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+Project Gutenberg's The Treasury of Ancient Egypt, by Arthur E. P. B. Weigall
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Treasury of Ancient Egypt
+       Miscellaneous Chapters on Ancient Egyptian History and Archaeology
+
+Author: Arthur E. P. B. Weigall
+
+Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16160]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TREASURY OF ANCIENT EGYPT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Peter Barozzi and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE. A statue of the hawk-god Horus in front of
+                             the temple of Edfu. The author stands
+                             beside it.]
+
+                             [_Photo by N. Macnaghten._
+
+
+
+                            The Treasury of
+                             Ancient Egypt
+
+
+                   Miscellaneous Chapters on Ancient
+                    Egyptian History and Archaeology
+
+
+                                   BY
+
+
+                          ARTHUR E.P.B. WEIGALL
+
+       INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF UPPER EGYPT, DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES
+
+    AUTHOR OF 'TRAVELS IN THE UPPER EGYPTIAN DESERTS,' 'THE LIFE AND
+          TIMES OF AKHNATON, PHARAOH OF EGYPT,' 'A GUIDE TO THE
+                ANTIQUITIES OF UPPER EGYPT,' ETC., ETC.
+
+
+
+                         RAND McNALLY & COMPANY
+                          CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
+                                 1912
+
+
+
+
+                                  _TO
+
+                          ALAN H. GARDINER, ESQ.,
+
+                              M.A., D.LITT.
+
+               LAYCOCK STUDENT OF EGYPTOLOGY AT WORCESTER
+                            COLLEGE, OXFORD,
+
+
+                               THIS BOOK,
+
+                WHICH WILL RECALL SOME SUMMER NIGHTS UPON
+                           THE THEBAN HILLS,
+
+                              IS DEDICATED._
+
+
+
+
+                                 PREFACE.
+
+
+No person who has travelled in Egypt will require to be told that it is
+a country in which a considerable amount of waiting and waste of time
+has to be endured. One makes an excursion by train to see some ruins,
+and, upon returning to the station, the train is found to be late, and
+an hour or more has to be dawdled away. Crossing the Nile in a
+rowing-boat the sailors contrive in one way or another to prolong the
+journey to a length of half an hour or more. The excursion steamer will
+run upon a sandbank, and will there remain fast for a part of the day.
+
+The resident official, travelling from place to place, spends a great
+deal of time seated in railway stations or on the banks of the Nile,
+waiting for his train or his boat to arrive; and he has, therefore, a
+great deal of time for thinking. I often try to fill in these dreary
+periods by jotting down a few notes on some matter which has recently
+been discussed, or registering and elaborating arguments which have
+chanced lately to come into the thoughts. These notes are shaped and
+"written up" when next there is a spare hour, and a few books to refer
+to; and ultimately they take the form of articles or papers, some of
+which find their way into print.
+
+This volume contains twelve chapters, written at various times and in
+various places, each dealing with some subject drawn from the great
+treasury of Ancient Egypt. Some of the chapters have appeared as
+articles in magazines. Chapters iv., v., and viii. were published in
+'Blackwood's Magazine'; chapter vii. in 'Putnam's Magazine' and the
+'Pall Mall Magazine'; and chapter ix. in the 'Century Magazine.' I have
+to thank the editors for allowing me to reprint them here. The remaining
+seven chapters have been written specially for this volume.
+
+  LUXOR, UPPER EGYPT,
+   _November_ 1910.
+
+
+
+
+                              CONTENTS.
+
+                 PART I.--THE VALUE OF THE TREASURY.
+
+     CHAP.                                                       PAGE
+        I. THE VALUE OF ARCHAEOLOGY                                  3
+
+       II. THE EGYPTIAN EMPIRE                                     26
+
+      III. THE NECESSITY OF ARCHAEOLOGY TO THE GAIETY OF
+               THE WORLD                                           55
+
+
+                 PART II.--STUDIES IN THE TREASURY.
+
+       IV. THE TEMPERAMENT OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS                81
+
+        V. THE MISFORTUNES OF WENAMON                             112
+
+       VI. THE STORY OF THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR                    138
+
+
+               PART III.--RESEARCHES IN THE TREASURY.
+
+      VII. RECENT EXCAVATIONS IN EGYPT                            165
+
+     VIII. THE TOMB OF TIY AND AKHNATON                           185
+
+       IX. THE TOMB OF HOREMHEB                                   209
+
+
+             PART IV.--THE PRESERVATION OF THE TREASURY.
+
+        X. THEBAN THIEVES                                         239
+
+       XI. THE FLOODING OF LOWER NUBIA                            262*
+
+      XII. ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE OPEN                                 281**
+
+
+* Transcriber's note: Original text incorrectly lists page number "261".
+**Transcriber's note: Original text incorrectly lists page number "282".
+
+
+
+                             ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+     PLATE                                                       PAGE
+
+           A STATUE OF THE HAWK-GOD HORUS IN FRONT OF
+               THE TEMPLE OF EDFU. THE AUTHOR STANDS
+               BESIDE IT                 _Frontispiece_
+
+        I. THE MUMMY OF RAMESES II. OF DYNASTY XIX.                10
+
+       II. WOOD AND ENAMEL JEWEL-CASE DISCOVERED IN THE
+               TOMB OF YUAA AND TUAU. AN EXAMPLE OF
+               THE FURNITURE OF ONE OF THE BEST PERIODS
+               OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART                             17
+
+      III. HEAVY GOLD EARRINGS OF QUEEN TAUSERT OF
+               DYNASTY XX. AN EXAMPLE OF THE WORK
+               OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GOLDSMITHS                      22
+
+       IV. IN THE PALM-GROVES NEAR SAKKARA, EGYPT                  36
+
+        V. THE MUMMY OF SETY I. OF DYNASTY XIX.                    48
+
+       VI. A RELIEF UPON THE SIDE OF THE SARCOPHAGUS
+               OF ONE OF THE WIVES OF KING MENTUHOTEP III.,
+               DISCOVERED AT DER EL BAHRI (THEBES).
+               THE ROYAL LADY IS TAKING SWEET-SMELLING
+               OINTMENT FROM AN ALABASTER VASE. A
+               HANDMAIDEN KEEPS THE FLIES AWAY WITH
+               A BIRD'S-WING FAN.                                  62
+
+      VII. LADY ROUGING HERSELF: SHE HOLDS A MIRROR
+               AND ROUGE-POT                                       71
+
+           DANCING GIRL TURNING A BACK SOMERSAULT                  71
+
+     VIII. TWO EGYPTIAN BOYS DECKED WITH FLOWERS AND
+               A THIRD HOLDING A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.
+               THEY ARE STANDING AGAINST THE OUTSIDE
+               WALL OF THE DENDEREH TEMPLE                         82
+
+       IX. A GARLAND OF LEAVES AND FLOWERS DATING FROM
+               ABOUT B.C. 1000. IT WAS PLACED UPON THE
+               NECK OF A MUMMY                                     94
+
+        X. A RELIEF OF THE SAITIC PERIOD, REPRESENTING
+               AN OLD MAN PLAYING UPON A HARP, AND A
+               WOMAN BEATING A DRUM. OFFERINGS OF
+               FOOD AND FLOWERS ARE PLACED BEFORE
+               THEM                                               100
+
+       XI. AN EGYPTIAN NOBLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY
+               HUNTING BIRDS WITH A BOOMERANG AND
+               DECOYS. HE STANDS IN A REED-BOAT WHICH
+               FLOATS AMIDST THE PAPYRUS CLUMPS, AND A
+               CAT RETRIEVES THE FALLEN BIRDS. IN THE
+               BOAT WITH HIM ARE HIS WIFE AND SON                 108
+
+      XII. A REED BOX FOR HOLDING CLOTHING, DISCOVERED
+               IN THE TOMB OF YUAA AND TUAU                       118
+
+     XIII. A FESTIVAL SCENE OF SINGERS AND DANCERS FROM
+               A TOMB-PAINTING OF DYNASTY XVII.                   133
+
+      XIV. A SAILOR OF LOWER NUBIA AND HIS SON                    144
+
+       XV. A NILE BOAT PASSING THE HILLS OF THEBES                159
+
+      XVI. THE EXCAVATIONS ON THE SITE OF THE CITY OF
+               ABYDOS                                             166
+
+     XVII. EXCAVATING THE OSIREION AT ABYDOS. A CHAIN
+               OF BOYS HANDING UP BASKETS OF SAND TO
+               THE SURFACE                                        175
+
+    XVIII. THE ENTRANCE OF THE TOMB OF QUEEN TIY, WITH
+               EGYPTIAN POLICEMAN STANDING BESIDE IT. ON
+               THE LEFT IS THE LATER TOMB OF RAMESES X.           186
+
+      XIX. TOILET-SPOONS OF CARVED WOOD, DISCOVERED IN
+               TOMBS OF THE EIGHTEENTH DYNASTY. THAT
+               ON THE RIGHT HAS A MOVABLE LID                     192
+
+       XX. THE COFFIN OF AKHNATON LYING IN THE TOMB OF
+               QUEEN TIY                                          207
+
+      XXI. HEAD OF A GRANITE STATUE OF THE GOD KHONSU,
+               PROBABLY DATING FROM ABOUT THE PERIOD
+               OF HOREMHEB                                        217
+
+     XXII. THE MOUTH OF THE TOMB OF HOREMHEB AT THE
+               TIME OF ITS DISCOVERY. THE AUTHOR IS
+               SEEN EMERGING FROM THE TOMB AFTER THE
+               FIRST ENTRANCE HAD BEEN EFFECTED. ON
+               THE HILLSIDE THE WORKMEN ARE GROUPED               229
+
+    XXIII. A MODERN THEBAN FELLAH-WOMAN AND HER CHILD             240
+
+     XXIV. A MODERN GOURNAWI BEGGAR                               250
+
+      XXV. THE ISLAND AND TEMPLES OF PHILAE WHEN THE
+               RESERVOIR IS EMPTY                                 269
+
+     XXVI. A RELIEF REPRESENTING QUEEN TIY, FROM THE
+               TOMB OF USERHAT AT THEBES. THIS RELIEF
+               WAS STOLEN FROM THE TOMB, AND FOUND ITS
+               WAY TO THE BRUSSELS MUSEUM, WHERE IT IS
+               SHOWN IN THE DAMAGED CONDITION SEEN IN
+               PL. XXVII.                                         282
+
+    XXVII. A RELIEF REPRESENTING QUEEN TIY, FROM THE
+               TOMB OF USERHAT, THEBES. (SEE PL. XXVI.)           293
+
+
+
+
+                               PART I
+
+                     THE VALUE OF THE TREASURY.
+
+
+     "History no longer shall be a dull book. It shall walk
+     incarnate in every just and wise man. You shall not tell
+     me by languages and titles a catalogue of the volumes you
+     have read. You shall make me feel what periods you have
+     lived. A man shall be the Temple of Fame. He shall walk,
+     as the poets have described that goddess, in a robe
+     painted all over with wonderful events and
+     experiences.... He shall be the priest of Pan, and bring
+     with him into humble cottages the blessing of the morning
+     stars, and all the recorded benefits of heaven and
+     earth."
+                                                    EMERSON.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+                       THE VALUE OF ARCHAEOLOGY.
+
+
+The archaeologist whose business it is to bring to light by pick and
+spade the relics of bygone ages, is often accused of devoting his
+energies to work which is of no material profit to mankind at the
+present day. Archaeology is an unapplied science, and, apart from its
+connection with what is called culture, the critic is inclined to judge
+it as a pleasant and worthless amusement. There is nothing, the critic
+tells us, of pertinent value to be learned from the Past which will be
+of use to the ordinary person of the present time; and, though the
+archaeologist can offer acceptable information to the painter, to the
+theologian, to the philologist, and indeed to most of the followers of
+the arts and sciences, he has nothing to give to the ordinary layman.
+
+In some directions the imputation is unanswerable; and when the
+interests of modern times clash with those of the past, as, for example,
+in Egypt where a beneficial reservoir has destroyed the remains of early
+days, there can be no question that the recording of the threatened
+information and the minimising of the destruction, is all that the
+value of the archaeologist's work entitles him to ask for. The critic,
+however, usually overlooks some of the chief reasons that archaeology can
+give for even this much consideration, reasons which constitute its
+modern usefulness; and I therefore propose to point out to him three or
+four of the many claims which it may make upon the attention of the
+layman.
+
+In the first place it is necessary to define the meaning of the term
+"Archaeology." Archaeology is the study of the facts of ancient history
+and ancient lore. The word is applied to the study of all ancient
+documents and objects which may be classed as antiquities; and the
+archaeologist is understood to be the man who deals with a period for
+which the evidence has to be excavated or otherwise discovered. The age
+at which an object becomes an antiquity, however, is quite undefined,
+though practically it may be reckoned at a hundred years; and ancient
+history is, after all, the tale of any period which is not modern. Thus
+an archaeologist does not necessarily deal solely with the remote ages.
+
+Every chronicler of the events of the less recent times who goes to the
+original documents for his facts, as true historians must do during at
+least a part of their studies, is an archaeologist; and, conversely,
+every archaeologist who in the course of his work states a series of
+historical facts, becomes an historian. Archaeology and history are
+inseparable; and nothing is more detrimental to a noble science than
+the attitude of certain so-called archaeologists who devote their entire
+time to the study of a sequence of objects without proper consideration
+for the history which those objects reveal. Antiquities are the relics
+of human mental energy; and they can no more be classified without
+reference to the minds which produced them than geological specimens can
+be discussed without regard to the earth. There is only one thing worse
+than the attitude of the archaeologist who does not study the story of
+the periods with which he is dealing, or construct, if only in his
+thoughts, living history out of the objects discovered by him; and that
+is the attitude of the historian who has not familiarised himself with
+the actual relics left by the people of whom he writes, or has not, when
+possible, visited their lands. There are many "archaeologists" who do not
+care a snap of the fingers for history, surprising as this may appear;
+and there are many historians who take no interest in manners and
+customs. The influence of either is pernicious.
+
+It is to be understood, therefore, that in using the word Archaeology I
+include History: I refer to history supplemented and aggrandised by the
+study of the arts, crafts, manners, and customs of the period under
+consideration.
+
+As a first argument the value of archaeology in providing a precedent for
+important occurrences may be considered. Archaeology is the structure of
+ancient history, and it is the voice of history which tells us that a
+Cretan is always a Cretan, and a Jew always a Jew. History, then, may
+well take her place as a definite asset of statecraft, and the law of
+Precedent may be regarded as a fundamental factor in international
+politics. What has happened before may happen again; and it is the hand
+of the archaeologist that directs our attention to the affairs and
+circumstances of olden times, and warns us of the possibilities of their
+recurrence. It may be said that the statesman who has ranged in the
+front of his mind the proven characteristics of the people with whom he
+is dealing has a perquisite of the utmost importance.
+
+Any archaeologist who, previous to the rise of Japan during the latter
+half of the nineteenth century, had made a close study of the history of
+that country and the character of its people, might well have predicted
+unerringly its future advance to the position of a first-class power.
+The amazing faculty of imitation displayed by the Japanese in old times
+was patent to him. He had seen them borrow part of their arts, their
+sciences, their crafts, their literature, their religion, and many of
+their customs from the Chinese; and he might have been aware that they
+would likewise borrow from the West, as soon as they had intercourse
+with it, those essentials of civilisation which would raise them to
+their present position in the world. To him their fearlessness, their
+tenacity, and their patriotism, were known; and he was so well aware of
+their powers of organisation, that he might have foreseen the rapid
+development which was to take place.
+
+What historian who has read the ancient books of the Irish--the Book of
+the Dun Cow, the Book of Ballymote, the Book of Lismore, and the
+like--can show either surprise or dismay at the events which have
+occurred in Ireland in modern times? Of the hundreds of kings of Ireland
+whose histories are epitomised in such works as that of the old
+archaeologist Keating, it would be possible to count upon the fingers
+those who have died in peace; and the archaeologist, thus, knows better
+than to expect the descendants of these kings to live in harmony one
+with the other. National characteristics do not change unless, as in the
+case of the Greeks, the stock also changes.
+
+In the Jews we have another example of the persistence of those national
+characteristics which history has made known to us. The Jews first
+appear in the dimness of the remote past as a group of nomad tribes,
+wandering over southern Palestine, Egypt, and the intervening deserts;
+and at the present day we see them still homeless, scattered over the
+face of the globe, the "tribe of the wandering foot and weary breast."
+
+In no country has the archaeologist been more active than in Egypt during
+the last half century, and the contributions which his spade and pick
+have offered to history are of first-rate importance to that study as a
+whole. The eye may now travel down the history of the Nile Valley from
+prehistoric days to the present time almost without interruption; and
+now that the anthropologist has shown that the modern Egyptians,
+Mussulman and Copt, peasant and townsman, belong to one and the same
+race of ancient Egyptians, one may surely judge to-day's inhabitants of
+the country in the light of yesterday's records. In his report for the
+year 1906, Lord Cromer, questioning whether the modern inhabitants of
+the country were capable of governing their own land, tells us that we
+must go back to the precedent of Pharaonic days to discover if the
+Egyptians ever ruled themselves successfully.
+
+In this pregnant remark Lord Cromer was using information which the
+archaeologist and historian had made accessible to him. Looking back over
+the history of the country, he was enabled, by the study of this
+information, to range before him the succession of foreign occupations
+of the Nile Valley and to assess their significance. It may be worth
+while to repeat the process, in order to give an example of the bearing
+of history upon modern polemics, though I propose to discuss this matter
+more fully in another chapter.
+
+Previous to the British occupation the country was ruled, as it is now,
+by a noble dynasty of Albanian princes, whose founder was set upon the
+throne by the aid of Turkish and Albanian troops. From the beginning of
+the sixteenth century until that time Egypt had been ruled by the
+Ottoman Government, the Turk having replaced the Circassian and other
+foreign "Mamlukes" who had held the country by the aid of foreign troops
+since the middle of the thirteenth century. For a hundred years previous
+to the Mamluke rule Egypt had been in the hands of the Syrian and
+Arabian dynasty founded by Saladdin. The Fatimides, a North African
+dynasty, governed the country before the advent of Saladdin, this family
+having entered Egypt under their general, Jauhar, who was of Greek
+origin. In the ninth century Ahmed ibn Tulun, a Turk, governed the land
+with the aid of a foreign garrison, his rule being succeeded by the
+Ikhshidi dynasty of foreigners. Ahmed had captured Egypt from the
+Byzantines who had held it since the days of the Roman occupation.
+Previous to the Romans the Ptolemies, a Greek family, had governed the
+Nile Valley with the help of foreign troops. The Ptolemies had followed
+close upon the Greek occupation, the Greeks having replaced the Persians
+as rulers of Egypt. The Persian occupation had been preceded by an
+Egyptian dynasty which had been kept on the throne by Greek and other
+foreign garrisons. Previous to this there had been a Persian occupation,
+which had followed a short period of native rule under foreign
+influence. We then come back to the Assyrian conquest which had followed
+the Ethiopian rule. Libyan kings had held the country before the
+Ethiopian conquest. The XXIst and XXth Dynasties preceded the Libyans,
+and here, in a disgraceful period of corrupt government, a series of
+so-called native kings are met with. Foreigners, however, swarmed in the
+country at the time, foreign troops were constantly used, and the
+Pharaohs themselves were of semi-foreign origin. One now comes back to
+the early XIXth and XVIIIth Dynasties which, although largely tinged
+with foreign blood, may be said to have been Egyptian families. Before
+the rise of the XVIIIth Dynasty the country was in foreign hands for the
+long period which had followed the fall of the XIIth Dynasty, the
+classical period of Egyptian history (about the twentieth century B.C.),
+when there were no rivals to be feared. Thus the Egyptians may be said
+to have been subject to foreign occupation for nearly four thousand
+years, with the exception of the strong native rule of the XVIIIth
+Dynasty, the semi-native rule of the three succeeding dynasties, and a
+few brief periods of chaotic government in later times; and this is the
+information which the archaeologist has to give to the statesman and
+politician. It is a story of continual conquest, of foreign occupations
+following one upon another, of revolts and massacres, of rapid
+retributions and punishments. It is the story of a nation which, however
+ably it may govern itself in the future, has only once in four
+thousand years successfully done so in the past.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. I. The mummy of Rameses II. of Dynasty XIX.
+                      --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                      [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+
+Such information is of far-reaching value to the politician, and to
+those interested, as every Englishman should be, in Imperial politics. A
+nation cannot alter by one jot or tittle its fundamental
+characteristics; and only those who have studied those characteristics
+in the pages of history are competent to foresee the future. A certain
+Englishman once asked the Khedive Ismail whether there was any news that
+day about Egyptian affairs. "That is so like all you English," replied
+his Highness. "You are always expecting something new to happen in Egypt
+day by day. To-day is here the same as yesterday, and to-morrow will be
+the same as to-day; and so it has been, and so it will be, for thousands
+of years."[1] Neither Egypt nor any other nation will ever change; and
+to this it is the archaeologist who will bear witness with his stern law
+of Precedent.
+
+    [Footnote 1: E. Dicey. 'The Story of the Khedivate,' p. 528.]
+
+I will reserve the enlarging of this subject for the next chapter: for
+the present we may consider, as a second argument, the efficacy of the
+past as a tonic to the present, and its ability to restore the vitality
+of any age that is weakened.
+
+In ancient Egypt at the beginning of the XXVIth Dynasty (B.C. 663) the
+country was at a very low ebb. Devastated by conquests, its people
+humiliated, its government impoverished, a general collapse of the
+nation was imminent. At this critical period the Egyptians turned their
+minds to the glorious days of old. They remodelled their arts and crafts
+upon those of the classical periods, introduced again the obsolete
+offices and titles of those early times, and organised the government
+upon the old lines. This movement saved the country, and averted its
+collapse for a few more centuries. It renewed the pride of workmanship
+in a decadent people; and on all sides we see a revival which was the
+direct result of an archaeological experiment.
+
+The importance of archaeology as a reviver of artistic and industrial
+culture will be realised at once if the essential part it played in the
+great Italian Renaissance is called to mind. Previous to the age of
+Cimabue and Giotto in Florence, Italian refinement had passed steadily
+down the path of deterioration. Graeco-Roman art, which still at a high
+level in the early centuries of the Christian era, entirely lost its
+originality during Byzantine times, and the dark ages settled down upon
+Italy in almost every walk of life. The Venetians, for example, were
+satisfied with comparatively the poorest works of art imported from
+Constantinople or Mount Athos: and in Florence so great was the poverty
+of genius that when Cimabue in the thirteenth century painted that
+famous Madonna which to our eyes appears to be of the crudest
+workmanship, the little advance made by it in the direction of
+naturalness was received by the city with acclamations, the very street
+down which it was carried being called the "Happy Street" in honour of
+the event. Giotto carried on his master's teachings, and a few years
+later the Florentines had advanced to the standard of Fra Angelico, who
+was immediately followed by the two Lippis and Botticelli. Leonardo da
+Vinci, artist, architect, and engineer, was almost contemporaneous with
+Botticelli, being born not much more than a hundred years after the
+death of Giotto. With him art reached a level which it has never
+surpassed, old traditions and old canons were revived, and in every
+direction culture proceeded again to those heights from which it had
+fallen.
+
+The reader will not need to be reminded that this great renaissance was
+the direct result of the study of the remains of the ancient arts of
+Greece and Rome. Botticelli and his contemporaries were, in a sense,
+archaeologists, for their work was inspired by the relics of ancient
+days.
+
+Now, though at first sight it seems incredible that such an age of
+barbarism as that of the later Byzantine period should return, it is
+indeed quite possible that a relatively uncultured age should come upon
+us in the future; and there is every likelihood of certain communities
+passing over to the ranks of the absolute Philistines. Socialism run
+mad would have no more time to give to the intellect than it had during
+the French Revolution. Any form of violent social upheaval means
+catalepsy of the arts and crafts, and a trampling under foot of old
+traditions. The invasions and revolts which are met with at the close of
+ancient Egyptian history brought the culture of that country to the
+lowest ebb of vitality. The fall of Greece put an absolute stop to the
+artistic life of that nation. The invasions of Italy by the inhabitants
+of less refined countries caused a set-back in civilisation for which
+almost the whole of Europe suffered. Certain of the French arts and
+crafts have never recovered from the effects of the Revolution.
+
+A national convulsion of one kind or another is to be expected by every
+country; and history tells us that such a convulsion is generally
+followed by an age of industrial and artistic coma, which is brought to
+an end not so much by the introduction of foreign ideas as by a
+renascence of the early traditions of the nation. It thus behoves every
+man to interest himself in the continuity of these traditions, and to
+see that they are so impressed upon the mind that they shall survive all
+upheavals, or with ease be re-established.
+
+There is no better tonic for a people who have weakened, and whose arts,
+crafts, and industries have deteriorated than a return to the conditions
+which obtained at a past age of national prosperity; and there are few
+more repaying tasks in the long-run than that of reviving an interest in
+the best periods of artistic or industrial activity. This can only be
+effected by the study of the past, that is to say by archaeology.
+
+It is to be remembered, of course, that the sentimental interest in
+antique objects which, in recent years, has given a huge value to all
+ancient things, regardless of their intrinsic worth, is a dangerous
+attitude, unless it is backed by the most expert knowledge; for instead
+of directing the attention only to the best work of the best periods, it
+results in the diminishing of the output of modern original work and the
+setting of little of worth in its place. A person of a certain
+fashionable set will now boast that there is no object in his room less
+than two hundred years old: his only boast, however, should be that the
+room contains nothing which is not of intrinsic beauty, interest, or
+good workmanship. The old chairs from the kitchen are dragged into the
+drawing-room--because they are old; miniatures unmeritoriously painted
+by unknown artists for obscure clients are nailed in conspicuous
+places--because they are old; hideous plates and dishes, originally made
+by ignorant workmen for impoverished peasants, are enclosed in glass
+cases--because they are old; iron-bound chests, which had been cheaply
+made to suit the purses of farmers, are rescued from the cottages of
+their descendants and sold for fabulous sums--because they are old.
+
+A person who fills a drawing-room with chairs, tables, and ornaments,
+dating from the reign of Queen Anne, cannot say that he does so because
+he wishes it to look like a room of that date; for if this were his
+desire, he would have to furnish it with objects which appeared to be
+newly made, since in the days of Queen Anne the first quality noticeable
+in them would have been their newness. In fact, to produce the desired
+effect everything in the room, with very few exceptions, would have to
+be a replica. To sit in this room full of antiques in a frock-coat would
+be as bad a breach of good taste as the placing of a Victorian
+chandelier in an Elizabethan banqueting-hall. To furnish the room with
+genuine antiquities because they are old and therefore interesting would
+be to carry the museum spirit into daily life with its attending
+responsibilities, and would involve all manner of incongruities and
+inconsistencies; while to furnish in this manner because antiques were
+valuable would be merely vulgar. There are, thus, only three
+justifications that I can see for the action of the man who surrounds
+himself with antiquities: he must do so because they are examples of
+workmanship, because they are beautiful, or because they are endeared to
+him by family usage. These, of course, are full and complete
+justifications; and the value of his attitude should be felt in the
+impetus which it gives to conscientious modern work. There are periods
+in history at which certain arts, crafts, or industries reached an
+extremely high level of excellence; and nothing can be more valuable to
+modern workmen than familiarity with these periods. Well-made replicas
+have a value that is overlooked only by the inartistic. Nor must it be
+forgotten that modern objects of modern design will one day become
+antiquities; and it should be our desire to assist in the making of the
+period of our lifetime an age to which future generations will look back
+for guidance and teaching. Every man can, in this manner, be of use to a
+nation, if only by learning to reject poor work wherever he comes upon
+it--work which he feels would not stand against the criticism of Time;
+and thus it may be said that archaeology, which directs him to the best
+works of the ancients, and sets him a standard and criterion, should be
+an essential part of his education.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. II  Wood and enamel jewel-case discovered in the tomb
+                       of Yuaa and Tuau. An example of the furniture of
+                       one of the best periods of ancient Egyptian art.
+                       --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                       [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+
+The third argument which I wish to employ here to demonstrate the value
+of the study of archaeology and history to the layman is based upon the
+assumption that patriotism is a desirable ingredient in a man's
+character. This is a premise which assuredly will be admitted. True
+patriotism is essential to the maintenance of a nation. It has taken the
+place, among certain people, of loyalty to the sovereign; for the armies
+which used to go to war out of a blind loyalty to their king, now do so
+from a sense of patriotism which is shared by the monarch (if they
+happen to have the good fortune to possess one).
+
+Patriotism is often believed to consist of a love of one's country, in
+an affection for the familiar villages or cities, fields or streets, of
+one's own dwelling-place. This is a grievous error. Patriotism should be
+an unqualified desire for the welfare of the race as a whole. It is not
+really patriotic for the Englishman to say, "I love England": it is only
+natural. It is not patriotic for him to say, "I don't think much of
+foreigners": it is only a form of narrowness of mind which, in the case
+of England and certain other countries, happens sometimes to be rather a
+useful attitude, but in the case of several nations, of which a good
+example is Egypt, would be detrimental to their own interests. It was
+not unqualified patriotism that induced the Greeks to throw off the
+Ottoman yoke: it was largely dislike of the Turks. It is not patriotism,
+that is to say undiluted concern for the nation as a whole, which leads
+some of the modern Egyptians to prefer an entirely native government to
+the Anglo-Egyptian administration now obtaining in that country: it is
+restlessness; and I am fortunately able to define it thus without the
+necessity of entering the arena of polemics by an opinion as to whether
+that restlessness is justified or not justified.
+
+If patriotism were but the love of one's tribe and one's dwelling-place,
+then such undeveloped or fallen races as, for example, the American
+Indians, could lay their downfall at the door of that sentiment; since
+the exclusive love of the tribe prevented the small bodies from
+amalgamating into one great nation for the opposing of the invader. If
+patriotism were but the desire for government without interference, then
+the breaking up of the world's empires would be urged, and such
+federations as the United States of America would be intolerable.
+
+Patriotism is, and must be, the desire for the progress and welfare of
+the whole nation, without any regard whatsoever to the conditions under
+which that progress takes place, and without any prejudice in favour
+either of self-government or of outside control. I have no hesitation in
+saying that the patriotic Pole is he who is in favour of Russian or
+German control of his country's affairs; for history has told him quite
+plainly that he cannot manage them himself. The Nationalist in any
+country runs the risk of being the poorest patriot in the land, for his
+continuous cry is for self-government, without any regard to the
+question as to whether such government will be beneficial to his nation
+in the long-run.
+
+The value of history to patriotism, then, is to be assessed under two
+headings. In the first place, history defines the attitude which the
+patriot should assume. It tells him, in the clear light of experience,
+what is, and what is not, good for his nation, and indicates to him how
+much he may claim for his country. And in the second place, it gives to
+the patriots of those nations which have shown capacity and ability in
+the past a confidence in the present; it permits in them the indulgence
+of that enthusiasm which will carry them, sure-footed, along the path
+of glory.
+
+Archaeology, as the discovery and classification of the facts of history,
+is the means by which we may obtain a true knowledge of what has
+happened in the past. It is the instrument with which we may dissect
+legend, and extract from myth its ingredients of fact. Cold history
+tells the Greek patriot, eager to enter the fray, that he must set
+little store by the precedent of the deeds of the Trojan war. It tells
+the English patriot that the "one jolly Englishman" of the old rhyme is
+not the easy vanquisher of the "two froggy Frenchmen and one Portugee"
+which tradition would have him believe. He is thus enabled to steer a
+middle course between arrant conceit and childish fright. History tells
+him the actual facts: history is to the patriot what "form" is to the
+racing man.
+
+In the case of the English (Heaven be praised!) history opens up a
+boundless vista for the patriotic. The Englishman seldom realises how
+much he has to be proud of in his history, or how loudly the past cries
+upon him to be of good cheer. One hears much nowadays of England's
+peril, and it is good that the red signals of danger should sometimes be
+displayed. But let every Englishman remember that history can tell him
+of greater perils faced successfully; of mighty armies commanded by the
+greatest generals the world has ever known, held in check year after
+year, and finally crushed by England; of vast fleets scattered or
+destroyed by English sailors; of almost impregnable cities captured by
+British troops. "There is something very characteristic," writes
+Professor Seeley,[1] "in the indifference which we show towards the
+mighty phenomenon of the diffusion of our race and the expansion of our
+state. We seem, as it were, to have conquered and peopled half the world
+in a fit of absence of mind."
+
+    [Footnote 1: 'The Expansion of England,' p. 10.]
+
+The history of England, and later of the British Empire, constitutes a
+tale so amazing that he who has the welfare of the nation as a whole at
+heart--that is to say, the true patriot--is justified in entertaining
+the most optimistic thoughts for the future. He should not be
+indifferent to the past: he should bear it in mind all the time.
+Patriotism may not often be otherwise than misguided if no study of
+history has been made. The patriot of one nation will wish to procure
+for his country a freedom which history would show him to have been its
+very curse; and the patriot of another nation will encourage a
+nervousness and restraint in his people which history would tell him was
+unnecessary. The English patriot has a history to read which, at the
+present time, it is especially needful for him to consider; and, since
+Egyptology is my particular province, I cannot better close this
+argument than by reminding the modern Egyptians that their own history
+of four thousand years and its teaching must be considered by them when
+they speak of patriotism. A nation so talented as the descendants of the
+Pharaohs, so industrious, so smart and clever, should give a far larger
+part of its attention to the arts, crafts, and industries, of which
+Egyptian archaeology has to tell so splendid a story.
+
+As a final argument for the value of the study of history and archaeology
+an aspect of the question may be placed before the reader which will
+perhaps be regarded as fanciful, but which, in all sincerity, I believe
+to be sober sense.
+
+In this life of ours which, under modern conditions, is lived at so
+great a speed, there is a growing need for a periodical pause wherein
+the mind may adjust the relationship of the things that have been to
+those that are. So rapidly are our impressions received and assimilated,
+so individually are they shaped or classified, that, in whatever
+direction our brains lead us, we are speedily carried beyond that
+province of thought which is common to us all. A man who lives alone
+finds himself, in a few months, out of touch with the thought of his
+contemporaries; and, similarly, a man who lives in what is called an
+up-to-date manner soon finds himself grown unsympathetic to the sober
+movement of the world's slow round-about.
+
+Now, the man who lives alone presently developes some of the recognised
+eccentricities of the recluse, which, on his return to society, cause
+him to be regarded as a maniac; and the man who lives entirely in the
+present cannot argue that the characteristics which he has developed are
+less maniacal because they are shared by his associates. Rapidly he,
+too, has become eccentric; and just as the solitary man must needs come
+into the company of his fellows if he would retain a healthy mind, so
+the man who lives in the present must allow himself occasional
+intercourse with the past if he would keep his balance.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. III. Heavy gold earrings of Queen Tausert of Dynasty
+                        XX. An example of the work of ancient Egyptian
+                        goldsmiths.
