conveyed in his reserve chariot
to Jerusalem. The triumphant Pharaoh pushed forward
into Syria and carried all before him as far as Carche-
358 THE CORPSE COMES TO LIFE AGAIN.
mish on the Euphrates. The whole country submitted
to him. After a campaign which lasted three months,
Neco returned in triumph to his own land, carrying
with him Jehoahaz, the second son of Josiah, as a
prisoner, and leaving Jehoiakim, the eldest son, as
tributary monarch, at Jerusalem.
For three years Egypt enjoyed the sense of triumph,
and felt herself once more a conquering power, capa-
ble of contending on equal terms with any state or
kingdom that the world contained. But then Nemesis
swooped down on her. In B.C. 605 Nabopolassar of
Babylon woke up to a consciousness of his loss of pres-
tige, and determined on an effort to retrieve it. Too
old to undertake a distant campaign in person, he
placed his son, Nebuchadnezzar, at the head of his
troops, and sent him into Syria to recover the lost
provinces. Neco met him on the Euphrates. A great
battle was fought at Carchemish between the forces of
Egypt and Babylon, in which the former suffered a
terrible defeat. We have no historical account of it,
but may gratefully accept, instead, the prophetic de-
scription of Jeremiah : —
" Order ye the buckler and the shield, and draw ye near to battle ;
Harness the horses ; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with
your helmets ;
Furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed, and turned away backward?
And their mighty ones are beaten down, and fled apace, and look not
behind them ;
For fear is round about, saith Jehovah.
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty men escape ;
They shall stumble and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
Who is this that cometh up as a flood [like the Nile], whose waters are
moved as the rivers ?
NECO DEFEATED AT CARCHEMISH. 359
Egypt rises up as a flood [like the Nile], and his waters are moved as
the rivers ;
And he saith, I will go up, and I will cover the earth ;
I will destroy the city, with its inhabitants.
Come up, ye horses ; and rage, ye chariots ; and let the mighty men
come forth ;
Cush and Phut, that handle the shield, and Lud that handles and bends
the bow.
For this is th: day of the Lord, the Lord of hosts, a day of vengeance,
that he may smite his foes ;
And the sword shall devour, and be made satiate and drunk with blood;
For the Lord, the Lord of Hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country,
by the river Euphrates.
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt !
In vain shalt thou use many medicines ; to thee no cure shall come.
The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land :
For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and both are
fallen together." *
The disaster was utter, complete, not to be remedied
— the only thing to be done was to " fly apace," to put
the desert and the Nile between the vanquished and the
victors, and to deprecate the conqueror's anger by sub-
mission. Neco gave up the contest, evacuated Syria and
Palestine, and hastily sought the shelter of his own land,
whither Nebuchadnezzar would probably have speedily
followed him, had not news arrived of his father's, Na-
bopolassar's, death. To secure the succession, he had to
return, as quickly as he could, to Babylon, and to allow
the Egyptian monarch, at any rate, a breathing space.
Thus ended the dream of the recovery of an Asiatic
Empire, which Psamatik may have cherished, and of
which Neco attempted the realization. The defeat of
Carchemish shattered the unsubstantial fabric into
atoms, and gave a death-blow to hopes which no
Pharaoh ever entertained afterwards.
1 Jeremiah xlvi. 3-12.
XXIII,
THE LATER SAITE KINGS. — PSAMATIK IT., APRIES,
AND AMASIS.
TlIE Saitic revival in art and architecture, in com-
mercial and general prosperity, which Psamatik the
First inaugurated, continued under his successors. To
the short reign of Psamatik II. belong a considerable
number of inscriptions, some good bas-reliefs at
Abydos and Philae, and a large number of statues.
One of these, in the collection of the Vatican, is
remarkable for its beauty. Apries erected numerous
stelcz, and at least one pair of obelisks, wherewith
he adorned the Temple of Neith at Sai's. Amasis
afforded great encouragement to art and architecture.
He added a court of entrance to the above temple,
with propytea of unusual dimensions, adorned the
dromos conducting to it with numerous andro-
sphinxes, erected colossal statues within the temple
precincts, and conveyed thither from Elephantine a
monolithic shrine or chamber of extraordinary dimen-
sions. Traces of his architectural activity are also
found at Memphis, Thebes, Abydos, Bubastis, and
Thmui's or Leontopolis. Statuary flourished during
his reign. Even portrait-painting was attempted ;
and Amasis sent a likeness of himself, painted on
TROUBLES IN SYRIA AND PALESTINE. 36:
panel, as a present to the people of Cyrene. It was
maintained by the Egyptians of a century later that
the reign of Amasis was the most prosperous time which
Egypt had ever seen, the land being more productive,
the cities more numerous, and the entire people more
happy than either previously or subsequently. Amasis
certainly gave a fresh impulse to commerce, since he
held frequent communication with the Greek states
of Asia Minor, as well as with the settlers at Cyrene,
and gave increased privileges to the trading com-
munity of Naucratis.
Even in a military point of view, there was to some
extent a recovery from the disaster ofCarchemish. The
Babylonian empire was not sufficiently established
or consolidated at the accession of Nebuchadnezzar
for that monarch to form at once extensive schemes
of conquest. There was much to be done in Elam,
in Asia Minor, in Phoenicia, and in Palestine, before
his hands could be free to occupy themselves in the
subjugation of more distant regions. Within three
years after the battle of Carchemish Judaea threw off
the yoke of Babylon, and a few years later Phoenicia
rebelled under the hegemony of Tyre. Nebuchad-
nezzar had not much difficulty in crushing the Jewish
outbreak ; but Tyre resisted his arms with extreme
obstinacy, and it was not till thirteen years after the
revolt took place that Phoenicia was re-conquered.
Even then the position of Judaea was insecure : she
was known to be thoroughly disaffected, and only
waiting an opportunity to rebel a second time. Thus
Nebuchadnezzar was fully occupied with troubles
within his own dominions, and left Egypt undis-
362 THE LATER SAITE KINGS.
turbed to repair her losses, and recover her military
prestige, as she best might.
Ngco outlived his defeat about eight or nine years,
during which he nursed his strength, and abstained
from all warlike enterprises. His son, Psamatik II.,
who succeeded him B.C. 596, made an attack on the
Ethiopians, and seems to have penetrated deep into
Nubia, where a monument was set up by two of
his generals, Apollonius, a Greek, and Amasis, an
Egyptian, which may still be seen on the rocks of
Abu-Simbel, and is the earliest known Greek in-
scription. The following is a fac-simile, only reduced
in size : —
TA VTA^r-pAfANToi * VM ^Af^/^ATtXotToi&BoKAof
£nA£oh/BA&oNA£K£pKi°fKATvriBDG£vi$oroTAr*o}.
AN IB AforAofo^oBXSPOTAftr^ToA jrvPT/o^ /±6At*A}\$
Apries, the son of Neco, brought this war to an end
in the first year of his reign (B.C. 590) by the arms of
one of his generals ; and, finding that Nebuchadnezzar
was still unable to reduce Phoenicia to subjection,
he ventured, in B.C. 588, to conclude a treaty with
Zedekiah, king of Judah, and to promise him assist-
ance, if he would join him against the Babylonians.
This Zedekiah consented to do, and the war followed
which terminated in the capture and destruction of
Jerusalem, and the transfer of the Jewish people to
Babylonia.
It is uncertain what exact part Apries took in this
war. We know that he called out the full force of
the empire, and marched into Palestine, with the
APRIES OFFENDS NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 303
object of relieving Zedekiah, as soon as he knew that
that monarch's safety was threatened. We know
that he marched towards Jerusalem, and took up
such a threatening attitude that Nebuchadnezzar at
one time actually raised the siege (Jer. xxxvii. 5).
We do not know what followed. Whether Apries, on
finding that the whole Chaldaean force had broken
up from before Jerusalem and was marching against
himself, took fright at the danger which he had
affronted, and made a sudden inglorious retreat ; or
whether he boldly met the Babylonian host and con-
tended with them in a pitched battle, wherein he was
worsted, and from which he was forced to fly into his
own land, is uncertain. Josephus positively declares
that he took the braver and more honourable
course : the silence of Scripture as to any battle is
thought to imply that he showed the white feather.
In cither case, the result was the same. Egypt re-
coiled before Babylon ; Palestine was evacuated ; and
Zedekiah was left to himself. In B.C. 586 Jerusalem
fell ; Zedekiah was made a prisoner and cruelly
deprived of sight; the Temple and city were burnt,
and the bulk of the people carried into captivity.
Babylon rounded off her dominion in this quarter by
the absorption of the last state upon her south-
western border that had maintained the shadow of in-
dependence : and the two great powers of these parts,
hitherto prevented from coming into contact by the
intervention of a sort of political " buffer," became
conterminous, and were thus brought into a position
in which it was not possible that a collision should
for any considerable time be avoided.
364 THE LATER SAITE KINGS.
Recognizing the certainty of the impending colli-
sion, Apries sought to strengthen his power for
resistance by attaching to his own empire the
Phoenician towns of the Syrian coast, whose adhesion
to his side would secure him, at any rate, the mari-
time superiority. He made an expedition against
Tyre and Sidon both by land and sea, defeated the
combined fleet of Phoenicia and Cyprus in a great
engagement, besieged Sidon, and after a time com-
pelled it to surrender. He then endeavoured further
to strengthen himself on the land side by bringing
under subjection the Greek city of Cyrene, which had
now become a flourishing community ; but here his
good fortune forsook him ; the Cyrenaean forces de-
feated the army which he sent against them, with
great slaughter ; and the event brought Apries into
disfavour with his subjects, who imagined that he
had, of malice prepense, sent his troops into the jaws
of destruction. According to Herodotus, the im-
mediate result was a revolt, which cost Apries his
throne, and, within a short time, his life ; but the
entire narrative of Herodotus is in the highest degree
improbable, and some recent discoveries suggest a
wholly different termination to the reign of this re-
markable king.
It is certain that in B.C. 568 Nebuchadnezzar made
an expedition into Egypt. According to all accounts
this date fell into the lifetime of Apries. Amasis,
however, the successor of Apries, appears to have
been Nebuchadnezzar's direct antagonist, and to have
resisted him in the field, while Apries remained in
the palace at Sal's. The two were joint kings from
NEBUCHADNEZZAR OVERRUNS EGYPT. 365
B.C. 571 to B.C. 565. Nebuchadnezzar, at first,
neglected Sa'i's, and proceeded, by way of Ileliopolis
and Bubastis (Ezek. xxx. 171, against the old capitals,
Memphis and Thebes. Having taken these, and " de-
stroyed the idols and made the images to cease," he
advanced up the Nile valley to Elephantine, which he
took, and then endeavoured to penetrate into Nubia.
A check, however, was inflicted on his army by Nes-
Hor, the Governor of the South, whereupon he gave
up his idea of Nubian conquest. Returning down
the valley, he completed that ravage of Egypt which
is described by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It is probable
that in B.C. 565, three years after his first invasion, he
took Sai's and put the aged Apries to death.1 Amasis
he allowed still to reign, but only as a tributary king,
and thus Egypt became " a base kingdom " (Ezek.
xxix. 14), " the basest of the kingdoms " (ibid, verse
15), if its former exaltation were taken into account.
The " base kingdom " was, however, materially,
as flourishing as ever. The sense of security from
foreign attack was a great encouragement to private
industry and commercial enterprise. The discon-
tinuances of lavish expenditure on military expedi-
tions improved the state finances, and enabled those
at the head of the government to employ the money,
that would otherwise have been wasted, in repro-
ductive undertakings. The agricultural system of
Egypt was never better organized or better managed
than under Amasis. Nature seemed to conspire with
man to make the time one of joy and delight, for
the inundation was scarcely ever before so regularly
1 Joscpluis, Ant.Jud. x. 9, 97.
366 THE LATER SAITE KINGS.
abundant, nor were the crops ever before so plentiful.
The " twenty thousand cities," which Herodotus assigns
to the time, may be a myth ; but, beyond all doubt,
the tradition which told of them was based upon the
fact of a period of unexampled prosperity. Amasis's
law, that each Egyptian should appear once each
year before the governor of his canton, and show the
means by which he was getting an honest living,
may have done something towards making industry
general ; but his example, his active habits, and his
encouragement of art and architecture, probably did
more. His architectural works must have given con-
stant employment to large numbers of persons as
quarrymen, boatmen, bricklayers, plasterers, masons,
carpenters, and master builders ; his patronage of art
not only gave direct occupation to a multitude of
artists, but set a fashion to the more wealthy among
his subjects by which the demand for objects of art
was multiplied a hundredfold. Sculptors and painters
had a happy time under a king who wa? always
building temples, erecting colossi, or sending statues
or paintings of himself as presents to foreign states
or foreign shrines.
The external aspect of Egypt under the reign of
Amasis is thus as bright and flourishing as that which
she ever wore at any former time ; but, as M. Lenor-
mant observes, this apparent prosperity did but ill
conceal the decay of patriotism and the decline of all
the institutions of the nation. The kings of the Sai'te
dynasty had thought to re-vivify Egypt, and infuse a
little new blood into the old monarchy founded by
Menes, by allowing the great stream of liberal ideas,
PROSPERITY UNDER AMASIS, UNREAL. 367
whereof Greece had already made herself the pro-
pagator, to expand itself in her midst. Without
knowing it, they had by these means introduced
on the banks of the Nile a new element of decline.
Constructed exclusively for continuance, for pre-
serving its own traditions in defiance of the flight of
centuries, the civilization of Egypt could only main-
tain itself by remaining unmoved. From the day on
which it found itself in contact with the spirit of
progress, personified in the Grecian civilization and
in the Greek race, it was under the absolute necessity
of perishing. It could neither launch itself upon a
wholly new path, one which was the direct negation
of its own genius, nor continue on without change
its own existence. Thus, as soon as it began to be
penetrated by Greek influence, it fell at once into
complete dissolution, and sank into a state of decrepi-
tude, that already resembled death. We shall see,
in the next section, how suddenly and completely the
Egyptian power collapsed when the moment of trial
came, and how little support the surface prosperity
which marked the reign of Amasis was able to render
to the Empire in the hour of need and distress.
XXIV.
THE PERSIAN CONQUEST.
The subjection of Egypt to Babylon, which com-
menced in B.C. 565, was of that light and almost
nominal character, which a nation that is not very
sensitive, or very jealous of its honour, does not care
to shake off. A small tribute was probably paid by
the subject state to her suzerain, but otherwise the
yoke was unfelt. There was no interference with the
internal government, or the religion of the Egyptians ;
no appointment of Babylonian satraps, or tax-col-
lectors ; not even, so far as appears, any demands for
contingents of troops. Thus, although Nebuchad-
nezzar died within seven years of his conquest of
Egypt, and though a time of disturbance and con-
fusion followed his death, four kings occupying the
Babylonian throne within little more than six years,
two of whom met with a violent end, yet Amasis
seems to have continued quiescent and contented, in
the enjoyment of a life somewhat more merry and
amusing than that of most monarchs, without making
any effort to throw off the Babylonian supremacy or
reassert the independence of his country. It was
not till his self-indulgent apathy was intruded upon
from without, and he received an appeal from a
RISE OF THE PERSIAN POWER. 369
foreign nation, to which he was compelled to return
an answer, that he looked the situation in the face,
and came to the conclusion that he might declare
himself independent without much risk. He had at
this time patiently borne his subject position for the
space of above twenty years, though he might easily
have reasserted himself at the end of seven.
The circumstances under which the appeal was
made were the following. A new power had suddenly
risen up in Asia. About B.C. 558, ten years after
Nebuchadnezzar's subjection of Egypt, Cyrus, son of
Cambyses, the tributary monarch of Persia under the
Medes, assumed an independent position and began a
career of conquest. Having made himself master of
a large portion of the country of Elam, he assumed
the title of " King of Ansan," and engaged in a long
war with Astyages (Istivegu), his former suzerain,
which terminated (in B.C. 549; in his taking the Median
monarch prisoner and succeeding to his dominions.
It was at once recognized through Asia that a new
peril had arisen. The Medes, a mountain people of
great physical strength and remarkable bravery, had
for about a century been regarded as the most power-
ful people of Western Asia. They had now been
overthrown and conquered by a still more powerful
mountain race. That race had at its head an ener-
getic and enterprising prince, who was in the full
vigour of youth, and fired evidently with a high
ambition. His position was naturally felt as a direct
menace by the neighbouring states of Babylon and
Lydia, whose royal families were interconnected.
Croesus of Lydia was the first to take alarm and to
370 THE PERSIAN CONQUEST.
devise measures for his own security. He formed the
conception of a grand league between the principal
powers whom the rise of Persia threatened, for mutual
defence against the common enemy ; and, in further-
ance of this design, sent, in B.C. 547, an embassy to
Egypt, and another to Babylon, proposing a close
alliance between the three countries. Amasis had to
determine whether he would maintain his subjection
to Babylon and refuse the offer ; or, by accepting it,
declare himself a wholly independent monarch. He
learnt by the embassy, if he did not know it before,
that Nabonadius, the Babylonian monarch, was in
difficulties, and could not resent his action. He might
probably think that, under the circumstances, Na-
bonadius would regard his joining the league as a
friendly, rather than an. unfriendly, proceeding. At
any rate, the balance of advantage seemed to him on
the side of complying with the request of Crcesus.
Croesus was lord of Asia Minor, and it was only by
his permission that the Ionian and Carian mercenaries,
on whom the throne of the Pharaohs now mainly
depended, could be recruited and maintained at their
proper strength. It would not do to offend so im-
portant a personage ; and accordingly Amasis came
into the proposed alliance, and pledged himself to
send assistance to whichever of his two confederates
should be first attacked. Conversely, they no doubt
pledged themselves to him ; but the remote position
of Egypt rendered it extremely improbable that they
would be called upon to redeem their pledges.
Nor was even Amasis called upon actually to re-
deem the pledges which he had given. In B.C. 546,
ALLIANCE OF EGYPT, BA&YLON, AND LYDIA. 371
Croesus, without summoning any contingents from
his allies, precipitated the war with Persia by crossing
the river Halys, and invading Cappadocia, which was
included in the dominions of Cyrus. Having suf-
fered a severe defeat at Pteria, a Cappadocian city,
he returned to his capital and hastily sent messengers
to Egypt and elsewhere, begging for immediate assist-
ance. What steps Amasis took upon this, or intended
to take, is uncertain; but it must have been before any
troops could have been dispatched, that news reached
Egypt which rendered it useless to send out an ex-
pedition. Croesus had scarcely reached his capital
when he found himself attacked by Cyrus in his turn ;
his army suffered a second defeat in the plain before
Sardis ; the city was besieged, stormed, and taken
within fourteen days. Croesus fell, alive, into the
hands of his enemy, and was kindly treated ; but his
kingdom had passed away. It was evidently too late
for Amasis to attempt to send him succour. The
tripartite alliance had, by the force of circumstances,
come to an end, and Amasis was an independent
monarch, no longer bound by any engagements.