+                        --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                        [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+
+Heraclitus, in a quotation preserved by Sextus Empiricus,[1] writes: "It
+behoves us to follow the common reason of the world; yet, though there
+is a common reason in the world, the majority live as though they
+possessed a wisdom peculiar each unto himself alone." Every one of us
+who considers his mentality an important part of his constitution should
+endeavour to give himself ample opportunities of adjusting his mind to
+this "common reason" which is the silver thread that runs unbroken
+throughout history. We should remember the yesterdays, that we may know
+what the pother of to-day is about; and we should foretell to-morrow not
+by to-day but by every day that has been.
+
+    [Footnote 1: Bywater: 'Heracliti Ephesii Reliquiae,' p. 38.]
+
+Forgetfulness is so common a human failing. In our rapid transit through
+life we are so inclined to forget the past stages of the journey. All
+things pass by and are swallowed up in a moment of time. Experiences
+crowd upon us; the events of our life occur, are recorded by our busy
+brains, are digested, and are forgotten before the substance of which
+they were made has resolved into its elements. We race through the
+years, and our progress is headlong through the days.
+
+Everything, as it is done with, is swept up into the basket of the past,
+and the busy handmaids, unless we check them, toss the contents, good
+and bad, on to the great rubbish heap of the world's waste. Loves,
+hates, gains, losses, all things upon which we do not lay fierce and
+strong hands, are gathered into nothingness, and, with a few exceptions,
+are utterly forgotten.
+
+And we, too, will soon have passed, and our little brains which have
+forgotten so much will be forgotten. We shall be throttled out of the
+world and pressed by the clumsy hands of Death into the mould of that
+same rubbish-hill of oblivion, unless there be a stronger hand to save
+us. We shall be cast aside, and left behind by the hurrying crowd,
+unless there be those who will see to it that our soul, like that of
+John Brown, goes marching along. There is only one human force stronger
+than death, and that force is History, By it the dead are made to live
+again: history is the salvation of the mortal man as religion is the
+salvation of his immortal life.
+
+Sometimes, then, in our race from day to day it is necessary to stop the
+headlong progress of experience, and, for an hour, to look back upon the
+past. Often, before we remember to direct our mind to it, that past is
+already blurred, and dim. The picture is out of focus, and turning from
+it in sorrow instantly the flight of our time begins again. This should
+not be. "There is," says Emerson, "a relationship between the hours of
+our life and the centuries of time." Let us give history and archaeology
+its due attention; for thus not only shall we be rendering a service to
+all the dead, not only shall we be giving a reason and a usefulness to
+their lives, but we shall also lend to our own thought a balance which
+in no otherwise can be obtained, we shall adjust ourselves to the true
+movement of the world, and, above all, we shall learn how best to serve
+that nation to which it is our inestimable privilege to belong.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+                        THE EGYPTIAN EMPIRE.
+
+
+"History," says Sir J. Seeley, "lies before science as a mass of
+materials out of which a political doctrine can be deduced.... Politics
+are vulgar when they are not liberalised by history, and history fades
+into mere literature when it loses sight of its relation to practical
+politics.... Politics and history are only different aspects of the same
+study."[1]
+
+    [Footnote 1: 'The Expansion of England.']
+
+These words, spoken by a great historian, form the keynote of a book
+which has run into nearly twenty editions; and they may therefore be
+regarded as having some weight. Yet what historian of old Egyptian
+affairs concerns himself with the present welfare and future prospects
+of the country, or how many statesmen in Egypt give close attention to a
+study of the past? To the former the Egypt of modern times offers no
+scope for his erudition, and gives him no opportunity of making
+"discoveries," which is all he cares about. To the latter, Egyptology
+appears to be but a pleasant amusement, the main value of which is the
+finding of pretty scarabs suitable for the necklaces of one's lady
+friends. Neither the one nor the other would for a moment admit that
+Egyptology and Egyptian politics "are only different aspects of the same
+study." And yet there can be no doubt that they are.
+
+It will be argued that the historian of ancient Egypt deals with a
+period so extremely remote that it can have no bearing upon the
+conditions of modern times, when the inhabitants of Egypt have altered
+their language, religion, and customs, and the Mediterranean has ceased
+to be the active centre of the civilised world. But it is to be
+remembered that the study of Egyptology carries one down to the
+Muhammedan invasion without much straining of the term, and merges then
+into the study of the Arabic period at so many points that no real
+termination can be given to the science; while the fact of the
+remoteness of its beginnings but serves to give it a greater value,
+since the vista before the eyes is wider.
+
+It is my object in this chapter to show that the ancient history of
+Egypt has a real bearing on certain aspects of the polemics of the
+country. I need not again touch upon the matters which were referred to
+on page 8 in order to demonstrate this fact. I will take but one
+subject--namely, that of Egypt's foreign relations and her wars in other
+lands. It will be best, for this purpose, to show first of all that the
+ancient and modern Egyptians are one and the same people; and,
+secondly, that the political conditions, broadly speaking, are much the
+same now as they have been throughout history.
+
+Professor Elliot Smith, F.R.S., has shown clearly enough, from the study
+of bones of all ages, that the ancient and modern inhabitants of the
+Nile Valley are precisely the same people anthropologically; and this
+fact at once sets the matter upon an unique footing: for, with the
+possible exception of China, there is no nation in the world which can
+be proved thus to have retained its type for so long a period. This one
+fact makes any parallel with Greece or Rome impossible. The modern
+Greeks have not much in common, anthropologically, with the ancient
+Greeks, for the blood has become very mixed; the Italians are not the
+same as the old Romans; the English are the result of a comparatively
+recent conglomeration of types. But in Egypt the subjects of archaic
+Pharaohs, it seems certain, were exactly similar to those of the modern
+Khedives, and new blood has never been introduced into the nation to an
+appreciable extent, not even by the Arabs. Thus, if there is any
+importance in the bearing of history upon politics, we have in Egypt a
+better chance of appreciating it than we have in the case of any other
+country.
+
+It is true that the language has altered, but this is not a matter of
+first-rate importance. A Jew is not less typical because he speaks
+German, French, or English; and the cracking of skulls in Ireland is
+introduced as easily in English as it was in Erse. The old language of
+the Egyptian hieroglyphs actually is not yet quite dead; for, in its
+Coptic form, it is still spoken by many Christian Egyptians, who will
+salute their friends in that tongue, or bid them good-morning or
+good-night. Ancient Egyptian in this form is read in the Coptic
+churches; and God is called upon by that same name which was given to
+Amon and his colleagues. Many old Egyptian words have crept into the
+Arabic language, and are now in common use in the country; while often
+the old words are confused with Arabic words of similar sound. Thus, at
+Abydos, the archaic fortress is now called the _Shunet es Zebib_, which
+in Arabic would have the inexplicable meaning "the store-house of
+raisins"; but in the old Egyptian language its name, of similar sound,
+meant "the fortress of the Ibis-jars," several of these sacred birds
+having been buried there in jars, after the place had been disused as a
+military stronghold. A large number of Egyptian towns still bear their
+hieroglyphical names: Aswan, (Kom) Ombo, Edfu, Esneh, Keft, Kus, Keneh,
+Dendereh, for example. The real origin of these being now forgotten,
+some of them have been given false Arabic derivations, and stories have
+been invented to account for the peculiar significance of the words thus
+introduced. The word _Silsileh_ in Arabic means "a chain," and a place
+in Upper Egypt which bears that name is now said to be so called
+because a certain king here stretched a chain across the river to
+interrupt the shipping; but in reality the name is derived from a
+mispronounced hieroglyphical word meaning "a boundary." Similarly the
+town of Damanhur in Lower Egypt is said to be the place at which a great
+massacre took place, for in Arabic the name may be interpreted as
+meaning "rivers of blood," whereas actually the name in Ancient Egyptian
+means simply "the Town of Horus." The archaeological traveller in Egypt
+meets with instances of the continued use of the language of the
+Pharaohs at every turn; and there are few things that make the science
+of Egyptology more alive, or remove it further from the dusty atmosphere
+of the museum, than this hearing of the old words actually spoken by the
+modern inhabitants of the land.
+
+The religion of Ancient Egypt, like those of Greece and Rome, was killed
+by Christianity, which largely gave place, at a later date, to
+Muhammedanism; and yet, in the hearts of the people there are still an
+extraordinary number of the old pagan beliefs. I will mention a few
+instances, taking them at random from my memory.
+
+In, ancient days the ithiphallic god Min was the patron of the crops,
+who watched over the growth of the grain. In modern times a degenerate
+figure of this god Min, made of whitewashed wood and mud, may be seen
+standing, like a scarecrow, in the fields throughout Egypt. When the
+sailors cross the Nile they may often be heard singing _Ya Amuni, Ya
+Amuni_, "O Amon, O Amon," as though calling upon that forgotten god for
+assistance. At Aswan those who are about to travel far still go up to
+pray at the site of the travellers' shrine, which was dedicated to the
+gods of the cataracts. At Thebes the women climb a certain hill to make
+their supplications at the now lost sanctuary of Meretsegert, the
+serpent-goddess of olden times. A snake, the relic of the household
+goddess, is often kept as a kind of pet in the houses of the peasants.
+Barren women still go to the ruined temples of the forsaken gods in the
+hope that there is virtue in the stones; and I myself have given
+permission to disappointed husbands to take their childless wives to
+these places, where they have kissed the stones and embraced the figures
+of the gods. The hair of the jackal is burnt in the presence of dying
+people, even of the upper classes, unknowingly to avert the jackal-god
+Anubis, the Lord of Death. A scarab representing the god of creation is
+sometimes placed in the bath of a young married woman to give virtue to
+the water. A decoration in white paint over the doorways of certain
+houses in the south is a relic of the religious custom of placing a
+bucranium there to avert evil. Certain temple-watchmen still call upon
+the spirits resident in the sanctuaries to depart before they will enter
+the building. At Karnak a statue of the goddess Sekhmet is regarded
+with holy awe; and the goddess who once was said to have massacred
+mankind is even now thought to delight in slaughter. The golden barque
+of Amon-Ra, which once floated upon the sacred lake of Karnak, is said
+to be seen sometimes by the natives at the present time, who have not
+yet forgotten its former existence. In the processional festival of
+Abu'l Haggag, the patron saint of Luxor, whose mosque and tomb stand
+upon the ruins of the Temple of Amon, a boat is dragged over the ground
+in unwitting remembrance of the dragging of the boat of Amon in the
+processions of that god. Similarly in the _Mouled el Nebi_ procession at
+Luxor, boats placed upon carts are drawn through the streets, just as
+one may see them in the ancient paintings and reliefs. The patron gods
+of Kom Ombo, Horur and Sebek, yet remain in the memories of the peasants
+of the neighbourhood as the two brothers who lived in the temple in the
+days of old. A robber entering a tomb will smash the eyes of the figures
+of the gods and deceased persons represented therein, that they may not
+observe his actions, just as did his ancestors four thousand years ago.
+At Gurneh a farmer recently broke the arms of an ancient statue, which
+lay half-buried near his fields, because he believed that they had
+damaged his crops. In the south of Egypt a pot of water is placed upon
+the graves of the dead, that their ghost, or _ka_, as it would have been
+called in old times, may not suffer from thirst; and the living will
+sometimes call upon the name of the dead, standing at night in the
+cemeteries.
+
+The ancient magic of Egypt is still widely practised, and many of the
+formulae used in modern times are familiar to the Egyptologist. The
+Egyptian, indeed, lives in a world much influenced by magic and thickly
+populated by spirits, demons, and djins. Educated men holding Government
+appointments, and dressing in the smartest European manner, will
+describe their miraculous adventures and their meetings with djins. An
+Egyptian gentleman holding an important administrative post, told me the
+other day how his cousin was wont to change himself into a cat at night
+time, and to prowl about the town. When a boy, his father noticed this
+peculiarity, and on one occasion chased and beat the cat, with the
+result that the boy's body next morning was found to be covered with
+stripes and bruises. The uncle of my informant once read such strong
+language (magically) in a certain book that it began to tremble
+violently, and finally made a dash for it out of the window. This same
+personage was once sitting beneath a palm-tree with a certain magician
+(who, I fear, was also a conjurer), when, happening to remark on the
+clusters of dates twenty feet or so above his head, his friend stretched
+his arms upwards and his hands were immediately filled with the fruit.
+At another time this magician left his overcoat by mistake in a railway
+carriage, and only remembered it when the train was a mere speck upon
+the horizon; but, on the utterance of certain words, the coat
+immediately flew through the air back to him.
+
+I mention these particular instances because they were told to me by
+educated persons; but amongst the peasants even more incredible stories
+are gravely accepted. The Omdeh, or headman, of the village of Chaghb,
+not far from Luxor, submitted an official complaint to the police a
+short time ago against an _afrit_ or devil which was doing much mischief
+to him and his neighbours, snatching up oil-lamps and pouring the oil
+over the terrified villagers, throwing stones at passers-by, and so
+forth. Spirits of the dead in like manner haunt the living, and often do
+them mischief. At Luxor, lately, the ghost of a well-known robber
+persecuted his widow to such an extent that she finally went mad. A
+remarkable parallel to this case, dating from Pharaonic days, may be
+mentioned. It is the letter of a haunted widower to his dead wife, in
+which he asks her why she persecutes him, since he was always kind to
+her during her life, nursed her through illnesses, and never grieved her
+heart.[1]
+
+    [Footnote 1: Maspero: 'Etudes egyptologiques,' i. 145.]
+
+These instances might be multiplied, but those which I have quoted will
+serve to show that the old gods are still alive, and that the famous
+magic of the Egyptians is not yet a thing of the past. Let us now turn
+to the affairs of everyday life.
+
+An archaeological traveller in Egypt cannot fail to observe the
+similarity between old and modern customs as he rides through the
+villages and across the fields. The houses, when not built upon the
+European plan, are surprisingly like those of ancient days. The old
+cornice still survives, and the rows of dried palm stems, from which its
+form was originally derived, are still to be seen on the walls of
+gardens and courtyards. The huts or shelters of dried corn-stalks, so
+often erected in the fields, are precisely the same as those used in
+prehistoric days; and the archaic bunches of corn-stalks smeared with
+mud, which gave their form to later stone columns, are set up to this
+day, though their stone posterity are now in ruins. Looking through the
+doorway of one of these ancient houses, the traveller, perhaps, sees a
+woman grinding corn or kneading bread in exactly the same manner as her
+ancestress did in the days of the Pharaohs. Only the other day a native
+asked to be allowed to purchase from us some of the ancient millstones
+lying in one of the Theban temples, in order to re-use them on his farm.
+The traveller will notice, in some shady corner, the village barber
+shaving the heads and faces of his patrons, just as he is seen in the
+Theban tomb-paintings of thousands of years ago; and the small boys who
+scamper across the road will have just the same tufts of hair left for
+decoration on their shaven heads as had the boys of ancient Thebes and
+Memphis. In another house, where a death has occurred, the mourning
+women, waving the same blue cloth which was the token of mourning in
+ancient days, will toss their arms about in gestures familiar to every
+student of ancient scenes. Presently the funeral will issue forth, and
+the men will sing that solemn yet cheery tune which never fails to call
+to mind the far-famed _Maneros_--that song which Herodotus describes as
+a plaintive funeral dirge, and which Plutarch asserts was suited at the
+same time to festive occasions. In some other house a marriage will be
+taking place, and the singers and pipers will, in like manner, recall
+the scenes upon the monuments. The former have a favourite gesture--the
+placing of the hand behind the ear as they sing--which is frequently
+shown in ancient representations of such festive scenes. The dancing
+girls, too, are here to be seen, their eyes and cheeks heavily painted,
+as were those of their ancestresses; and in their hands are the same
+tambourines as are carried by their class in Pharaonic paintings and
+reliefs. The same date-wine which intoxicated the worshippers of the
+Egyptian Bacchus goes the round of this village company, and the same
+food stuff, the same small, flat loaves of bread, are eaten.
+
+Passing out into the fields the traveller observes the ground raked into
+the small squares for irrigation which the prehistoric farmer made; and
+the plough is shaped as it always was. The _shadoof_, or water-hoist,
+is patiently worked as it has been for thousands of years; while the
+cylindrical hoist employed in Lower Egypt was invented and introduced in
+Ptolemaic times. Threshing and winnowing proceed in the manner
+represented on the monuments, and the methods of sowing and reaping have
+not changed. Along the embanked roads, men, cattle, and donkeys file
+past against the sky-line, recalling the straight rows of such figures
+depicted so often upon the monuments. Overhead there flies the vulture
+goddess Nekheb, and the hawk Horus hovers near by. Across the road ahead
+slinks the jackal, Anubis; under one's feet crawls Khepera, the scarab;
+and there, under the sacred tree, sleeps the horned ram of Amon. In all
+directions the hieroglyphs of the ancient Egyptians pass to and fro, as
+though some old temple-inscription had come to life. The letter _m_, the
+owl, goes hooting past. The letter _a_, the eagle, circles overhead; the
+sign _ur_, the wagtail, flits at the roadside, chirping at the sign
+_rekh_, the peewit. Along the road comes the sign _ab_, the frolicking
+calf; and near it is _ka_, the bull; while behind them walks the sign
+_fa_, a man carrying a basket on his head. In all directions are the
+figures from which the ancients made their hieroglyphical script; and
+thus that wonderful old writing at once ceases to be mysterious, a thing
+of long ago, and one realises how natural a product of the country it
+was.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. IV. In the palm-groves near Sakkara, Egypt.]
+
+                       [_Photo by E. Bird._
+
+In a word, ancient and modern Egyptians are fundamentally similar. Nor
+is there any great difference to be observed between the country's
+relations with foreign powers in ancient days and those of the last
+hundred years. As has been seen in the last chapter, Egypt was usually
+occupied by a foreign power, or ruled by a foreign dynasty, just as at
+the present day; and a foreign army was retained in the country during
+most of the later periods of ancient history. There were always numerous
+foreigners settled in Egypt, and in Ptolemaic and Roman times Alexandria
+and Memphis swarmed with them. The great powers of the civilised world
+were always watching Egypt as they do now, not always in a friendly
+attitude to that one of themselves which occupied the country; and the
+chief power with which Egypt was concerned in the time of the Ramesside
+Pharaohs inhabited Asia Minor and perhaps Turkey, just as in the middle
+ages and the last century. Then, as in modern times, Egypt had much of
+her attention held by the Sudan, and constant expeditions had to be made
+into the regions above the cataracts. Thus it cannot be argued that
+ancient history offers no precedent for modern affairs because all
+things have now changed. Things have changed extremely little, broadly
+speaking; and general lines of conduct have the same significance at the
+present time as they had in the past.
+
+I wish now to give an outline of Egypt's relationship to her most
+important neighbour, Syria, in order that the bearing of history upon
+modern political matters may be demonstrated; for it would seem that the
+records of the past make clear a tendency which is now somewhat
+overlooked. I employ this subject simply as an example.
+
+From the earliest historical times the Egyptians have endeavoured to
+hold Syria and Palestine as a vassal state. One of the first Pharaohs
+with whom we meet in Egyptian history, King Zeser of Dynasty III., is
+known to have sent a fleet to the Lebanon in order to procure cedar
+wood, and there is some evidence to show that he held sway over this
+country. For how many centuries previous to his reign the Pharaohs had
+overrun Syria we cannot now say, but there is no reason to suppose that
+Zeser initiated the aggressive policy of Egypt in Asia. Sahura, a
+Pharaoh of Dynasty V., attacked the Phoenician coast with his fleet, and
+returned to the Nile Valley with a number of Syrian captives. Pepi I. of
+the succeeding dynasty also attacked the coast-cities, and Pepi II. had
+considerable intercourse with Asia. Amenemhat I., of Dynasty XII.,
+fought in Syria, and appears to have brought it once more under Egyptian
+sway. Senusert I. seems to have controlled the country to some extent,
+for Egyptians lived there in some numbers. Senusert III. won a great
+victory over the Asiatics in Syria; and a stela and statue belonging to
+Egyptian officials have been found at Gezer, between Jerusalem and the
+sea. After each of the above-mentioned wars it is to be presumed that
+the Egyptians held Syria for some years, though little is now known of
+the events of these far-off times.
+
+During the Hyksos dynasties in Egypt there lived a Pharaoh named Khyan
+who was of Semitic extraction; and there is some reason to suppose that
+he ruled from Baghdad to the Sudan, he and his fathers having created a
+great Egyptian Empire by the aid of foreign troops. Egypt's connection
+with Asia during the Hyksos rule is not clearly defined, but the very
+fact that these foreign kings were anxious to call themselves "Pharaohs"
+shows that Egypt dominated in the east end of the Mediterranean. The
+Hyksos kings of Egypt very probably held Syria in fee, being possessed
+of both countries, but preferring to hold their court in Egypt.
+
+We now come to the great Dynasty XVIII., and we learn more fully of the
+Egyptian invasions of Syria. Ahmosis I. drove the Hyksos out of the
+Delta and pursued them through Judah. His successor, Amenhotep I.,
+appears to have seized all the country as far as the Euphrates; and
+Thutmosis I., his son, was able to boast that he ruled even unto that
+river. Thutmosis III., Egypt's greatest Pharaoh, led invasion after
+invasion into Syria, so that his name for generations was a terror to
+the inhabitants. From the Euphrates to the fourth cataract of the Nile
+the countries acknowledged him king, and the mighty Egyptian fleet
+patrolled the seas. This Pharaoh fought no less than seventeen campaigns
+in Asia, and he left to his son the most powerful throne in the world.
+Amenhotep II. maintained this empire and quelled the revolts of the
+Asiatics with a strong hand. Thutmosis IV., his son, conducted two
+expeditions into Syria; and the next king, Amenhotep III., was
+acknowledged throughout that country.
+
+That extraordinary dreamer, Akhnaton, the succeeding Pharaoh, allowed
+the empire to pass from him owing to his religious objections to war;
+but, after his death, Tutankhamen once more led the Egyptian armies into
+Asia. Horemheb also made a bid for Syria; and Seti I. recovered
+Palestine. Rameses II., his son, penetrated to North Syria; but, having
+come into contact with the new power of the Hittites, he was unable to
+hold the country. The new Pharaoh, Merenptah, seized Canaan and laid
+waste the land of Israel. A few years later, Rameses III. led his fleet
+and his army to the Syrian coast and defeated the Asiatics in a great
+sea-battle. He failed to hold the country, however, and after his death
+Egypt remained impotent for two centuries. Then, under Sheshonk I., of
+Dynasty XXII., a new attempt was made, and Jerusalem was captured.
+Takeloth II., of the same dynasty, sent thither an Egyptian army to help
+in the overthrow of Shalmaneser II.
+
+From this time onwards the power of Egypt had so much declined that the
+invasions into Syria of necessity became more rare. Shabaka of Dynasty
+XXV. concerned himself deeply with Asiatic politics, and attempted to
+bring about a state of affairs which would have given him the
+opportunity of seizing the country. Pharaoh Necho, of the succeeding
+dynasty, invaded Palestine and advanced towards the Euphrates. He
+recovered for Egypt her Syrian province, but it was speedily lost again.
+Apries, a few years later, captured the Phoenician coast and invaded
+Palestine; but the country did not remain for long under Egyptian rule.
+It is not necessary to record all the Syrian wars of the Dynasty of the
+Ptolemies. Egypt and Asia were now closely connected, and at several
+periods during this phase of Egyptian history the Asiatic province came
+under the control of the Pharaohs. The wars of Ptolemy I. in Syria were
+conducted on a large scale. In the reign of Ptolemy III. there were
+three campaigns, and I cannot refrain from quoting a contemporary record
+of the King's powers if only for the splendour of its wording:--
+
+"The great King Ptolemy ... having inherited from his father the royalty
+of Egypt and Libya and Syria and Phoenicia and Cyprus and Lycia and
+Caria and the Cyclades, set out on a campaign into Asia with infantry
+and cavalry forces, a naval armament and elephants, both Troglodyte and
+Ethiopic.... But having become master of all the country within the
+Euphrates, and of Cilicia and Pamphylia and Ionia and the Hellespont
+and Thrace, and of all the military forces and elephants in these
+countries, and having made the monarchs in all these places his
+subjects, he crossed the Euphrates, and having brought under him
+Mesopotamia and Babylonia and Susiana and Persis and Media, and all the
+rest as far as Bactriana ... he sent forces through the canals----"
+(Here the text breaks off.)
+
+Later in this dynasty Ptolemy VII. was crowned King of Syria, but the
+kingdom did not remain long in his power. Then came the Romans, and for
+many years Syria and Egypt were sister provinces of one empire.
+
+There is no necessity to record the close connection between the two
+countries in Arabic times. For a large part of that era Egypt and Syria
+formed part of the same empire; and we constantly find Egyptians
+fighting in Asia. Now, under Edh Dhahir Bebars of the Baharide Mameluke
+Dynasty, we see them helping to subject Syria and Armenia; now, under
+El-Mansur Kalaun, Damascus is captured; and now En Nasir Muhammed is
+found reigning from Tunis to Baghdad. In the Circassian Mameluke Dynasty
+we see El Muayyad crushing a revolt in Syria, and El Ashraf Bursbey
+capturing King John of Cyprus and keeping his hand on Syria. And so the
+tale continues, until, as a final picture, we see Ibrahim Pasha leading
+the Egyptians into Asia and crushing the Turks at Iconium.
+
+Such is the long list of the wars waged by Egypt in Syria. Are we to
+suppose that these continuous incursions into Asia have suddenly come to
+an end? Are we to imagine that because there has been a respite for a
+hundred years the precedent of six thousand years has now to be
+disregarded? By the recent reconquest of the Sudan it has been shown
+that the old political necessities still exist for Egypt in the south,
+impelling her to be mistress of the upper reaches of the Nile. Is there
+now no longer any chance of her expanding in other directions should her
+hands become free?
+
+The reader may answer with the argument that in early days England made
+invasion after invasion into France, yet ceased after a while to do so.
+But this is no parallel. England was impelled to war with France because
+the English monarchs believed themselves to be, by inheritance, kings of
+a large part of France; and when they ceased to believe this they ceased
+to make war. The Pharaohs of Egypt never considered themselves to be
+kings of Syria, and never used any title suggesting an inherited
+sovereignty. They merely held Syria as a buffer state, and claimed no
+more than an overlordship there. Now Syria is still a buffer state, and
+the root of the trouble, therefore, still exists. Though I must disclaim
+all knowledge of modern politics, I am quite sure that it is no
+meaningless phrase to say that England will most carefully hold this
+tendency in check prevent an incursion into Syria; but, with a strong
+controlling hand relaxed, it would require more than human strength to
+eradicate an Egyptian tendency--nay, a habit, of six thousand years'
+standing. Try as she might, Egypt, as far as an historian can see, would
+not be able to prevent herself passing ultimately into Syria again. How
+or when this would take place an Egyptologist cannot see, for he is
+accustomed to deal in long periods of time, and to consider the
+centuries as others might the decades. It might not come for a hundred
+years or more: it might come suddenly quite by accident.
+
+In 1907 there was a brief moment when Egypt appeared to be, quite
+unknowingly, on the verge of an attempted reconquest of her lost
+province. There was a misunderstanding with Turkey regarding the
+delineation of the Syrio-Sinaitic frontier; and, immediately, the
+Egyptian Government took strong action and insisted that the question
+should be settled. Had there been bloodshed the seat of hostilities
+would have been Syria; and supposing that Egypt had been victorious, she
+would have pushed the opposing forces over the North Syrian frontier
+into Asia Minor, and when peace was declared she would have found
+herself dictating terms from a point of vantage three hundred miles
+north of Jerusalem. Can it be supposed that she would then have desired
+to abandon the reconquered territory?
+
+However, matters were settled satisfactorily with the Porte, and the
+Egyptian Government, which had never realised this trend of events, and
+had absolutely no designs upon Syria, gave no further consideration to
+Asiatic affairs. In the eyes of the modern onlookers the whole matter
+had developed from a series of chances; but in the view of the historian
+the moment of its occurrence was the only chance about it, the _fact_ of
+its occurrence being inevitable according to the time-proven rules of
+history. The phrase "England in Egypt" has been given such prominence of
+late that a far more important phrase, "Egypt in Asia," has been
+overlooked. Yet, whereas the former is a catch-word of barely thirty
+years' standing, the latter has been familiar at the east end of the
+Mediterranean for forty momentous centuries at the lowest computation,
+and rings in the ears of the Egyptologist all through the ages. I need
+thus no justification for recalling it in these pages.
+
+Now let us glance at Egypt's north-western frontier. Behind the deserts
+which spread to the west of the Delta lies the oasis of Siwa; and from
+here there is a continuous line of communication with Tripoli and Tunis.
+Thus, during the present winter (1910-11), the outbreak of cholera at
+Tripoli has necessitated the despatch of quarantine officials to the
+oasis in order to prevent the spread of the disease into Egypt. Now, of
+late years we have heard much talk regarding the Senussi fraternity, a
+Muhammedan sect which is said to be prepared to declare a holy war and
+to descend upon Egypt. In 1909 the Egyptian Mamur of Siwa was murdered,
+and it was freely stated that this act of violence was the beginning of
+the trouble. I have no idea as to the real extent of the danger, nor do
+I know whether this bogie of the west, which is beginning to cause such
+anxiety in Egypt in certain classes, is but a creation of the
+imagination; but it will be interesting to notice the frequent
+occurrence of hostilities in this direction, since the history of
+Egypt's gateways is surely a study meet for her guardians.
+
+When the curtain first rises upon archaic times, we find those far-off
+Pharaohs struggling with the Libyans who had penetrated into the Delta
+from Tripoli and elsewhere. In early dynastic history they are the chief
+enemies of the Egyptians, and great armies have to be levied to drive
+them back through Siwa to their homes. Again in Dynasty XII., Amenemhat
+I. had to despatch his son to drive these people out of Egypt; and at
+the beginning of Dynasty XVIII., Amenhotep I. was obliged once more to
+give them battle. Seti I. of Dynasty XIX. made war upon them, and
+repulsed their invasion into Egypt. Rameses II. had to face an alliance
+of Libyans, Lycians, and others, in the western Delta. His son Merenptah
+waged a most desperate war with them in order to defend Egypt against
+their incursions, a war which has been described as the most perilous in
+Egyptian history; and it was only after a battle in which nine thousand
+of the enemy were slain that the war came to an end. Rameses III.,
+however, was again confronted with these persistent invaders, and only
+succeeded in checking them temporarily. Presently the tables were
+turned, and Dynasty XXII., which reigned so gloriously in Egypt, was
+Libyan in origin. No attempt was made thenceforth for many years to
+check the peaceful entrance of Libyans into Egypt, and soon that nation
+held a large part of the Delta. Occasional mention is made of troubles
+upon the north-west frontier, but little more is heard of any serious
+invasions. In Arabic times disturbances are not infrequent, and certain
+sovereigns, as for example, El Mansur Kalaun, were obliged to invade the
+enemy's country, thus extending Egypt's power as far as Tunis.
+
+There is one lesson which may be learnt from the above facts--namely,
+that this frontier is somewhat exposed, and that incursions from North
+Africa by way of Siwa are historic possibilities. If the Senussi
+invasion of Egypt is ever attempted it will not, at any rate, be without
+precedent.
+
+When England entered Egypt in 1882 she found a nation without external
+interests, a country too impoverished and weak to think of aught else
+but its own sad condition. The reviving of this much-bled, anaemic
+people, and the reorganisation of the Government, occupied the whole
+attention of the Anglo-Egyptian officials, and placed Egypt before their
+eyes in only this one aspect. Egypt appeared to be but the Nile Valley
+and the Delta; and, in truth, that was, and still is, quite as much
+as the hard-worked officials could well administer. The one task of the
+regeneration of Egypt was all absorbing, and the country came to be
+regarded as a little land wherein a concise, clearly-defined, and
+compact problem could be worked out.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. V. The mummy of Sety I. of Dynasty XIX.
+                      --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                      [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+
+Now, while this was most certainly the correct manner in which to face
+the question, and while Egypt has benefited enormously by this
+singleness of purpose in her officials, it was, historically, a false
+attitude. Egypt is not a little country: Egypt is a crippled Empire.
+Throughout her history she has been the powerful rival of the people of
+Asia Minor. At one time she was mistress of the Sudan, Somaliland,
+Palestine, Syria, Libya, and Cyprus; and the Sicilians, Sardinians,
+Cretans, and even Greeks, stood in fear of the Pharaoh. In Arabic times
+she held Tunis and Tripoli, and even in the last century she was the
+foremost Power at the east end of the Mediterranean. Napoleon when he
+came to Egypt realised this very thoroughly, and openly aimed to make
+her once more a mighty empire. But in 1882 such fine dreams were not to
+be considered: there was too much work to be done in the Nile Valley
+itself. The Egyptian Empire was forgotten, and Egypt was regarded as
+permanently a little country. The conditions which we found here we took
+to be permanent conditions. They were not. We arrived when the country
+was in a most unnatural state as regards its foreign relations; and we
+were obliged to regard that state as chronic. This, though wise, was
+absolutely incorrect. Egypt in the past never has been for more than a
+short period a single country; and all history goes to show that she
+will not always be single in the future.
+
+With the temporary loss of the Syrian province Egypt's need for a navy
+ceased to exist; and the fact that she is really a naval power has now
+passed from men's memory. Yet it was not much more than a century ago
+that Muhammed Ali fought a great naval battle with the Turks, and
+utterly defeated them. In ancient history the Egyptian navy was the
+terror of the Mediterranean, and her ships policed the east coast of
+Africa. In prehistoric times the Nile boats were built, it would seem,
+upon a seafaring plan: a fact that has led some scholars to suppose that
+the land was entered and colonised from across the waters. We talk of
+Englishmen as being born to the sea, as having a natural and inherited
+tendency towards "business upon great waters"; and yet the English navy
+dates from the days of Queen Elizabeth. It is true that the Plantagenet
+wars with France checked what was perhaps already a nautical bias, and
+that had it not been for the Norman conquest, England, perchance would
+have become a sea power at an earlier date. But at best the tendency is
+only a thousand years old. In Egypt it is seven or eight thousand years
+old at the lowest computation. It makes one smile to think of Egypt as
+a naval power. It is the business of the historian to refrain from
+smiling, and to remark only that, absurd as it may sound, Egypt's future
+is largely upon the water as her past has been. It must be remembered
+that she was fighting great battles in huge warships three or four
+hundred feet in length at a time when Britons were paddling about in
+canoes.