Shortly afterwards, in B.C. 538, the conquering
monarchy of Persia absorbed another victim. Na-
bonadius was attacked, Babylon taken, and the
Chaldaean monarchy, which had lasted nearly two
thousand years, brought to an end. The contest had
been prolonged, and in the course of it some dis-
integration of the empire had taken place. Phoenicia
had asserted her independence ; and Cyprus, which
was to a large extent Phoenician, had followed the
example of the mother-country Under these cir-
372 THE PERSIAN CONQUEST.
cumstances, Amasis thought he saw an opportunity
of gaining some cheap laurels, and accordingly made
a naval expedition against the unfortunate islanders,
who were taken unawares and forced to become his
tributaries. It was unwise of the Egyptian monarch
to remind Cyrus that he had still an open enemy un--
chastised, one who had entered into a league against
him ten years previously, and was now anxious to
prevent him from reaping the full benefit of his
conquests. We may be sure that the Persian mon-
arch noted and resented the interference with terri-
tories which he had some right to consider his own ;
whether he took any steps to revenge himself is
doubtful. According to some, he required Amasis
to send him one of his daughters as a concubine, an
insult which the Egyptian king escaped by finesse
while he appeared to submit to it.
It can only have been on account of the other wars
which pressed upon him and occupied him during his
remaining years, that Cyrus did not march in person
against Amasis. First, the conquest of the nations
between the Caspian and the Indian Ocean detained
him ; and after this, a danger showed itself on his
north-eastern frontier which required all his attention,
and in meeting which he lost his life. The indepen-
dent tribes beyond the Oxus and the Jaxartes have
through all history been an annoyance and a peril to
the power which rules over the Iranian plateau, and
it was in repelling an attack in this quarter that Cyrus
fell. Amasis, perhaps, congratulated himself on the
defeat and death of the great warrior king ; but
Egypt would, perhaps', have suffered less had the
CAMBYSES PREPARES TO 1XVADE EGYPT. j^J
invasion, which was sure to come, been conducted by
the noble, magnanimous, and merciful Cyrus, than
she actually endured at the hands of the impulsive,
tyrannical, and half- mad Cambyses.
The first step taken by Cambyses, who succeeded
his father Cyrus in B.C. 529, was to reduce Phoenicia
under his power. The support of a fleet was of
immense importance to an army about to attack
Egypt, both for the purpose of conveying water and
stores, and of giving command over the mouths of the
Nile, so that the great cities, Pelusium, Tanis, Sa'i's,
Bubastis, Memphis, might be blockaded both by land
and water. Persia, up to the accession of Cambyses,
had (so to speak) no fleet. Cambyses, by threatening
the Phoenician cities on the land side, succeeded in
inducing them to submit to him ; he then, with their
aid, detached Cyprus from her Egyptian masters, and
obtained the further assistance of a Cypriote squadron.
Some Greek ships also gave their services, and the
result was that he had the entire command of the
sea, and was able to hold possession of all the Nile
mouths, and to bring his fleet up the river to the very
walls of Memphis.
Still, there were difficulties to overcome in respect
of the passage of an army. Egypt is separated from
Palestine by a considerable tract of waterless desert,
and it was necessary to convey by sea, or on the
backs of camels, all the water required for the troops,
for the camp-followers, and for the baggage animals.
A numerous camel corps was indispensable for the
conveyance, and the Persians, though employing
camels on their expeditions, are not likely to have
374 THE PERSIAN CONQUEST.
possessed any very considerable number of these
beasts. At any rate, it was extremely convenient to
find a fresh and abundant supply of camels on the
spot, together with abundant water-skins. This good
fortune befell the Persian monarch, who was able to
make an alliance with the sheikh of the most power-
ful Bedouin tribe of the region, who undertook the
entire responsibility of the water supply. He thus
crossed the desert without disaster or suffering, and
brought his entire force intact to the Pelusiac branch
of the Nile, near the point where it poured its waters
into the Mediterranean Sea.
At this point he found a mixed Egyptian and
Graeco-Carian army prepared to resist his further
progress. Amasis had died about six months pre-
viously, leaving his throne to his son, Psamatik the
Third. This young prince, notwithstanding his in-
experience, had taken all the measures that were
possible to protect his kingdom from the invader.
He had gathered together his Greek and Carian
mercenaries, and having also levied a large native
army, had posted the entire force not far from
Pelusium, in an advantageous position. On his
Greeks and Carians he could thoroughly depend,
though they had lately seen but little service ; his
native levies, on the contrary, were of scarcely any
value ; they were jealous of the mercenaries, who
had superseded them as the ordinary land force, and
they had had little practice in warfare for the last
forty years. At no time, probably, would an Egyptian
army composed of native troops have been a match
for such soldiers as Cambyses brought with him into
PSA M ATI K III. DEFEATED AT PELUSIUM. 375
Egypt — Persians, Medcs, Hyrcanians, Mardians,
Greeks — trained in the school of Cyrus, inured to
arms, and confident of victory. But the native
soldiery of the time of Psamatik III. fell far below
the average Egyptian type ; it had little patriotism,
it had no experience, it was smarting under a sense
of injury and ill-treatment at the hands of the SaTte
kings. The engagement between the two armies at
Pelusium was thus not so much a battle as a carnage.
No doubt the mercenaries made a stout resistance,
but they were vastly outnumbered, and were not much
better troops than their adversaries. The Egyptians
must have been slaughtered like sheep. According
to Ctesias, fifty thousand of them fell, whereas the
entire loss on the Persian side was only six thousand.
After a short struggle, the troops of Psamatik fled,
and in a little time the retreat became a complete
rout. The fugitives did not stop till they reached
Memphis, where they shut themselves up within the
walls.
It is the lot of Egypt to have its fate decided by a
single battle. The country offers no strong positions,
that are strategically more defensible than others.
The whole Delta is one alluvial flat, with no elevation
that has not been raised by man. The valley of the
Nile is so wide as to furnish everywhere an ample
plain, wherein the largest armies may contend without
having their movements cramped or hindered. An
army that takes to the hills on either side of the
valley is not worth following : it is self-destroyed,
since it can find no sustenance and no water. Thus
the sole question, when a foreign host invades Egypt,
376 THE PERSIAN CONQUEST.
is this : Can it, or can it not, defeat the full force of
Egypt in an open battle ? If it gains one battle, there
is no reason why it should not gain fifty; and this is
so evident, and so well known, that on Egyptian soil
one defeat has almost always been accepted as de-
cisive of the military supremacy. A beaten army
may, of course, protract its resistance behind walls,
and honour, fame, patriotism, may seem sometimes to
require such a line of conduct ; but, unless there is a
reasonable expectation of relief arriving from without,
protracted resistance is useless, and, from a military
point of view, indefensible. Defeated commanders
have not, however, always seen this, or, seeing it, they
have allowed prudence to be overpowered by other
considerations. Psamatik, like many another ruler of
Egypt, though defeated in the field, determined to
defend his capital to the best of his power. He threw
himself, with the remnant of his beaten army, into
Memphis, and there stood at bay, awaiting the further
attack of his adversary.
It was not long before the Persian army drew up
under the walls, and invested the city by land, while
the fleet blockaded the river. A single Greek vessel,
having received orders to summon the defenders of
the place to surrender it, had the boldness to enter
the town, whereupon it was set upon by the Egyptians,
captured, and destroyed. Contrarily to the law of
nations, which protects ambassadors and their escort,
the crew was torn limb from limb, and an outrage
thus committed which Cambyses was justified in
punishing with extreme severity. Upon the fall of
the city, which followed soon after its investment, the
FALL OF MEMPHIS. 377
offended monarch avenged the crime which had been
committed by publicly executing two thousand of the
principal citizens, including (it is said) a son of the
fallen king. The king himself was at first spared, and
might perhaps have been allowed to rule Egypt as a
tributary monarch, had he not been detected in a
design to rebel and renew the war. For this offence
he, too, was condemned to death, and executed by
Cambyses' order.
The defeat had been foretold by the prophet Ezekiel,
who had said : —
'' Woe worth the day ! For the day is near,
Even the day of the Lord is near, a day of clouds ;
It shall be the time of the heathen.
And a sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in
Ethiopia ;
When the slain shall fall in Egypt ; and they shall take away her
multitude,
And her foundations shall be broken down.
Ethiopia and Phut and Lud, and all the mingled people, and Chub,
And the children of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by
the sword. . . .
I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
And 1 will make Pathros desolate,
And will set a lire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No. . . .
Sin [Pelusium] shall be in great anguish,
And No shall be broken up, and Noph shall have adversaries in the
daytime.
The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword :
And these cities shall go into captivity.
At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself,
When I shall break there the yokes of Egypt ;
And the pride of her power shall cease." '
According to Herodotus, Cambyses was not content
with the above-mentioned severities, which were per-
1 Ezekiel xxx. ;-l8.
378 THE PERSIAN CONQUEST.
haps justifiable under the circumstances, but proceeded
further to exercise his rights as conqueror in a most
violent and tyrannical way. He tore from its tomb the
mummy of the late king, Amasis, and subjected it to
the grossest indignities. He stabbed in the thigh an
Apis-Bull, recently inaugurated at the capital with
joyful ceremonies, suspecting that the occasion was
feigned, and that the rejoicings were really over the
ill-success of expeditions carried out by his orders
against the oasis of Ammon, and against Ethiopia.
He exhumed numerous mummies for the mere pur-
pose of examining them. He entered the grand
temple of Phthah at Memphis, and made sport of the
image. He burnt the statues of the Cabeiri, which he
found in another temple. He scourged the priests of
Apis, and massacred in the streets those Egyptians
who were keeping the festival. Altogether, his object
was, if the informants of Herodotus are to be believed,
to pour contempt and contumely on the Egyptian
religion, and to insult the religious feelings of the
entire people.
On the other hand, we learn from a contemporary
inscription, that Cambyses so far conformed to Egyp-
tian usages as to take a "throne-name," after the
pattern of the ancient Pharaohs ; that he cleared the
temple of Neith at Sal's of the foreigners who had
taken possession of it ; that he entrusted the care of
the temple to an Egyptian officer of high standing ;
and that he was actually himself initiated into the
mysteries of the goddess. Perhaps we ought not to
be greatly surprised at these contradictions. Cam-
byses had the iconoclastic spirit strong in him, and,
EGYPT UNDEti CAMBYSES AND DARIUS. 379
under excitement, took a pleasure in showing his ab-
horrence of Egyptian superstitions. But he was not
always under excitement — he enjoyed lucid intervals,
during which he was actuated by the spirit of an ad-
ministrator and a statesman. Having in many ways
greatly exasperated the Egyptians against his rule,
he thought it prudent, ere he quitted the country, to
soothe the feelings which he had so deeply wounded,
and conciliate the priest-class, to which he had given
such dire offence. Hence his politic concessions to
public feeling at Sa'i's, his initiation into the mysteries
of Neith, his assumption of a throne-name, and his
restoration of the temple of SaTs to religious uses.
And the policy of conciliation, which he thus inaugu-
rated, was continued by his successor, Darius. Darius
built, or repaired, the temple of Ammon, in the oasis
of El Khargeh, and made many acknowledgments
of the deities of Egypt ; when an Apis-Bull died
early in his reign, he offered a reward of a hundred
talents for the discovery of a new Apis ; and he pro-
posed to adorn the temple of Ammon at Thebes with
a new obelisk. At the same time, in his administra-
tion he carefully considered the interests of Egypt,
which he entrusted to a certain Aryandes as satrap ;
he re-opened the canal between the Nile and the Red
Sea, for the encouragement of Egyptian commerce ;
he kept up the numbers of the Egyptian fleet ; in his
arrangement of the satrapies, he placed no greater
burthen on Egypt than it was well able to bear ; and
he seems to have honoured Egypt by his occasional
presence. He failed, however, to allay the discontent,
and even hatred, which the outrages of Cambyses had
38o
the Persian conquest.
aroused ; they still remained indelibly impressed on
the Egyptian mind ; the Persian rule was detested ;
and in sullen dissatisfaction the entire nation awaited
an opportunity of reclaiming its independence and
flinging off the accursed yoke.
XXV.
THREE DESPERATE REVOLTS.
The first revolt of the Egyptians against their con-
querors, appears to have been provoked by the news
of the battle of Marathon. Egypt heard, in B.C. 490,
that the arms of the oppressor, as she ever deter-
mined to consider Darius, had met with a reverse in
European Greece, where 200,000 Medes and Persians
had been completely defeated by 20,000 Athenians
and Plataeans. Darius, it was understood, had taken
greatly to heart this reverse, and was bent on aveng-
ing it. The strength of the Persian Empire was
about to be employed towards the West, and an
excellent opportunity seemed to have arisen for a
defection on the South. Accordingly Egypt, after
making secret preparations for three years, in B.C. 487
broke out in open revolt. She probably overpowered
and massacred the Persian garrison in Memphis,
which is said to have numbered 120,000 men, and,
proclaiming herself independent, set up a native
sovereign c
The Egyptian monuments suggest that this monarch
bore the foreign-sounding name of Khabash. He
fortified the coast of Egypt against attempts which
might be made upon it by the Persian fleet, and
382 THREE DESPERATE REVOLTS.
doubtless prepared himself also to resist an invasion
by land. But he was quite unable to do anything
effectual. Though Darius died in the year after the
revolt, B.C. 486, yet its suppression was immediately
undertaken by his son and successor, Xerxes, who
invaded Egypt in the next year, easily crushed all
resistance, and placed the province under a severer
rule than any that it had previously experienced.
Achaemenes, his brother, was made satrap.
Twenty -five years of tranquillity followed, during
which the Egyptians were submissive subjects of the
Persian crown, and even showed remarkable courage
and skill in the Persian military expeditions. Egypt
furnished as many as two hundred triremes to the
fleet which was brought against Greece by Xerxes,
and the squadron particularly distinguished itself in
the sea-fights off Artemisium, where they actually
captured five Grecian vessels with their crews. Mar-
donius, moreover, set so high a value on the marines
who fought on board the Egyptian ships, that he re-
tained them as land-troops when the Persian fleet
returned to Asia after Salamis.
No further defection took place during the reign of
Xerxes ; but in B.C. 460, after the throne had been
occupied for about five years by Xerxes' son, Arta-
xerxes, a second rebellion broke out, which led to a
long and terrible struggle. A certain Inarus, who
bore rule over some of the African tribes on the
western border of Egypt, and who may have been a
descendant of the Psamatiks, headed the insurrection,
and in conjunction with an Egyptian, named Amyr-
teeus, suddenly attacked the Persian garrison stationed
REVOLT OF INARUS. 383
in Egypt, the ordinary strength of which was 120,000
men. A great battle was fought at Papremis, in the
Delta, wherein the Persians were completely defeated,
and their leader, Achaemenes, perished by the hand
of Inarus himself. Memphis, however, the capital,
still resisted, and the struggle thus remained doubtful.
Inarus and Amyrta^us implored the assistance of
Athens, which had the most powerful navy of the
time, and could lend most important aid by taking
possession of the river. Athens, which was under the in-
fluence of the farsighted Pericles, cheerfully responded
to the call, and sent two hundred triremes, manned by
at least forty thousand men, to assist the rebels, and to
do as much injury as possible to the Persians. On sail-
ing up the Nile, the Athenian fleet found a Persian
squadron already moored in the Nile waters, but it
swept this obstacle from its path without any difficulty.
Memphis was then blockaded both by land and water;
the city was taken, and only the citadel, Leucon-
Teichos, or " the White Fortress," held out. A formal
siege of the citadel was commenced, and the allies lay
before it for months, but without result. Meanwhile,
Artaxerxes was not idle. Having collected an army
of 300,000 men, he gave the command of it to Mega-
byzus, one of his best generals, and sent him to Egypt
against the rebels. Megabyzus marched upon Mem-
phis, defeated the Egyptians and their allies in a great
battle under the walls of the town, relieved the
Persian garrison which held the citadel, and recovered
possession of the place. The Athenians retreated to
the tract called Prosopitis, a sort of island in the
Delta, surrounded by two of the branch streams of
384 THREE DESPERATE REVOLTS.
the Nile, which they held with their ships. Here
Megabyzus besieged them without success for eighteen
months ; but at last he bethought himself of a strata-
gem like that whereby Cyrus is said to have captured
Babylon, and adapted it to his purpose. Having
blocked the course of one of the branch streams, and
diverted its waters into a new channel, he laid bare
the river-bed, captured the triremes that were stuck
fast in the soft ooze, marched his men into the island,
and overwhelmed the unhappy Greeks by sheer force
of numbers. A few only escaped, and made their way
to Cyrene. The entire fleet of two hundred vessels
fell into the hands of the conqueror ; and fifty others,
sent as a reinforcement, having soon afterwards
entered the river, were attacked unawares and defeated,
with the loss of more than half their number. Inarus,
the Libyan monarch, became a fugitive, but was
betrayed by some of his followers, surrendered, and
crucified. Amyrtaeus, who had been recognized as
king of Egypt during the six years that the struggle
lasted, took refuge in the Nile marshes, where he
dragged out a miserable existence for another term of
six years. The Egyptians offered no further resist-
ance ; and Egypt became once more a Persian satrapy
(B.C. 455).
It was at about this time that Herodotus, the
earliest Greek historian, the Father of History, as he
has been called, visited Egypt in pursuance of his
plan of gathering information for his great work. He
was a young man, probably not far from thirty years
of age (for he was born between the dates of the
battles of Marathon and Thermopylae). He travelled
REVOLT of NEPHERITI3. 385
through the land as far as Elephantine, viewing with
his observant eyes the wonders with which the
" Story 01 Egypt " has been so much occupied ; and
he described them with the enthusiasm that we have
occasionally noted. He saw the battle-field on which
Inarus had just been defeated — the ground strewn
with the skulls and other bones of the slain ; he made
his longest stay at Memphis, then at the acme of its
greatness ; he visited the quarries on the east of the
Nile whence the stone had been dug for the pyramids,
and he gazed upon the great monuments themselves,
on the opposite side of the stream. We have seen
that he visited Lake Mceris, and examined the famous
Labyrinth, which he thought even more wonderful
than the pyramids themselves. Finally, he sailed
away for Tyre, and Egypt was again closed to travel-
lers from Greece.
A second period of tranquillity followed, which
covered the space of about half a century. Nothing
is known of Egypt during this interval ; and it might
have been thought that she had grown contented with
her lot, and that her aspirations after independence
were over. For fifty years she had made no sign.