+
+One of the ships built by the Pharaoh Ptolemy Philopator was four
+hundred and twenty feet long, and had several banks of oars. It was
+rowed by four thousand sailors, while four hundred others managed the
+sails. Three thousand soldiers were also carried upon its decks. The
+royal dahabiyeh which this Pharaoh used upon the Nile was three hundred
+and thirty feet long, and was fitted with state rooms and private rooms
+of considerable size. Another vessel contained, besides the ordinary
+cabins, large bath-rooms, a library, and an astronomical observatory. It
+had eight towers, in which there were machines capable of hurling stones
+weighing three hundred pounds or more, and arrows eighteen feet in
+length. These huge vessels were built some two centuries before Caesar
+landed in Britain.[1]
+
+    [Footnote 1: Athenaeus, v. 8.]
+
+In conclusion, then, it must be repeated that the present Nile-centred
+policy in Egypt, though infinitely best for the country at this
+juncture, is an artificial one, unnatural to the nation except as a
+passing phase; and what may be called the Imperial policy is absolutely
+certain to take its place in time, although the Anglo-Egyptian
+Government, so long as it exists, will do all in its power to check it.
+History tells us over and over again that Syria is the natural dependant
+of Egypt, fought for or bargained for with the neighbouring countries to
+the north; that the Sudan is likewise a natural vassal which from time
+to time revolts and has to be reconquered; and that Egypt's most exposed
+frontier lies on the north-west. In conquering the Sudan at the end of
+the nineteenth century the Egyptians were but fulfilling their destiny:
+it was a mere accident that their arms were directed against a Mahdi. In
+discussing seriously the situation in the western oases, they are
+working upon the precise rules laid down by history. And if their
+attention is not turned in the far future to Syria, they will be defying
+rules even more precise, and, in the opinion of those who have the whole
+course of Egyptian history spread before them, will but be kicking
+against the pricks. Here surely we have an example of the value of the
+study of a nation's history, which is not more nor less than a study of
+its political tendencies.
+
+Speaking of the relationship of history to politics, Sir J. Seeley
+wrote: "I tell you that when you study English history, you study not
+the past of England only but her future. It is the welfare of your
+country, it is your whole interest as citizens, that is in question when
+you study history." These words hold good when we deal with Egyptian
+history, and it is our business to learn the political lessons which the
+Egyptologist can teach us, rather than to listen to his dissertations
+upon scarabs and blue glaze. Like the astronomers of old, the
+Egyptologist studies, as it were, the stars, and reads the future in
+them; but it is not the fashion for kings to wait upon his
+pronouncements any more! Indeed he reckons in such very long periods of
+time, and makes startling statements about events which probably will
+not occur for very many years to come, that the statesman, intent upon
+his task, has some reason to declare that the study of past ages does
+not assist him to deal with urgent affairs. Nevertheless, in all
+seriousness, the Egyptologist's study is to be considered as but another
+aspect of statecraft, and he fails in his labours if he does not make
+this his point of view.
+
+In his arrogant manner the Egyptologist will remark that modern politics
+are of too fleeting a nature to interest him. In answer, I would tell
+him that if he sits studying his papyri and his mummies without regard
+for the fact that he is dealing with a nation still alive, still
+contributing its strength to spin the wheel of the world around, then
+are his labours worthless and his brains misused. I would tell him that
+if his work is paid for, then is he a robber if he gives no return in
+information which will be of practical service to Egypt in some way or
+another. The Egyptian Government spends enormous sums each year upon
+the preservation of the magnificent relics of bygone ages--relics for
+which, I regret to say, the Egyptians themselves care extremely little.
+Is this money spent, then, to amuse the tourist in the land, or simply
+to fulfil obligations to ethical susceptibilities? No; there is but one
+justification for this very necessary expenditure of public
+money--namely, that these relics are regarded, so to speak, as the
+school-books of the nation, which range over a series of subjects from
+pottery-making to politics, from stone-cutting to statecraft. The future
+of Egypt may be read upon the walls of her ancient temples and tombs.
+Let the Egyptologist never forget, in the interest and excitement of his
+discoveries, what is the real object of his work.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+        THE NECESSITY OF ARCHAEOLOGY TO THE GAIETY OF THE WORLD.
+
+
+When a great man puts a period to his existence upon earth by dying, he
+is carefully buried in a tomb, and a monument is set up to his glory in
+the neighbouring church. He may then be said to begin his second life,
+his life in the memory of the chronicler and historian. After the lapse
+of an aeon or two the works of the historian, and perchance the tomb
+itself, are rediscovered; and the great man begins his third life, now
+as a subject of discussion and controversy amongst archaeologists in the
+pages of a scientific journal. It may be supposed that the spirit of the
+great man, not a little pleased with its second life, has an extreme
+distaste for his third. There is a dead atmosphere about it which sets
+him yawning as only his grave yawned before. The charm has been taken
+from his deeds; there is no longer any spring in them. He must feel
+towards the archaeologist much as a young man feels towards his
+cold-blooded parent by whom his love affair has just been found out.
+The public, too, if by chance it comes upon this archaeological journal,
+finds the discussion nothing more than a mental gymnastic, which, as the
+reader drops off to sleep, gives him the impression that the writer is a
+man of profound brain capacity, but, like the remains of the great man
+of olden times, as dry as dust.
+
+There is one thing, however, which has been overlooked. This scientific
+journal does not contain the ultimate results of the archaeologist's
+researches. It contains the researches themselves. The public, so to
+speak, has been listening to the pianist playing his morning scales, has
+been watching the artist mixing his colours, has been examining the
+unshaped block of marble and the chisels in the sculptor's studio. It
+must be confessed, of course, that the archaeologist has so enjoyed his
+researches that often the ultimate result has been overlooked by him. In
+the case of Egyptian archaeology, for example, there are only two
+Egyptologists who have ever set themselves to write a readable
+history,[1] whereas the number of books which record the facts of the
+science is legion.
+
+    [Footnote 1: Professor J.H. Breasted and Sir Gaston Maspero.]
+
+The archaeologist not infrequently lives, for a large part of his time,
+in a museum, a somewhat dismal place. He is surrounded by rotting
+tapestries, decaying bones, crumbling stones, and rusted or corroded
+objects. His indoor work has paled his cheek, and his muscles are not
+like iron bands. He stands, often, in the contiguity to an ancient
+broadsword most fitted to demonstrate the fact that he could never use
+it. He would probably be dismissed his curatorship were he to tell of
+any dreams which might run in his head--dreams of the time when those
+tapestries hung upon the walls of barons' banquet-halls, or when those
+stones rose high above the streets of Camelot.
+
+Moreover, those who make researches independently must needs contribute
+their results to scientific journals, written in the jargon of the
+learned. I came across a now forgotten journal, a short time ago, in
+which an English gentleman, believing that he had made a discovery in
+the province of Egyptian hieroglyphs, announced it in ancient Greek.
+There would be no supply of such pedantic swagger were there not a
+demand for it.
+
+Small wonder, then, that the archaeologist is often represented as
+partaking somewhat of the quality of the dust amidst which he works. It
+is not necessary here to discuss whether this estimate is just or not: I
+wish only to point out its paradoxical nature.
+
+More than any other science, archaeology might be expected to supply its
+exponents with stuff that, like old wine, would fire the blood and
+stimulate the senses. The stirring events of the Past must often be
+reconstructed by the archaeologist with such precision that his
+prejudices are aroused, and his sympathies are so enlisted as to set him
+fighting with a will under this banner or under that. The noise of the
+hardy strife of young nations is not yet silenced for him, nor have the
+flags and the pennants faded from sight. He has knowledge of the state
+secrets of kings, and, all along the line, is an intimate spectator of
+the crowded pageant of history. The caravan-masters of the elder days,
+the admirals of the "great green sea" the captains of archers, have
+related their adventures to him; and he might repeat to you their
+stories. Indeed, he has such a tale to tell that, looking at it in this
+light, one might expect his listeners all to be good fighting men and
+noble women. It might be supposed that the archaeologist would gather
+around him only men who have pleasure in the road that leads over the
+hills, and women who have known the delight of the open. One has heard
+so often of the "brave days of old" that the archaeologist might well be
+expected to have his head stuffed with brave tales and little else.
+
+His range, however, may be wider than this. To him, perhaps, it has been
+given to listen to the voice of the ancient poet, heard as a far-off
+whisper; to breathe in forgotten gardens the perfume of long dead
+flowers; to contemplate the love of women whose beauty is all perished
+in the dust; to hearken to the sound of the harp and the sistra, to be
+the possessor of the riches of historical romance. Dim armies have
+battled around him for the love of Helen; shadowy captains of sea-going
+ships have sung to him through the storm the song of the sweethearts
+left behind them; he has feasted with sultans, and kings' goblets have
+been held to his lips; he has watched Uriah the Hittite sent to the
+forefront of the battle.
+
+Thus, were he to offer a story, one might now suppose that there would
+gather around him, not the men of muscle, but a throng of sallow
+listeners, as improperly expectant as were those who hearkened under the
+moon to the narrations of Boccaccio, or, in old Baghdad, gave ear to the
+tales of the thousand and one nights. One might suppose that his
+audience would be drawn from those classes most fondly addicted to
+pleasure, or most nearly representative, in their land and in their
+time, of the light-hearted and not unwanton races of whom he had to
+tell. For his story might be expected to be one wherein wine and women
+and song found countenance. Even were he to tell of ancient tragedies
+and old sorrows, he would still make his appeal, one might suppose, to
+gallants and their mistresses, to sporting men and women of fashion,
+just as, in the mournful song of Rosabelle, Sir Walter Scott is able to
+address himself to the "ladies gay," or Coleridge in his sad "Ballad of
+the Dark Ladie" to "fair maids."
+
+Who could better arrest the attention of the coxcomb than the
+archaeologist who has knowledge of silks and scents now lost to the
+living world? To the gourmet who could more appeal than the archaeologist
+who has made abundant acquaintance with the forgotten dishes of the
+East? Who could so surely thrill the senses of the courtesan than the
+archaeologist who can relate that which was whispered by Anthony in the
+ear of Cleopatra? To the gambler who could be more enticing than the
+archaeologist who has seen kings play at dice for their kingdoms? The
+imaginative, truly, might well collect the most highly disreputable
+audience to listen to the tales of the archaeologist.
+
+But no, these are not the people who are anxious to catch the pearls
+which drop from his mouth. Do statesmen and diplomatists, then, listen
+to him who can unravel for them the policies of the Past? Do business
+men hasten from Threadneedle Street and Wall Street to sit at his feet,
+that they may have instilled into them a little of the romance of
+ancient money? I fear not.
+
+Come with me to some provincial town, where this day Professor Blank is
+to deliver one of his archaeological lectures at the Town Hall. We are
+met at the door by the secretary of the local archaeological society: a
+melancholy lady in green plush, who suffers from St Vitus's dance.
+Gloomily we enter the hall and silently accept the seats which are
+indicated to us by an unfortunate gentleman with a club-foot. In front
+of us an elderly female with short hair is chatting to a very plain
+young woman draped like a lay figure. On the right an emaciated man with
+a very bad cough shuffles on his chair; on the left two old grey-beards
+grumble to one another about the weather, a subject which leads up to
+the familiar "Mine catches me in the small of the back"; while behind
+us the inevitable curate, of whose appearance it would be trite to
+speak, describes to an astonished old lady the recent discovery of the
+pelvis of a mastodon.
+
+The professor and the aged chairman step on to the platform; and, amidst
+the profoundest gloom, the latter rises to pronounce the prefatory
+rigmarole. "Archaeology," he says, in a voice of brass, "is a science
+which bars its doors to all but the most erudite; for, to the layman who
+has not been vouchsafed the opportunity of studying the dusty volumes of
+the learned, the bones of the dead will not reveal their secrets, nor
+will the crumbling pediments of naos and cenotaph, the obliterated
+tombstones, or the worm-eaten parchments, tell us their story. To-night,
+however, we are privileged; for Professor Blank will open the doors for
+us that we may gaze for a moment upon that solemn charnel-house of the
+Past in which he has sat for so many long hours of inductive
+meditation."
+
+And the professor by his side, whose head, perhaps, was filled with the
+martial music of the long-lost hosts of the Lord, or before whose eyes
+there swayed the entrancing forms of the dancing-girls of Babylon,
+stares horrified from chairman to audience. He sees crabbed old men and
+barren old women before him, afflicted youths and fatuous maidens; and
+he realises at once that the golden keys which he possesses to the gates
+of the treasury of the jewelled Past will not open the doors of that
+charnel-house which they desire to be shown. The scent of the king's
+roses fades from his nostrils, the Egyptian music which throbbed in his
+ears is hushed, the glorious illumination of the Palace of a Thousand
+Columns is extinguished; and in the gathering gloom we leave him
+fumbling with a rusty key at the mildewed door of the Place of Bones.
+
+Why is it, one asks, that archaeology is a thing so misunderstood? Can it
+be that both lecturer and audience have crushed down that which was in
+reality uppermost in their minds: that a shy search for romance has led
+these people to the Town Hall? Or perchance archaeology has become to
+them something not unlike a vice, and to listen to an archaeological
+lecture is their remaining chance of being naughty. It may be that,
+having one foot in the grave, they take pleasure in kicking the moss
+from the surrounding tombstones with the other; or that, being denied,
+for one reason or another, the jovial society of the living, like Robert
+Southey's "Scholar" their hopes are with the dead.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. VI. A relief upon the side of the sarcophagus of one
+                       of the wives of King Mentuhotep III., discovered
+                       at Der el Bahri (Thebes). The royal lady is taking
+                       sweet-smelling ointment from an alabaster vase.
+                       A handmaiden keeps the flies away with a
+                       bird's-wing fan.
+                       --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                       [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+
+Be the explanation what it may, the fact is indisputable that archaeology
+is patronised by those who know not its real meaning. A man has no more
+right to think of the people of old as dust and dead bones than he has
+to think of his contemporaries as lumps of meat. The true archaeologist
+does not take pleasure in skeletons as skeletons, for his whole effort
+is to cover them decently with flesh and skin once more, and to put
+some thoughts back into the empty skulls. He sets himself to hide again
+the things which he would not intentionally lay bare. Nor does he
+delight in ruined buildings: rather he deplores that they are ruined.
+Coleridge wrote like the true archaeologist when he composed that most
+magical poem "Khubla Khan"--
+
+                     "In Xanadu did Khubla Khan
+                      A stately pleasure-dome decree:
+                      Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
+                      Through caverns measureless to man
+                          Down to a sunless sea."
+
+And those who would have the pleasure-domes of the gorgeous Past
+reconstructed for them must turn to the archaeologist; those who would
+see the damsel with the dulcimer in the gardens of Xanadu must ask of
+him the secret, and of none other. It is true that, before he can
+refashion the dome or the damsel, he will have to grub his way through
+old refuse heaps till he shall lay bare the ruins of the walls and
+expose the bones of the lady. But this is the "dirty work"; and the
+mistake which is made lies here: that this preliminary dirty work is
+confused with the final clean result. An artist will sometimes build up
+his picture of Venus from a skeleton bought from an old Jew round the
+corner; and the smooth white paper which he uses will have been made
+from putrid rags and bones. Amongst painters themselves these facts are
+not hidden, but by the public they are most carefully obscured. In the
+case of archaeology, however, the tedious details of construction are so
+placed in the foreground that the final picture is hardly noticed at
+all. As well might one go to Rheims to see men fly, and be shown nothing
+else but screws and nuts, steel rods and cog-wheels. Originally the
+fault, perhaps, lay with the archaeologist; now it lies both with him and
+with the public. The public has learnt to ask to be shown the works, and
+the archaeologist is often so proud of them that he forgets to mention
+the purpose of the machine.
+
+A Roman statue of bronze, let us suppose, is discovered in the Thames
+valley. It is so corroded and eaten away that only an expert could
+recognise that it represents a reclining goddess. In this condition it
+is placed in the museum, and a photograph of it is published in 'The
+Graphic.' Those who come to look at it in its glass case think it is a
+bunch of grapes, or possibly a monkey: those who see its photograph say
+that it is more probably an irregular catapult-stone or a fish in
+convulsions.
+
+The archaeologist alone holds its secret, and only he can see it as it
+was. He alone can know the mind of the artist who made it, or interpret
+the full meaning of the conception. It might have been expected, then,
+that the public would demand, and the archaeologist delightedly furnish,
+a model of the figure as near to the original as possible; or, failing
+that, a restoration in drawing, or even a worded description of its
+original beauty. But no: the public, if it wants anything, wants to see
+the shapeless object in all its corrosion; and the archaeologist forgets
+that it is blind to aught else but that corrosion. One of the main
+duties of the archaeologist is thus lost sight of: his duty as
+Interpreter and Remembrancer of the Past.
+
+All the riches of olden times, all the majesty, all the power, are the
+inheritance of the present day; and the archaeologist is the recorder of
+this fortune. He must deal in dead bones only so far as the keeper of a
+financial fortune must deal in dry documents. Behind those documents
+glitters the gold, and behind those bones shines the wonder of the
+things that were. And when an object once beautiful has by age become
+unsightly, one might suppose that he would wish to show it to none save
+his colleagues or the reasonably curious layman. When a man makes the
+statement that his grandmother, now in her ninety-ninth year, was once a
+beautiful woman, he does not go and find her to prove his words and
+bring her tottering into the room: he shows a picture of her as she was;
+or, if he cannot find one, he describes what good evidence tells him was
+her probable appearance. In allowing his controlled and sober
+imagination thus to perform its natural functions, though it would never
+do to tell his grandmother so, he becomes an archaeologist, a
+remembrancer of the Past.
+
+In the case of archaeology, however, the public does not permit itself so
+to be convinced. In the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford excellent facsimile
+electrotypes of early Greek weapons are exhibited; and these have far
+more value in bringing the Past before us than the actual weapons of
+that period, corroded and broken, would have. But the visitor says,
+"These are shams," and passes on.
+
+It will be seen, then, that the business of archaeology is often
+misunderstood both by archaeologists and by the public; and that there is
+really no reason to believe, with Thomas Earle, that the real
+antiquarian loves a thing the better for that it is rotten and stinketh.
+That the impression has gone about is his own fault, for he has exposed
+too much to view the mechanism of his work; but it is also the fault of
+the public for not asking of him a picture of things as they were.
+
+Man is by nature a creature of the present. It is only by an effort that
+he can consider the future, it is often quite impossible for him to give
+any heed at all to the Past. The days of old are so blurred and remote
+that it seems right to him that any relic from them should, by the
+maltreatment of Time, be unrecognisable. The finding of an old sword,
+half-eaten by rust, will only please him in so far as it shows him once
+more by its sad condition the great gap between those days and these,
+and convinces him again of the sole importance of the present. The
+archaeologist, he will tell you, is a fool if he expects him to be
+interested in a wretched old bit of scrap-iron. He is right. It would be
+as rash to suppose that he would find interest in an ancient sword in
+its rusted condition as it would be to expect the spectator at Rheims to
+find fascination in the nuts and screws. The true archaeologist would
+hide that corroded weapon in his workshop, where his fellow-workers
+alone could see it. For he recognises that it is only the sword which is
+as good as new that impresses the public; it is only the Present that
+counts. That is the real reason why he is an archaeologist. He has turned
+to the Past because he is in love with the Present. He, more than any
+man, worships at the altar of the goddess of To-day; and he is so
+desirous of extending her dominion that he has adventured, like a
+crusader, into the lands of the Past in order to subject them to her.
+Adoring the Now, he would resent the publicity of anything which so
+obviously suggested the Then as a rust-eaten old blade. His whole
+business is to hide the gap between Yesterday and To-day; and, unless a
+man is initiate, he would have him either see the perfect sword as it
+was when it sought the foeman's bowels, or see nothing. The Present is
+too small for him; and it is therefore that he calls so insistently to
+the Past to come forth from the darkness to augment it. The ordinary
+man lives in the Present, and he will tell one that the archaeologist
+lives in the Past. This is not so. The layman, in the manner of the
+Little Englander, lives in a small and confined Present; but the
+archaeologist, like a true Imperialist, ranges through all time, and
+calls it not the Past but the Greater Present.
+
+The archaeologist is not, or ought not to be, lacking in vivacity. One
+might say that he is so sensible to the charms of society that, finding
+his companions too few in number, he has drawn the olden times to him to
+search them for jovial men and agreeable women. It might be added that
+he has so laughed at jest and joke that, fearing lest the funds of
+humour run dry, he has gathered the laughter of all the years to his
+enrichment. Certainly he has so delighted in noble adventure and
+stirring action that he finds his newspaper insufficient to his needs,
+and fetches to his aid the tales of old heroes. In fact, the
+archaeologist is so enamoured of life that he would raise all the dead
+from their graves. He will not have it that the men of old are dust: he
+would bring them to him to share with him the sunlight which he finds so
+precious. He is so much an enemy of Death and Decay that he would rob
+them of their harvest; and, for every life the foe has claimed, he would
+raise up, if he could, a memory that would continue to live.
+
+The meaning of the heading which has been given to this chapter is now
+becoming clear, and the direction of the argument is already apparent.
+So far it has been my purpose to show that the archaeologist is not a
+rag-and-bone man, though the public generally thinks he is, and he often
+thinks he is himself. The attempt has been made to suggest that
+archaeology ought not to consist in sitting in a charnel-house amongst
+the dead, but rather in ignoring that place and taking the bones into
+the light of day, decently clad in flesh and finery. It has now to be
+shown in what manner this parading of the Past is needful to the gaiety
+of the Present.
+
+Amongst cultured people whose social position makes it difficult for
+them to dance in circles on the grass in order to express or to
+stimulate their gaiety, and whose school of deportment will not permit
+them to sing a merry song of sixpence as they trip down the streets,
+there is some danger of the fire of merriment dying for want of fuel.
+Vivacity in printed books, therefore, has been encouraged, so that the
+mind at least, if not the body, may skip about and clap its hands. A
+portly gentleman with a solemn face, reading his 'Punch' in the club,
+is, after all, giving play to precisely those same humours which in
+ancient days might have led him, like Georgy Porgy, to kiss the girls or
+to perform any other merry joke. It is necessary, therefore, ever to
+enlarge the stock of things humorous, vivacious, or rousing, if thoughts
+are to be kept young and eyes bright in this age of restraint. What
+would Yuletide be without the olden times to bolster it? What would the
+Christmas numbers do without the pictures of our great-grandparents'
+coaches snow-bound, of huntsmen of the eighteenth century, of jesters at
+the courts of the barons? What should we do without the 'Vicar of
+Wakefield,' the 'Compleat Angler,' 'Pepys' Diary,' and all the rest of
+the ancient books? And, going back a few centuries, what an amount we
+should miss had we not 'AEsop's Fables,' the 'Odyssey,' the tales of the
+Trojan War, and so on. It is from the archaeologist that one must expect
+the augmentation of this supply; and just in that degree in which the
+existing supply is really a necessary part of our equipment, so
+archaeology, which looks for more, is necessary to our gaiety.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. VII. Lady rouging herself: she holds a mirror and
+                        rouge-pot.
+                        --FROM A PAPYRUS, TURIN.]
+
+[Illustration: Dancing girl turning a back somersault.--NEW KINGDOM.]
+
+
+In order to keep his intellect undulled by the routine of his dreary
+work, Matthew Arnold was wont to write a few lines of poetry each day.
+Poetry, like music and song, is an effective dispeller of care; and
+those who find Omar Khayyam or "In Memoriam" incapable of removing the
+of burden of their woes, will no doubt appreciate the "Owl and the
+Pussy-cat," or the Bab Ballads. In some form or other verse and song are
+closely linked with happiness; and a ditty from any age has its
+interests and its charm.
+
+                     "She gazes at the stars above:
+                        I would I were the skies,
+                      That I might gaze upon my love
+                        With such a thousand eyes!"
+
+That is probably from the Greek of Plato, a writer who is not much
+read by the public at large, and whose works are the legitimate property
+of the antiquarian. It suffices to show that it is not only to the
+moderns that we have to look for dainty verse that is conducive to a
+light heart. The following lines are from the ancient Egyptian:--
+
+                     "While in my room I lie all day
+                      In pain that will not pass away,
+                          The neighbours come and go.
+                      Ah, if with them my darling came
+                      The doctors would be put to shame:
+                         _She_ understands my woe."
+
+Such examples might be multiplied indefinitely; and the reader will
+admit that there is as much of a lilt about those which are here quoted
+as there is about the majority of the ditties which he has hummed to
+himself in his hour of contentment. Here is Philodemus' description of
+his mistress's charms:--
+
+                    "My lady-love is small and brown;
+                     My lady's skin is soft as down;
+                     Her hair like parseley twists and turns;
+                     Her voice with magic passion burns...."
+
+And here is an ancient Egyptian's description of not very dissimilar
+phenomena:--
+
+                    "A damsel sweet unto the sight,
+                       A maid of whom no like there is;
+                     Black are her tresses as the night,
+                       And blacker than the blackberries."
+
+Does not the archaeologist perform a service to his contemporaries by
+searching out such rhymes and delving for more? They bring with them,
+moreover, so subtle a suggestion of bygone romance, they are backed by
+so fair a scene of Athenian luxury or Theban splendour, that they
+possess a charm not often felt in modern verse. If it is argued that
+there is no need to increase the present supply of such ditties, since
+they are really quite unessential to our gaiety, the answer may be given
+that no nation and no period has ever found them unessential; and a
+light heart has been expressed in this manner since man came down from
+the trees.
+
+Let us turn now to another consideration. For a man to be light of heart
+he must have confidence in humanity. He cannot greet the morn with a
+smiling countenance if he believes that he and his fellows are slipping
+down the broad path which leads to destruction. The archaeologist never
+despairs of mankind; for he has seen nations rise and fall till he is
+almost giddy, but he knows that there has never been a general
+deterioration. He realises that though a great nation may suffer defeat
+and annihilation, it is possible for it to go down in such a thunder
+that the talk of it stimulates other nations for all time. He sees, if
+any man can, that all things work together for happiness. He has
+observed the cycle of events, the good years and the bad; and in an evil
+time he is comforted by the knowledge that the good will presently roll
+round again. Thus the lesson which he can teach is a very real
+necessity to that contentment of mind which lies at the root of all
+gaiety.
+
+Again, a man cannot be permanently happy unless he has a just sense of
+proportion. He who is too big for his boots must needs limp; and he who
+has a swollen head is in perpetual discomfort. The history of the lives
+of men, the history of the nations, gives one a fairer sense of
+proportion than does almost any other study. In the great company of the
+men of old he cannot fail to assess his true value: if he has any
+conceit there is a greater than he to snub him; if he has a poor opinion
+of his powers there is many a fool with whom to contrast himself
+favourably. If he would risk his fortune on the spinning of a coin,
+being aware of the prevalence of his good-luck, archaeology will tell him
+that the best luck will change; or if, when in sore straits, he asks
+whether ever a man was so unlucky, archaeology will answer him that many
+millions of men have been more unfavoured than he. Archaeology provides a
+precedent for almost every event or occurrence where modern inventions
+are not involved; and, in this manner, one may reckon their value and
+determine their trend. Thus many of the small worries which cause so
+leaden a weight to lie upon the heart and mind are by the archaeologist
+ignored; and many of the larger calamities by him are met with serenity.
+
+But not only does the archaeologist learn to estimate himself and his
+actions: he learns also to see the relationship in which his life stands
+to the course of Time. Without archaeology a man may be disturbed lest
+the world be about to come to an end: after a study of history he knows
+that it has only just begun; and that gaiety which is said to have
+obtained "when the world was young" is to him, therefore, a present
+condition. By studying the ages the archaeologist learns to reckon in
+units of a thousand years; and it is only then that that little unit of
+threescore-and-ten falls into its proper proportion. "A thousand ages in
+Thy sight are like an evening gone," says the hymn, but it is only the
+archaeologist who knows the meaning of the words; and it is only he who
+can explain that great discrepancy in the Christian faith between the
+statement "Behold, I come quickly" and the actual fact. A man who knows
+where he is in regard to his fellows, and realises where he stands in
+regard to Time, has learnt a lesson of archaeology which is as necessary
+to his peace of mind as his peace of mind is necessary to his gaiety.
+
+It is not needful, however, to continue to point out the many ways in
+which archaeology may be shown to be necessary to happiness. The reader
+will have comprehended the trend of the argument, and, if he be in
+sympathy with it, he will not be unwilling to develop the theme for
+himself. Only one point, therefore, need here be taken up. It has been
+reserved to the end of this chapter, for, by its nature, it closes all
+arguments. I refer to Death.
+
+Death, as we watch it around us, is the black menace of the heavens
+which darkens every man's day; Death, coming to our neighbour, puts a
+period to our merry-making; Death, seen close beside us, calls a halt in
+our march of pleasure. But let those who would wrest her victory from
+the grave turn to a study of the Past, where all is dead yet still
+lives, and they will find that the horror of life's cessation is
+materially lessened. To those who are familiar with the course of
+history, Death seems, to some extent, but the happy solution of the
+dilemma of life. So many men have welcomed its coming that one begins to
+feel that it cannot be so very terrible. Of the death of a certain
+Pharaoh an ancient Egyptian wrote: "He goes to heaven like the hawks,
+and his feathers are like those of the geese; he rushes at heaven like a
+crane, he kisses heaven like the falcon, he leaps to heaven like the
+locust"; and we who read these words can feel that to rush eagerly at
+heaven like the crane would be a mighty fine ending of the pother.
+Archaeology, and especially Egyptology, in this respect is a bulwark to
+those who find the faith of their fathers wavering; for, after much
+study, the triumphant assertion which is so often found in Egyptian
+tombs--"Thou dost not come dead to thy sepulchre, thou comest
+living"--begins to take hold of the imagination. Death has been the
+parent of so much goodness, dying men have cut such a dash, that one
+looks at it with an awakening interest. Even if the sense of the
+misfortune of death is uppermost in an archaeologist's mind, he may find
+not a little comfort in having before him the example of so many good,
+men, who, in their hour, have faced that great calamity with squared
+shoulders.
+
+"When Death comes," says a certain sage of ancient Egypt, "it seizes the
+babe that is on the breast of its mother as well as he that has become
+an old man. When thy messenger comes to carry thee away, be thou found
+by him _ready_." Why, here is our chance; here is the opportunity for
+that flourish which modesty, throughout our life, has forbidden to us!
+John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, when the time came for him to lay his
+head upon the block, bade the executioner smite it off with three
+strokes as a courtesy to the Holy Trinity. King Charles the Second, as
+he lay upon his death-bed, apologised to those who stood around him for
+"being an unconscionable time adying." The story is familiar of
+Napoleon's aide-de-camp, who, when he had been asked whether he were
+wounded, replied, "Not wounded: killed," and thereupon expired. The Past
+is full of such incidents; and so inspiring are they that Death comes to
+be regarded as a most stirring adventure. The archaeologist, too, better
+than any other, knows the vastness of the dead men's majority; and if,
+like the ancients, he believes in the Elysian fields, where no death is
+and decay is unknown, he alone will realise the excellent nature of the
+company into which he will there be introduced.
+
+There is, however, far more living going on in the world than dying; and
+there is more happiness (thanks be!) than sorrow. Thus the archaeologist
+has a great deal more of pleasure than of pain to give to us for our
+enrichment. The reader will here enter an objection. He will say: "This
+may be true of archaeology in general, but in the case of Egyptology,
+with which we are here mostly concerned, he surely has to deal with a
+sad and solemn people." The answer will be found in the next chapter. No
+nation in the world's history has been so gay, so light-hearted as the
+ancient Egyptians; and Egyptology furnishes, perhaps, the most
+convincing proof that archaeology is, or should be, a merry science, very
+necessary to the gaiety of the world. I defy a man suffering from his
+liver to understand the old Egyptians; I defy a man who does not
+appreciate the pleasure of life to make anything of them. Egyptian
+archaeology presents a pageant of such brilliancy that the archaeologist
+is often carried along by it as in a dream, down the valley and over the
+hills, till, Past blending with Present, and Present with Future, he
+finds himself led to a kind of Island of the Blest, where death is
+forgotten and only the joy of life, and life's good deeds, still remain;
+where pleasure-domes, and all the ancient "miracles of rare device,"
+rise into the air from above the flowers; and where the damsel with the
+dulcimer beside the running stream sings to him of Mount Abora and of
+the old heroes of the elder days. If the Egyptologist or the
+archaeologist could revive within him one-hundredth part of the elusive
+romance, the delicate gaiety, the subtle humour, the intangible
+tenderness, the unspeakable goodness, of much that is to be found in his
+province, one would have to cry, like Coleridge--
+
+                                 "Beware, beware!
+                    Weave a circle round him thrice,
+                    And close your eyes with holy dread,
+                    For he on honey-dew hath fed,
+                    And drunk the milk of Paradise."
+
+
+
+
+                               PART II.
+
+                        STUDIES IN THE TREASURY.
+
+
+     "And I could tell thee stories that would make thee laugh
+     at all thy trouble, and take thee to a land of which thou
+     hast never even dreamed. Where the trees have ever
+     blossoms, and are noisy with the humming of intoxicated
+     bees. Where by day the suns are never burning, and by
+     night the moonstones ooze with nectar in the rays of the
+     camphor-laden moon. Where the blue lakes are filled with
+     rows of silver swans, and where, on steps of lapis
+     lazuli, the peacocks dance in agitation at the murmur of
+     the thunder in the hills. Where the lightning flashes
+     without harming, to light the way to women stealing in
+     the darkness to meetings with their lovers, and the
+     rainbow hangs for ever like an opal on the dark blue
+     curtain of the cloud. Where, on the moonlit roofs of
+     crystal palaces, pairs of lovers laugh at the reflection
+     of each other's love-sick faces in goblets of red wine,
+     breathing, as they drink, air heavy with the fragrance of
+     the sandal, wafted on the breezes from the mountain of
+     the south. Where they play and pelt each other with
+     emeralds and rubies, fetched at the churning of the ocean
+     from the bottom of the sea. Where rivers, whose sands are
+     always golden, flow slowly past long lines of silent
+     cranes that hunt for silver fishes in the rushes on the
+     banks. Where men are true, and maidens love for ever, and
+     the lotus never fades."
+                                F.W. BAIN: _A Heifer of the Dawn_.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER IV.
+
+                  THE TEMPERAMENT OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.