Even the troubled time between the death of Arta-
xerxes I. and the accession of Darius II. had not
tempted her to strike a blow for freedom. But still
she was, in reality, irreconcilable. She was biding
her time, and preparing herself for a last desperate
effort.
In B.C. 406 or 405, towards the close of the reign of
Darius Nothus, the third rebellion of Egypt against
Persia broke out. A native of Alendes, by name
386 THREE DESPERATE REVOLTS.
Nepheritis, or more properly Nefaa-rut, raised the
banner of independence, and commenced a war, which
must have lasted for some years, but which terminated
n the expulsion of the Persian garrison, and the re-
sstablishment of the throne of the Pharaohs. It is
unfortunate that no ancient authority gives any
account of the struggle. We only know that, after a
time, the power of Nefaa-rut was established ; that
Persia left him in undisturbed possession of Egypt,
and that he reigned quietly for the space of six years,
employing himself in the repair and restoration of the
temple of Ammon at Karnak. Nothing that can be
called a revival, or renaissance, distinguished his reign;
and we must view his success rather as the result of
Persian weakness, than of his own energy. His revolt,
however, inaugurated a period of independence,
which lasted about sixty years, and which threw over
the last years of the doomed monarchy a gleam of
sunshine, that for a brief space recalled the glories of
earlier and happier ages.
XXVI.
A LAST GLEAM OF SUNSHINE — NECTANEBO I.
A TROUBLED time followed the reign of Nefaa-rut.
The Greek mercenary soldiery, on whom the monarchs
depended, were fickle in their temperament, and easily
took offence, if their inclinations were in any way
thwarted. Their displeasure commonly led to the
dethronement of the king who had provoked it ; and
we have thus, at this period of the history, five reigns
in twenty-five years. No monarch had time to dis-
tinguish himself by a re-organization of the kingdom,
or even by undertaking buildings on a large scale —
each was forced to live from hand to mouth, meeting
as he best might the immediate difficulties of his
position, without providing for a future, which he
might never live to see. Fear of re-conquest was also
perpetual ; and the monarchs had therefore constantly
to be courting alliances with foreign states, and sub-
jecting themselves thereby to risks which it might
have been more prudent to have avoided.
With the accession of Nectanebo I. (Nekht-Horheb),
about B.C. 385, an improvement in the state of affairs
set in. Nekht-hor-heb was a vigorous prince, who
held the mercenaries well under control, and, having
raised a considerable Egyptian army, set himself to
388 THE LAST GLEAM OF SUNSHINE.
place Egypt in such a state of defence, that she might
confidently rely on her own strength, and be under no
need of entangling herself with foreign alliances. He
strongly fortified all the seven mouths of the Nile,
guarding each by two forts, one on either side of each
stream, and establishing a connection between each
pair of forts by a bridge. At Pelusium, where the
danger of hostile attack was always the greatest, he
multiplied his precautions, guarding it on the side of
the east by a deep ditch, and carefully obstructing all
the approaches to the town, whether by land or sea,
by forts and dykes and embankments, and contri-
vances for laying the neighbouring territory under
water. No doubt these precautions were taken with
special reference to an expected attack on the part of
Persia, which was preparing, about B.C. 376, to make a
great effort to bring Egypt once more into subjection.
The expected attack came in the next year. Hav-
ing obtained the services of the Athenian general,
Iphicrates, and hired Greek mercenaries to the number
of twenty thousand, Artaxerxes Mnemon, in B.C. 375,
sent a huge armament against Egypt, consisting of
220,000 men, 500 ships of war, and a countless num-
ber of other vessels carrying stores and provisions.
Pharnabazus commanded the Persian soldiery, Iphi-
crates the mercenaries. Having rendezvoused at
Acre in the spring of the year, they set out early in
the summer, and proceeded in a leisurely manner
through Philistia and the desert, the fleet accompany-
ing them along the coast. This rcu.e brought them
to Pelusium, which they found so strongly fortified
that they despaired of being able to force the defences,
NECTANEBO ATTACKED BY PHARNABAZUS. 389
and felt it necessary to make a complete change in
their plan of attack. Putting to sea with a portion of
the fleet, and with troops to the number of three
thousand, and sailing northward till they could no
longer be seen from the shore, they then, probably at
nightfall, changed their course, and steering south-
west, made for the Mendesian mouth of the Nile,
which was only guarded by the twin forts with their
connecting bridge. Here they landed without oppo-
sition, and proceeded to reconnoitre the forts. The
garrison gave them battle outside the walls, but was
defeated with great loss ; and the forts themselves
were taken. The remainder of the force conveyed by
the ships, was then landed without difficulty; and the
invaders, having the complete mastery of one of the
Nile mouths, had it in their power to direct their
attack to any point that might seem to them at once
most important and most vulnerable.
Under these circumstances the Athenian general,
Iphicrates, strongly recommended a dash at Memphis.
The main strength of the Egyptian army had been
concentrated at Pelusium. Strong detachments held
the other mouths of the Nile. Memphis, he felt sure,
must be denuded of troops, and could probably be
carried by a coup de main ; but the advice of the rapid
Greek was little to the taste of the slow-moving and
cautious Persian. Pharnabazus declined to sanction
any rash enterprise — he would proceed according to
the rules of art. He had the advantage of numbers —
why was he to throw it away? No, a thousand times
no. He would wait till his army was once more
collected together, and would then inarch on Mem-
390 THE LAST GLEAM OF SUNSHINE.
phis, without exposing himself or his troops to any
danger. The city would be sure to fall, and the object
of the expedition would be accomplished. In vain
did Iphicrates offer to run the whole risk himself — to
take no troops with him besides his own mercenaries,
and attack the city with them. As the Greek grew
more hot and reckless, the Persian became more cool
and wary. What might not be behind this foolhardi-
ness ? Might it not be possible that the Greek was
looking to his own interests, and designing, if he got
possession of Memphis, to set himself up as king of
Egypt ? There was no knowing what his intention
might be ; and at any rate it was safest to wait the
arrival of the troops. So Pharnabazus once more
coolly declined his subordinate's offer.
Nectanebo, on his side, having thrown a strong
garrison into Memphis, moved his army across the
Delta from the Pelusiac to the Mendesian branch of
the Nile, and having concentrated it in the neighbour-
hood of the captured forts, proceeded to operate
against the invaders. His troops harassed the enemy
in a number of petty engagements, and in the course
of time inflicted on them considerable loss. In this way
midsummer was reached — the Etesian winds began to
blow, and the Nile to rise. Gradually the abounding
stream spread itself over the broad Delta ; roads were
overflowed, river-courses obliterated ; the season for
military operations was clearly past. There was no
possible course but to return to Asia. Iphicrates and
Pharnabazus took their departure amid mutual re-
criminations, each accusing the other of having caused
the expedition to be a complete failure.
GLORIES 01' NECTANEBU'S LATER YEARS. 39I
The repulse of this huge host was felt by the
Egyptians almost as the repulse of the host of Xerxes
was felt by the Greeks. Nectancbo was looked upon
as a hero and a demigod ; his throne was assured ; it
was felt that he had redeemed all the failures of the
past, and had restored Egypt to the full possession
of all her ancient dignity and glory. Nectanebo con-
tinued to rule over "the Two Lands" for nine years
longer in uninterrupted peace, honour, and pros-
perity. During this time he applied himself, with
considerable success, to the revival of Egyptian art
and architecture. At Thebes he made additions to
the great temple of Karnak, restored the temple of
Khonsu, and adorned with reliefs a shrine originally
erected by Ramesses XII. At Memphis he was ex-
traordinarily active : he built a small temple in the
neighbourhood of the Serapeum, set up inscriptions in
the Apis repository in honour of the sacred bulls,
erected two small obelisks in black granite, and left
his name inscribed more than once in the quarries of
Toora. Traces of his activity are also found at Edfu,
at Abydos, at Bubastis, at Rosetta in the Delta, and
at Tel-el-Maskoutah. The art of his time is said to
have all the elegance of that produced under the
twenty sixth (Psamatik) dynasty, but to have been
somewhat more florid. The two black obelisks above-
mentioned, which are now in the British Museum,
show the admirable finish which prevailed at this
period. The sarcophagus which Nectanebo prepared
for himself, which adorns the same collection, is also
of great beauty.
We cannot be surprised to find that Nectanebo
392
THE LAST GLEAM OF SUNSHINE.
was worshipped after his death as a divine being. A
priesthood was constituted in his honour, which
handed down his cult to later times, and bore witness
to the impression made on the Egyptian mind by his
character and his successes.
XXVII.
THE LIGHT GOES OUT IN DARKNESS.
NECTANEBO's successors had neither his foresight
nor his energy. Te-her, the Tachos or Teos of the
Greeks, who followed him on the throne in B.C. 366,
wont out of his way to provoke the Persians by fo-
menting the war of the satraps against Artaxerxes
Mnemon, and, having obtained the services of Agesi-
laiis and Chabrias, even ventured to invade Phoenicia
and attempt its reduction. PI is own hold upon Egypt
was, however, far too weak to justify so bold a pro-
ceeding. Scarcely had he reached Syria, when revolt
broke out behind him. The Regent, to whom he had
entrusted the direction of affairs during his absence,
proved unfaithful, and incited his son, Nekht-ncbf,
to become a candidate for the crown, and to take up
arms against his father. The young prince was se-
duced by the offers made him, and Egypt became
plunged in a civil war. But for the courage and con-
duct of Agesilaus, which were conspicuously dis-
played, Tacho would have yielded to despair and
have given up the contest. In two decisive battles
the Spartan general completely defeated the army of
the rebels, which far outnumbered that of Tacho, and
replaced the king on his tottering throne.