+
+
+A certain school geography book, now out of date, condenses its remarks
+upon the character of our Gallic cousins into the following pregnant
+sentence: "The French are a gay and frivolous nation, fond of dancing
+and red wine." The description would so nearly apply to the ancient
+inhabitants of Egypt, that its adoption here as a text to this chapter
+cannot be said to be extravagant. The unbiassed inquirer into the
+affairs of ancient Egypt must discover ultimately, and perhaps to his
+regret, that the dwellers on the Nile were a "gay and frivolous people,"
+festive, light-hearted, and mirthful, "fond of dancing and red wine,"
+and pledged to all that is brilliant in life. There are very many
+people, naturally, who hold to those views which their forefathers held
+before them, and picture the Egyptians as a sombre, gloomy people;
+replete with thoughts of Death and of the more melancholy aspect of
+religion; burdened with the menacing presence of a multitude of horrible
+gods and demons, whose priests demanded the erection of vast temples for
+their appeasement; having little joy of this life, and much uneasy
+conjecture about the next; making entertainment in solemn gatherings and
+ponderous feasts; and holding merriment in holy contempt. Of the five
+startling classes into which the dictionary divides the human
+temperament, namely, the bilious or choleric, the phlegmatic, the
+sanguine, the melancholic, and the nervous, it is probable that the
+first, the second, and the fourth would be those assigned to the ancient
+Egyptians by these people. This view is so entirely false that one will
+be forgiven if, in the attempt to dissolve it, the gaiety of the race is
+thrust before the reader with too little extenuation. The sanguine, and
+perhaps the nervous, are the classes of temperament under which the
+Egyptians must be docketed. It cannot be denied that they were an
+industrious and even a strenuous people, that they indulged in the most
+serious thoughts, and attempted to study the most complex problems of
+life, and that the ceremonial side of their religion occupied a large
+part of their time. But there is abundant evidence to show that, like
+their descendents of the present day, they were one of the least gloomy
+people of the world, and that they took their duties in the most buoyant
+manner, allowing as much sunshine to radiate through their minds as
+shone from the cloudless Egyptian skies upon their dazzling country.
+
+It is curiously interesting to notice how general is the present belief
+in the solemnity of this ancient race's attitude towards existence,
+and how little their real character is appreciated. Already the reader
+will be protesting, perhaps, that the application of the geographer's
+summary of French characteristics to the ancient Egyptians lessens in no
+wise its ridiculousness, but rather increases it. Let the protest,
+however, be held back for a while. Even if the Egyptians were not always
+frivolous, they were always uncommonly gay, and any slight exaggeration
+will be pardoned in view of the fact that old prejudices have to be
+violently overturned, and the stigma of melancholy and ponderous
+sobriety torn from the national name. It would be a matter of little
+surprise to some good persons if the products of excavation in the Nile
+Valley consisted largely of antique black kid gloves.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. VIII. Two Egyptian boys decked with flowers and a
+                         third holding a musical instrument. They are
+                         standing against the outside wall of the
+                         Dendereh Temple.]
+
+                         [_Photo by E. Bird._
+
+
+Like many other nations the ancient Egyptians rendered mortuary service
+to their ancestors, and solid tomb-chapels had to be constructed in
+honour of the more important dead. Both for the purpose of preserving
+the mummy intact, and also in order to keep the ceremonies going for as
+long a period of time as possible, these chapels were constructed in a
+most substantial manner, and many of them have withstood successfully
+the siege of the years. The dwelling-houses, on the other hand, were
+seldom delivered from father to son; but, as in modern Egypt, each
+grandee built a palace for himself, designed to last for a lifetime
+only, and hardly one of these mansions still exists even as a ruin.
+
+Moreover the tombs were constructed in the dry desert or in the solid
+hillside, whereas the dwelling-houses were situated on the damp earth,
+where they had little chance of remaining undemolished. And so it is
+that the main part of our knowledge of the Egyptians is derived from a
+study of their tombs and mortuary temples. How false would be our
+estimate of the character of a modern nation were we to glean our
+information solely from its churchyard inscriptions! We should know
+absolutely nothing of the frivolous side of the life of those whose bare
+bones lie beneath the gloomy declaration of their Christian virtues. It
+will be realised how sincere was the light-heartedness of the Egyptians
+when it is remembered that almost everything in the following record of
+their gaieties is derived from a study of the tombs, and of objects
+found therein.
+
+Light-heartedness is the key-note of the ancient philosophy of the
+country, and in this assertion the reader will, in most cases, find
+cause for surprise. The Greek travellers in Egypt, who returned to their
+native land impressed with the wonderful mysticism of the Egyptians,
+committed their amazement to paper, and so led off that feeling of awed
+reverence which is felt for the philosophy of Pharaoh's subjects. But in
+their case there was the presence of the priests and wise men eloquently
+to baffle them into the state of respect, and there were a thousand
+unwritten arguments, comments, articles of faith, and controverted
+points of doctrine heard from the mouths of the believers, to surprise
+them into a reverential attitude. But we of the present day have left to
+us only the more outward and visible remains of the Egyptians. There are
+only the fundamental doctrines to work on, the more penetrating notes of
+the harmony to listen to. Thus the outline of the philosophy is able to
+be studied without any complication, and we have no whirligig of
+priestly talk to confuse it. Examined in this way, working only from
+cold stones and dry papyri, we are confronted with the old "Eat, drink,
+and be merry," which is at once the happiest and most dangerous
+philosophy conceived by man. It is to be noticed that this way of
+looking at life is to be found in Egypt from the earliest times down to
+the period of the Greek occupation of the country, and, in fact, until
+the present day. That is to say, it was a philosophy inborn in the
+Egyptian,--a part of his nature.
+
+Imhotep, the famous philosopher of Dynasty III., about B.C. 3000, said
+to his disciples: "Behold the dwellings of the dead. Their walls fall
+down, their place is no more; they are as though they had never
+existed"; and he drew from this the lesson that man is soon done with
+and forgotten, and that therefore his life should be as happy as
+possible. To Imhotep must be attributed the earliest known exhortation
+to man to resign himself to his candle-end of a life, and to the
+inevitable snuffing-out to come, and to be merry while yet he may. There
+is a poem, dating from about B.C. 2000, from which the following is
+taken:--
+
+     "Walk after thy heart's desire so long as thou livest.
+     Put myrrh on thy head, clothe thyself in fine linen,
+     anoint thyself with the true marvels of God.... Let not
+     thy heart concern itself, until there cometh to thee that
+     great day of lamentation. Yet he who is at rest can hear
+     not thy complaint, and he who lies in the tomb can
+     understand not thy weeping. Therefore, with smiling face,
+     let thy days be happy, and rest not therein. For no man
+     carrieth his goods away with him; "O, no man returneth
+     again who is gone thither."
+
+Again, we have the same sentiments expressed in a tomb of about B.C.
+1350, belonging to a certain Neferhotep, a priest of Amen. It is quoted
+on page 235, and here we need only note the ending:
+
+     "Come, songs and music are before thee. Set behind thee
+     all cares; think only upon gladness, until that day
+     cometh whereon thou shalt go down to the land which
+     loveth silence."
+
+A Ptolemaic inscription quoted more fully towards the end of this
+chapter reads: "Follow thy desire by night and by day. Put not care
+within thy heart."
+
+The ancient Egyptian peasants, like their modern descendants, were
+fatalists, and a happy carelessness seems to have softened the
+strenuousness of their daily tasks. The peasants of the present day in
+Egypt so lack the initiative to develop the scope of their industries
+that their life cannot be said to be strenuous. In whatever work they
+undertake, however, they show a wonderful degree of cheerfulness, and a
+fine disregard for misfortune. Their forefathers, similarly, went
+through their labours with a song upon their lips. In the tombs at
+Sakkara, dating from the Old Empire, there are scenes representing
+flocks of goats treading in the seed on the newly-sown ground, and the
+inscriptions give the song which the goat-herds sing:--
+
+    "The goat-herd is in the water with the fishes,--
+     He speaks with the _nar_-fish, he talks with the pike;
+     From the west is your goat-herd; your goat-herd is from the west."
+
+The meaning of the words is not known, of course, but the song seems to
+have been a popular one. A more comprehensible ditty is that sung to the
+oxen by their driver, which dates from the New Empire:--
+
+    "Thresh out for yourselves, ye oxen, thresh out for yourselves.
+     Thresh out the straw for your food, and the grain for your masters.
+     Do not rest yourselves, for it is cool to-day."
+
+Some of the love-songs have been preserved from destruction, and these
+throw much light upon the subject of the Egyptian temperament. A number
+of songs, supposed to have been sung by a girl to her lover, form
+themselves into a collection entitled "The beautiful and gladsome songs
+of thy sister, whom thy heart loves, as she walks in the fields." The
+girl is supposed to belong to the peasant class, and most of the verses
+are sung whilst she is at her daily occupation of snaring wild duck in
+the marshes. One must imagine the songs warbled without any particular
+refrain, just as in the case of the modern Egyptians, who pour out their
+ancient tales of love and adventure in a series of bird-like cadences,
+full-throated, and often wonderfully melodious. A peculiar sweetness and
+tenderness will be noticed in the following examples, and though they
+suffer in translation, their airy lightness and refinement is to be
+distinguished. One characteristic song, addressed by the girl to her
+lover, runs--
+
+              "Caught by the worm, the wild duck cries,
+               But in the love-light of thine eyes
+               I, trembling, loose the trap. So flies
+                         The bird into the air.
+               What will my angry mother say?
+               With basket full I come each day,
+               But now thy love hath led me stray,
+                         And I have set no snare."
+
+Again, in a somewhat similar strain, she sings--
+
+              "The wild duck scatter far, and now
+               Again they light upon the bough
+                         And cry unto their kind;
+               Anon they gather on the mere--
+               But yet unharmed I leave them there,
+                         For love hath filled my mind."
+
+Another song must be given here in prose form. The girl who sings it is
+supposed to be making a wreath of flowers, and as she works she cries--
+
+     "I am thy first sister, and to me thou art as a garden
+     which I have planted with flowers and all sweet-smelling
+     herbs. And I have directed a canal into it, that thou
+     mightest dip thy hand into it when the north wind blows
+     cool. The place is beautiful where we walk, because we
+     walk together, thy hand resting within mine, our mind
+     thoughtful and our heart joyful. It is intoxicating to me
+     to hear thy voice, yet my life depends upon hearing it.
+     Whenever I see thee it is better to me than food and
+     drink."
+
+One more song must be quoted, for it is so artless and so full of human
+tenderness that I may risk the accusation of straying from the main
+argument in repeating it. It runs:--
+
+                  "The breath of thy nostrils alone
+                   Is that which maketh my heart to live.
+                   I found thee:
+                   God grant thee to me
+                   For ever and ever."
+
+It is really painful to think of these words as having fallen from the
+lips of what is now a resin-smelling lump of bones and hardened flesh,
+perhaps still unearthed, perhaps lying in some museum show-case, or
+perhaps kicked about in fragments over the hot sand of some
+tourist-crowded necropolis. Mummies are the most lifeless objects one
+could well imagine. It is impossible even for those whose imaginations
+are most powerful, to infuse life into a thing so utterly dead as an
+embalmed body; and this fact is partly responsible for that atmosphere
+of stark, melancholy, sobriety and aloofness which surrounds the affairs
+of ancient Egypt. In reading these verses, it is imperative for their
+right understanding that the mummies and their resting-places should be
+banished from the thoughts. It is not always a simple matter for the
+student to rid himself of the atmosphere of the museum, where the beads
+which should be jangling on a brown neck are lying numbered and labelled
+on red velvet; where the bird-trap, once the centre of such feathered
+commotion, is propped up in a glass case as "D, 18,432"; and where even
+the document in which the verses are written is the lawful booty of the
+grammarian and philologist in the library. But it is the first duty of
+an archaeologist to do away with that atmosphere.
+
+Let those who are untrammelled then, pass out into the sunshine of the
+Egyptian fields and marshes, where the wild duck cry to each other as
+they scuttle through the tall reeds. Here in the early morning comes our
+songstress, and one may see her as clearly as one can that Shulamite of
+King Solomon's day, who has had the good fortune to belong to a land
+where stones and bones, being few in number, do not endanger the
+atmosphere of the literature. One may see her, her hair moving in the
+breeze "as a flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead"; her teeth
+white "as a flock of shorn sheep which came up from the washing," and
+her lips "like a thread of scarlet." Through such imaginings alone can
+one appreciate the songs, or realise the lightness of the manner in
+which they were sung.
+
+With such a happy view of life amongst the upper classes as is
+indicated by their philosophy, and with that merry disposition amongst
+the peasants which shows itself in their love of song, it is not
+surprising to find that asceticism is practically unknown in ancient
+Egypt before the time of Christ. At first sight, in reflecting on the
+mysteries and religious ceremonies of the nation, we are apt to endow
+the priests and other participators with a degree of austerity wholly
+unjustified by facts. We picture the priest chanting his formulae in the
+dim light of the temple, the atmosphere about him heavy with incense;
+and we imagine him as an anchorite who has put away the things of this
+world. But in reality there seems to have been not even such a thing as
+a celibate amongst the priests. Each man had his wife and his family,
+his house, and his comforts of food and fine linen. He indulged in the
+usual pastimes and was present at the merriest of feasts. The famous
+wise men and magicians, such as Uba-ana of the Westcar Papyrus, had
+their wives, their parks, their pleasure-pavilions, and their hosts of
+servants. Great dignitaries of the Amon Church, such as Amenhotepsase,
+the Second Prophet of Amen in the time of Thutmosis IV., are represented
+as feasting with their friends, or driving through Thebes in
+richly-decorated chariots drawn by prancing horses, and attended by an
+array of servants. A monastic life, or the life of an anchorite, was
+held by the Egyptians in scorn; and indeed the state of mind which
+produces the monk and the hermit was almost entirely unknown to the
+nation in dynastic times. It was only in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods
+that asceticism came to be practised; and some have thought that its
+introduction into Egypt is to be attributed to the preaching of the
+Hindoo missionaries sent from India to the court of the Ptolemies. It is
+not really an Egyptian characteristic; and its practice did not last for
+more than a few centuries.
+
+The religious teachings of the Egyptians before the Ptolemaic era do not
+suggest that the mortification of the flesh was a possible means of
+purifying the spirit. An appeal to the senses and to the emotions,
+however, was considered as a legitimate method of reaching the soul. The
+Egyptians were passionately fond of ceremonial display. Their huge
+temples, painted as they were with the most brilliant colours, formed
+the setting of processions and ceremonies in which music, rhythmic
+motion, and colour were brought to a point of excellence. In honour of
+some of the gods dances were conducted; while celebrations, such as the
+fantastic Feast of Lamps, were held on the anniversaries of religious
+events. In these gorgeously spectacular ceremonies there was no place
+for anything sombre or austere, nor could they have been conceived by
+any but the most life-loving temperaments.
+
+As in his religious functions, so in his home, the Egyptian regarded
+brilliancy and festivity as an edification. When in trouble or
+distress, he was wont to relieve his mind as readily by an appeal to the
+vanities of this world as by an invocation of the powers of Heaven.
+Thus, when King Sneferu, of Dynasty IV., was oppressed with the cares of
+state, his councillor Zazamankh constructed for him a pleasure boat
+which was rowed around a lake by the most beautiful damsels obtainable.
+And again, when Wenamon, the envoy of Herhor of Dynasty XXI., had fallen
+into trouble with the pirates of the Mediterranean, his depression was
+banished by a gift of a dancing-girl, two vessels of wine, a young goat
+of tender flesh, and a message which read--"Eat and drink, and let not
+thy heart feel apprehension."
+
+An intense craving for brightness and cheerfulness is to be observed on
+all sides, and the attempt to cover every action of life with a kind of
+lustre is perhaps the most apparent characteristic of the race. At all
+times the Egyptians decked themselves with flowers, and rich and poor
+alike breathed what they called "the sweet north wind" through a screen
+of blossoms. At their feasts and festivals each guest was presented with
+necklaces and crowns of lotus-flowers, and a specially selected bouquet
+was carried in the hands. Constantly, as the hours passed, fresh flowers
+were brought to them, and the guests are shown in the tomb paintings in
+the act of burying their noses in the delicate petals with an air of
+luxury which even the conventionalities of the draughtsman cannot hide.
+In the women's hair a flower was pinned which hung down before the
+forehead; and a cake of ointment, concocted of some sweet-smelling
+unguent, was so arranged upon the head that, as it slowly melted, it
+re-perfumed the flower. Complete wreaths of flowers were sometimes worn,
+and this was the custom as much in the dress of the home as in that of
+the feast. The common people also arrayed themselves with wreaths of
+lotuses at all galas and carnivals. The room in which a feast was held
+was decorated lavishly with flowers. Blossoms crept up the delicate
+pillars to the roof; garlands twined themselves around the tables and
+about the jars of wine; and single buds lay in every dish of food. Even
+the dead were decked in their tombs with a mass of flowers, as though
+the mourners would hide with the living delights of the earth the misery
+of the grave.
+
+The Egyptian loved his garden, and filled it with all manner of
+beautiful flowers. Great parks were laid out by the Pharaohs, and it is
+recorded of Thutmosis III. that he brought back from his Asiatic
+campaigns vast quantities of rare plants with which to beautify Thebes.
+Festivals were held at the season when the flowers were in full bloom,
+and the light-hearted Egyptian did not fail to make the flowers talk to
+him, in the imagination, of the delights of life. In one case a fig-tree
+is made to call to a passing maiden to come into its shade.
+
+     "Come," it says, "and spend this festal day, and
+     to-morrow, and the day after to-morrow, sitting in my
+     shadow. Let thy lover sit at thy side, and let him
+     drink.... Thy servants will come with the
+     dinner-things--they will bring drink of every kind, with
+     all manner of cakes, flowers of yesterday and of to-day,
+     and all kinds of refreshing fruit."
+
+Than this one could hardly find a more convincing indication of the
+gaiety of the Egyptian temperament. In the eighteenth and nineteenth
+centuries A.D. the people were so oppressed that any display of luxury
+was discouraged, and a happy smile brought the tax-gatherer to the door
+to ascertain whether it was due to financial prosperity. But the
+carrying of flowers, and other indications of a kind of unworried
+contentment, are now again becoming apparent on all sides.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. IX. A garland of leaves and flowers dating from about
+                       B.C. 1000. It was placed upon the neck of a
+                       mummy.
+                       --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                       [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+
+The affection displayed by the Egyptians for bright colours would alone
+indicate that their temperament was not melancholic. The houses of the
+rich were painted with colours which would be regarded as crude had they
+appeared in the Occident, but which are admissible in Egypt where the
+natural brilliancy of the sunshine and the scenery demands a more
+extreme colour-scheme in decoration. The pavilions in which the nobles
+"made a happy day," as they phrased it, were painted with the most
+brilliant wall-decorations, and the delicately-shaped lotus columns
+supporting the roof were striped with half a dozen colours, and were
+hung with streamers of linen. The ceilings and pavements seem to have
+afforded the artists a happy field for a display of their originality
+and skill, and it is on these stretches of smooth-plastered surface that
+gems of Egyptian art are often found. A pavement from the palace of
+Akhnaton at Tell el Amarna shows a scene in which a cow is depicted
+frisking through the reeds, and birds are represented flying over the
+marshes. In the palace of Amenhotep III. at Gurneh there was a ceiling
+decoration representing a flight of doves, which, in its delicacy of
+execution and colouring, is not to be classed with the crude forms of
+Egyptian decoration, but indicates an equally light-hearted temperament
+in its creator. It is not probable that either bright colours or
+daintiness of design would emanate from the brains of a sombre-minded
+people.
+
+Some of the feminine garments worn in ancient Egypt were exceedingly
+gaudy, and they made up in colour all that they lacked in variety of
+design. In the Middle and New Empires the robes of the men were as
+many-hued as their wall decorations, and as rich in composition. One may
+take as a typical example the costume of a certain priest who lived at
+the end of Dynasty XVIII. An elaborate wig covers his head; a richly
+ornamented necklace surrounds his neck; the upper part of his body is
+clothed in a tunic of gauze-like linen; as a skirt there is swathed
+around him the most delicately coloured fine linen, one end of which is
+brought up and thrown gracefully over his arm; decorated sandals cover
+his feet and curl up over his toes; and in his hand he carries a
+jewelled wand surmounted by feathers. It would be an absurdity to state
+that these folds of fine linen hid a heart set on things higher than
+this world and its vanities. Nor do the objects of daily use found in
+the tombs suggest any austerity in the Egyptian character. There is no
+reflection of the Underworld to be looked for in the ornamental bronze
+mirrors, nor smell of death in the frail perfume pots. Religious
+abstraction is not to be sought in lotus-formed drinking-cups, and
+mortification of the body is certainly not practised on golden chairs
+and soft cushions. These were the objects buried in the tombs of the
+priests and religious teachers.
+
+The puritanical tendency of a race can generally be discovered by a
+study of the personal names of the people. The names by which the
+Egyptians called their children are as gay as they are pretty, and lack
+entirely the Puritan character. "Eyes-of-love," "My-lady-is-as-gold,"
+"Cool-breeze," "Gold-and-lapis-lazuli," "Beautiful-morning," are
+Egyptian names very far removed from "Through-trials-and-tribulations-
+we-enter-into-the-Kingdom-of-Heaven Jones," which is the actual name
+of a now living scion of a Roundhead family. And the well-known
+"Praise-God Barebones" has little to do with the Egyptian "Beautiful-
+Kitten," "Little-Wild-Lion," "I-have-wanted-you," "Sweetheart," and
+so on.
+
+The nature of the folk-tales is equally indicative of the temperament
+of a nation. The stories which have come down to us from ancient Egypt
+are often as frivolous as they are quaint. Nothing delighted the
+Egyptians more than the listening to a tale told by an expert
+story-teller; and it is to be supposed that such persons were in as much
+demand in the old days as they are now. One may still read of the
+adventures of the Prince who was fated to die by a dog, a snake, or a
+crocodile; of the magician who made the waters of the lake heap
+themselves up that he might descend to the bottom dry-shod to recover a
+lady's jewel; of the fat old wizard who could cut a man's head off and
+join it again to his body; of the fairy godmothers who made presents to
+a new-born babe; of the shipwrecked sailor who was thrown up on an
+island inhabited by serpents with human natures; of the princess in the
+tower whose lovers spent their days in attempting to climb to her
+window,--and so on. The stories have no moral, they are not pompous:
+they are purely amusing, interesting, and romantic. As an example one
+may quote the story which is told of Prince Setna, the son of Rameses
+II. This Prince was one day sitting in the court of the temple of Ptah,
+when he saw a woman pass "beautiful exceedingly, there being no woman of
+her beauty." There were wonderful golden ornaments upon her, and she was
+attended by fifty-two persons, themselves of some rank and much beauty.
+"The hour that Setna saw her, he knew not the place on earth where he
+was"; and he called to his servants and told them to "go quickly to the
+place where she is, and learn what comes under her command." The
+beautiful lady proved finally to be named Tabubna, the daughter of a
+priest of Bast, the Cat. Setna's acquaintance with her was later of a
+most disgraceful character; and, from motives which are not clear, she
+made him murder his own children to please her. At the critical moment,
+however, when the climax is reached, the old, old joke is played upon
+the listener, who is told that Setna then woke up, and discovered that
+the whole affair had been an afternoon dream in the shade of the temple
+court.
+
+The Egyptians often amused themselves by drawing comic pictures and
+caricatures, and there is an interesting series still preserved in which
+animals take the place of human beings, and are shown performing all
+manner of antics. One sees a cat walking on its hind legs driving a
+flock of geese, while a wolf carrying a staff and knapsack leads a herd
+of goats. There is a battle of the mice and cats, and the king of the
+mice, in his chariot drawn by two dogs, is seen attacking the fortress
+of the cats. A picture which is worthy of Edward Lear shows a ridiculous
+hippopotamus seated amidst the foliage of a tree, eating from a table,
+whilst a crow mounts a ladder to wait upon him. There are caricatures
+showing women of fashion rouging their faces, unshaven and really
+amusing old tramps, and so forth. Even upon the walls of the tombs
+there are often comic pictures, in which one may see little girls
+fighting and tearing at each others' hair, men tumbling one over another
+as they play, and the like; and one must suppose that these were the
+scenes which the owner of the tomb wished to perpetuate throughout the
+eternity of Death.
+
+The Egyptians took keen delight in music. In the sound of the trumpet
+and on the well-tuned cymbals they praised God in Egypt as merrily as
+the Psalmist could wish. The strings and the pipe, the lute and the
+harp, made music at every festival--religious, national, or private.
+Plato tells us that "nothing but beautiful forms and fine music was
+permitted to enter into the assemblies of young people" in Egypt; and he
+states that music was considered as being of the greatest consequence
+for its beneficial effects upon youthful minds. Strabo records the fact
+that music was largely taught in Egypt, and the numbers of musical
+instruments buried in the tombs or represented in the decorations
+confirm his statement. The music was scientifically taught, and a
+knowledge of harmony is apparent in the complicated forms of the
+instruments. The harps sometimes had as many as twenty-two strings: the
+long-handled guitars, fitted with three strings, were capable of wide
+gradations; and the flutes were sufficiently complicated to be described
+by early writers as "many-toned." The Egyptian did not merely bang a
+drum with his fist because it made a noise, nor blow blasts upon a
+trumpet as a means of expressing the inexpressible. He was an educated
+musician, and he employed the medium of music to encourage his lightness
+of heart and to render his gaiety more gay.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. X. A relief of the Saitic Period, representing an old
+                      man playing upon a harp, and a woman beating a
+                      drum. Offerings of food and flowers are placed
+                      before them.
+                      --ALEXANDRIA MUSEUM.]
+
+                      [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+
+One sees representations of the women in a rich man's harem amusing
+themselves by dancing and singing. In the tomb of Ay there is a scene
+showing the interior of the women's quarters, and here the ladies are
+shown dancing, playing guitars, feasting, or adorning themselves with
+their jewellery; while the store-rooms are seen to be filled with all
+manner of musical instruments, as well as mirrors, boxes of clothes, and
+articles of feminine use. At feasts and banquets a string band played
+during the meal, and songs were sung to the accompaniment of the harp.
+At religious festivals choruses of male and female voices were
+introduced. Soldiers marched through the streets to the sound of
+trumpets and drums, and marriage processions and the like were led by a
+band. At the feasts it was customary for the dancing-girls, who were
+employed for the amusement of the guests, to perform their dances and to
+play a guitar or a flute at the same time. One sees representations of
+girls, their heads thrown back and their long hair flying, merrily
+twanging a guitar as they skip round the room. In the civil and
+religious processions many of the participators danced along as though
+from sheer lightness of heart; and on some occasions even the band
+footed it down the high-road, circling, jumping, and skipping as they
+played.
+
+The words for "rejoice" and "dance" were synonymous in the literature of
+the Egyptians. In early days dancing naturally implied rejoicing, and
+rejoicing was most easily expressed by dancing. But the Egyptians of the
+refined periods more often danced to amuse themselves, regarding it,
+just as we do at the present day, as an exhilaration. Persons of the
+upper classes, however, did not indulge very freely in it, but preferred
+to watch the performances of professional dancers. At all banquets
+dancing was as indispensable as wine, women, and song, and it rather
+depended on the nature of the wine and women as to whether the guests
+joined personally in the sport or sat still while the dancers swayed
+around the room. The professionals were generally women, but sometimes
+men were employed, and one sees representations of a man performing some
+difficult solo while a chorus of women sings and marks time by clapping
+the hands. Men and women danced together on occasions, but as a general
+rule the Egyptian preferred to watch the movements of the more graceful
+sex by themselves. The women sometimes danced naked, to show off the
+grace of their poses and the suppleness of their muscles; sometimes they
+were decked with ribbons only; and sometimes they wore transparent
+dresses made of linen of the finest texture. It was not unusual for
+them to carry tambourines and castanets with which to beat time to their
+dances. On the other hand, there were delicate and sober performances,
+unaccompanied by music. The paintings show some of the poses to have
+been exceedingly graceful, and there were character dances enacted in
+which the figures must have been highly dramatic and artistic. For
+example, the tableau which occurs in one dance, and is called "The
+Wind," shows two of the dancing-girls bent back like reeds when the wind
+blows upon them, while a third figure stands over them in protection, as
+though symbolising the immovable rocks.
+
+But more usually the merry mood of the Egyptians asserted itself, as it
+so often does at the present day, in a demand for something approaching
+nearer to buffoonery. The dancers whirled one another about in the
+wildest manner, often tumbling head over heels on the floor. A trick,
+attended generally with success, consisted in the attempt by the dancers
+to balance the body upon the head without the support of the arms. This
+buffoonery was highly appreciated by the audience which witnessed it;
+and the banqueting-room must have been full of the noise of riotous
+mirth. One cannot, indeed, regard a feast as pompous or solemn at which
+the banging of the tambourines and the click of castanets vied with the
+clatter of the dishes and the laughter of the guests in creating a
+general hullabaloo. Let those state who will that the Egyptian was a
+gloomy individual, but first let them not fail to observe that same
+Egyptian standing upon his head amidst the roars of laughter of his
+friends.
+
+Dancing as a religious ceremony is to be found in many primitive
+countries, and in Egypt it exists at the present day in more than one
+form. In the days of the Pharaohs it was customary to institute dances
+in honour of some of the gods, more especially those deities whose
+concerns were earthy--that is to say, those connected with love, joy,
+birth, death, fertility, reproduction, and so on. It will be remembered
+how David danced before the Ark of the Lord, and how his ancestors
+danced in honour of the golden calf. In Egypt the king was wont to dance
+before the great god Min of the crops, and at harvest-time the peasants
+performed their thanksgiving before the figures of Min in this manner.
+Hathor and Bast, the two great goddesses of pleasure, were worshipped in
+the dance. Hathor was mistress of sports and dancing, and patron of
+amusements and mirth, joy and pleasure, beauty and love; and in regard
+to the happy temperament of the Egyptians, it is significant that this
+goddess was held in the highest esteem throughout the history of the
+nation.
+
+Bast was honoured by a festival which for merriment and frivolity could
+not well be equalled. The festival took place at Bubastis, and is
+described by Herodotus in the following words:--
+
+     "This is the nature of the ceremony on the way to
+     Bubastis. They go by water, and numerous boats are
+     crowded with persons of both sexes. During the voyage
+     several women strike the cymbals, some men play the
+     flute, the rest singing and clapping their hands. As they
+     pass near a town they bring the boat close to the bank.
+     Some of the women continue to sing and play the cymbals;
+     others cry out as long as they can, and utter mocking
+     jests against the people of the town, who begin to dance,
+     while the former pull up their clothes before them in a
+     scoffing manner. The same is repeated at every town they
+     pass upon the river. Arrived at Bubastis, they celebrate
+     the festival of Bast, sacrificing a great number of
+     victims, and on that occasion a greater consumption of
+     wine takes place than during the whole of the year."
+
+At this festival of Bast half the persons taking part in the
+celebrations must have become intoxicated. The Egyptians were always
+given to wine-drinking, and Athenaeus goes so far as to say that they
+were a nation addicted to systematic intemperance. The same writer, on
+the authority of Hellanicus, states that the vine was cultivated in the
+Nile valley at a date earlier than that at which it was first grown by
+any other people; and it is to this circumstance that Dion attributes
+the Egyptian's love of wine. Strabo and other writers speak of the wines
+of Egypt as being particularly good, and various kinds emanating from
+different localities are mentioned. The wines made from grapes were of
+the red and white varieties; but there were also fruit wines, made from
+pomegranates and other fruits. In the lists of offerings inscribed on
+the walls of temples and tombs one sees a large number of varieties
+recorded--wines from the north, wines from the south, wines provincial,
+and wines foreign. Beer, made of barley, was also drunk very largely,
+and this beverage is heartily commended by the early writers. Indeed,
+the wine and beer-bibber was so common an offender against the dignity
+of the nation, that every moralist who arose had a word to say against
+him. Thus, for example, in the Maxims of Ani one finds the moralist
+writing--
+
+     "Do not put thyself in a beer-house. An evil thing are
+     words reported as coming from thy mouth when thou dost
+     not know that they have been said by thee. When thou
+     fallest thy limbs are broken, and nobody giveth thee a
+     hand. Thy comrades in drink stand up, saying, 'Away with
+     this drunken man.'"
+
+The less thoughtful members of society, however, considered drunkenness
+as a very good joke, and even went so far as to portray it in their tomb
+decorations. One sees men carried home from a feast across the shoulders
+of three of their companions, or ignominiously hauled out of the house
+by their ankles and the scruff of their neck. In the tomb of Paheri at
+El Kab women are represented at a feast, and scraps of their
+conversation are recorded, such, for instance, as "Give me eighteen cups
+of wine, for I should love to drink to drunkenness: my inside is as dry
+as straw." There are actually representations of women overcome with
+nausea through immoderate drinking, and being attended by servants who
+have hastened with basins to their assistance. In another tomb-painting
+a drunken man is seen to have fallen against one of the delicate
+pillars of the pavilion with such force that it has toppled over, to the
+dismay of the guests around.
+
+In the light of such scenes as these one may picture the life of an
+Egyptian in the elder days as being not a little depraved. One sees the
+men in their gaudy raiment, and the women luxuriously clothed, staining
+their garments with the wine spilt from the drinking-bowls as their
+hands shake with their drunken laughter; and the vision of Egyptian
+solemnity is still further banished at the sight. It is only too obvious
+that a land of laughter and jest, feasting and carouse, must be situated
+too near a Pompeian volcano to be capable of endurance, and the
+inhabitants too purposeless in their movements to avoid at some time or
+other running into the paths of burning lava. The people of Egypt went
+merrily through the radiant valley in which they lived, employing all
+that the gods had given them,--not only the green palms, the thousand
+birds, the blue sky, the hearty wind, the river and its reflections, but
+also the luxuries of their civilisation,--to make for themselves a frail
+feast of happiness. And when the last flowers, the latest empty
+drinking-cup, fell to the ground, nothing remained to them but that
+sodden, drunken night of disgrace which shocks one so at the end of the
+dynastic history, and which inevitably led to the fall of the nation.
+Christian asceticism came as the natural reaction and Muhammedan
+strictness followed in due course; and it required the force of both
+these movements to put strength and health into the people once more.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XI. An Egyptian noble of the Eighteenth Dynasty
+                       hunting birds with a boomerang and decoys.
+                       He stands in a reed-boat which floats amidst
+                       the papyrus clumps, and a cat retrieves the
+                       fallen birds. In the boat with him are his
+                       wife and son.
+                       --FROM A THEBAN TOMB-PAINTING, BRITISH MUSEUM.]
+
+One need not dwell, however, on this aspect of the Egyptian temperament.
+It is more pleasing, and as pertinent to the argument, to follow the old
+lords of the Nile into the sunshine once more, and to glance for a
+moment at their sports. Hunting was a pleasure to them, in which they
+indulged at every opportunity. One sees representations of this with
+great frequency upon the walls of the tombs. A man will be shown
+standing in a reed boat which has been pushed in amongst the waving
+papyrus. A boomerang is in his hand, and his wife by his side helps him
+to locate the wild duck, so that he may penetrate within
+throwing-distance of the birds before they rise. Presently up they go
+with a whir, and the boomerang claims its victims; while all manner of
+smaller birds dart from amidst the reeds, and gaudy butterflies pass
+startled overhead. Again one sees the hunter galloping in his chariot
+over the hard sand of the desert, shooting his arrows at the gazelle as
+he goes. Or yet again with his dogs he is shown in pursuit of the
+long-eared Egyptian hare, or of some other creature of the desert. When
+not thus engaged he may be seen excitedly watching a bullfight, or
+eagerly judging the merits of rival wrestlers, boxers, and fencers. One
+may follow him later into the seclusion of his garden, where, surrounded
+by a wealth of trees and flowers, he plays draughts with his friends,
+romps with his children, or fishes in his artificial ponds. There is
+much evidence of this nature to show that the Egyptian was as much given
+to these healthy amusements as he was to the mirth of the feast.
+Josephus states that the Egyptians were a people addicted to pleasure,
+and the evidence brought together in the foregoing pages shows that his
+statement is to be confirmed. In sincere joy of living they surpassed
+any other nation of the ancient world. Life was a thing of such delight
+to the Egyptian, that he shrank equally from losing it himself and from
+taking it from another. His prayer was that he might live to be a
+centenarian. In spite of the many wars of the Egyptians, there was less
+unnecessary bloodshed in the Nile valley than in any other country which
+called itself civilised. Death was as terrible to them as it was
+inevitable, and the constant advice of the thinker was that the living
+should make the most of their life. When a king died, it was said that
+"he went forth to heaven having spent life in happiness," or that "he
+rested after life, having completed his years in happiness." It is true
+that the Egyptians wished to picture the after-life as one of continuous
+joy. One sees representations of a man's soul seated in the shade of the
+fruit-trees of the Underworld, while birds sing in the branches above
+him, and a lake of cool water lies before him; but they seemed to know
+that this was too pleasant a picture to be the real one. A woman, the
+wife of a high priest, left upon her tombstone the following
+inscription, addressed to her husband:--
+
+     "O, brother, husband, friend," she says, "thy desire to
+     drink and to eat hath not ceased. Therefore be drunken,
+     enjoy the love of women--make holiday. Follow thy desire
+     by night and by day. Put not care within thy heart. Lo!
+     are not these the years of thy life upon earth? For as
+     for the Underworld, it is a land of slumber and heavy
+     darkness, a resting-place for those who have passed
+     within it. Each sleepeth there in his own form, they
+     never awake to see their fellows, they behold not their
+     fathers nor their mothers, their heart is careless of
+     their wives and children."
+
+She knows that she will be too deeply steeped in the stupor of the
+Underworld to remember her husband, and unselfishly she urges him to
+continue to be happy after the manner of his nation. Then, in a passage
+which rings down the years in its terrible beauty, she tells of her
+utter despair, lying in the gloomy Underworld, suffocated with the mummy
+bandages, and craving for the light, the laughter, and the coolness of
+the day.
+
+     "The water of life," she cries, "with which every mouth
+     is moistened, is corruption to me, the water that is by
+     me corrupteth me. I know not what to do since I came into
+     this valley. Give me running water, say to me, 'Water
+     shall not cease to be brought to thee.' Turn my face to
+     the north wind upon the edge of the water. Verily thus
+     shall my heart be cooled and refreshed from its pain."
+
+It is, however, the glory of life, rather than the horror of death,
+which is the dominant note in the inscriptions and reliefs. The scenes
+in the tomb decorations seem to cry out for very joy. The artist has
+imprisoned in his representations as much sheer happiness as was ever
+infused into cold stone. One sees there the gazelle leaping over the
+hills as the sun rises, the birds flapping their wings and singing, the
+wild duck rising from the marshes, and the butterflies flashing
+overhead. The fundamental joy of living--that gaiety of life which the
+human being may feel in common with the animals--is shown in these
+scenes as clearly as is the merriment in the representations of feasts
+and dancing. In these paintings and reliefs one finds an exact
+illustration to the joyful exhortation of the Psalmist as he cries, "Let
+the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; ... let the fields be
+joyful, and all that is therein." In a land where, to quote one of their
+own poems, "the tanks are full of water and the earth overflows with
+love," where "the cool north wind" blows merrily over the fields, and
+the sun never ceases to shine, it would be a remarkable phenomenon if
+the ancient Egyptians had not developed the sanguine temperament. The
+foregoing pages have shown them at their feasts, in their daily
+occupations, and in their sports, and the reader will find that it is
+not difficult to describe them, in the borrowed words of the old
+geographer, as a people always gay and often frivolous, and
+never-ceasingly "fond of dancing and red wine."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+                      THE MISFORTUNES OF WENAMON.
+
+
+In the third chapter of this book it has been shown that the
+archaeologist is, to some extent, enamoured of the Past because it can
+add to the stock of things which are likely to tickle the fancy. So
+humorous a man is he, so fond of the good things of life, so stirred by
+its adventures, so touched by its sorrows, that he must needs go to the
+Past to replenish his supplies, as another might go to Paris or
+Timbuctoo.
+
+Here, then, is the place to give an example of the entertainment which
+he is likely to find in this province of his; and if the reader can
+detect any smell of dust or hear any creak of dead bones in the story
+which follows, it will be a matter of surprise to me.
+
+In the year 1891, at a small village in Upper Egypt named El Hibeh, some
+natives unearthed a much damaged roll of papyrus which appeared to them
+to be very ancient. Since they had heard that antiquities have a market
+value they did not burn it along with whatever other scraps of
+inflammable material they had collected for their evening fire, but
+preserved it, and finally took it to a dealer, who gave them in exchange
+for it a small sum of money. From the dealer's hands it passed into the
+possession of Monsieur Golenischeff, a Russian Egyptologist, who
+happened at the time to be travelling in Egypt; and by him it was
+carried to St Petersburg, where it now rests. This _savant_ presently
+published a translation of the document, which at once caused a
+sensation in the Egyptological world; and during the next few years four
+amended translations were made by different scholars. The interest shown
+in this tattered roll was due to the fact that it had been found to
+contain the actual report written by an official named Wenamon to his
+chief, the High Priest of Amon-Ra, relating his adventures in the
+Mediterranean while procuring cedar-wood from the forests of Lebanon.
+The story which Wenamon tells is of the greatest value to Egyptology,
+giving as it does a vivid account of the political conditions obtaining
+in Syria and Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh Rameses XII.; but it
+also has a very human interest, and the misfortunes of the writer may
+excite one's sympathy and amusement, after this lapse of three thousand
+years, as though they had occurred at the present time.
+
+In the time at which Wenamon wrote his report Egypt had fallen on evil
+days. A long line of incapable descendants of the great Rameses II. and
+Rameses III. had ruled the Nile valley; and now a wretched ghost of a
+Pharaoh, Rameses XII., sat upon the throne, bereft of all power, a ruler
+in name only. The government of the country lay in the hands of two
+great nobles: in Upper Egypt, Herhor, High Priest of Amon-Ra, was
+undisputed master; and in Lower Egypt, Nesubanebded, a prince of the
+city of Tanis (the Zoan of the Bible), virtually ruled as king of the
+Delta. Both these persons ultimately ascended the throne of the
+Pharaohs; but at the time of Wenamon's adventures the High Priest was
+the more powerful of the two, and could command the obedience of the
+northern ruler, at any rate in all sacerdotal matters. The priesthood of
+Amon-Ra was the greatest political factor in Egyptian life. That god's
+name was respected even in the courts of Syria, and though his power was
+now on the wane, fifty years previously the great religious body which
+bowed the knee to him was feared throughout all the countries
+neighbouring to Egypt. The main cause of Wenamon's troubles was the lack
+of appreciation of this fact that the god's influence in Syria was not
+as great as it had been in the past; and this report would certainly not
+have been worth recording here if he had realised that prestige is, of
+all factors in international relations, the least reliable.
+
+In the year 1113 B.C. the High Priest undertook the construction of a
+ceremonial barge in which the image of the god might be floated upon the
+sacred waters of the Nile during the great religious festivals at
+Thebes; and for this purpose he found himself in need of a large amount
+of cedar-wood of the best quality. He therefore sent for Wenamon, who
+held the sacerdotal title of "Eldest of the Hall of the Temple of Amon,"
+and instructed him to proceed to the Lebanon to procure the timber. It
+is evident that Wenamon was no traveller, and we may perhaps be
+permitted to picture him as a rather portly gentleman of middle age, not
+wanting either in energy or pluck, but given, like some of his
+countrymen, to a fluctuation of the emotions which would jump him from
+smiles to tears, from hope to despair, in a manner amazing to any but an
+Egyptian. To us he often appears as an overgrown baby, and his
+misfortunes have a farcical nature which makes its appeal as much
+through the medium of one's love of the ludicrous as through that of
+one's interest in the romance of adventure. Those who are acquainted
+with Egypt will see in him one of the types of naif, delightful children
+of the Nile, whose decorous introduction into the parlour of the nations
+of to-day is requiring such careful rehearsal.
+
+For his journey the High Priest gave Wenamon a sum of money, and as
+credentials he handed him a number of letters addressed to Egyptian and
+Syrian princes, and intrusted to his care a particularly sacred little
+image of Amon-Ra, known as Amon-of-the-Road, which had probably
+accompanied other envoys to the Kingdoms of the Sea in times past, and
+would be recognised as a token of the official nature of any embassy
+which carried it.
+
+Thus armed Wenamon set out from El Hibeh--probably the ancient Hetbennu,
+the capital of the Eighteenth Province of Upper Egypt--on the sixteenth
+day of the eleventh month of the fifth year of the reign of Rameses XII.
+(1113 B.C.), and travelled down the Nile by boat to Tanis, a distance of
+some 200 miles. On his arrival at this fair city of the Delta, whose
+temples and palaces rose on the borders of the swamps at the edge of the
+sea, Wenamon made his way to the palace of Nesubanebded, and handed to
+him the letters which he had received from the High Priest. These were
+caused to be read aloud; and Nesubanebded, hearing that Wenamon was
+desirous of reaching the Lebanon as soon as possible, made the necessary
+arrangements for his immediate despatch upon a vessel which happened
+then to be lying at the quay under the command of a Syrian skipper named
+Mengebet, who was about to set out for the Asiatic coast. On the first
+day of the twelfth month, that is to say fourteen days after his
+departure from his native town, Wenamon set sail from Tanis, crossing
+the swamps and heading out into "the Great Syrian Sea."
+
+The voyage over the blue rippling Mediterranean was calm and prosperous
+as the good ship sailed along the barren shores of the land of the
+Shasu, along the more mountainous coast of Edom, and thence northwards
+past the cities of Askalon and Ashdod. To Wenamon, however, the journey
+was fraught with anxiety. He was full of fears as to his reception in
+Syria, for the first of his misfortunes had befallen him. Although he
+had with him both money and the image of Amon-of-the-Road, in the
+excitement and hurry of his departure he had entirely forgotten to
+obtain again the bundle of letters of introduction which he had given
+Nesubanebded to read; and thus there were grave reasons for supposing
+that his mission might prove a complete failure. Mengebet was evidently
+a stern old salt who cared not a snap of the fingers for Amon or his
+envoy, and whose one desire was to reach his destination as rapidly as
+wind and oars would permit; and it is probable that he refused bluntly
+to return to Tanis when Wenamon informed him of the oversight. This and
+the inherent distrust of an Egyptian for a foreigner led Wenamon to
+regard the captain and his men with suspicion; and one must imagine him
+seated in the rough deck-cabin gloomily guarding the divine image and
+his store of money. He had with him a secretary and probably two or
+three servants; and one may picture these unfortunates anxiously
+watching the Syrian crew as they slouched about the deck. It is further
+to be remembered that, as a general rule, the Egyptians are most
+extremely bad sailors.
+
+After some days the ship arrived at the little city of Dor, which
+nestled at the foot of the Ridge of Carmel; and here they put in to
+replenish their supplies. Wenamon states in his report that Dor was at
+this time a city of the Thekel or Sicilians, some wandering band of
+sea-rovers having left their native Sicily to settle here, at first
+under the protection of the Egyptians, but now independent of them. The
+King of Dor, by name Bedel, hearing that an envoy of the High Priest of
+Amon-Ra had arrived in his harbour, very politely sent down to him a
+joint of beef, some loaves of bread, and a jar of wine, upon which
+Wenamon must have set to with an appetite, after subsisting upon the
+scanty rations of the sea for so long a time.
+
+It may be that the wine was more potent than that to which the Egyptian
+was accustomed; or perhaps the white buildings of the city, glistening
+in the sunlight, and the busy quays, engrossed his attention too
+completely: anyhow, the second of his misfortunes now befel him. One of
+the Syrian sailors seized the opportunity to slip into his cabin and to
+steal the money which was hidden there. Before Wenamon had detected the
+robbery the sailor had disappeared for ever amidst the houses of Dor.
+That evening the distracted envoy, seated upon the floor of his cabin,
+was obliged to chronicle the list of stolen money, which list was
+afterwards incorporated in his report in the following manner:--
+
+One vessel containing gold amounting to            5 debens,
+Four vessels containing silver amounting to       20   "
+One wallet containing silver amounting to         11   "
+                                                  ---------
+Total of what was stolen: gold, 5 debens; silver, 31 debens.
+
+A deben weighed about 100 grammes, and thus the robber was richer by
+500 grammes of gold, which in those days would have the purchasing value
+of about L600 in our money, and 3100 grammes of silver, equal to about
+L2200.[1]
+
+    [Footnote 1: See Weigall: Catalogue of Weights and Balances in
+                 the Cairo Museum, p. xvi.]
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XII. A reed box for holding clothing, discovered in
+                        the tomb of Yuaa and Tuau.
+                        --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                        [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+Wenamon must have slept little that night, and early on the following
+morning he hastened to the palace of King Bedel to lay his case before
+him. Fortunately Bedel did not ask him for his credentials, but with the
+utmost politeness he gave his consideration to the affair. Wenamon's
+words, however, were by no means polite, and one finds in them a
+blustering assurance which suggests that he considered himself a
+personage of extreme consequence, and regarded a King of Dor as nothing
+in comparison with an envoy of Amon-Ra.
+
+"I have been robbed in your harbour," he cried, so he tells us in the
+report, "and, since you are the king of this land, you must be regarded
+as a party to the crime. You must search for my money. The money belongs
+to Nesubanebded, and it belongs to Herhor, my lord" (no mention,
+observe, of the wretched Rameses XII.), "and to the other nobles of
+Egypt. It belongs also to Weret, and to Mekmel, and to Zakar-Baal the
+Prince of Byblos."[2] These latter were the persons to whom it was to be
+paid.
+
+    [Footnote 2: The translation is based on that of Prof. Breasted.]
+
+The King of Dor listened to this outburst with Sicilian politeness, and
+replied in the following very correct terms: "With all due respect to
+your honour and excellency," he said, "I know nothing of this complaint
+which you have lodged with me. If the thief belonged to my land and went
+on board your ship in order to steal your money, I would advance you the
+sum from my treasury while they were finding the culprit. But the thief
+who robbed you belonged to your ship. Tarry, however, a few days here
+with me and I will seek him."
+
+Wenamon, therefore, strode back to the vessel, and there remained,
+fuming and fretting, for nine long days. The skipper Mengebet, however,
+had no reason to remain at Dor, and seems to have told Wenamon that he
+could wait no longer. On the tenth day, therefore, Wenamon retraced his
+steps to the palace, and addressed himself once more to Bedel. "Look,"
+he said to the king, when he was ushered into the royal presence, "you
+have not found my money, and therefore you had better let me go with my
+ship's captain and with those...." The rest of the interview is lost in
+a lacuna, and practically the only words which the damaged condition of
+the papyrus permits one now to read are, "He said, 'Be silent!'" which
+indicates that even the patience of a King of Dor could be exhausted.
+
+When the narrative is able to be resumed one finds that Wenamon has set
+sail from the city, and has travelled along the coast to the proud city
+of Tyre, where he arrived one afternoon penniless and letterless,
+having now nothing left but the little Amon-of-the-Road and his own
+audacity. The charms of Tyre, then one of the great ports of the
+civilised world, were of no consequence to the destitute Egyptian, nor
+do they seem to have attracted the skipper of his ship, who, after his
+long delay at Dor, was in no mood to linger. At dawn the next morning,
+therefore, the journey was continued, and once more an unfortunate
+lacuna interrupts the passage of the report. From the tattered fragments
+of the writing, however, it seems that at the next port of call--perhaps
+the city of Sidon--a party of inoffensive Sicilian merchants was
+encountered, and immediately the desperate Wenamon hatched a daring
+plot. By this time he had come to place some trust in Mengebet, the
+skipper, who, for the sake of his own good standing in Egypt, had shown
+himself willing to help the envoy of Amon-Ra in his troubles, although
+he would not go so far as to delay his journey for him; and Wenamon
+therefore admitted him to his councils. On some pretext or other a party
+led by the Egyptian paid a visit to these merchants and entered into
+conversation with them. Then, suddenly overpowering them, a rush was
+made for their cash-box, which Wenamon at once burst open. To his
+disappointment he found it to contain only thirty-one debens of silver,
+which happened to be precisely the amount of silver, though not of gold,
+which he had lost. This sum he pocketed, saying to the struggling
+merchants as he did so, "I will take this money of yours, and will keep
+it until you find my money. Was it not a Sicilian who stole it, and no
+thief of ours? I will take it."
+
+With these words the party raced back to the ship, scrambled on board,
+and in a few moments had hoisted sail and were scudding northwards
+towards Byblos, where Wenamon proposed to throw himself on the mercy of
+Zakar-Baal, the prince of that city. Wenamon, it will be remembered, had
+always considered that he had been robbed by a Sicilian of Dor,
+notwithstanding the fact that only a sailor of his own ship could have
+known of the existence of the money, as King Bedel seems to have pointed
+out to him. The Egyptian, therefore, did not regard this forcible
+seizure of silver from these other Sicilians as a crime. It was a
+perfectly just appropriation of a portion of the funds which belonged to
+him by rights. Let us imagine ourselves robbed at our hotel by Hans the
+German waiter: it would surely give us the most profound satisfaction to
+take Herr Schnupfendorff, the piano-tuner, by the throat when next he
+visited us, and go through his pockets. He and Hans, being of the same
+nationality, must suffer for one another's sins, and if the magistrate
+thinks otherwise he must be regarded as prejudiced by too much study of
+the law.
+
+Byblos stood at the foot of the hills of Lebanon, in the very shadow of
+the great cedars, and it was therefore Wenamon's destination. Now,
+however, as the ship dropped anchor in the harbour, the Egyptian
+realised that his mission would probably be fruitless, and that he
+himself would perhaps be flung into prison for illegally having in his
+possession the famous image of the god to which he could show no written
+right. Moreover, the news of the robbery of the merchants might well
+have reached Byblos overland. His first action, therefore, was to
+conceal the idol and the money; and this having been accomplished he sat
+himself down in his cabin to await events.
+
+The Prince of Byblos certainly had been advised of the robbery; and as
+soon as the news of the ship's arrival was reported to him he sent a
+curt message to the captain saying simply, "Get out of my harbour." At
+this Wenamon gave up all hope, and, hearing that there was then in port
+a vessel which was about to sail for Egypt, he sent a pathetic message
+to the prince asking whether he might be allowed to travel by it back to
+his own country.
+
+No satisfactory answer was received, and for the best part of a month
+Wenamon's ship rode at anchor, while the distracted envoy paced the
+deck, vainly pondering upon a fitting course of action. Each morning the
+same brief order, "Get out of my harbour," was delivered to him by the
+harbour-master; but the indecision of the authorities as to how to treat
+this Egyptian official prevented the order being backed by force.
+Meanwhile Wenamon and Mengebet judiciously spread through the city the
+report of the power of Amon-of-the-Road, and hinted darkly at the wrath
+which would ultimately fall upon the heads of those who suffered the
+image and its keeper to be turned away from the quays of Byblos. No
+doubt, also, a portion of the stolen debens of silver was expended in
+bribes to the priests of the city, for, as we shall presently see, one
+of them took up Wenamon's cause with the most unnatural vigour.
+
+All, however, seemed to be of no avail, and Wenamon decided to get away
+as best he could. His worldly goods were quietly transferred to the ship
+which was bound for the Nile; and, when night had fallen, with
+Amon-of-the-Road tucked under his arm, he hurried along the deserted
+quay. Suddenly out of the darkness there appeared a group of figures,
+and Wenamon found himself confronted by the stalwart harbour-master and
+his police. Now, indeed, he gave himself up for lost. The image would be
+taken from him, and no longer would he have the alternative of leaving
+the harbour. He must have groaned aloud as he stood there in the black
+night, with the cold sea wind threatening to tear the covers from the
+treasure under his arm. His surprise, therefore, was unbounded when the
+harbour-master addressed him in the following words: "Remain until
+morning here near the prince."
+
+The Egyptian turned upon him fiercely. "Are you not the man who came to
+me every day saying, "Get out of my harbour?" he cried. "And now are
+you not saying, 'Remain in Byblos?' your object being to let this ship
+which I have found depart for Egypt without me, so that you may come to
+me again and say, 'Go away.'"
+
+The harbour-master in reality had been ordered to detain Wenamon for
+quite another reason. On the previous day, while the prince was
+sacrificing to his gods, one of the noble youths in his train, who had
+probably seen the colour of Wenamon's debens, suddenly broke into a
+religious frenzy, and so continued all that day, and far into the night,
+calling incessantly upon those around him to go and fetch the envoy of
+Amon-Ra and the sacred image. Prince Zakar-Baal had considered it
+prudent to obey this apparently divine command, and had sent the
+harbour-master to prevent Wenamon's departure. Finding, however, that
+the Egyptian was determined to board the ship, the official sent a
+messenger to the prince, who replied with an order to the skipper of the
+vessel to remain that night in harbour.
+
+Upon the following morning a deputation, evidently friendly, waited on
+Wenamon, and urged him to come to the palace, which he finally did,
+incidentally attending on his way the morning service which was being
+celebrated upon the sea-shore. "I found the prince," writes Wenamon in
+his report, "sitting in his upper chamber, leaning his back against a
+window, while the waves of the Great Syrian Sea beat against the wall
+below. I said to him, 'The mercy of Amon be with you!' He said to me,
+'How long is it from now since you left the abode of Amon?' I replied,
+'Five months and one day from now.'"
+
+The prince then said, "Look now, if what you say is true, where is the
+writing of Amon which should be in your hand? Where is the letter of the
+High Priest of Amon which should be in your hand?"
+
+"I gave them to Nesubanebded," replied Wenamon.
+
+"Then," says Wenamon, "he was very wroth, and he said to me, 'Look here,
+the writings and the letters are not in your hand. And where is the fine
+ship which Nesubanebded would have given you, and where is its picked
+Syrian crew? He would not put you and your affairs in the charge of this
+skipper of yours, who might have had you killed and thrown into the sea.
+Whom would they have sought the god from then?--and you, whom would they
+have sought you from then?' So said he to me, and I replied to him,
+'There are indeed Egyptian ships and Egyptian crews that sail under
+Nesubanebded, but he had at the time no ship and no Syrian crew to give
+me.'"
+
+The prince did not accept this as a satisfactory answer, but pointed out
+that there were ten thousand ships sailing between Egypt and Syria, of
+which number there must have been one at Nesubanebded's disposal.
+
+"Then," writes Wenamon, "I was silent in this great hour. At length he
+said to me, 'On what business have you come here?' I replied, 'I have
+come to get wood for the great and august barge of Amon-Ra, king of the
+gods. Your father supplied it, your grandfather did so, and you too
+shall do it.' So spoke I to him."
+
+The prince admitted that his fathers had sent wood to Egypt, but he
+pointed out that they had received proper remuneration for it. He then
+told his servants to go and find the old ledger in which the
+transactions were recorded, and this being done, it was found that a
+thousand debens of silver had been paid for the wood. The prince now
+argued that he was in no way the servant of Amon, for if he had been he
+would have been obliged to supply the wood without remuneration. "I am,"
+he proudly declared, "neither your servant nor the servant of him who
+sent you here. If I cry out to the Lebanon the heavens open and the logs
+lie here on the shore of the sea." He went on to say that if, of his
+condescension, he now procured the timber Wenamon would have to provide
+the ships and all the tackle. "If I make the sails of the ships for
+you," said the prince, "they may be top-heavy and may break, and you
+will perish in the sea when Amon thunders in heaven; for skilled
+workmanship comes only from Egypt to reach my place of abode." This
+seems to have upset the composure of Wenamon to some extent, and the
+prince took advantage of his uneasiness to say, "Anyway, what is this
+miserable expedition that they have had you make (without money or
+equipment)?"
+
+At this Wenamon appears to have lost his temper. "O guilty one!" he said
+to the prince, "this is no miserable expedition on which I am engaged.
+There is no ship upon the Nile which Amon does not own, and his is the
+sea, and his this Lebanon of which you say, 'It is mine.' Its forests
+grow for the barge of Amon, the lord of every ship. Why Amon-Ra himself,
+the king of the gods, said to Herhor, my lord, 'Send me'; and Herhor
+made me go bearing the statue of this great god. Yet see, you have
+allowed this great god to wait twenty-nine days after he had arrived in
+your harbour, although you certainly knew he was there. He is indeed
+still what he once was: yes, now while you stand bargaining for the
+Lebanon with Amon its lord. As for Amon-Ra, the king of the gods, he is
+the lord of life and health, and he was the lord of your fathers, who
+spent their lifetime offering to him. You also, you are the servant of
+Amon. If you will say to Amon, 'I will do this,' and you execute his
+command, you shall live and be prosperous and be healthy, and you shall
+be popular with your whole country and people. Wish not for yourself a
+thing belonging to Amon-Ra, king of the gods. Truly the lion loves his
+own! Let my secretary be brought to me that I may send him to
+Nesubanebded, and he will send you all that I shall ask him to send,
+after which, when I return to the south, I will send you all, all your
+trifles again."
+
+"So spake I to him," says Wenamon in his report, as with a flourish of
+his pen he brings this fine speech to an end. No doubt it would have
+been more truthful in him to say, "So would I have spoken to him had I
+not been so flustered"; but of all types of lie this is probably the
+most excusable. At all events, he said sufficient to induce the prince
+to send his secretary to Egypt; and as a token of good faith Zakar-Baal
+sent with him seven logs of cedar-wood. In forty-eight days' time the
+messenger returned, bringing with him five golden and five silver vases,
+twenty garments of fine linen, 500 rolls of papyrus, 500 ox-hides, 500
+coils of rope, twenty measures of lentils, and five measures of dried
+fish. At this present the prince expressed himself most satisfied, and
+immediately sent 300 men and 300 oxen with proper overseers to start the
+work of felling the trees. Some eight months after leaving Tanis,
+Wenamon's delighted eyes gazed upon the complete number of logs lying at
+the edge of the sea, ready for shipment to Egypt.
+
+The task being finished, the prince walked down to the beach to inspect
+the timber, and he called to Wenamon to come with him. When the Egyptian
+had approached, the prince pointed to the logs, remarking that the work
+had been carried through although the remuneration had not been nearly
+so great as that which his fathers had received. Wenamon was about to
+reply when inadvertently the shadow of the prince's umbrella fell upon
+his head. What memories or anticipations this trivial incident aroused
+one cannot now tell with certainty. One of the gentlemen-in-waiting,
+however, found cause in it to whisper to Wenamon, "The shadow of
+Pharaoh, your lord, falls upon you"--the remark, no doubt, being
+accompanied by a sly dig in the ribs. The prince angrily snapped, "Let
+him alone"; and, with the picture of Wenamon gloomily staring out to
+sea, we are left to worry out the meaning of the occurrence. It may be
+that the prince intended to keep Wenamon at Byblos until the uttermost
+farthing had been extracted from Egypt in further payment for the wood,
+and that therefore he was to be regarded henceforth as Wenamon's king
+and master. This is perhaps indicated by the following remarks of the
+prince.
+
+"Do not thus contemplate the terrors of the sea," he said to Wenamon.
+"For if you do that you should also contemplate my own. Come, I have not
+done to you what they did to certain former envoys. They spent seventeen
+years in this land, and they died where they were." Then, turning to an
+attendant, "Take him," he said, "and let him see the tomb in which they
+lie."
+
+"Oh, don't let me see it," Wenamon tells us that he cried in anguish;
+but, recovering his composure, he continued in a more valiant strain.
+"Mere human beings," he said, "were the envoys who were then sent.
+There was no god among them (as there now is)."
+
+The prince had recently ordered an engraver to write a commemorative
+inscription upon a stone tablet recording the fact that the king of the
+gods had sent Amon-of-the-Road to Byblos as his divine messenger and
+Wenamon as his human messenger, that timber had been asked for and
+supplied, and that in return Amon had promised him ten thousand years of
+celestial life over and above that of ordinary persons. Wenamon now
+reminded him of this, asking him why he should talk so slightingly of
+the Egyptian envoys when the making of this tablet showed that in
+reality he considered their presence an honour. Moreover, he pointed out
+that when in future years an envoy from Egypt should read this tablet,
+he would of course pronounce at once the magical prayers which would
+procure for the prince, who would probably then be in hell after all, a
+draught of water. This remark seems to have tickled the prince's fancy,
+for he gravely acknowledged its value, and spoke no more in his former
+strain. Wenamon closed the interview by promising that the High Priest
+of Amon-Ra would fully reward him for his various kindnesses.
+
+Shortly after this the Egyptian paid another visit to the sea-shore to
+feast his eyes upon the logs. He must have been almost unable to contain
+himself in the delight and excitement of the ending of his task and his
+approaching return, in triumph to Egypt; and we may see him jauntily
+walking over the sand, perhaps humming a tune to himself. Suddenly he
+observed a fleet of eleven ships sailing towards the town, and the song
+must have died upon his lips. As they drew nearer he saw to his horror
+that they belonged to the Sicilians of Dor, and we must picture him
+biting his nails in his anxiety as he stood amongst the logs. Presently
+they were within hailing distance, and some one called to them asking
+their business. The reply rang across the water, brief and terrible;
+"Arrest Wenamon! Let not a ship of his pass to Egypt." Hearing these
+words the envoy of Amon-Ra, king of the gods, just now so proudly
+boasting, threw himself upon the sand and burst into tears.
+
+The sobs of the wretched man penetrated to a chamber in which the
+prince's secretary sat writing at the open window, and he hurried over
+to the prostrate figure. "Whatever is the matter with you?" he said,
+tapping the man on the shoulder.
+
+Wenamon raised his head, "Surely you see these birds which descend on
+Egypt," he groaned. "Look at them! They have come into the harbour, and
+how long shall I be left forsaken here? Truly you see those who have
+come to arrest me."
+
+With these words one must suppose that Wenamon returned to his weeping,
+for he says in his report that the sympathetic secretary went off to
+find the prince in order that some plan of action might be
+formulated. When the news was reported to Zakar-Baal, he too began to
+lament; for the whole affair was menacing and ugly. Looking out of the
+window he saw the Sicilian ships anchored as a barrier across the mouth
+of the harbour, he saw the logs of cedar-wood strewn over the beach, he
+saw the writhing figure of Wenamon pouring sand and dust upon his head
+and drumming feebly with his toes; and his royal heart was moved with
+pity for the misfortunes of the Egyptian.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XIII. A festival scene of singers and dancers from a
+                         tomb-painting of Dynasty XVII.
+                         --THEBES]
+
+                         [_Copied by H. Petrie._
+
+
+Hastily speaking to his secretary, he told him to procure two large jars
+of wine and a ram, and to give them to Wenamon on the chance that they
+might stop the noise of his lamentations. The secretary and his servants
+procured these things from the kitchen, and, tottering down with them to
+the envoy, placed them by his side. Wenamon, however, merely glanced at
+them in a sickly manner, and then buried his head once more. The failure
+must have been observed from the window of the palace, for the prince
+sent another servant flying off for a popular Egyptian lady of no
+reputation, who happened to be living just then at Byblos in the
+capacity of a dancing-girl. Presently she minced into the room, very
+much elated, no doubt, at this indication of the royal favour. The
+prince at once ordered her to hasten down on to the beach to comfort her
+countryman. "Sing to him," he said. "Don't let his heart feel
+apprehension."
+
+Wenamon seemed to have waved the girl aside, and we may picture the
+prince making urgent signs to the lady from his window to renew her
+efforts. The moans of the miserable man, however, did not cease, and the
+prince had recourse to a third device. This time he sent a servant to
+Wenamon with a message of calm assurance. "Eat and drink," he said, "and
+let not your heart feel apprehension. You shall hear all that I have to
+say in the morning." At this Wenamon roused himself, and, wiping his
+eyes, consented to be led back to his rooms, ever turning, no doubt, to
+cast nervous glances in the direction of the silent ships of Dor.
+
+On the following morning the prince sent for the leaders of the
+Sicilians and asked them for what reason they had come to Byblos. They
+replied that they had come in search of Wenamon, who had robbed some of
+their countrymen of thirty-one debens of silver. The prince was placed
+in a difficult position, for he was desirous to avoid giving offence
+either to Dor or to Egypt from whence he now expected further payment;
+but he managed to pass out on to clearer ground by means of a simple
+stratagem.
+
+"I cannot arrest the envoy of Amon in my territory," he said to the men
+of Dor. "But I will send him away, and you shall pursue him and arrest
+him."
+
+The plan seems to have appealed to the sporting instincts of the
+Sicilians, for it appears that they drew off from the harbour to await
+their quarry. Wenamon was then informed of the scheme, and one may
+suppose that he showed no relish for it. To be chased across a bilious
+sea by sporting men of hardened stomach was surely a torture for the
+damned; but it is to be presumed that Zakar-Baal left the Egyptian some
+chance of escape. Hastily he was conveyed on board a ship, and his
+misery must have been complete when he observed that outside the harbour
+it was blowing a gale. Hardly had he set out into the "Great Syrian Sea"
+before a terrific storm burst, and in the confusion which ensued we lose
+sight of the waiting fleet. No doubt the Sicilians put in to Byblos once
+more for shelter, and deemed Wenamon at the bottom of the ocean as the
+wind whistled through their own bare rigging.
+
+The Egyptian had planned to avoid his enemies by beating northwards when
+he left the harbour, instead of southwards towards Egypt; but the
+tempest took the ship's course into its own hands and drove the frail
+craft north-westwards towards Cyprus, the wooded shores of which were,
+in course of time, sighted. Wenamon was now indeed 'twixt the devil and
+the deep sea, for behind him the waves raged furiously, and before him
+he perceived a threatening group of Cypriots awaiting him upon the
+wind-swept shore. Presently the vessel grounded upon the beach, and
+immediately the ill-starred Egyptian and the entire crew were prisoners
+in the hands of a hostile mob. Roughly they were dragged to the capital
+of the island, which happened to be but a few miles distant, and with
+ignominy they were hustled, wet and bedraggled, through the streets
+towards the palace of Hetebe, the Queen of Cyprus.
+
+As they neared the building the queen herself passed by, surrounded by a
+brave company of nobles and soldiers. Wenamon burst away from his
+captors, and bowed himself before the royal lady, crying as he did so,
+"Surely there is somebody amongst this company who understands
+Egyptian." One of the nobles, to Wenamon's joy, replied, "Yes, I
+understand it."