394 THE LIGHT GOES OUT IN DARKNESS.
However, it was not long before the party of the
rebels recovered from their defeats. Agesilaiis either
joined them, or withdrew from the struggle, and re-
moving to Cyrene died there at an advanced age.
Tacho, deserted by his followers, quitted Egypt and
fled to Sidon, whence he made his way across the
desert to the court of the Great King. Ochus, who
had by this time succeeded Mnemon, received him
favourably, and professed an intention of embracing
his cause ; but nothing came of this expression of
good-will. Tacho lived a considerable time at the
court of Ochus, without any steps being taken to
restore him to his former position. At last a dysentery
carried him off, and legitimated the position of the
usurper who had driven him into exile.
The end now drew nigh. Nekht-nebf, whom the
Greeks called Nectanebo II., having after a time
established himself firmly upon the throne, and got
rid of pretenders, resumed the ambitious policy of
his predecessor, and entered into an alliance with
the people of Sidon and their neighbours, who were
in revolt against Persia. He had the excuse that
Ochus, some time previously, had sent an expedition
against Egypt, which he had repulsed by the assist-
ance of two Greek generals, Diophantus of Athens
and Lamius of Sparta. But this expedition was a
thing of the past ; it had inflicted no injury on Egypt,
and it demanded no revenge. Nekht-nebf was in no
way called upon to join the rebel confederacy, which
(in B.C. 346) raised the flag of revolt from Persia, and
sought to enrol in its ranks as many allies as possible-
But he rashly gave in his name, and sent to Sidon.
GREAT EXPEDITION OE OCHUS. 395
as his contingent towards the army that was being-
raised, four thousand of his Greek mercenaries, under
the command of Mentor of Rhodes. With their
aid, Tennes, the Sidonian king, completely defeated
the troops which Ochus had scut against him, and
drove the Persians out of Phoenicia.
The success, however, which was thus gained by the
rebels only exasperated the Persian king, and made him
resolve all the more on a desperate effort. The time
had gone by, he felt, for committing wars to satraps,
or sending out generals, with a few thousand troops, to
put down this or that troublesome chieftain. The
conjuncture called for measures of no ordinary cha-
racter. The Great King must conduct an expedition
in person. Every sort of preparation must be made ;
arms and provisions and stores of all kinds must be
accumulated ; the best troops must be collected from
all parts of the empire ; a sufficient fleet must be
manned ; and such an armament must go forth
under the royal banner as would crush all opposition.
Ochus succeeded in gathering together from the
nations under his direct rule 300,000 foot, 30,000 horse,
300 triremes, and 500 transports or provision-ships.
He then directed his efforts towards obtaining efficient
assistance from the Greeks. Though refused aid by
Athens and Sparta, he succeeded in obtaining a
thousand Thcban heavy-armed under Lacrates, three
thousand Argives under Nicostratus, and six thousand
/Eolians, Ionians, and Dorians from the Greek cities
of Asia Minor. The assistance thus secured was
numerically small, amounting to no more than ten
thousand men — not a thirtieth part of his native force ;
jf)6 THE LIGHT GOES OUT IN DARKNESS.
but it formed, together with the Greek mercenaries
from Egypt — who went over to him afterwards — the
force on which he placed his chief reliance, and to which
the ultimate success of his expedition was mainly due.
The overwhelming strength of the armament which
Ochus had brought w'th him into Syria alarmed the
chiefs of the rebel confederacy. Tennes, especially,
the Sidonian monarch, despaired of a successful
resistance, and made up his mind that his only chance
of safety lay in his appeasing the anger of Ochus by
the betrayal of his confederates and followers. He
opened his designs to Mentor of Rhodes, the com-
mander of the Greek mercenaries furnished by Egypt,
and found him quite ready to come into his plans.
The two in conjunction betrayed Sidon into the
hands of Persia, by the admission of a detachment
within the walls ; after which the defence became
impracticable. The Sidonians, having experienced
the unrelenting temper and sanguinary spirit of the
Persian king, who had transfixed with javelins six
hundred of their principal citizens, came to the des-
perate resolution of setting fire to their houses, and
so destroying themselves with their town. One is glad
to learn that the cowardly traitor, Tennes, who had
brought about these terrible calamities, did not derive
any profit from them, but was executed by the com-
mand of Ochus, as soon as Sidon had fallen.
The reduction of Sidon was followed closely by the
invasion of Egypt. Ochus, besides his 330,000 Asiatics,
had now a force of 14,000 Greeks, the mercenaries
under Mentor having joined him. Marshalling his
army in four divisions, he proceeded to the attack.
ARRANGEMENT OF THE PERSIAN FORCES. 397
The first, second, and third divisions contained, each
of them, a contingent of Greeks and a contingent of
Asiatics, commanded respectively by a Greek and a
Persian leader. The Greeks of the first division, con-
sisting mainly of Boeotians, were under the orders
of Lacrates, a Thcban of enormous strength, who
regarded himself as a second Hercules, and adopted
the traditional costume of that hero, a lion's skin and
a club. His Persian colleague was Rhosaces, satrap
of Ionia and Lydia, who claimed descent from one
of " the Seven " that put down the conspiracy of the
Magi. In the second division, where the Argive
mercenaries served, the Greek leader was Nicostratus,
the Persian Aristazanes, a court usher, and one of the
most trusted friends of the king. Mentor and the
eunuch Bagoas, Ochus's chief minister in his later
years, were at the head of the third division, Mentor
commanding his own mercenaries, and Bagoas the
Greeks whom Ochus had levied in his own dominions,
together with a large body of Asiatics. The king
himself was sole commander of the fourth division, as
well as commander-in-chief of the entire host. Nekht-
nebf, on his side, was only able to oppose to this vast
array an army less than one-third of the size. He
had enrolled as many as sixty thousand of the
Egyptian warrior class, and had the services of twenty
thousand Greek mercenaries, and of about the same
number of Libyan troops.
Pelusium, as usual, was the first point of attack.
Nekht-nebf had taken advantage of the long delay of
Ochus in Syria to see that the defences of Egypt
were in good order ; he had made preparations for
398 THE LIGHT GOES OUT IN DARKNESS.
resistance at all the seven mouths of the Nile, and
had guarded Pelusium with especial care. Ochus, as
he had expected, advanced along the coast route
which led to this place. Part of his army traversed
the narrow spit of land which separated the Lake
Serbonis from the Mediterranean, and in doing so met
with a disaster. A strong wind setting in from the
north, as the troops were passing, brought the waters
of the Mediterranean over the low strip of sand which
is ordinarily dry, and confounding sea and shore and
lake together, caused the destruction of a large de-
tachment ; but the main army, which had probably
kept Lake Serbonis on the right, reached its desti-
nation intact. A skirmish followed between the
Theban troops of the first division under Lacrates
and the garrison of Pelusium under Philophron ; but
this first engagement was without definite result.
The two armies lay now for a while on the Pelusiac
branch of the Nile, which was well protected by forts,
fortified towns, and a network of canals on either side
of it. There was every reason to expect that Nekht-
nebf, by warily guarding his frontier, and making full
use of his resources, might baffle for a considerable
time, if not wholly frustrate, the Persian attack. But
his combined self-conceit and timidity ruined his
cause. Taking the direction of affairs wholly upon
himself and asking no advice from his Greek captains,
he failed to show any of the qualities of a great com-
mander, and was speedily involved in difficulties with
which he was quite incapable of dealing. Having had
his first line of defence partially forced by a bold
movement on the part of the Argives under Nicos-
SURREXDER OF PELUSIUM. 399
tratus, instead of trying to redeem the misfortune by
a counter-movement, or a concentration of troops, he
hastily abandoned to his generals the task of con-
tinuing the resistance on this outer line, and retiring
to Memphis, concentrated all his efforts on making
preparations to resist a siege.
Meantime, the Persians were advancing. Lacrates
the Theban set himself to reduce Pelusium, and,
having drained dry one of the ditches, brought his
military engines up to the walls of the place. In
vain, however, did he batter down a portion of the
wall — the garrison had erected another wall behind
it ; in vain did he advance his towers — they had
movable towers ready prepared to resist him. No
progress had been made by the besiegers, when on a
sudden the resistance of the besieged slackened. In-
telligence had reached them of Nekht-nebf's hasty
retreat. If the king gave up hope, why should they
pour out their blood to no purpose? Accordingly
they ma le overtures to Lacrates for a surrender upon
terms, and it was agreed that they should be allowed
to evacuate the place and return to Greece, with all
the goods and chattels that they could carry with
them. Bagoas demurred to the terms ; but Ochus
confirmed them, and Pelusium passed into the pos-
session of the Persians without further fighting.