+
+"Say to my mistress," cried the tattered envoy, "that I have heard even
+in far-off Thebes, the abode of Amon, that in every city injustice is
+done, but that justice obtains in the land of Cyprus. Yet see, injustice
+is done here also this day."
+
+This was repeated to the queen, who replied, "Indeed!--what is this that
+you say?"
+
+Through the interpreter Wenamon then addressed himself to Hetebe. "If
+the sea raged," he said, "and the wind drove me to the land where I now
+am, will you let these people take advantage of it to murder me, I who
+am an envoy of Amon? I am one for whom they will seek unceasingly. And
+as for these sailors of the prince of Byblos, whom they also wish to
+kill, their lord will undoubtedly capture ten crews of yours, and will
+slay every man of them in revenge."
+
+This seems to have impressed the queen, for she ordered the mob to stand
+on one side, and to Wenamon she said, "Pass the night ..."
+
+Here the torn writing comes to an abrupt end, and the remainder of
+Wenamon's adventures are for ever lost amidst the dust of El Hibeh. One
+may suppose that Hetebe took the Egyptian under her protection, and that
+ultimately he arrived once more in Egypt, whither Zakar-Baal had perhaps
+already sent the timber. Returning to his native town, it seems that
+Wenamon wrote his report, which for some reason or other was never
+despatched to the High Priest. Perhaps the envoy was himself sent for,
+and thus his report was rendered useless; or perhaps our text is one of
+several copies.
+
+There can be no question that he was a writer of great power, and this
+tale of his adventures must be regarded as one of the jewels of the
+ancient Egyptian language. The brief description of the Prince of
+Byblos, seated with his back to the window, while the waves beat against
+the wall below, brings vividly before one that far-off scene, and
+reveals a lightness of touch most unusual in writers of that time. There
+is surely, too, an appreciation of a delicate form of humour observable
+in his account of some of his dealings with the prince. It is appalling
+to think that the peasants who found this roll of papyrus might have
+used it as fuel for their evening fire; and that, had not a drifting
+rumour of the value of such articles reached their village, this little
+tale of old Egypt and the long-lost Kingdoms of the Sea would have gone
+up to empty heaven in a puff of smoke.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VI.
+
+                THE STORY OF THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR.
+
+
+When the early Spanish explorers led their expeditions to Florida, it
+was their intention to find the Fountain of Perpetual Youth, tales of
+its potent waters having reached Peter Martyr as early as 1511. This
+desire to discover the things pertaining to Fairyland has been,
+throughout history, one of the most fertile sources of adventure. From
+the days when the archaic Egyptians penetrated into the regions south of
+the Cataracts, where they believed that the inhabitants were other than
+human, and into Pount, the "Land of the Ghosts," the hope of Fairyland
+has led men to search the face of the earth and to penetrate into its
+unknown places. It has been the theme of countless stories: it has
+supplied material for innumerable songs.
+
+And in spite of the circumambulations of science about us, in spite of
+the hardening of all the tissues of our imagination, in spite of the
+phenomenal development of the commonplace, this desire for a glimpse of
+the miraculous is still set deeply in our hearts. The old quest of
+Fairyland is as active now as ever it was. We still presume, in our
+unworthiness, to pass the barriers, and to walk upon those paths which
+lead to the enchanted forests and through them to the city of the Moon.
+At any moment we are ready to set forth, like Arthur's knights, in
+search of the Holy Grail.
+
+The explorer who penetrates into Central Africa in quest of King
+Solomon's mines is impelled by a hope closely akin to that of the
+Spaniards. The excavator who digs for the buried treasures of the Incas
+or of the Egyptians is often led by a desire for the fabulous. Search is
+now being made in the western desert of Egypt for a lost city of
+burnished copper; and the Anglo-Egyptian official is constantly urged by
+credulous natives to take camels across the wilderness in quest of a
+town whose houses and temples are of pure gold. What archaeologist has
+not at some time given ear to the whispers that tell of long-lost
+treasures, of forgotten cities, of Atlantis swallowed by the sea? It is*
+not only children who love the tales of Fairyland. How happily we have
+read Kipling's 'Puck of Pook's Hill,' De la Motte Fouque's 'Undine,'
+Kenneth Grahame's 'Wind in the Willows,' or F.W. Bain's Indian stories.
+The recent fairy plays--Barry's "Peter Pan," Maeterlinck's "Blue Bird,"
+and the like--have been enormously successful. Say what we will, fairy
+tales still hold their old power over us, and still we turn to them as a
+relief from the commonplace.
+
+    *Transcriber's note: In the original text the word "is" is omitted.
+
+Some of us, failing to find Fairyland upon earth, have transferred it
+to the kingdom of Death; and it has become the hope for the future. Each
+Sunday in church the congregation of business men and hard-worked women
+set aside the things of their monotonous life, and sing the songs of the
+endless search. To the rolling notes of the organ they tell the tale of
+the Elysian Fields: they take their unfilled desire for Fairyland and
+adjust it to their deathless hope of Heaven. They sing of crystal
+fountains, of streets paved with gold, of meadows dressed with living
+green where they shall dwell as children who now as exiles mourn. There
+everlasting spring abides and never-withering flowers; there ten
+thousand times ten thousand clad in sparkling raiment throng up the
+steeps of light. Here in the church the most unimaginative people cry
+aloud upon their God for Fairyland.
+
+                 "The roseate hues of early dawn,
+                    The brightness of the day,
+                  The crimson of the sunset sky,
+                    How fast they fade away!
+                  Oh, for the pearly gates of Heaven,
+                    Oh, for the golden floor...."
+
+They know no way of picturing the incomprehensible state of the future,
+and they interpret it, therefore, in terms of the fairy tale.
+
+I am inclined to think that this sovereignty of the fairies is
+beneficial. Fairy tales fill the minds of the young with knowledge of
+the kindly people who will reward with many gifts those that are
+charitable to the old; they teach a code of chivalry that brings as its
+reward the love of the beautiful princess in the tower; they tell of
+dangers overcome by courage and perseverance; they suggest a contact
+with nature which otherwise might never be developed. Where angels and
+archangels overawe by their omnipotence, the microscopic fairies who can
+sit singing upon a mushroom and dangle from the swaying stem of a
+bluebell, carry the thoughts down the scale of life to the little and
+really important things. A sleepy child will rather believe that the
+Queen of the Fairies is acting sentry upon the knob of the bedpost than
+that an angel stands at the head of the cot with great wings spread in
+protection--wings which suggest the probability of claws and a beak to
+match.
+
+The dragons which can only be slain by the noble knight, the
+enchantments which can only be broken by the outwitting of the evil
+witch, the lady who can only be won by perils bravely endured, form the
+material of moral lessons which no other method of teaching could so
+impress upon the youthful mind.
+
+And when mature years are attained the atmosphere of Fairyland remains
+with us. The lost songs of the little people drift through the brain,
+recalling the infinite possibilities of beauty and goodness which are so
+slightly out of reach; the forgotten wonder of elfs and brownies
+suggests itself to us from the heart of flowers and amidst the leaves of
+trees. The clear depths of the sea take half their charm from the
+memory of the mermaid's palace; the silence of forests is rich with the
+expectancy of the Knight of the Golden Plume; the large spaces of
+kitchens and corridors are hushed for the concealment of Robin
+Goodfellow.
+
+It is the elusiveness, the enchantment, of Fairyland which, for the
+mature mind, constitutes its greatest value and charm; it is a man's
+desire for the realms of Midsummer-night that makes the building of
+those realms in our childhood so valuable. We are constantly
+endeavouring to recapture the grace of that intangible kingdom, and the
+hope of ultimate success retains the elasticity of the mind. Held fast
+by the stiffened joints of reason and closeted with the gout of science,
+we are fettered prisoners in the world unless there be the knowledge
+that something eludes us to lead us on. We know quite well that the
+fairies do not exist, but at the same time we cannot deny that the
+elusive atmosphere of Fairyland is one with that of our fondest dreams.
+
+Who has not, upon a grey morning, awakened from sleep with the knowledge
+that he has passed out from a kingdom of dream more dear than all the
+realms of real life? Vainly we endeavour to recall the lost details, but
+only the impression remains. That impression, however, warms the tone of
+our whole day, and frames our thoughts as it were with precious stones.
+Thus also it is with the memory of our childhood's idea of Fairyland:
+the impression is recalled, the brain peers forward, the thoughts go on
+tiptoe, and we feel that we have caught a glimpse of Beauty. Indeed, the
+recollection of the atmosphere created in our youthful minds by means of
+fairy tales is perhaps the most abundant of the sources of our knowledge
+of Beauty in mature years.
+
+I do not suppose that I am alone in declaring that some of the most
+tender feelings of childhood are inspired by the misfortunes of the
+Beast in the story of "Beauty and the Beast"; and the Sleeping Beauty is
+the first love of many a small boy. Man, from his youth up, craves
+enchantment; and though the business of life gives him no opportunity
+for the indulging in day-dreams, there are few of us indeed who have not
+at some time sought the phantom isles, and sought in vain. There is no
+stormy night, when the wind moans through the trees, and the moon-rack
+flies overhead, but takes something of its mystery from the recollection
+of the enchantments of the dark ages. The sun does not sink into the sea
+amidst the low-lying clouds but some vague thought is brought to mind of
+the uncharted island whereon that maiden lies sleeping whose hair is
+dark as heaven's wrath, and whose breast is white like alabaster in the
+pathway of the moon. There she lies in the charmed circle under the
+trees, where none may enter until that hour when some pale, lost mariner
+shall surprise the secret of the pathway, and, coming suddenly upon her,
+shall kiss her shadowed lips. Vague, elusive, undefined, as such
+fancies must be, they yet tinge the thoughts of almost every man at
+certain moments of his life, and set him searching for the enchantment
+of bygone days. Eagerly he looks for those
+
+            "...Magic casements opening on the foam
+                Of perilous seas, in fairy lands forlorn";
+
+and it is the fact of their unreality that gives them their haunting
+value.
+
+The following story, preserved in a papyrus now at St Petersburg,
+describes a mysterious island whereon there dwelt a monster most lovable
+and most forlorn: a creature so tenderly drawn, indeed, that the reader
+will not fail to enthrone him in the little company of the nobility of
+the kingdom of the fairy tale. Translations of the story by two or three
+savants have appeared; but the present version, which I give in its
+literal form, has been prepared especially for this volume by Mr Alan
+Gardiner; and, coming from him, it may be said to be the last word of
+the science upon the subject of this difficult text.
+
+The scene with which the story opens is clearly indicated by the
+introductory sentences, though actually it is not described. A large
+war-galley had come swinging down the Nile from the land of Wawat in the
+south, the oars flashing in the Nubian sunlight. On the left the granite
+rocks of the island of Bigeh towered above the vessel; on the right the
+island of Philae, as yet devoid of buildings, rested placidly on the
+blue waters. Ahead were the docks of Shallal, where the clustered boats
+lay darkly against the yellow of the desert, and busy groups of figures,
+loading and unloading cargoes, moved to and fro over the sand. Away to
+the left, behind Bigeh, the distant roar of the First Cataract could be
+heard as the waters went rushing down from Nubia across the frontier
+into Egypt.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XIV. A sailor of Lower Nubia and his son.]
+
+                        [_Photo by E. Bird._
+
+
+The great vessel had just returned from the little-known country of
+Ethiopia, which bordered the Land of the Ghosts, having its frontiers
+upon the shores of the sea that encircled the world; and the sailors
+were all straining their eyes towards these docks which formed the
+southernmost outpost of Egypt, their home. The greatest excitement
+prevailed on deck; but in the cabin, erected of vari-coloured cloth in
+the stern of the vessel, the noble leader of the expedition which was
+now at its conclusion lay in a troubled sleep, tossing nervously upon
+his bed. His dreams were all of the terrible ordeal which was before
+him. He could take no pleasure in his home-coming, for he was driven
+nigh crazy by the thought of entering the presence of the great Pharaoh
+himself in order to make his report.
+
+It is almost impossible to realise nowadays the agonies of mind that a
+man had to suffer who was obliged to approach the incarnation of the sun
+upon earth, and to crave the indulgence of this god in regard to any
+shortcomings in the conduct of the affairs intrusted to him. Of all the
+kings of the earth the Pharaoh was the most terrible, the most
+thoroughly frightening. Not only did he hold the lives of his subjects
+in his hand to do with them as he chose, but he also controlled the
+welfare of their immortal souls; for, being a god, he had dominion over
+the realms of the dead. To be censured by the Pharaoh was to be
+excommunicated from the pleasures of this earth and outlawed from the
+fair estate of heaven. A well-known Egyptian noble named Sinuhe, the
+hero of a fine tale of adventure, describes himself as petrified with
+terror when he entered the audience-chamber. "I stretched myself on my
+stomach," he writes, "and became unconscious before him (the Pharaoh).
+This god addressed me kindly, but I was as a man overtaken by the
+twilight: my soul departed, my flesh trembled; my heart was no more in
+my body that I should know life from death."[1] Similarly another
+personage writes: "Remember the day of bringing the tribute, when thou
+passest into the Presence under the window, the nobles on each side
+before his Majesty, the nobles and ambassadors (?) of all countries.
+They stand and gaze at the tribute, while thou fearest and shrinkest
+back, and thy hand is weak, and thou knowest not whether it is death or
+life that is before thee; and thou art brave (only) in praying to thy
+gods: 'Save me, prosper me this one time.'"[2]
+
+    [Footnote 1: Sinuhe, 254-256.]
+
+    [Footnote 2: Papyrus Koller, 5, 1-4.]
+
+Of the Pharaoh it is written--
+
+    "Thine eye is clearer than the stars of heaven;
+     Thou seest farther than the sun.
+     If I speak afar off, thine ear hears;
+     If I do a hidden deed, thine eye sees it."[1]
+
+    [Footnote 1: Anastasi Papyri, 4, 5, 6 ff.]
+
+Or again--
+
+    "The god of taste is in thy mouth,
+     The god of knowledge is in thy heart;
+     Thy tongue is enthroned in the temple of truth;
+     God is seated upon thy lips."[2]
+
+    [Footnote 2: Kubban stela.]
+
+To meet face to face this all-knowing, all-seeing, celestial creature,
+from whom there could be no secrets hid nor any guilt concealed, was an
+ordeal to which a man might well look forward with utter horror. It was
+this terrible dread that, in the tale with which we are now concerned,
+held the captain of this Nubian vessel in agony upon his couch.
+
+As he lay there, biting his finger-nails, one of the ship's officers,
+himself a former leader of expeditions, entered the cabin to announce
+their arrival at the Shallal docks.
+
+"Good news, prince," said he cheerfully to his writhing master. "Look,
+we have reached home. They have taken the mallet and driven in the
+mooring-post; the ship's cable has been put on land. There is
+merrymaking and thanksgiving, and every man is embracing his fellow. Our
+crew has returned unscathed, without loss to our soldiers. We have
+reached the end of Wawat, we have passed Bigeh. Yes, indeed, we have
+returned safely; we have reached our own land."
+
+At this the prince seems to have groaned anew, much to the distress of
+his friend, who could but urge him to pull himself together and to play
+the man.
+
+"Listen to me, prince," he begged, "for I am one void of exaggeration.
+Wash yourself, pour water on your fingers."
+
+The wretched, man replied, it would seem, with a repetition of his
+fears; whereupon the old sailor seems to have sat down by his side and
+to have given him a word of advice as to how he should behave in the
+king's presence. "Make answer when you are addressed," he said; "speak
+to the king with a heart in you; answer without restraint. For it is a
+man's mouth that saves him.... But do as you will: to talk to you is
+wearisome (to you)."
+
+Presently the old sailor was seized with an idea. He would tell a story,
+no matter whether it were strictly true or not, in which his own
+adventures should be set forth. He would describe how he was wrecked
+upon an unknown island, how he was saved from death, and how, on his
+return, he conducted into the Pharaoh's presence. A narration of his own
+experiences before his sovereign might give heart to his captain, and
+might effectually lift the intolerable burden of dread from the princely
+shoulders.
+
+"I will relate to you," he began, "a similar thing which befell me my
+very self. I was making a journey to the mines of the sovereign ..."
+
+The prince may here be supposed to have sat up and given gloomy
+attention to his friend's words, for Egyptians of all ages have loved a
+good story, and tales of adventures in the south were, in early times,
+most acceptable. The royal gold mines referred to were probably situated
+at the southern-most end of the eastern Egyptian desert. To reach them
+one would take ship from Kossair or some other Red Sea port, sail down
+the coast to the frontiers of Pount, the modern Somaliland, and then
+travel inland by caravan. It was a perilous undertaking, and, at the
+time when this story was written, the journey must have furnished
+material for amazing yarns.
+
+"I went down on the Great Green Sea," continued the speaker, "in a ship
+one hundred and fifty cubits[1] in length and forty cubits in breadth,
+and in it were a hundred and fifty sailors, picked men of Egypt. They
+scanned the heavens and they scanned the earth, and their hearts were
+stouter than lions. They foretold the storm or ever it came, and the
+tempest when as yet it was not."
+
+    [Footnote 1: The average cubit was about 20-1/2 inches.]
+
+A storm arose while they were out of sight of land, and rapidly
+increased in violence, until the waves, according to the very restrained
+estimate of the narrator, were eight cubits high--that is to say, about
+thirteen or fourteen feet. To one who was accustomed to the waves of the
+Nile this would be a great height; and the passage thus suggests that
+the scribe was an untravelled man. A vessel of 150 cubits, or about 250
+feet, in length might have been expected to ride out a storm of this
+magnitude; but, according to the story, she went to pieces, and the
+whole ship's company, with the single exception of the teller of the
+tale, were drowned. The survivor managed to cling to a plank of wood,
+which was driven by the wind towards the shores of an uncharted island,
+and here at length he was cast up by the waves.
+
+Not far from the beach there was a small thicket, and to this the
+castaway hastened, sheltering therein from the fury of the storm. For
+three days in deep despair he lay hidden, "without a companion," as he
+said, "save my heart;" but at last the tempest subsided, the sun shone
+in the heavens once again, and the famished mariner was able to go in
+search of food, which, to his delight, he found in abundance.
+
+The scene upon which he gazed as he plucked the fruit of the laden trees
+was most mysterious, and all that he saw around him must have had an
+appearance not altogether consistent with reality, for, indeed, the
+island was not real. It had been called into existence, perhaps, at the
+bidding of some god to relieve the tedium of an eternal afternoon, and
+suddenly it had appeared, floating upon the blue waters of the ocean.
+How long it had remained there, how long it would still remain, none
+could tell, for at any moment the mind of the god might be diverted, and
+instantly it would dissolve and vanish as would a dream. Beneath the
+isle the seas moved, and there in the darkness the fishes of the deep,
+with luminous, round eyes, passed to and fro, nibbling the roots of the
+trees above them. Overhead the heavens stretched, and around about
+spread the expanse of the sea upon which no living thing might be seen,
+save only the dolphins as they leapt into the sunshine and sank again
+amidst the gleaming spray.
+
+There was abundant vegetation upon the island, but it does not appear to
+have looked quite real. The fig-trees were heavy with fruit, the vines
+were festooned from bough to bough, hung with clusters of grapes, and
+pomegranates were ripe for the plucking. But there seems to have been an
+unearthliness about them, as though a deep enchantment were upon them.
+In the tangled undergrowth through which the bewildered sailor walked
+there lay great melons and pumpkins. The breeze wafted to his nostrils
+the smell of the incense-trees; and the scent of the flowers, after the
+storm, must have made every breath he breathed a pleasure of Paradise to
+him. Moving over the luxuriant ground, he put up flights of wonderful
+birds which sped towards the interior, red, green, and golden, against
+the sky. Monkeys chattered at him from the trees, and sprang from
+branch to branch amidst the dancing flowers. In shadowed pools of clear
+water fishes were to be seen, gliding amidst the reeds; and amongst the
+rocks beside the sea the castaway could look down upon the creatures of
+the deep imprisoned between the tides.
+
+Food in all forms was to hand, and he had but to fill his arms with the
+good things which Fate had provided. "I found there," he said, "figs,
+grapes, and all manner of goodly onions; melons and pomegranates were
+there, and pumpkins of every kind. Fishes were there and fowls: there
+was nought that was lacking in it. I satisfied myself, and set upon the
+ground the abundance of that with which my arms were filled. I took the
+fire-borer and kindled a fire, and made a burnt-offering to the gods."
+
+Seated in the warm sunshine amidst the trees, eating a roast fowl
+seasoned with onions or some equally palatable concoction, he seems to
+have found the life of a shipwrecked mariner by no means as distressing
+as he had anticipated; and the wording of the narrative appears to be so
+arranged that an impression of comfortable ease and security may
+surround his sunlit figure. Suddenly, however, all was changed. "I
+heard," said he, "a sound as of thunder, and I thought it was the waves
+of the sea." Then "the trees creaked and the earth trembled"; and, like
+the Egyptian that he was, he went down on his shaking hands and knees,
+and buried his face in the ground.
+
+At length "I uncovered my face," he declared, "and I found it was a
+serpent that came, of the length of thirty cubits"--about fifty
+feet--"and his tail was more than two cubits" in diameter. "His skin was
+overlaid with gold, and his eyebrows were of real lapis lazuli, and he
+was exceeding perfect."
+
+"He opened his mouth to me," he continued, "as I lay on my stomach
+before him, and said to me: 'Who brought thee, who brought thee, little
+one?--who brought thee? If thou delayest to tell me who brought thee to
+this island I will cause thee to know thyself (again only) when thou art
+ashes, and art become that which is not seen'"--that is to say, a ghost.
+
+"Thus you spoke to me," whispered the old sailor, as though again
+addressing the serpent, who, in the narration of these adventures, had
+become once more a very present reality to him, "but I heard it not. I
+lay before thee, and was unconscious."
+
+Continuing his story, he told how the great serpent lifted him tenderly
+in his golden mouth, and carried him to his dwelling-place, setting him
+down there without hurt, amongst the fruit-trees and the flowers. The
+Egyptian at once flung himself upon his stomach before him, and lay
+there in a stupor of terror. The serpent, however, meant him no harm,
+and indeed looked down on him with tender pity as he questioned him
+once more.
+
+"Who brought thee, who brought thee, little one?" he asked again, "Who
+brought thee to this island of the Great Green Sea, whereof the (under)
+half is waves?"
+
+On his hands and knees before the kindly monster the shipwrecked
+Egyptian managed to regain possession of his faculties sufficiently to
+give an account of himself.
+
+"I was going down to the mines," he faltered, "on a mission of the
+sovereign, in a ship one hundred and fifty cubits in length and forty in
+breadth, and in it were one hundred and fifty sailors, picked men of
+Egypt. They scanned the heavens and they scanned the earth, and their
+hearts were stouter than lions. They foretold the storm or ever it came,
+and the tempest when as yet it was not. Every one of them, his heart was
+stout and his arm strong beyond his fellow. There was none unproven
+amongst them. The storm arose while that we were on the Great Green Sea,
+before we touched land; and as we sailed it redoubled (its strength),
+and the waves thereof were eight cubits. There was a plank of wood to
+which I clung. The ship perished, and of them that were in her not one
+was left saving me alone, who now am at your side. And I was brought to
+this island by the waves of the Great Green Sea."
+
+At this point the man seems to have been overcome once more with
+terror, and the serpent, therefore, hastened to reassure him.
+
+"Fear not, little one," he said in his gentle voice; "fear not. Let not
+thy face be dismayed. If thou hast come to me it is God who has let thee
+live, who has brought thee to this phantom isle in which there is naught
+that is lacking, but it is full of all good things. Behold, thou shalt
+pass month for month until thou accomplish four months upon this island.
+And a ship shall come from home, and sailors in it whom thou knowest,
+and thou shalt go home with them, and shalt die in thine own city."
+
+"How glad is he," exclaimed the old mariner as he related his adventures
+to the prince, "how glad is he that recounts what he has experienced
+when the calamity is passed!" The prince, no doubt, replied with a
+melancholy grunt, and the thread of the story was once more taken up.
+
+There was a particular reason why the serpent should be touched and
+interested to hear how Providence had saved the Egyptian from death, for
+he himself had survived a great calamity, and had been saved from an
+equally terrible fate, as he now proceeded to relate.
+
+"I will tell to thee the like thereof," he said, "which happened in this
+island. I dwelt herein with my brothers, and my children were among
+them. Seventy-two serpents we were, all told, with my offspring and my
+brothers; nor have I yet mentioned to thee a little girl brought to me
+by fortune. A star came down, and all these went up in the flames. And
+it happened so that I was not together with them when they were
+consumed; I was not in their midst. I could have died (of grief) for
+them when I found them as a single pile of corpses."
+
+It is clear from the story that this great serpent was intended to be
+pictured as a sad and lonely, but most lovable, character. All alone
+upon this ghostly isle, the last of his race, one is to imagine him
+dreaming of the little girl who was taken from him, together with all
+his family. Although fabulous himself, and half divine, he was yet the
+victim of the gods, and was made to suffer real sorrows in his unreal
+existence. Day by day he wandered over his limited domain, twisting his
+golden body amidst the pumpkins, and rearing himself above the
+fig-trees; thundering down to the beach to salute the passing dolphins,
+or sunning himself, a golden blaze, upon the rocks. There remained
+naught for him to do but to await the cessation of the phantasy of his
+life; and yet, though his lot was hard, he was ready at once to
+subordinate his sorrows to those of the shipwrecked sailor before him.
+No more is said of his distress, but with his next words he seems to
+have dismissed his own misfortunes, and to have attempted to comfort the
+Egyptian.
+
+"If thou art brave," he said, "and restrainest thy longing, thou shalt
+press thy children to thy bosom and kiss thy wife, and behold thy
+house--that is the best of all things. Thou shalt reach home, and shalt
+dwell there amongst thy brothers."
+
+"Thereat," said the mariner, "I cast me upon my stomach and touched the
+ground before him, and I said to him: 'I will tell of thy might to the
+Sovereign, I will cause him to be acquainted with thy greatness. I will
+let bring to thee perfume and spices, myrrh and sweet-scented woods, and
+incense of the sanctuaries wherewithal every god is propitiated. I will
+recount all that has befallen me, and that which I have seen by his
+might; and they shall praise thee in that city before the magistrates of
+the entire land. I will slaughter to thee oxen as a burnt-offering,
+geese will I pluck for thee, and I will let bring to thee vessels laden
+with all the goodly things of Egypt, as may be (fitly) done to a god who
+loves men in a distant land, a land unknown to men.'"
+
+At these words the serpent opened his golden mouth and fell to laughing.
+The thought that this little mortal, grovelling before him, could
+believe himself able to repay the kindnesses received tickled him
+immensely.
+
+"Hast thou not much incense (here, then)?" he laughed. "Art not become a
+lord of frankincense? And I, behold I am prince of Pount," the land of
+perfumes, "and the incense, _that_ is my very own. As for the spices
+which thou sayest shall be brought, they are the wealth of this island.
+But it shall happen when thou hast left this place, never shalt thou see
+this island more, for it shall be changed to waves."
+
+The teller of the story does not relate in what manner he received this
+well-merited reproof. The gentle monster, no doubt, was tolerant of his
+presumptuousness, and soon put him at his ease again. During the whole
+period of the Egyptian's residence on the island, in fact, the golden
+serpent seems to have been invariably kind to him. The days passed by
+like a happy dream, and the spell of the island's enchantment possessed
+him so that, in after times, the details of the events of every day were
+lost in the single illusion of the whole adventure.
+
+At last the ship arrived, as it had been foretold, and the sailor
+watched her passing over the hazy sea towards the mysterious shore. "I
+went and got me up into a tall tree," he said, "and I recognised those
+that were in it. And I went to report the matter (to the serpent), and I
+found that he knew it."
+
+Very tenderly the great monster addressed him. "Fare thee well, little
+one," he said "Fare thee well to thy house. Mayest thou see thy children
+and raise up a good name in thy city. Behold, such are my wishes for
+thee."
+
+"Then," continued the sailor, "I laid me on my stomach, my arms were
+bended before him. And he gave me a freight of frankincense, perfume and
+myrrh, sweet-scented woods and antimony, giraffes' tails, great heaps
+of incense, elephant tusks, dogs, apes and baboons, and all manner of
+valuable things. And I loaded them in that ship, and I laid myself on my
+stomach to make thanksgiving to him. Then he said to me: 'Behold, thou
+shalt come home in two months, and shalt press thy children to thy
+bosom, and shalt flourish in their midst; and there thou shalt be
+buried.'"
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XV. A Nile boat passing the hills of Thebes.]
+
+                       [_Photo by E. Bird._]
+
+
+To appreciate the significance of these last words it is necessary to
+remember what an important matter it was to an Egyptian that he should
+be buried in his native city. In our own case the position upon the map
+of the place where we lay down our discarded bones is generally not of
+first-rate importance, and the thought of being buried in foreign lands
+does not frighten us. Whether our body is to be packed away in the
+necropolis of our city, or shovelled into a hole on the outskirts of
+Timbuctoo, is not a matter of vital interest. There is a certain
+sentiment that leads us to desire interment amidst familiar scenes, but
+it is subordinated with ease to other considerations. To the Egyptian,
+however, it was a matter of paramount importance. "What is a greater
+thing," says Sinuhe in the tale of his adventures in Asia, "than that I
+should be buried in the land in which I was born?" "Thou shalt not die
+in a foreign land; Asiatics shall not conduct thee to the tomb," says
+the Pharaoh to him; and again, "It is no little thing that thou shalt
+be buried without Asiatics conducting thee."[1] There is a stela now
+preserved in Stuttgart, in which the deceased man asks those who pass
+his tomb to say a prayer for his soul; and he adjures them in these
+words: "So truly as ye wish that your native gods should praise you, and
+that ye should be established in your seats, and that ye should hand
+down your offices to your children: that ye should reach your homes in
+safety, and recount your travels to your wives;--then say a prayer,"
+&c.[2]
+
+    [Footnote 1: Sinuhe, B. 159, 197, 258.]
+
+    [Footnote 2: Zeit. Aeg. Spr., 39 (1901), p. 118.]
+
+The serpent was thus giving the castaway a promise which meant more to
+him than all the other blessings, and it was with a light heart indeed
+that he ran down to the beach to greet his countrymen. "I went down to
+the shore where the ship was," he continued, "and I called to the
+soldiers which were in that ship, and I gave praises upon the shore to
+the lord of this island, and likewise did they which were in the ship."
+
+Then he stepped on board, the gangway was drawn up, and, with a great
+sweep of the oars, the ship passed out on to the open sea. Standing on
+deck amongst the new cargo, the officers and their rescued friend bowed
+low to the great serpent who towered above the trees at the water's
+edge, gleaming in the sunshine. "Fare thee well, little one," his deep
+voice rolled across the water; and again they bowed in obeisance to him.
+The main-sail was unfurled to the wind, and the vessel scudded bravely
+across the Great Green Sea; but for some time yet they must have kept
+their eyes upon the fair shape of the phantom island, as the trees
+blended into the hills and the hills at last into the haze; and their
+vision must have been focussed upon that one gleaming point where the
+golden serpent, alone once more with his memories, watched the ship
+moving over the fairy seas.
+
+"So sailed we northwards," said the sailor, "to the place of the
+Sovereign, and we reached home in two months, in accordance with all
+that he had said. And I entered in before the Sovereign, and I brought
+to him this tribute which I had taken away from within this island. Then
+gave he thanksgivings for me before the magistrates of the entire land.
+And I was made a 'Follower,' and was rewarded with the serfs of such an
+one."
+
+The old sailor turned to the gloomy prince as he brought his story to an
+end. "Look at me," he exclaimed, "now that I have reached land, now that
+I have seen (again in memory) what I have experienced. Hearken thou to
+me, for behold, to hearken is good for men."
+
+But the prince only sighed the more deeply, and, with a despairing
+gesture, replied: "Be not (so) superior, my friend! Doth one give water
+to a bird on the eve, when it is to be slain on the morrow?" With these
+words the manuscript abruptly ends, and we are supposed to leave the
+prince still disconsolate in his cabin, while his friend, unable to
+cheer him, returns to his duties on deck.
+
+
+
+
+                               PART III.
+
+                     RESEARCHES IN THE TREASURY.
+
+
+                                "...And he, shall be,
+
+               Man, her last work, who seem'd so fair,
+                  Such splendid purpose in his eyes,
+                  Who roll'd the psalm to wintry skies,
+               Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer,
+
+               Who loved, who suffered countless ills,
+                  Who battled for the True, the Just,
+                  Be blown about the desert dust,
+               Or seal'd within the iron hills?"
+
+                                                  --TENNYSON.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+                     RECENT EXCAVATIONS IN EGYPT.
+
+
+There came to the camp of a certain professor, who was engaged in
+excavating the ruins of an ancient Egyptian city, a young and
+faultlessly-attired Englishman, whose thirst for dramatic adventure had
+led him to offer his services as an unpaid assistant digger. This
+immaculate personage had read in novels and tales many an account of the
+wonders which the spade of the excavator could reveal, and he firmly
+believed that it was only necessary to set a "nigger" to dig a little
+hole in the ground to open the way to the treasuries of the Pharaohs.
+Gold, silver, and precious stones gleamed before him, in his
+imagination, as he hurried along subterranean passages to the vaults of
+long-dead kings. He expected to slide upon the seat of his very
+well-made breeches down the staircase of the ruined palace which he had
+entered by way of the skylight, and to find himself, at the bottom, in
+the presence of the bejewelled dead. In the intervals between such
+experiences he was of opinion that a little quiet gazelle shooting would
+agreeably fill in the swiftly passing hours; and at the end of the
+season's work he pictured himself returning to the bosom of his family
+with such a tale to tell that every ear would be opened to him.
+
+On his arrival at the camp he was conducted to the site of his future
+labours; and his horrified gaze was directed over a large area of
+mud-pie, knee-deep in which a few bedraggled natives slushed their way
+downwards. After three weeks' work on this distressing site, the
+professor announced that he had managed to trace through the mud the
+outline of the palace walls, once the feature of the city, and that the
+work here might now be regarded as finished. He was then conducted to a
+desolate spot in the desert, and until the day on which he fled back to
+England he was kept to the monotonous task of superintending a gang of
+natives whose sole business it was to dig a very large hole in the sand,
+day after day and week after week.
+
+It is, however, sometimes the fortune of the excavator to make a
+discovery which almost rivals in dramatic interest the tales of his
+youth. Such as experience fell to the lot of Emil Brugsch Pasha when he
+was lowered into an ancient tomb and found himself face to face with a
+score of the Pharaohs of Egypt, each lying in his coffin; or again, when
+Monsieur de Morgan discovered the great mass of royal jewels in one of
+the pyramids at Dachour. But such "finds" can be counted on the fingers,
+and more often an excavation is a fruitless drudgery. Moreover, the
+life of the digger is not often a pleasant one.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XVI. The excavations on the site of the city
+                        of Abydos.]