About the same time Mentor had proceeded south-
wards and laid siege to Bubastis. Having invested
the town, he caused intelligence to reach the besieged
that Ochus had determined to spare all who should
surrender their cities to him without resistance, and
to treat with the utmost severity all who should fight
400 THE LIGHT GOES OUT IN DARKNESS.
strenuously in their defence. By these means he
introduced dissension within the walls of the towns,
since the native Egyptians and their Greek allies
naturally distrusted and suspected each other. At
Bubastis the Egyptians were the first to move. The
siege had only just begun when they sent an envoy
to Mentor's colleague, Bagoas, to offer to surrender
the town to him. But this proceeding did not suit
the Greeks, who caught the messenger, extracted
from him his message, and then attacked the Egyp-
tian portion of the garrison and slew great numbers
of them. The Egyptians, however, though beaten,
persisted, established communication with Bagoas,
and fixed a day on which they would receive his
forces into the town. Mentor, who wished to secure
to himself the credit of the surrender, hereupon ex-
horted his Greek friends to be on the watch, and,
when the time came, to resist the movement. This
they did with such success that they not only frus-
trated the attempt, but captured Bagoas himself, who
had ventured within the walls. Bagoas had to im-
plore the interference of his colleague on his behalf,
and was obliged to promise that henceforth he would
attempt nothing without Mentor's knowledge and
consent. Mentor gained his ends, had the credit of
being the person to whom the town surrendered
itself, and at the same time established his ascend-
ancy over Bagoas. It is clear that had the Egyptians
possessed an active and able commander, advantage
might have been taken of the jealousies which
divided the Persian generals from their Greek col-
leagues, to bring the expedition into difficulties.
COMPLETE CONQUEST OF EGYPT. 4OI
Unfortunately, the Egyptian monarch, alike pusil-
lanimous and incapable, was so far from making any
offensive effort, that he was not prepared even to
defend his capital against the invaders. When he
found that Pelusium and Bubastis had both fallen,
and that the way lay open for the Persians to march
upon Memphis and invest it, he left the city with
all the wealth on which he could lay his hands, and
fled away into Ethiopia. Ochus did not pursue
him. He was content to have regained a valuable
province, which for above fifty years had been lost
to the Persian crown, w Lhout even having had to
fight a single pitched b Lie, or to engage in one
difficult siege. According to the Greek writers, he
showed his contempt of the Egyptian religion after
his conquest by stabbing an Apis-Bull, and violat-
ing the sanctity of a number of the most holy
shrines ; but the story of the Apis-Bull is prob-
ably a fiction, and it was to obtain the plunder of
the temples, not to insult the Egyptian gods, that
he violated the shrines. There is no trace of his
having treated the conquered people with cruelty, or
even with severity. Prudence induced him to destroy
the walls and other fortifications of the chief Egyptian
towns ; and cupidity led him to carry off into Persia
all the treasures that Nekht-nebf had left behind.
Even the sacred books, of which he is said to have
robbed the temples, may have been taken on account
of their value. We do not hear of his having dragged
off any prisoners, or inflicted any punishment on the
country for its rebellion. Even the tribute is not said
to have been increased.
402 THE LIGHT GOES OUT IN DARKNESS.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that, when
once Persia took resolutely in hand the subjugation
of the revolted province, a few months sufficed for its
accomplishment. The resources of Persia were out
of all comparison with those of Egypt ; alike in respect
of men and of money, there was an extreme disparity.
What had protected Egypt so long was the multi-
plicity of Persia's enemies, the large number of wars
that were continually being waged and the want of a
bold, energetic, and warlike monarch. As soon as the
full power of the vast empire of the Achaemenidae was
directed against the little country which had detached
itself, and pretended to a separate existence, the result
was certain. Egypt could no more maintain a struggle
against Persia in full force than a lynx could contend
with a lion. But while all this is indubitably true,
the end of Egypt might have been more dignified and
more honourable than it was. Nekht-nebf, the last
king, was a poor specimen of the Pharaonic type of
monarch. He had none of the qualities of a great
king. He did not even know how to fall with dignity.
Had he gathered together all the troops that he could
anyhow muster, and met Ochus in the open field, and
fallen fighting for his crown, or had he even defended
Memphis to the last, and only yielded himself when
he could resist no longer, a certain halo of glory would
have surrounded him. As it was, Egypt sank in-
gloriously at the last — her art, her literature, her
national spirit decayed and almost extinct — paying,
by her early disappearance from among the nations
of the earth, the penalty of her extraordinarily preco-
cious greatness.
INDEX.
Aahtnes I., 152
•• Aa-khepr-ka-ra, Abode of," 168
'• Abode of Aa-khepr-ka-ra," 168
Abraham, deceit of, 127, 129
Abraham in Egypt, 125
Abyssinia, rainfall in, 1 13
Alliance with Babylon and Lydia,
371
Ama>is, prosperity under, 367
Amenemhat I., 101
Amenenihat I., hunting prowess
of, 103
Amenenihat III., 109
"Amenenihat the Good," 1 16
Amenemhat's Labyrinth, 121
Amenemhat's Reservoir, 1 18
Amenhotep II., conquests of, 206
Amenhotep II., cruelty of, 207
Amenhotep III., colossi of, 208
Amenhotep III., lion -hunting of,
220
Amenhotep III., personal appear-
ance of, 222
Amenhotep III., wars of, 219
Amenhotep IV., accession of, 223
Amnion, High Priest of, 289
Amnion, restoration of temple of,
290
Amnion, temple of, 105, 167, 173,
186
Amon-mes, or Amomneses, pre-
tender to crown, 265
Animal worship, 31
Animals, sacred, 31
Antef I., 97
Antef II. 's dogs, 98
Antiquities of Egypt, 45
Ape, or Apiu, city of, 96
Apepi and Joseph, 145
Apepi, rule of, 144
Apis, sacred bull, 32
Apries offends Nebuchadnezzar
363
Architecture, 21, 245, 267
Art and literature, decline of,
285, 311
Art and literature, revival of,
35o
Asa, Judaea revolts under, 307
Asa, victory of, 309
A-ia, invasion of, 167, 195
Asshur-bani-pal, accession of, 336
Asshur-bani-pal, death of, 338
Asshur-bani-pal, defeat of Telirak
by, 336
Assyria, 1 1
Assyrian gifts to Thothmes III.,
194
Athor cow, 33
Auaris, siege of, 152
B
Babylon, revolt of, 345
Bacis, sacred bull, 32
Bahr Yousouf, 1
Bastinado, 45
Bek-en-ranf, burning of, 323
Builders, the Pyramid, 82
Buildings of Thothmes III., 199,
201
Bulls, sacred, 32
404
INDEX.
Cairo, Modern, 52, 95
Cambyses, indignities by, 378
Campaigns of Thothmes II L, 191
Chaldean Monarchy, end of, 371
Character, Egyptian, 24
Character, types of, 27
Colossi of Amenhotep III., 208
Condition, social, 60
Corrupting influences, 353
Costume, early, 60
Costume of Women, 62
Crocodile, mode of hunting, 104
Crcesus, 370
Cushites, the, 154
Cyprus, 197
Cyrene, death of, 394
Cyrus, death of, 372
D
Darius, death of, 382
Darius, revolt against, 381
David and Solomon, empire of,
295
Decline, 244, 269, 2S3
Decline of art and literature, 285,
3ii
Decline of morals, 286
Defeat, double, of invaders, 277
Defeat of Neco by Nebuchadnez-
zar, 358
Deities, Egyptian, 30
Deities, evil, 36, 37
Delta, the, 1, 95, 102
Disaster of the Red Sea, 264
Disintegration, 311, 317
Disk worship, 223, 225, 230, 231
Drollery, Egyptian, 29
Dynasties, rival, established, 311
E
Egypt, monotony of, 19
Egypt, seasons of, 14
Egypt, shape of, 1
Egypt, situation of, 1 1
Egypt, size of, 9
Egypt, soil of, 10
Egyptian history, happiest age of,
100
Egyptian independence re-estab-
lished, 389
Egyptian myths, 47
Egyptian physique, 25
Egyptians, nature of, 28
Elephant hunting, 194
El-Uksur, temple of, 217
Empire of David and Solomon,
295
Esarhaddon, accession of, 331
Esarhaddon's defeat of Tehrak,
333
Ethiopia and Syria, struggles
between, 337
Ethiopia, Egyptian influence in,
315
Ethiopia, last efforts of, 339
Ethiopian rule firmly established,
3?3 .
Ethiopians, cruelty of, 338
Evil deities, 36, 37
Expeditions into Asia, 167, 195
Famines through deficient inunda
tion, 115
Fayoum, obelisk at, 106
Fayoum, the, 4, 7
Fellahin, explanation of, 45
First sea-fight, 277
Fleet of Hatasu, 178
Flora of Egypt, 15
Foreigners, encouragement of, 351
Forests, incense, 183
Free Trade in Punt, 183
Geology of Egypt, 15
Great Pyramid, 72
Greece, trade with, 352
Ghizeh, three Pyramids at, 67
Ghizeh, tombs at, 56, 137
Gyges and Psatnatik, 345
II
Hall at Karnak, 266
Hall of Seti, 245
Handicrafts, Egyptian. 44
Hapi, 32
INDEX.