+
+                        [_Photo by the Author._
+
+
+It will perhaps be of interest to the reader of romances to illustrate
+the above remarks by the narration of some of my own experiences; but
+there are only a few interesting and unusual episodes in which I have
+had the peculiarly good fortune to be an actor. There will probably be
+some drama to be felt in the account of the more important discoveries
+(for there certainly is to the antiquarian himself); but it should be
+pointed out that the interest of these rare finds pales before the
+description, which many of us have heard, of how the archaeologists of a
+past century discovered the body of Charlemagne clad in his royal robes
+and seated upon his throne,--which, by the way, is quite untrue. In
+spite of all that is said to the contrary, truth is seldom stranger than
+fiction; and the reader who desires to be told of the discovery of
+buried cities whose streets are paved with gold should take warning in
+time and return at once to his novels.
+
+If the dawning interest of the reader has now been thoroughly cooled by
+these words, it may be presumed that it will be utterly annihilated by
+the following narration of my first fruitless excavation; and thus one
+will be able to continue the story with the relieved consciousness that
+nobody is attending.
+
+In the capacity of assistant to Professor Flinders Petrie, I was set,
+many years ago, to the task of excavating a supposed royal cemetery in
+the desert behind the ancient city of Abydos, in Upper Egypt. Two mounds
+were first attacked; and after many weeks of work in digging through the
+sand, the superstructure of two great tombs was bared. In the case of
+the first of these several fine passages of good masonry were cleared,
+and at last the burial-chamber was reached. In the huge sarcophagus
+which was there found great hopes were entertained that the body and
+funeral-offerings of the dead prince would be discovered; but when at
+last the interior was laid bare the solitary article found was a copy of
+a French newspaper left behind by the last, and equally disgusted,
+excavator. The second tomb defied the most ardent exploration, and
+failed to show any traces of a burial. The mystery was at last solved by
+Professor Petrie, who, with his usual keen perception, soon came to the
+conclusion that the whole tomb was a dummy, built solely to hide an
+enormous mass of rock chippings the presence of which had been a puzzle
+for some time. These masons' chippings were evidently the output from
+some large cutting in the rock, and it became apparent that there must
+be a great rock tomb in the neighbourhood. Trial trenches in the
+vicinity presently revealed the existence of a long wall, which, being
+followed in either direction, proved to be the boundary of a vast court
+or enclosure built upon the desert at the foot of a conspicuous cliff. A
+ramp led up to the entrance; but as it was slightly askew and pointed
+to the southern end of the enclosure, it was supposed that the rock
+tomb, which presumably ran into the cliff from somewhere inside this
+area, was situated at that end. The next few weeks were occupied in the
+tedious task of probing the sand hereabouts, and at length in clearing
+it away altogether down to the surface of the underlying rock. Nothing
+was found, however; and sadly we turned to the exact middle of the
+court, and began to work slowly to the foot of the cliff. Here, in the
+very middle of the back wall, a pillared chamber was found, and it
+seemed certain that the entrance to the tomb would now be discovered.
+
+The best men were placed to dig out this chamber, and the excavator--it
+was many years ago--went about his work with the weight of fame upon his
+shoulders and an expression of intense mystery upon his sorely
+sun-scorched face. How clearly memory recalls the letter home that week,
+"We are on the eve of a great discovery"; and how vividly rises the
+picture of the baking desert sand into which the sweating workmen were
+slowly digging their way! But our hopes were short-lived, for it very
+soon became apparent that there was no tomb entrance in this part of the
+enclosure. There remained the north end of the area, and on to this all
+the available men were turned. Deeper and deeper they dug their way,
+until the mounds of sand thrown out formed, as it were, the lip of a
+great crater. At last, some forty or fifty feet down, the underlying
+rock was struck, and presently the mouth of a great shaft was exposed
+leading down into the bowels of the earth. The royal tomb had at last
+been discovered, and it only remained to effect an entrance. The days
+were now filled with excitement, and, the thoughts being concentrated on
+the question of the identity of the royal occupant of the tomb, it was
+soon fixed in our minds that we were about to enter the burial-place of
+no less a personage than the great Pharaoh Senusert III. (Sesostris),
+the same king whose jewels were found at Dachour.
+
+One evening, just after I had left the work, the men came down to the
+distant camp to say that the last barrier was now reached and that an
+entrance could be effected at once. In the pale light of the moon,
+therefore, I hastened back to the desert with a few trusted men. As we
+walked along, one of these natives very cheerfully remarked that we
+should all probably get our throats cut, as the brigands of the
+neighbourhood got wind of the discovery, and were sure to attempt to
+enter the tomb that night. With this pleasing prospect before us we
+walked with caution over the silent desert. Reaching the mound of sand
+which surrounded our excavation, we crept to the top and peeped over
+into the crater. At once we observed a dim light below us, and almost
+immediately an agitated but polite voice from the opposite mound called
+out in Arabic, "Go away, mister. We have all got guns." This remark was
+followed by a shot which whistled past me; and therewith I slid down the
+hill once more, and heartily wished myself safe in my bed. Our party
+then spread round the crater, and at a given word we proposed to rush
+the place. But the enemy was too quick for us, and after the briefest
+scrimmage, and the exchanging* of a harmless shot or two, we found
+ourselves in possession of the tomb, and were able to pretend that we
+were not a bit frightened.
+
+    *Transcriber's note: Original text read "exhanging".
+
+Then into the dark depths of the shaft we descended, and ascertained
+that the robbers had not effected an entrance. A long night watch
+followed, and the next day we had the satisfaction of arresting some of
+the criminals. The tomb was found to penetrate several hundred feet into
+the cliff, and at the end of the long and beautifully worked passage the
+great royal sarcophagus was found--empty! So ended a very strenuous
+season's work.
+
+If the experiences of a digger in Professor Petrie's camp are to be
+regarded as typical, they will probably serve to damp the ardour of
+eager young gentlemen in search of ancient Egyptian treasure. One lives
+in a bare little hut constructed of mud, and roofed with cornstalks or
+corrugated iron; and if by chance there happened to be a rain storm, as
+there was when I was a member of the community, one may watch the frail
+building gently subside in a liquid stream on to one's bed and books.
+For seven days in the week one's work continues, and it is only to the
+real enthusiast that that work is not monotonous and tiresome.
+
+A few years later it fell to my lot to excavate for the Government the
+funeral temple of Thutmosis III. at Thebes, and a fairly large sum was
+spent upon the undertaking. Although the site was most promising in
+appearances, a couple of months' work brought to light hardly a single
+object of importance, whereas exactly similar sites in the same
+neighbourhood had produced inscriptions of the greatest value. Two years
+ago I assisted at an excavation upon a site of my own selection, the net
+result of which, after six weeks' work, was one mummified cat! To sit
+over the work day after day, as did the unfortunate promoter of this
+particular enterprise, with the flies buzzing around his face and the
+sun blazing down upon him from a relentless sky, was hardly a
+pleasurable task; and to watch the clouds of dust go up from the
+tip-heap, where tons of unprofitable rubbish rolled down the hillside
+all day long, was an occupation for the damned. Yet that is excavating
+as it is usually found to be.
+
+Now let us consider the other side of the story. In the Valley of the
+Tombs of the Kings at Thebes excavations have been conducted for some
+years by Mr Theodore M. Davis, of Newport, Rhode Island, by special
+arrangement with the Department of Antiquities of the Egyptian
+Government; and as an official of that Department I have had the
+privilege of being present at all the recent discoveries. The finding of
+the tomb of Yuaa and Tuau a few years ago was one of the most
+interesting archaeological events of recent times, and one which came
+somewhere near to the standard of romance set by the novelists. Yuaa and
+Tuau were the parents of Queen Tiy, the discovery of whose tomb is
+recorded in the next chapter. When the entrance of their tomb was
+cleared, a flight of steps was exposed, leading down to a passage
+blocked by a wall of loose stones. In the top right-hand corner a small
+hole, large enough to admit a man, had been made in ancient times, and
+through this we could look down into a dark passage. As it was too late
+in the day to enter at once, we postponed that exciting experience until
+the morrow, and some police were sent for to guard the entrance during
+the night. I had slept the previous night over the mouth, and there was
+now no possibility of leaving the place for several more nights, so a
+rough camp was formed on the spot.
+
+Here I settled myself down for the long watch, and speculated on the
+events of the next morning, when Mr Davis and one or two well-known
+Egyptologists were to come to the valley to open the sepulchre.
+Presently, in the silent darkness, a slight noise was heard on the
+hillside, and immediately the challenge of the sentry rang out. This
+was answered by a distant call, and after some moments of alertness on
+our part we observed two figures approaching us. These, to my surprise,
+proved to be a well-known American artist and his wife,[1] who had
+obviously come on the expectation that trouble was ahead; but though in
+this they were certainly destined to suffer disappointment, still, out
+of respect for the absolute unconcern of both visitors, it may be
+mentioned that the mouth of a lonely tomb already said by native rumour
+to contain incalculable wealth is not perhaps the safest place in the
+world. Here, then, on a level patch of rock we three lay down and slept
+fitfully until the dawn. Soon after breakfast the wall at the mouth of
+the tomb was pulled down, and the party passed into the low passage
+which sloped down to the burial chamber. At the bottom of this passage
+there was a second wall blocking the way; but when a few layers had been
+taken off the top we were able to climb, one by one, into the chamber.
+
+    [Footnote 1: Mr and Mrs Joseph Lindon Smith.]
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XVII. Excavating the Osireion at Abydos. A chain of
+                         boys handing up baskets of sand to the
+                         surface.]
+
+                         [_Photo by the Author._
+
+
+Imagine entering a town house which had been closed for the summer:
+imagine the stuffy room, the stiff, silent appearance of the furniture,
+the feeling that some ghostly occupants of the vacant chairs have just
+been disturbed, the desire to throw open the windows to let life into
+room once more. That was perhaps the first sensation as we stood, really
+dumfounded, and stared around at the relics of the life of over three
+thousand years ago, all of which were as new almost as when they graced
+the palace of Prince Yuaa. Three arm-chairs were perhaps the first
+objects to attract the attention: beautiful carved wooden chairs,
+decorated with gold. Belonging to one of these was a pillow made of down
+and covered with linen. It was so perfectly preserved that one might
+have sat upon it or tossed it from this chair to that without doing it
+injury. Here were fine alabaster vases, and in one of these we were
+startled to find a liquid, like honey or syrup, still unsolidified by
+time. Boxes of exquisite workmanship stood in various parts of the room,
+some resting on delicately wrought legs. Now the eye was directed to a
+wicker trunk fitted with trays and partitions, and ventilated with
+little apertures, since the scents were doubtless strong. Two most
+comfortable beds were to be observed, fitted with springy string
+mattresses and decorated with charming designs in gold. There in the far
+corner, placed upon the top of a number of large white jars, stood the
+light chariot which Yuaa had owned in his lifetime. In all directions
+stood objects gleaming with gold undulled by a speck of dust, and one
+looked from one article to another with the feeling that the entire
+human conception of Time was wrong. These were the things of yesterday,
+of a year or so ago. Why, here were meats prepared for the feasts in the
+Underworld; here were Yuaa's favourite joints, each neatly placed in a
+wooden box as though for a journey. Here was his staff, and here were
+his sandals,--a new pair and an old. In another corner there stood the
+magical figures by the power of which the prince was to make his way
+through Hades. The words of the mystical "Chapter of the Flame" and of
+the "Chapter of the Magical Figure of the North Wall" were inscribed
+upon them; and upon a great roll of papyrus twenty-two yards in length
+other efficacious prayers were written.
+
+But though the eyes passed from object to object, they ever returned to
+the two lidless gilded coffins in which the owners of this room of the
+dead lay as though peacefully sleeping. First above Yuaa and then above
+his wife the electric lamps were held, and as one looked down into their
+quiet faces there was almost the feeling that they would presently open
+their eyes and blink at the light. The stern features of the old man
+commanded one's attention, again and again our gaze was turned from this
+mass of wealth to this sleeping figure in whose honour it had been
+placed here.
+
+At last we returned to the surface to allow the thoughts opportunity to
+collect themselves and the pulses time to quiet down, for, even to the
+most unemotional, a discovery of this kind, bringing one into the very
+presence of the past, has really an unsteadying effect. Then once more
+we descended, and made the preliminary arrangements for the cataloguing
+of the antiquities. It was now that the real work began, and, once the
+excitement was past, there was a monotony of labour to be faced which
+put a very considerable strain on the powers of all concerned. The hot
+days when one sweated over the heavy packing-cases, and the bitterly
+cold nights when one lay at the mouth of the tomb under the stars,
+dragged on for many a week; and when at last the long train of boxes was
+carried down to the Nile _en route_ for the Cairo Museum, it was with a
+sigh of relief that the official returned to his regular work.
+
+This, of course, was a very exceptional discovery. Mr Davis has made
+other great finds, but to me they have not equalled in dramatic interest
+the discovery just recorded. Even in this royal valley, however, there
+is much drudgery to be faced, and for a large part of the season's work
+it is the excavator's business to turn over endless masses of rock
+chippings, and to dig huge holes which have no interest for the patient
+digger. Sometimes the mouth of a tomb is bared, and is entered with the
+profoundest hopes, which are at once dashed by the sudden abrupt ending
+of the cutting a few yards from the surface. At other times a
+tomb-chamber is reached and is found to be absolutely empty.
+
+At another part of Thebes the well-known Egyptologist, Professor
+Schiaparelli, had excavated for a number of years without finding
+anything of much importance, when suddenly one fine day he struck the
+mouth of a large tomb which was evidently intact. I was at once informed
+of the discovery, and proceeded to the spot as quickly as possible. The
+mouth of the tomb was approached down a flight of steep, rough steps,
+still half-choked with _debris_. At the bottom of this the entrance of a
+passage running into the hillside was blocked by a wall of rough stones.
+After photographing and removing this, we found ourselves in a long, low
+tunnel, blocked by a second wall a few yards ahead. Both these walls
+were intact, and we realised that we were about to see what probably no
+living man had ever seen before: the absolutely intact remains of a rich
+Theban of the Imperial Age--_i.e._, about 1200 or 1300 B.C. When this
+second wall was taken down we passed into a carefully-cut passage high
+enough to permit of one standing upright.
+
+At the end of this passage a plain wooden door barred our progress. The
+wood retained the light colour of fresh deal, and looked for all the
+world as though it had been set up but yesterday. A heavy wooden lock,
+such as is used at the present day, held the door fast. A neat bronze
+handle on the side of the door was connected by a spring to a wooden
+knob set in the masonry door-post; and this spring was carefully sealed
+with a small dab of stamped clay. The whole contrivance seemed so modern
+that Professor Schiaparelli called to his servant for the key, who quite
+seriously replied, "I don't know where it is, sir." He then thumped the
+door with his hand to see whether it would be likely to give; and, as
+the echoes reverberated through the tomb, one felt that the mummy, in
+the darkness beyond, might well think that his resurrection call had
+come. One almost expected him to rise, like the dead knights of Kildare
+in the Irish legend, and to ask, "Is it time?" for the three thousand
+years which his religion had told him was the duration of his life in
+the tomb was already long past.
+
+Meanwhile we turned our attention to the objects which stood in the
+passage, having been placed there at the time of the funeral, owing to
+the lack of room in the burial-chamber. Here a vase, rising upon a
+delicately shaped stand, attracted the eye by its beauty of form; and
+here a bedstead caused us to exclaim at its modern appearance. A
+palm-leaf fan, used by the ancient Egyptians to keep the flies off their
+wines and unguents, stood near a now empty jar; and near by a basket of
+dried-up fruit was to be seen. This dried fruit gave the impression that
+the tomb was perhaps a few months old, but there was nothing else to be
+seen which suggested that the objects were even as much as a year old.
+It was almost impossible to believe, and quite impossible to realise,
+that we were standing where no man had stood for well over three
+thousand years; and that we were actually breathing the air which had
+remained sealed in the passage since the ancient priests had closed the
+entrance thirteen hundred years before Christ.
+
+Before we could proceed farther, many flashlight photographs had to be
+taken, and drawings made of the doorway; and after this a panel of the
+woodwork had to be removed with a fret-saw in order that the lock and
+seal might not be damaged. At last, however, this was accomplished, and
+the way into the tomb-chamber was open. Stepping through the frame of
+the door, we found ourselves in an unencumbered portion of the floor,
+while around us in all directions stood the funeral furniture, and on
+our left the coffins of the deceased noble and his wife loomed large.
+Everything looked new and undecayed, and even the order in which the
+objects were arranged suggested a tidying-up done that very morning. The
+gravel on the floor was neatly smoothed, and not a speck of dust was
+anywhere to be observed. Over the large outer coffin a pall of fine
+linen was laid, not rotting and falling to pieces like the cloth of
+mediaeval times we see in our museums, but soft and strong like the
+sheets of our beds. In the clear space before the coffin stood a wooden
+pedestal in the form of a miniature lotus column. On the top of this,
+resting on three wooden prongs, was a small copper dish, in which were
+the ashes of incense, and the little stick used for stirring them. One
+asked oneself in bewilderment whether the ashes here, seemingly not
+cold, had truly ceased to glow at a time when Rome and Greece were
+undreamt of, when Assyria did not exist, and when the Exodus of the
+Children of Israel was yet unaccomplished.
+
+On low tables round cakes of bread were laid out, not cracked and
+shrivelled, but smooth and brown, with a kind of white-of-egg glaze upon
+them. Onions and fruit were also spread out; and the fruit of the _dom_
+palm was to be seen in plenty. In various parts of the chamber there
+were numerous bronze vessels of different shapes, intended for the
+holding of milk and other drinkables.
+
+Well supplied with food and drink, the senses of the dead man were
+soothed by a profusion of flowers, which lay withered but not decayed
+beside the coffin, and which at the time of the funeral must have filled
+the chamber with their sweetness. Near the doorway stood an upright
+wooden chest closed with a lid. Opening this, we found it to contain the
+great ceremonial wig of the deceased man, which was suspended from a
+rail passing across the top of the chest, and hung free of the sides and
+bottom. The black hair was plaited into hundreds of little tails, but in
+size the wig was not unlike those of the early eighteenth century in
+Europe. Chairs, beds, and other pieces of furniture were arranged around
+the room, and at one side there were a number of small chests and boxes
+piled up against the wall. We opened one or two of these, and found them
+to contain delicate little vases of glass, stone, and metal, wrapped
+round with rags to prevent them breaking. These, like everything else
+in the tomb, were new and fresh, and showed no trace of the passing of
+the years.
+
+The coffins, of course, were hidden by the great casing in which each
+rested, and which itself was partly hidden by the linen pall. Nothing
+could be touched for many days, until photographs had been taken and
+records made; and we therefore returned through the long passage to the
+light of the day.
+
+There must have been a large number of intact tombs to be found when
+first the modern interest in Egyptian antiquities developed; but the
+market thus created had to be supplied, and gangs of illicit diggers
+made short work of the most accessible tombs. This illegal excavation,
+of course, continues to some extent at the present day, in spite of all
+precautions, but the results are becoming less and less proportionate to
+the labour expended and risk taken. A native likes best to do a little
+quiet digging in his own back yard and to admit nobody else into the
+business. To illustrate this, I may mention a tragedy which was brought
+to my notice a few years ago. A certain native discovered the entrance
+of a tomb in the floor of his stable, and at once proceeded to worm his
+way down the tunnel. That was the end of the native. His wife, finding
+that he had not returned two hours or so later, went down the newly
+found tunnel after him. That was the end of her also. In turn, three
+other members of the family went down into the darkness; and that was
+the end of them. A native official was then called, and, lighting his
+way with a candle, penetrated down the winding passage. The air was so
+foul that he was soon obliged to retreat, but he stated that he was just
+able to see in the distance ahead the bodies of the unfortunate
+peasants, all of whom had been overcome by what he quaintly described as
+"the evil lighting and bad climate." Various attempts at the rescue of
+the bodies having failed, we gave orders that this tomb should be
+regarded as their sepulchre, and that its mouth should be sealed up.
+According to the natives, there was evidently a vast hoard of wealth
+stored at the bottom of this tomb, and the would-be robbers had met
+their death at the hands of the demon in charge of it, who had seized
+each man by the throat as he came down the tunnel and had strangled him.
+
+The Egyptian peasants have a very strong belief in the power of such
+creatures of the spirit world. A native who was attempting recently to
+discover hidden treasure in a certain part of the desert, sacrificed a
+lamb each night above the spot where he believed the treasure to lie, in
+order to propitiate the _djin_ who guarded it. On the other hand,
+however, they have no superstition as regards the sanctity of the
+ancient dead, and they do not hesitate on that ground to rifle the
+tombs. Thousands of graves have been desecrated by these seekers after
+treasure, and it is very largely the result of this that scientific
+excavation is often so fruitless nowadays. When an excavator states that
+he has discovered a tomb, one takes it for granted that he means a
+_plundered_ tomb, unless he definitely says that it was intact, in which
+case one calls him a lucky fellow and regards him with green envy.
+
+And thus we come back to my remarks at the beginning of this chapter,
+that there is a painful disillusionment awaiting the man who comes to
+dig in Egypt in the hope of finding the golden cities of the Pharaohs or
+the bejewelled bodies of their dead. Of the latter there are but a few
+left to be found. The discovery of one of them forms the subject of the
+next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                    THE TOMB OF TIY AND AKHNATON.[1]
+
+
+    [Footnote 1: A few paragraphs in this chapter also appear in my
+                 'Life and Times of Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt.'
+                 (Wm. Blackwood & Sons, 1910.)]
+
+In January 1907 the excavations in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings
+at Thebes, which are being conducted each year by Mr Davis, brought to
+light the entrance of a tomb which, by its style, appeared to be that of
+a royal personage of the XVIIIth Dynasty. The Valley lies behind the
+cliffs which form the western boundary of Thebes, and is approached by a
+long winding road running between the rocks and rugged hills of the
+Lybian desert. Here the Pharaohs of the XVIIIth to the XXth Dynasties
+were buried in large sepulchres cut into the sides of the hills; and the
+present excavations have for their object the removal of the _debris_
+which has collected at the foot of these hills, in order that the tombs
+hidden beneath may be revealed. About sixty tombs are now open, some of
+which were already known to Greek and Roman travellers; and there are
+probably not more than two or three still to be discovered.
+
+When this new tomb-entrance was uncovered I was at once notified, and
+proceeded with all despatch to the Valley. It was not long before we
+were able to enter the tomb. A rough stairway led down into the
+hillside, bringing us to the mouth of a passage which was entirely
+blocked by a wall of built stones. On removing this wall we found
+ourselves in a small passage, descending at a sharp incline to a chamber
+which could be seen a few yards farther on. Instead of this passage
+being free from _debris_, however, as we had expected on finding the
+entrance-wall intact, it was partly filled with fallen stones which
+seemed to be the ruins of an earlier entrance-wall. On top of this heap
+of stones lay one of the sides of a large funeral shrine, almost
+entirely blocking the passage. This shrine, as we later saw, was in the
+form of a great box-like sarcophagus, made of cedar-wood covered with
+gold, and it had been intended as an outer covering for the coffin of
+the deceased person. It was, however, not put together: three sides of
+it were leaning against the walls of the burial-chamber, and the fourth
+was here in the passage. Either it was never built up, or else it was in
+process of being taken out of the tomb again when the work was
+abandoned.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XVIII. The entrance of the tomb of Queen Tiy, with
+                          Egyptian policeman standing beside it. On
+                          the left is the later tomb of Rameses X.]
+
+                          [_Photo by R. Paul._
+
+
+To pass this portion of the shrine which lay in the passage without
+doing it damage was no easy matter. We could not venture to move it, as
+the wood was rotten; and indeed, for over a year it remained in its
+original position. We therefore made a bridge of planks within a few
+inches of the low roof, and on this we wriggled ourselves across into
+the unencumbered passage beyond. In the funeral-chamber, besides the
+other portions of the shrine, we found at one corner a splendid coffin,
+in the usual form of a recumbent figure, inlaid in a dazzling manner
+with rare stones and coloured glass. The coffin had originally lain upon
+a wooden bier, in the form of a lion-legged couch; but this had
+collapsed and the mummy had fallen to the ground, the lid of the coffin
+being partly thrown off by the fall, thus exposing the head and feet of
+the body, from which the bandages had decayed and fallen off. In the
+powerful glare of the electric light which we carried, the bare skull,
+with a golden vulture upon it, could be seen protruding from the remains
+of the linen bandages and from the sheets of flexible gold-foil in
+which, as we afterwards found, the whole body was wrapped. The
+inscription on the coffin, the letters of which were made of rare
+stones, gave the titles of Akhnaton, "the beautiful child of the Sun";
+but turning to the shrine we found other inscriptions stating that King
+Akhnaton had made it for his mother, Queen Tiy, and thus no immediate
+reply could be given to those at the mouth of the tomb who called to us
+to know which of the Pharaoh's of Egypt had been found.
+
+In a recess in the wall above the body there stood four alabaster
+"canopy" jars, each with a lid exquisitely sculptured in the form of a
+human head. In another corner there was a box containing many little
+toilet vases and utensils of porcelain. A few alabaster vases and other
+objects were lying in various parts of the chamber, arranged in some
+sort of rough order.
+
+Nothing, of course, could yet be touched, and for several days, during
+the lengthy process of photographing and recording the contents of the
+tomb _in situ_, no further information could be obtained as to the
+identity of the owner of the tomb. The shrine was certainly made for
+Queen Tiy, and so too were the toilet utensils, judging by an
+inscription upon one of them which gave the names of Tiy and her
+husband, King Amenhotep III., the parents of Akhnaton. It was,
+therefore, not a surprise when a passing doctor declared the much broken
+bones to be those of a woman--that is to say, those of Queen Tiy. For
+reasons which will presently become apparent, it had been difficult to
+believe that Akhnaton could have been buried in this Valley, and one was
+very ready to suppose that the coffin bearing his name had but been
+given by him to his mother.
+
+The important discovery was now announced, and considerable interest and
+excitement. At the end of the winter the various archaeologists departed
+to their several countries, and it fell to me to despatch the
+antiquities to the Cairo Museum, and to send the bones, soaked in wax to
+prevent their breakage, to Dr Elliot Smith, to be examined by that
+eminent authority. It may be imagined that my surprise was considerable
+when I received a letter from him reading--"Are you sure that the bones
+you sent me are those which were found in the tomb? Instead of the bones
+of an old woman, you have sent me those of a young man. Surely there is
+some mistake."
+
+There was, however, no mistake. Dr Elliot Smith later informed me that
+the bones were those of a young man of about twenty-eight years of age,
+and at first this description did not seem to tally with that of
+Akhnaton, who was always thought to have been a man of middle age. But
+there is now no possibility of doubt that the coffin and mummy were
+those of this extraordinary Pharaoh, although the tomb and funeral
+furniture belonged to Queen Tiy. Dr Elliot Smith's decision was, of
+course, somewhat disconcerting to those who had written of the mortal
+remains of the great Queen; but it is difficult to speak of Tiy without
+also referring to her famous son Akhnaton, and in these articles he had
+received full mention.
+
+About the year B.C. 1500 the throne of Egypt fell to the young brother
+of Queen Hatshepsut, Thutmosis III., and under his vigorous rule the
+country rose to a height of power never again equalled. Amenhotep II.
+succeeded to an empire which extended from the Sudan to the Euphrates
+and to the Greek Islands; and when he died he left these great
+possessions almost intact to his son, Thutmosis IV., the grandfather of
+Akhnaton. It is important to notice the chronology of this period. The
+mummy of Thutmosis IV. has been shown by Dr Elliot Smith to be that of a
+man of not more than twenty-six years of age; but we know that his son
+Amenhotep III. was old enough to hunt lions at about the time of his
+father's death, and that he was already married to Queen Tiy a year
+later. Thus one must suppose that Thutmosis IV. was a father at the age
+of thirteen or fourteen, and that Amenhotep III. was married to Tiy at
+about the same age. The wife of Thutmosis IV. was probably a Syrian
+princess, and it must have been during her regency that Amenhotep III.
+married Tiy, who was not of royal blood. Amenhotep and Tiy introduced
+into Egypt the luxuries of Asia; and during their brilliant reign the
+Nile Valley was more open to Syrian influence than it had ever been
+before. The language of Babylon was perhaps the Court tongue, and the
+correspondence was written in cuneiform instead of in the hieratic
+script of Egypt. Amenhotep III., as has been said, was probably partly
+Asiatic; and there is, perhaps, some reason to suppose that Yuaa, the
+father of Queen Tiy, was also a Syrian. One has, therefore, to picture
+the Egyptian Court at this time as being saturated with foreign ideas,
+which clashed with those of the orthodox Egyptians.
+
+Queen Tiy bore several children to the King; but it was not until they
+had reigned over twenty years that a son and heir was born, whom they
+named Amenhotep, that being changed later to Akhnaton. It is probable
+that he first saw the light in the royal palace at Thebes, which was
+situated on the edge of the desert at the foot of the western hills. It
+was an extensive and roomy structure, lightly built and gaily decorated.
+The ceiling and pavements of its halls were fantastically painted with
+scenes of animal life: wild cattle ran through reedy swamps beneath
+one's feet, and many-coloured fish swam in the water; while overhead
+flights of pigeons, white against a blue sky, passed across the hall,
+and the wild duck hastened towards the open casements. Through curtained
+doorways one might obtain glimpses of a garden planted with flowers
+foreign to Egypt; and on the east of the palace the King had made a
+great pleasure-lake for the Queen, surrounded by the trees of Asia.
+Here, floating in her golden barge, which was named _Aton-gleams_, the
+Queen might look westwards over the tree-tops to the splendid Theban
+hills towering above the palace, and eastwards to the green valley of
+the Nile and the three great limestone hills beyond. Amenhotep III. has
+been rightly called the "Magnificent," and one may well believe that his
+son Akhnaton was born to the sound of music and to the clink of golden
+wine-cups. Fragments of countless thousands of wine-jars and blue
+fayence drinking-vessels have been found in the ruins of the palace;
+and contemporary objects and paintings show us some of the exquisitely
+wrought bowls of gold and silver which must have graced the royal
+tables, and the charming toilet utensils which were to be found in the
+sleeping apartments.
+
+While the luxurious Court rejoiced at the birth of this Egypto-Asiatic
+prince, one feels that the ancient priesthood of Amon-Ra must have stood
+aloof, and must have looked askance at the baby who was destined one day
+to be their master. This priesthood was perhaps the proudest and most
+conservative community which conservative Egypt ever produced. It
+demanded implicit obedience to its stiff and ancient conventions, and it
+refused to recognise the growing tendency towards religious speculation.
+One of the great gods of Syria was Aton, the god of the sun; and his
+recognition at the Theban Court was a source of constant irritation to
+the ministers of Amon-Ra.
+
+Probably they would have taken stronger measures to resist this foreign
+god had it not been for the fact that Atum of Heliopolis, an ancient god
+of Egypt, was on the one hand closely akin to Ra, the associated deity
+with Amon, and on the other hand to Aton of Syria. Thus Aton might be
+regarded merely as another name for Ra or Amon-Ra; but the danger to the
+old _regime_ lay in the fact that with the worship of Aton there went a
+certain amount of freethought. The sun and its warm rays were the
+heritage of all mankind; and the speculative mind of the Asiatic,
+always in advance of the less imaginative Egyptian, had not failed to
+collect to the Aton-worship a number of semi-philosophical teachings far
+broader than the strict doctrines of Amon-Ra could tolerate.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XIX. Toilet-spoons of carved wood, discovered in
+                        tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty. That on the
+                        right has a movable lid.
+                        --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                        [_Photo by E. Brugsch Pasha._
+
+
+There is much reason to suppose that Queen Tiy was the prime factor in
+the new movement. It may, perhaps, be worth noting that her father was a
+priest of the Egyptian god Min, who corresponded to the North Syrian
+Aton in his capacity as a god of vegetation; and she may have imbibed
+something of the broader doctrines from him. It is the barge upon _her_
+pleasure-lake which is called _Aton-gleams_, and it is _her_ private
+artist who is responsible for one of the first examples of the new style
+of art which begins to appear at this period. Egyptian art was bound
+down by conventions jealously guarded by the priesthood, and the slight
+tendency to break away from these, which now becomes apparent, is
+another sign of the broadening of thought under the reign of Amenhotep
+III. and Tiy.
+
+King Amenhotep III. does not seem to have been a man of strong
+character, and in the changes which took place at this time he does not
+appear to have taken so very large a part. He always showed the most
+profound respect for, and devotion to, his Queen; and one is inclined to
+regard him as a tool in her hands. According to some accounts he reigned
+only thirty years, but there are contemporary monuments dated in his
+thirty-sixth year, and it seems probable that for the last few years he
+was reigning only in name, and that in reality his ministers, under the
+regency of Queen Tiy, governed the land. Amenhotep III. was perhaps
+during his last years insane or stricken with some paralytic disease,
+for we read of an Asiatic monarch sending a miracle-working image to
+Egypt, apparently for the purpose of attempting to cure him. It must
+have been during these six years of absolute power, while Akhnaton was a
+boy, that the Queen pushed forward her reforms and encouraged the
+breaking down of the old traditions, especially those relating to the
+worship of Amon-Ra.
+
+Amenhotep III. died in about the forty-ninth year of his age, after a
+total reign of thirty-six years; and Akhnaton, who still bore the name
+of Amenhotep, ascended the throne. One must picture him now as an
+enthusiastic boy, filled with the new thought of the age, and burning to
+assert the broad doctrines which he had learned from his mother and her
+friends, in defiance of the priests of Amon-Ra. He was already married
+to a Syrian named Nefertiti, and certainly before he was fifteen years
+of age he was the father of two daughters.
+
+The new Pharaoh's first move, under the guidance of Tiy, was to proclaim
+Aton the only true god, and to name himself high priest of that deity.
+He then began to build a temple dedicated to Aton at Karnak; but it must
+have been distasteful to observe how overshadowed and dwarfed was this
+new temple by the mighty buildings in honour of the older gods which
+stood there. Moreover, there must have been very serious opposition to
+the new religion in Thebes, where Amon had ruled for so many centuries
+unchallenged. In whatever direction he looked he was confronted with
+some evidence of the worship of Amon-Ra: he might proclaim Aton to be
+the only god, but Amon and a hundred other deities stared down at him
+from every temple wall. He and his advisers, therefore, decided to
+abandon Thebes altogether and to found a new capital elsewhere.