405
Hapi, merchant fleet of, 178
Hapi regnr led as a male, 178
Haoi regent for Thothmes II.,
Hapi, Thothmes III.'s animosity
against, 187
Hatasu actual queen, 177
Ilatasu's fleet, return of, 184
Hebrew art, Egyptian influence
in, 297
Heliopolis, temple at, 106
Her-hor, first high-priest king,
290
Herodotus, 384
Hittites, peace with, 242
Ilittites, treaty with, 243
Hittites, war with, 233
Hosea, Shabak's dealings with,
325
Hostag-, Thothmes III.'s system
of, 195
Hyks6s conquered, 151
Hyksds, religion of, 143
Hyksos rule, 139
I
Immigrants, Semitic, 109, 130
Immortality of the soul, belief in,
39
Inarus, death of, 384
Inarus, revolt of, 383
Incense forests, 183
Industries, revival of, 350
Influences, corrupting, 353
Inundation, 13
Inundation, deficient, famines
through, 1 15
Invasion, 396
Invasion by land and sea, 275
Invasion, Libyan, 255
Invasion, the great, 134
Israel's oppressor, 249
J
Jeroboam at Shishak's court, 301
Jerusalem, destruction of, 362
Joseph and Apepi, 145
Josiah, defeat of, by Nico, 357
Judaea insecure, 361
Judaea's conquest, record of, 305
K
Kndesh, battle of. 239
Karnak, hall at, 266
Karnak, temple at, 173, 19S, 200,
304, 349, 386
Kbabash, accession of, 381
Khartoum, 8
Khu-en-Aten, 227
Khu-en-Aten, personal appear-
ance of, 229
Khufu, King, 82, 90
King, supposed fust, 49
Kings in awe ol priests, 288
Labouring class, condition of, 45
Labyrinth, Amenemhat's, 121
Legend of Osiris, 34
Libyan desert, battle in, 346
Libyan invasion, 255
Libyans, defeat of, 273
Libyans, slaughter of, 274
Literature and art, decline of,
311
Lower Egypt, 96
Lower orders, condition of, 45
Luxor, temple of, 217
M
Medes, the, 369
Medinet-Abou, temple at, 272
Megiddo, capture of, 191
Memphis, 51
Memphis, blockade and fall of,
377, 383
Memphis taken by Esarhaddon,
333
Menephlhah I., accession of, 253
Menes, King, 50, 52
Men-kau-ra, King, 68, 82, 90
Men-khepr-ra, King, accession,
of, 294
Mentu-hotep I., 97
Mertitefs, wife of Sneferu, 64
Meydoum, pyramid of, 58
Mi-Ammon-Nut, accession of,
338
Mi-Ammon-Nut, death of, 340
Mi-Ammon-Nut, Submission to,
340
406
INDEX.
Mnevis, sacred bull, 32
Moeris, lake, 120
Monuments, objects on, 196
Moral standard, 42
Morality, Egyptian, 41
Morals, decline of, 286
Myth, chief Egyptian, 34
Myths, Egyptian, 47
N
Nairi, war on the, 167
Napatra, Necropolis at, 316
Natural History of Egypt, 16
Naval power of Thothmes, III.
Navy of Nero, 354
Nebuchadnezzar and Neco, 358
Nebuchadnezzar overruns Egypt,
365
Neco, accession of, 354
Neco defeats Josiah, 357
Neco, navy of, 354
Neco, victories of, 358
Nectanebo I., accession of, 387
Nectanebo I., sarcophagus of
391
Nefer-mat, son of Sneferu, 64
Nekht-nebf, accession of, 394
Nile, navigation on, 13
Nile, rising of the, 113
Nile valley, 1, 95, 102, 117
Nineveh, 192
O
Obelisk of Usurtasen I., 137
Objects on monuments, 196
Ochus, expedition of, 394
Osiris, legend of, 34
Osor':on I., accession of, 306
Pacis, sacred bull, 32
Parihu, king of Punt, 182
Payment of tribute, 149
Pelusium, surrender of, 399
Persia, third rebellion against, 385
Persian conquest, 368
Persian power, rise of, 369
Persians, revolt against, 382
Pharnabazus, attack by, 388
Pharnabazus, repulse of, 390
Phoenicia, n
Phthah, temple of, 51, 349
Piankhi, king of Napatra, 317
Piankhi, rebellion against, 318
Piankhi, submission of petty
princes to, 320
Pinetum I., accession of, 293
Plagues of Egypt, the, 262
Polytheism, 31
Priest, High, of Amnion, 289
Priest-kings, last of the, 297
Priests, kings ia awe of, 288
Prosopis, battle of, 260
Prosperity under Amasis, 367
Psamatik I. and Gyges, 345
Psamatik L, origin of, 343
Psamatik I., sole king, 347
Psamatik I., marriage of, 348
Psamatik I., victory of, 346
Psamatik II., architectural ac
livity of, 361
Psamatik III., accession of, 374
Psamatik III., death of, 377
Psamatik III., defeat of, 375
Public schools, 45
Punt, free trade in, 183
Punt's, Queen of, visit to Hatasu,
182
Pyramid builders, Egypt under
the, 91
Pyramid builders, the, 82
Pyramid, great, 72
Pyramid of Meydoum, 58
Pyramid of Saccarah, 59
Pyramids, Egyptian idea of, 66
Pyramids, three, at Ghizeh, 67
R
Ra-Sekenen III., Apepi's jea-
lousy of, 150
Ra-Sekenen III., war forced up-
on, 151
Ramesses I., 232
Ramesses II., Hittite war of, 239
Ramesses II., Israel's oppressor,
249
Ramesses III., accession of, 271
Ramesses III.', closing years of,
283
INDEX.
407
Ramesses III., plot to kill, 284
Ramesses III., temple of, 272
Red Sea. disaster of, 264
Rehoboam, submission of, 303
Religion, 35 41
Reservoir, Amenemhat's, 1 1 S
Revival of Arts ami Industries, 350
Revolt against Darius, 381
Revolt against the Persians, 382
Rival dynasties, 311
Rut-Ammon, accession and death
of, 338
S
Saccarah, Great Pyramid of, 59
Sacred animals, 31
Sacred bulls, 32
St. John Lateran, monument of,
202
Sankh-ka-ra, King, 99
Saplal, Hittite king, 232
Sargon, death of, 327
Sargon, founder of last Assyrian
dynasty, 326
Schools, public, 45
Sea;fight, first, 277
Second cataract, 106, ill
Semetic immigrants, 130
Sennacherib, accession of, 327
Sennacherib, victories of, 32S
Sennacherib's army, destruction
of, 329, 331
Set, Egyptian deity, 143
Set the victorious, 269
Seti the Great, victories of, 234
Seti the Great, wars of, 236
Seti the Great, long wall of, 237
Seti the Great, Pillared Hall, 245
Seti the Great, tomb of, 246
Seti I., head of, 250
Seti I., images of, 248
Seti I., mummy of, 251
Shabak burns Bek-en-ranf, 323
Shabak, death of, 327
Shabak's conquest of Lower Nile,
324
Shabak's dealings with Hosea,
325
Shabatok, accession of, 327
Shafra, King, 82, 90, 92
Shasu, campaign against the, 273
Shepherds, Egypt under, 139
Sheshonk dynasty, defeat of, 30}
Shishak, accession of, 300
Shishak, dominion of, 304
Shishak, foreign origin of, 298
Shishak invades Judaea, 303
Shishak 's reception of Jeroboam,
301
Sidon, capture of, 396
Siege of Memphis, 376
Signs on tombs, 57
Slave-hunting lucrative, 220
Sneferu, first certain king, 54
Social condition, 60
Social ranks, 43
Society, divisions of, 43
Song of Egyptians, 26
Song of victory, 198
Soul, belief in immortality of, 39
Sphinx, the, 92
Standard, moral, 42
Suez, Isthmus of, 11
Syria and Ethiopia, struggle be-
tween, 337
Syria evacuated by Neco, 359
Tachos, accession of, 393
Taxation, heavy, 45
Tehrak, death of, 337
Tehrak defeated by Asshur-bani-
pal, 336
Tehrak defeated by Esarhaddon,
Tel-el-Bahiri, 185
Tel-Mouf, 51
Temple of Ammon, 167, 173, 186,
290
Temple of Karnak, 19S, 200, 304,
349. 386
Temple of Medinet-Abou, 272
Temple of Phthah, 349
Temple of Tel-el-Bahiri, 185
Theban kings, 99
Thothmes I., accession of, 158
Thothmes I., greatness of, 168
Thothmes I., victories of, 159
Thothmes II., death of, 177
Thothmes III., animosity against
Hatasu, 187
408
INDEX.
Thothmes III., buildings of, 199,
201
Thothmes III , campaigns of, 191
Thothmes III., conquests of, 204
Thothmes III., lost obelisks of,
201
Thothmes III., naval power of,
197
Thothmes III., personal appear-
ance of, 204
Thothmes III.'s system of tribute,
195
Thothmes III., tributes of, 196
Tinseus, King, 135
Tombs at Ghizeh, 56, 137
Tombs, description of, 57
Tombs, signs on, 57
Tra le with Greece, 352
Trade with the Jews, 295
Transport, difficulty of, 12
Treaty with the Hittites, 243
Tribute, payment of, 49
U
Usurtasen I., obelisk of, 137
Usurtasen I., son of Amenemhut,
104
Usurtasen I., statue of, 105
Usurtasen II., 109
Usurtasen III., conquest of, III
V
Victoria, lake, 8
Victory, song of, 198
Vocal Memnon, the, 212
W
Wady Haifa, 106
Wady Magharah, 54, 106
Water, modes of storing, 1 17
Western Asia, history of, 162
Western A^ia, topography of, 155
" Wi t'ern .ss of the Wanderings,"
164
Women, costume of, 62
Women held in high estimation
170
Worship, animal, 31
Zabara, Mount, 15
Zerah, defeat of, 308
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To be followed by :
Moltke, and the Military Supremacy of Germany. By SrENCER
Wilkinson, University of London.
Bismarck. The New German Empire, How it Arose and What it
Displaced. By W. J. Headlam, M.A., Fellow of King's College.
Judas Maccabseus, the Conflict between Hellenism and Hebraism.
By Isaac Abrahams, author of the " Jews in the Middle Ages."
Henry V., the English Hero King. By Charles L. Kingsford, joint-
author of the " Story of the Crusades."
NEW YORK G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS LONDON
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