+
+Akhnaton selected a site for the new city on the west bank of the river,
+at a point now named El Amarna, about 160 miles above Cairo. Here the
+hills recede from the river, forming a bay about three miles deep and
+five long; and in this bay the young Pharaoh decided to build his
+capital, which was named "Horizon of Aton." With feverish speed the new
+buildings were erected. A palace even more beautiful than that of his
+parents at Thebes was prepared for him; a splendid temple dedicated to
+Aton was set up amidst a garden of rare trees and brilliant flowers;
+villas for his nobles were erected, and streets were laid out. Queen
+Tiy, who seems to have continued to live at Thebes, often came down to
+El Amarna to visit her son; but it seems to have been at his own wish
+rather than at her advice that he now took the important step which set
+the seal of his religion upon his life.
+
+Around the bay of El Amarna, on the cliffs which shut it off so
+securely, the King caused landmarks to be made at intervals, and on
+these he inscribed an oath which some have interpreted to mean that he
+would never again leave his new city. He would remain, like the Pope in
+the Vatican, for the rest of his days within the limits of this bay;
+and, rather than be distracted by the cares of state and the worries of
+empire, he would shut himself up with his god and would devote his life
+to his religion. He was but a youth still, and, to his inexperienced
+mind, this oath seemed nothing; nor in his brief life does it seem that
+he broke it, though at times he must have longed to visit his domains.
+
+The religion which this boy, who now called himself Akhnaton, "The Glory
+of Aton," taught was by no means the simple worship of the sun. It was,
+without question, the most enlightened religion which the world at that
+time had ever known. The young priest-king called upon mankind to
+worship the unknown power which is behind the sun, that power of which
+the brilliant sun was the visible symbol, and which might be discerned
+in the fertilising warmth of the sun's rays. Aton was originally the
+actual sun's disk; but Akhnaton called his god "Heat which is in Aton,"
+and thus drew the eyes of his followers towards a Force far more
+intangible and distant than the dazzling orb to which they bowed down.
+Akhnaton's god was the force which created the sun, the something which
+penetrated to this earth in the sun's heat and caused the vegetation to
+grow.
+
+Amon-Ra and the gods of Egypt were for the most part but deified
+mortals, endued with monstrous, though limited, power, and still having
+around them traditions of exaggerated human deeds. Others had their
+origin in natural phenomena--the wind, the Nile, the sky, and so on. All
+were terrific, revengeful, and able to be moved by human emotions. But
+Akhnaton's god was the intangible and yet ever-present Father of
+mankind, made manifest in sunshine. The youthful High Priest called upon
+his followers to search for their god not in the confusion of battle or
+behind the smoke of human sacrifices, but amidst the flowers and trees,
+amidst the wild duck and the fishes. He preached an enlightened
+nature-study; he was perhaps the first apostle of the Simple Life. He
+strove to break down conventional religion, and ceaselessly urged his
+people to worship in Truth, simply, without an excess of ceremonial.
+While the elder gods had been manifest in natural convulsions and in the
+more awful incidents of life, Akhnaton's kindly god could be seen in the
+chick which broke out of its egg, in the wind which filled the sails of
+the ships, in the fish which leapt from the water. Aton was the joy
+which caused the young sheep "to dance upon their feet," and the birds
+to "flutter in their marshes." He was the god of the simple pleasures of
+life, and Truth was the watchword of his followers.
+
+It may be understood how the boy longed for truth in all things when one
+remembers the thousand exaggerated conventions of Egyptian life at this
+time. Court etiquette had developed to a degree which rendered life to
+the Pharaoh an endless round of unnatural poses of mind and body. In the
+preaching of his doctrine of truth and simplicity, Akhnaton did not fail
+to call upon his subjects to regard their Pharaoh not as a god but as a
+man. It was usual for the Pharaoh to keep aloof from his people:
+Akhnaton was to be found in their midst. The Court demanded that their
+lord should drive in solitary state through the city: Akhnaton sat in
+his chariot with his wife and children, and allowed the artist to
+represent him joking with his little daughter, who has mischievously
+poked the horses with a stick. In representing the Pharaoh, the artist
+was expected to draw him in some conventional attitude of dignity:
+Akhnaton insisted upon being shown in all manner of natural
+attitudes--now leaning languidly upon a staff, now nursing his children,
+now caressing his wife.
+
+As has been said, one of the first artists to break away from the
+ancient conventions was in the service of Queen Tiy, and was probably
+under her influence. But in the radical change in the art which took
+place, Akhnaton is definitely stated to have been the leader, and the
+new school acknowledge that they were taught by the King. The new art is
+extraordinary, and it must be owned that its merit lies rather in its
+originality than in its beauty. An attempt is made to do away with the
+prescribed attitudes and the strict proportions, and to portray any one
+individual with his natural defects. Some of the sculptured heads,
+however, which have come down to us, and notably the four "canopic"
+heads found in this tomb, are of wonderful beauty, and have no trace of
+traditional mannerisms, though they are highly idealised. The King's
+desire for light-heartedness led him to encourage the use of bright
+colours and gay decorations in the palace. Some of the ceiling and
+pavement paintings are of great beauty, while the walls and pillars
+inlaid with coloured stones must have given a brilliancy to the halls
+unequalled in Egypt at any previous time.
+
+The group of nobles who formed the King's Court had all sacrificed much
+in coming to the new capital. Their estates around Thebes had been left,
+their houses abandoned, and the tombs which were in process of being
+made for them in the Theban hills had been rendered useless. The King,
+therefore, showered favours upon them, and at his expense built their
+houses and constructed sepulchres for them. It is on the walls of these
+tombs that one obtains the main portion of one's information regarding
+the teachings of this wonderful youth, who was now growing into
+manhood. Here are inscribed those beautiful hymns to Aton which rank so
+high in ancient literature. It is unfortunate that space does not allow
+more than a few extracts from the hymns to be quoted here; but something
+of their beauty may be realised from these. (Professor Breasted's
+translation.)
+
+  "Thy dawning is beautiful in the horizon of heaven,
+   O living Aton, Beginning of life!
+   When thou risest in the eastern horizon of heaven
+   Thou fillest every land with thy beauty."
+
+  "Though thou art afar, thy rays are on earth;
+   Though thou art on high, thy footprints are the day."
+
+  "When thou settest in the western horizon of heaven
+   The world is in darkness like the dead.
+   Men sleep in their chambers, their heads are wrapt up.
+   Every lion cometh forth from his den.
+   The serpents, they sting.
+   Darkness reigns, the world is in silence:
+   He that made them has gone to rest in his horizon."
+
+  "Bright is the earth when thou risest in the horizon ...
+   When thou sendest forth thy rays
+   The two lands of Egypt are in daily festivity,
+   Awake and standing upon their feet,
+   For thou hast raised them up.
+   Their limbs bathed, they take their clothing,
+   Their arms uplifted in adoration to thy dawning.
+   Then in all the world they do their work."
+
+  "All cattle rest upon their herbage, all trees and plants flourish.
+   The birds flutter in their marshes, their wings uplifted in
+       adoration to thee.
+   All the sheep dance upon their feet,
+   All winged things fly; they live when thou hast shone upon them."
+
+  "The barques sail up-stream and down-stream alike,...
+   The fish in the river leap up before thee,
+   And thy rays are in the midst of the great sea."
+
+  "Thou art he who createst the man-child in woman ...
+   Who giveth life to the son in the body of his mother;
+   Who soothest him that he may not weep,
+   A nurse even in the womb."
+
+  "When the chick crieth in the egg-shell,
+   Thou givest him breath therein to preserve him alive ...
+   He cometh forth from the egg, to chirp with all his might.
+   He runneth about upon his two feet."
+
+  "How manifold are all thy works!
+   They are hidden from before us."
+
+There are several verses of this hymn which are almost identical with
+Psalm civ., and those who study it closely will be forced to one of two
+conclusions: either that Psalm civ. is derived from this hymn of the
+young Pharaoh, or that both are derived from some early Syrian hymn to
+the sun. Akhnaton may have only adapted this early psalm to local
+conditions; though, on the other hand, a man capable of bringing to pass
+so great a religious revolution in Egypt may well be credited with the
+authorship of this splendid song. There is no evidence to show that it
+was written before the King had reached manhood.
+
+Queen Tiy probably did not now take any further part in a movement which
+had got so far out of her hands. She was now nearly sixty years old, and
+this, to one who had been a mother so early in life, was a considerable
+age. It seems that she sometimes paid visits to her son at El Amarna,
+but her interest lay in Thebes, where she had once held so brilliant a
+Court. When at last she died, therefore, it is not surprising to find
+that she was buried in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. The tomb
+which has been described above is most probably her original sepulchre,
+and here her body was placed in the golden shrine made for her by
+Akhnaton, surrounded by the usual funeral furniture. She thus lay no
+more than a stone's throw from her parents, whose tomb was discovered
+two years ago, and which was of very similar size and shape.
+
+After her death, although preaching this gentle creed of love and simple
+truth, Akhnaton waged a bitter and stern war against the priesthoods of
+the old gods. It may be that the priesthoods of Amon had again attempted
+to overthrow the new doctrines, or had in some manner called down the
+particular wrath of the Pharaoh. He issued an order that the name of
+Amon was to be erased and obliterated wherever it was found, and his
+agents proceeded to hack it out on all the temple walls. The names also
+of other gods were erased; and it is noticeable in this tomb that the
+word _mut_, meaning "mother," was carefully spelt in hieroglyphs which
+would have no similarity to those used in the word _Mut_, the
+goddess-consort of Amon. The name of Amenhotep III., his own father, did
+not escape the King's wrath, and the first syllables were everywhere
+erased.
+
+As the years went by Akhnaton seems to have given himself more and more
+completely to his new religion. He had now so trained one of his nobles,
+named Merira, in the teachings of Aton that he was able to hand over to
+him the high priesthood of that god, and to turn his attention to the
+many other duties which he had imposed upon himself. In rewarding
+Merira, the King is related to have said, "Hang gold at his neck before
+and behind, and gold on his legs, because of his hearing the teaching of
+Pharaoh concerning every saying in these beautiful places." Another
+official whom Akhnaton greatly advanced says: "My lord advanced me
+because I have carried out his teaching, and I hear his word without
+ceasing." The King's doctrines were thus beginning to take hold; but one
+feels, nevertheless, that the nobles followed their King rather for the
+sake of their material gains than for the spiritual comforts of the
+Aton-worship. There is reason to suppose that at least one of these
+nobles was degraded and banished from the city.
+
+But while Akhnaton was preaching peace and goodwill amidst the flowers
+of the temple of Aton, his generals in Asia Minor were vainly struggling
+to hold together the great empire created by Thutmosis III. Akhnaton had
+caused a temple of Aton to be erected at one point in Syria at least,
+but in other respects he took little or no interest in the welfare of
+his foreign dominions. War was not tolerated in his doctrine: it was a
+sin to take away life which the good Father had given. One pictures the
+hardened soldiers of the empire striving desperately to hold the nations
+of Asia faithful to the Pharaoh whom they never saw. The small garrisons
+were scattered far and wide over Syria, and constantly they sent
+messengers to the Pharaoh asking at least for some sign that he held
+them in mind.
+
+There is no more pathetic page of ancient history than that which tells
+of the fall of the Egyptian Empire. The Amorites, advancing along the
+sea-coast, took city after city from the Egyptians almost without a
+struggle. The chiefs of Tunip wrote an appeal for help to the King: "To
+the King of Egypt, my lord,--The inhabitants of Tunip, thy servant." The
+plight of the city is described and reinforcements are asked for, "And
+now," it continues, "Tunip thy city weeps, and her tears are flowing,
+and there is no help for us. For twenty years we have been sending to
+our lord the King, the King of Egypt, but there has not come a word to
+us, no, not one." The messengers of the beleaguered city must have found
+the King absorbed in his religion, and must have seen only priests of
+the sun where they had hoped to find the soldiers of former days. The
+Egyptian governor of Jerusalem, attacked by Aramaeans, writes to the
+Pharaoh, saying: "Let the King take care of his land, and ... let send
+troops.... For if no troops come in this year, the whole territory of my
+lord the King will perish." To this letter is added a note to the
+King's secretary, which reads, "Bring these words plainly before my
+lord the King: the whole land of my lord the King is going to ruin."
+
+So city after city fell, and the empire, won at such cost, was gradually
+lost to the Egyptians. It is probable that Akhnaton had not realised how
+serious was the situation in Asia Minor. A few of the chieftains who
+were not actually in arms against him had written to him every now and
+then assuring him that all was well in his dominions; and, strange to
+relate, the tribute of many of the cities had been regularly paid. The
+Asiatic princes, in fact, had completely fooled the Pharaoh, and had led
+him to believe that the nations were loyal while they themselves
+prepared for rebellion. Akhnaton, hating violence, had been only too
+ready to believe that the despatches from Tunip and elsewhere were
+unjustifiably pessimistic. He had hoped to bind together the many
+countries under his rule, by giving them a single religion. He had hoped
+that when Aton should be worshipped in all parts of his empire, and when
+his simple doctrines of love, truth, and peace should be preached from
+every temple throughout the length and breadth of his dominions, then
+war would cease and a unity of faith would hold the lands in harmony one
+with the other.
+
+When, therefore, the tribute suddenly ceased, and the few refugees came
+staggering home to tell of the perfidy of the Asiatic princes and the
+fall of the empire, Akhnaton seems to have received his deathblow. He
+was now not more than twenty-eight years of age; and though his
+portraits show that his face was already lined with care, and that his
+body was thinner than it should have been, he seems to have had plenty
+of reserve strength. He was the father of several daughters, but his
+queen had borne him no son to succeed him; and thus he must have felt
+that his religion could not outlive him. With his empire lost, with
+Thebes his enemy, and with his treasury wellnigh empty, one feels that
+Akhnaton must have sunk to the very depths of despondency. His religious
+revolution had ruined Egypt, and had failed: did he, one wonders, find
+consolation in the sunshine and amidst the flowers?
+
+His death followed speedily; and, resting in the splendid coffin in
+which we found him, he was laid in the tomb prepared for him in the
+hills behind his new capital. The throne fell to the husband of one of
+his daughters, Smenkhkara, who, after an ephemeral reign, gave place to
+another of the sons-in-law of Akhnaton, Tutankhaton. This king was
+speedily persuaded to change his name to Tutankhamon, to abandon the
+worship of Aton, and to return to Thebes. Akhnaton's city fell into
+ruins, and soon the temples and palaces became the haunt of jackals and
+the home of owls. The nobles returned with their new king to Thebes, and
+not one remained faithful to those "teachings" to which they had once
+pretended to be such earnest listeners.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XX. The coffin of Akhnaton lying in the tomb of
+                       Queen Tiy.]
+
+                       [_Photo by R. Paul._
+
+
+The fact that the body in the new tomb was that of Akhnaton, and not of
+Queen Tiy, gives a new reading to the history of the burial. When
+Tutankhamon returned to Thebes, Akhnaton's memory was still, it appears,
+regarded with reverence, and it seems that there was no question of
+leaving his body in the neighbourhood of his deserted palace, where,
+until the discovery of this tomb, Egyptologists had expected to find it.
+It was carried to Thebes, together with some of the funeral furniture,
+and was placed in the tomb of Queen Tiy, which had been reopened for the
+purpose. But after some years had passed and the priesthood of Amon-Ra
+had again asserted itself, Akhnaton began to be regarded as a heretic
+and as the cause of the loss of Egypt's Asiatic dominions. These
+sentiments were vigorously encouraged by the priesthood, and soon
+Akhnaton came to be spoken of as "that criminal," and his name was
+obliterated from his monuments. It was now felt that his body could no
+longer lie in state together with that of Queen Tiy in the Valley of the
+Tombs of the Kings. The sepulchre was therefore opened once more, and
+the name Akhnaton was everywhere erased from the inscriptions. The tomb,
+polluted by the presence of the heretic, was no longer fit for Tiy, and
+the body of the Queen was therefore carried elsewhere, perhaps to the
+tomb of her husband Amenhotep III. The shrine in which her mummy had
+lain was pulled to pieces and an attempt was made to carry it out of the
+tomb; but this arduous task was presently abandoned, and one portion of
+the shrine was left in the passage, where we found it. The body of
+Akhnaton, his name erased, was now the sole occupant of the tomb. The
+entrance was blocked with stones, and sealed with the seal of
+Tutankhamon, a fragment of which was found; and it was in this condition
+that it was discovered in 1907.
+
+The bones of this extraordinary Pharaoh are in the Cairo Museum; but, in
+deference to the sentiments of many worthy persons, they are not
+exhibited. The visitor to that museum, however, may now see the
+"canopic" jars, the alabaster vases, the gold vulture, the gold
+necklace, the sheets of gold in which the body was wrapped, the toilet
+utensils, and parts of the shrine, all of which we found in the
+burial-chamber.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+                       THE TOMB OF HOREMHEB.
+
+
+In the last chapter a discovery was recorded which, as experience has
+shown, is of considerable interest to the general reader. The romance
+and the tragedy of the life of Akhnaton form a really valuable addition
+to the store of good things which is our possession, and which the
+archaeologist so diligently labours to increase. Curiously enough,
+another discovery, that of the tomb of Horemheb, was made by the same
+explorer (Mr Davis) in 1908; and as it forms the natural sequel to the
+previous chapter, I may be permitted to record it here.
+
+Akhnaton was succeeded by Smenkhkara, his son-in-law, who, after a brief
+reign, gave place to Tutankhamon, during whose short life the court
+returned to Thebes. A certain noble named Ay came next to the throne,
+but held it for only three years. The country was now in a chaotic
+condition, and was utterly upset and disorganised by the revolution of
+Akhnaton, and by the vacillating policy of the three weak kings who
+succeeded him, each reigning for so short a time. One cannot say to
+what depths of degradation Egypt might have sunk had it not been for the
+timely appearance of Horemheb, a wise and good ruler, who, though but a
+soldier of not particularly exalted birth, managed to raise himself to
+the vacant throne, and succeeded in so organising the country once more
+that his successors, Rameses I., Sety I., and Rameses II., were able to
+regain most of the lost dominions, and to place Egypt at the head of the
+nations of the world.
+
+Horemheb, "The Hawk in Festival," was born at Alabastronpolis, a city of
+the 18th Province of Upper Egypt, during the reign of Amenhotep III.,
+who has rightly been named "The Magnificent," and in whose reign Egypt
+was at once the most powerful, the most wealthy, and the most luxurious
+country in the world. There is reason to suppose that Horemheb's family
+were of noble birth, and it is thought by some that an inscription which
+calls King Thutmosis III. "the father of his fathers" is to be taken
+literally to mean that that old warrior was his great-or
+great-great-grandfather. The young noble was probably educated at the
+splendid court of Amenhotep III., where the wit and intellect of the
+world was congregated, and where, under the presidency of the beautiful
+Queen Tiy, life slipped by in a round of revels.
+
+As an impressionable young man, Horemheb must have watched the gradual
+development of freethought in the palace, and the ever-increasing
+irritation and chafing against the bonds of religious convention which
+bound all Thebans to the worship of the god Amon. Judging by his future
+actions, Horemheb did not himself feel any real repulsion to Amon,
+though the religious rut into which the country had fallen was
+sufficiently objectionable to a man of his intellect to cause him to
+cast in his lot with the movement towards emancipation. In later life he
+would certainly have been against the movement, for his mature judgment
+led him always to be on the side of ordered habit and custom as being
+less dangerous to the national welfare than a social upheaval or change.
+
+Horemheb seems now to have held the appointment of captain or commander
+in the army, and at the same time, as a "Royal Scribe," he cultivated
+the art of letters, and perhaps made himself acquainted with those legal
+matters which in later years he was destined to reform.
+
+When Amenhotep III. died, the new king, Akhnaton, carried out the
+revolution which had been pending for many years, and absolutely banned
+the worship of Amon, with all that it involved. He built himself a new
+capital at El Amarna, and there he instituted the worship of the sun, or
+rather of the heat or power of the sun, under the name of Aton. In so
+far as the revolution constituted a breaking away from tiresome
+convention, the young Horemheb seems to have been with the King. No one
+of intelligence could deny that the new religion and new philosophy
+which was preached at El Amarna was more worthy of consideration on
+general lines than was the narrow doctrine of the Amon priesthood; and
+all thinkers must have rejoiced at the freedom from bonds which had
+become intolerable. But the world was not ready, and indeed is still not
+ready, for the schemes which Akhnaton propounded; and the unpractical
+model-kingdom which was uncertainly developing under the hills of El
+Amarna must have already been seen to contain the elements of grave
+danger to the State.
+
+Nevertheless the revolution offered many attractions. The frivolous
+members of the court, always ready for change and excitement, welcomed
+with enthusiasm the doctrine of the moral and simple life which the King
+and his advisers preached, just as in the decadent days before the
+French Revolution the court, bored with licentiousness, gaily welcomed
+the morality-painting of the young Greuze. And to the more
+serious-minded, such as Horemheb seems to have been, the movement must
+have appealed in its imperial aspect. The new god Aton was largely
+worshipped in Syria, and it seems evident that Akhnaton had hoped to
+bind together the heterogeneous nations of the empire by a bond of
+common worship. The Asiatics were not disposed to worship Amon, but Aton
+appealed to them as much as any god, and Horemheb must have seen great
+possibilities in a common religion.
+
+It is thought that Horemheb may be identified amongst the nobles who
+followed Akhnaton to El Amarna, and though this is not certain, there is
+little doubt that he was in high favour with the King at the time. To
+one whose tendency is neither towards frivolity nor towards fanaticism,
+there can be nothing more broadening than the influence of religious
+changes. More than one point of view is appreciated: a man learns that
+there are other ruts than that in which he runs, and so he seeks the
+smooth midway. Thus Horemheb, while acting loyally towards his King, and
+while appreciating the value of the new movement, did not exclude from
+his thoughts those teachings which he deemed good in the old order of
+things. He seems to have seen life broadly; and when the new religion of
+Akhnaton became narrowed and fanatical, as it did towards the close of
+the tragic chapter of that king's short life, Horemheb was one of the
+few men who kept an open mind.
+
+Like many other nobles of the period, he had constructed for himself a
+tomb at Sakkara, in the shadow of the pyramids of the old kings of
+Egypt; and fragments of this tomb, which of course was abandoned when he
+became Pharaoh, are now to be seen in various museums. In one of the
+scenes there sculptured Horemheb is shown in the presence of a king who
+is almost certainly Akhnaton; and yet in a speech to him inscribed
+above the reliefs, Horemheb makes reference to the god Amon whose very
+name was anathema to the King. The royal figure is drawn according to
+the canons of art prescribed by Akhnaton, and upon which, as a protest
+against the conventional art of the old order, he laid the greatest
+stress in his revolution; and thus, at all events, Horemheb was in
+sympathy with this aspect of the movement. But the inscriptions which
+refer to Amon, and yet are impregnated with the Aton style of
+expression, show that Horemheb was not to be held down to any one mode
+of thought. Akhnaton was, perhaps, already dead when these inscriptions
+were added, and thus Horemheb may have had no further reason to hide his
+views; or it may be that they constituted a protest against that
+narrowness which marred the last years of a pious king.
+
+Those who read the history of the period in the last chapter will
+remember how Akhnaton came to persecute the worshippers of Amon, and how
+he erased that god's name wherever it was written throughout the length
+and breadth of Egypt. Evidently with this action Horemheb did not agree;
+nor was this his only cause for complaint. As an officer, and now a
+highly placed general of the army, he must have seen with feelings of
+the utmost bitterness the neglected condition of the Syrian provinces.
+Revolt after revolt occurred in these states; but Akhnaton, dreaming and
+praying in the sunshine of El Amarna, would send no expedition to
+punish the rebels. Good-fellowship with all men was the King's
+watchword, and a policy more or less democratic did not permit him to
+make war on his fellow-creatures. Horemheb could smell battle in the
+distance, but could not taste of it. The battalions which he had trained
+were kept useless in Egypt; and even when, during the last years of
+Akhnaton's reign, or under his successor Smenkhkara, he was made
+commander-in-chief of all the forces, there was no means of using his
+power to check the loss of the cities of Asia. Horemheb must have
+watched these cities fall one by one into the hands of those who
+preached the doctrine of the sword, and there can be little wonder that
+he turned in disgust from the doings at El Amarna.
+
+During the times which followed, when Smenkhkara held the throne for a
+year or so, and afterwards, when Tutankhamon became Pharaoh, Horemheb
+seems to have been the leader of the reactionary movement. He did not
+concern himself so much with the religious aspect of the questions:
+there was as much to be said on behalf of Aton as there was on behalf of
+Amon. But it was he who knocked at the doors of the heart of Egypt, and
+urged the nation to awake to the danger in the East. An expedition
+against the rebels was organised, and one reads that Horemheb was the
+"companion of his Lord upon the battlefield on that day of the slaying
+of the Asiatics." Akhnaton had been opposed to warfare, and had dreamed
+that dream of universal peace which still is a far-off light to mankind.
+Horemheb was a practical man in whom such a dream would have been but
+weakness; and, though one knows nothing more of these early campaigns,
+the fact that he attempted to chastise the enemies of the empire at this
+juncture stands to his credit for all time.
+
+Under Tutankhamon the court returned to Thebes, though not yet
+exclusively to the worship of Amon; and the political phase of the
+revolution came to an end. The country once more settled into the old
+order of life, and Horemheb, having experienced the full dangers of
+philosophic speculation, was glad enough to abandon thought for action.
+He was now the most powerful man in the kingdom, and inscriptions call
+him "the greatest of the great, the mightiest of the mighty, presider
+over the Two Lands of Egypt, general of generals," and so on. The King
+"appointed him to be Chief of the Land, to administer the laws of the
+land as Hereditary Prince of all this land"; and "all that was done was
+done by his command." From chaos Horemheb was producing order, and all
+men turned to him in gratitude as he reorganised the various government
+departments.
+
+The offices which he held, such as Privy Councillor, King's Secretary,
+Great Lord of the People, and so on, are very numerous; and in all of
+these he dealt justly though sternly, so that "when he came the fear of
+him was great in the sight of the people, prosperity and health were
+craved for him, and he was greeted as 'Father of the Two Lands of
+Egypt.'" He was indeed the saviour and father of his country, for he had
+found her corrupt and disordered, and he was leading her back to
+greatness and dignity.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XXI. Head of a granite statue of the god Khonsu,
+                        probably dating from about the period of
+                        Horemheb.
+                        --CAIRO MUSEUM.]
+
+                        [_Photo by Beato._
+
+
+At this time he was probably a man of about forty years of age. In
+appearance he seems to have been noble and good to look upon. "When he
+was born," says the inscription, "he was clothed with strength: the hue
+of a god was upon him"; and in later life, "the form of a god was in his
+colour," whatever that may mean. He was a man of considerable eloquence
+and great learning. "He astonished the people by that which came out of
+his mouth," we are told; and "when he was summoned before the King the
+palace began to fear." One may picture the weak Pharaoh and his corrupt
+court, as they watched with apprehension the movements of this stern
+soldier, of whom it was said that his every thought was "in the
+footsteps of the Ibis,"--the ibis being the god of wisdom.
+
+On the death of Tutankhamon, the question of inviting Horemheb to fill
+the vacant throne must have been seriously considered; but there was
+another candidate, a certain Ay, who had been one of the most important
+nobles in the group of Akhnaton's favourites at El Amarna, and who had
+been the loudest in the praises of Aton. Religious feeling was at the
+time running high, for the partizans of Amon and those of Aton seem to
+have been waging war on one another; and Ay appears to have been
+regarded as the man most likely to bridge the gulf between the two
+parties. A favourite of Akhnaton, and once a devout worshipper of Aton,
+he was not averse to the cults of other gods; and by conciliating both
+factions he managed to obtain the throne for himself. His power,
+however, did not last for long; and as the priests of Amon regained the
+confidence of the nation at the expense of those of Aton, so the power
+of Ay declined. His past connections with Akhnaton told against him, and
+after a year or so he disappeared, leaving the throne vacant once more.
+
+There was now no question as to who should succeed. A princess named
+Mutnezem, the sister of Akhnaton's queen, and probably an old friend of
+Horemheb, was the sole heiress to the throne, the last surviving member
+of the greatest Egyptian dynasty. All men turned to Horemheb in the hope
+that he would marry this lady, and thus reign as Pharaoh over them,
+perhaps leaving a son by her to succeed him when he was gathered to his
+fathers. He was now some forty-five years of age, full of energy and
+vigour, and passionately anxious to have a free hand in the carrying out
+of his schemes for the reorganisation of the government. It was
+therefore with joy that, in about the year 1350 B.C., he sailed up to
+Thebes in order to claim the crown.
+
+He arrived at Luxor at a time when the annual festival of Amon was being
+celebrated, and all the city was _en fete_. The statue of the god had
+been taken from its shrine at Karnak, and had been towed up the river to
+Luxor in a gorgeous barge, attended by a fleet of gaily-decorated
+vessels. With songs and dancing it had been conveyed into the Luxor
+temple, where the priests had received it standing amidst piled-up
+masses of flowers, fruit, and other offerings. It seems to have been at
+this moment that Horemheb appeared, while the clouds of incense streamed
+up to heaven, and the morning air was full of the sound of the harps and
+the lutes. Surrounded by a crowd of his admirers, he was conveyed into
+the presence of the divine figure, and was there and then hailed as
+Pharaoh.
+
+From the temple he was carried amidst cheering throngs to the palace
+which stood near by; and there he was greeted by the Princess Mutnezem,
+who fell on her knees before him and embraced him. That very day, it
+would seem, he was married to her, and in the evening the royal heralds
+published the style and titles by which he would be known in the future:
+"Mighty Bull, Ready in Plans; Favourite of the Two Goddesses, Great in
+Marvels; Golden Hawk, Satisfied with Truth; Creator of the Two Lands,"
+and so forth. Then, crowned with the royal helmet, he was led once more
+before the statue of Amon, while the priests pronounced the blessing of
+the gods upon him. Passing down to the quay before the temple the figure
+of the god was placed once more upon the state-barge, and was floated
+down to Karnak; while Horemheb was led through the rejoicing crowds back
+to the palace to begin his reign as Pharaoh.
+
+In religious matters Horemheb at once adopted a strong attitude of
+friendship towards the Amon party which represented the old order of
+things. There is evidence to show that Aton was in no way persecuted;
+yet one by one his shrines were abandoned, and the neglected temples of
+Amon and the elder gods once more rang with the hymns of praise.
+Inscriptions tell us that the King "restored the temples from the
+marshes of the Delta to Nubia. He fashioned a hundred images with all
+their bodies correct, and with all splendid costly stones. He
+established for them daily offerings every day. All the vessels of their
+temples were wrought of silver and gold. He equipped them with priests
+and with ritual-priests, and with the choicest of the army. He
+transferred to them lands and cattle, supplied with all equipment." By
+these gifts to the neglected gods, Horemheb was striving to bring Egypt
+back to its normal condition, and in no way was he prejudiced by any
+particular devotion to Amon.
+
+A certain Patonemheb, who had been one of Akhnaton's favourites in the
+days of the revolution, was appointed High Priest of Ra--the older
+Egyptian form of Aton who was at this time identified with that god--at
+the temple of Heliopolis; and this can only be regarded as an act of
+friendship to the Aton-worshippers. The echoing and deserted temples of
+Aton in Thebes, and El Amarna, however, were now pulled down, and the
+blocks were used for the enlarging of the temple of Amon,--a fact which
+indicates that their original dedication to Aton had not caused them to
+be accursed.
+
+The process of restoration was so gradual that it could not have much
+disturbed the country. Horemheb's hand was firm but soothing in these
+matters, and the revolution seems to have been killed as much by
+kindness as by force. It was probably not till quite the end of his
+reign that he showed any tendency to revile the memory of Akhnaton; and
+the high feeling which at length brought the revolutionary king the name
+of "that criminal of El Amarna" did not rise till half a century later.
+The difficulties experienced by Horemheb in steering his course between
+Amon and Aton, in quietly restoring the old equilibrium without in any
+way persecuting those who by religious convictions were
+Aton-worshippers, must have been immense; and one cannot but feel that
+the King must have been a diplomatist of the highest standing. His
+unaffected simplicity won all hearts to him; his toleration and
+broadness of mind brought all thoughtful men to his train; and his
+strong will led them and guided them from chaos to order, from fantastic
+Utopia to the solid old Egypt of the past. Horemheb was the preacher of
+Sanity, the apostle of the Normal, and Order was his watchword.
+
+The inscriptions tell us that it was his custom to give public
+audiences to his subjects, and there was not a man amongst those persons
+whom he interviewed whose name he did not know, nor one who did not
+leave his presence rejoicing. Up and down the Nile he sailed a hundred
+times, until he was able truly to say, "I have improved this entire
+land; I have learned its whole interior; I have travelled it entirely in
+its midst." We are told that "his Majesty took counsel with his heart
+how he might expel evil and suppress lying. The plans of his Majesty
+were an excellent refuge, repelling violence and delivering the
+Egyptians from the oppressions which were around them. Behold, his
+Majesty spent the whole time seeking the welfare of Egypt, and searching
+out instances of oppression in the land."
+
+It is interesting, by the way, to note that in his eighth year the King
+restored the tomb of Thutmosis IV., which had been robbed during the
+revolution; and the inscription which the inspectors left behind them
+was found on the wall when Mr Theodore Davis discovered the tomb a few
+years ago. The plundering of the royal tombs is a typical instance of
+the lawlessness of the times. The corruption, too, which followed on the
+disorder was appalling; and wherever the King went he was confronted by
+deceit, embezzlement, bribery, extortion, and official tyranny. Every
+Government officer was attempting to obtain money from his subordinates
+by illegal means; and _bakshish_--that bogie of the Nile Valley--cast
+its shadow upon all men.
+
+Horemheb stood this as long as he could; but at last, regarding justice
+as more necessary than tact, we are told that "his Majesty seized a
+writing-palette and scroll, and put into writing all that his Majesty
+the King had said to himself." It is not possible to record here more
+than a few of the good laws which he then made, but the following
+examples will serve to show how near to his heart were the interests of
+his people.
+
+It was the custom for the tax-collectors to place that portion of a
+farmer's harvest, which they had taken, upon the farmer's own boat, in
+order to convey it to the public granary. These boats often failed to be
+returned to their owners when finished with, and were ultimately sold by
+the officials for their own profit. Horemheb, therefore, made the
+following law:--
+
+     "If the poor man has made for himself a boat with its
+     sail, and, in order to serve the State, has loaded it
+     with the Government dues, and has been robbed of the
+     boat, the poor man stands bereft of his property and
+     stripped of his many labours. This is wrong, and the
+     Pharaoh will suppress it by his excellent measures. If
+     there be a poor man who pays the taxes to the two
+     deputies, and he be robbed of his property and his boat,
+     my majesty commands: that every officer who collects the
+     taxes and takes the boat of any citizen, this law shall
+     be executed against him, and his nose shall be cut off,
+     and he shall be sent in exile to Tharu. Furthermore,
+     concerning the tax of timber, my majesty commands that
+     if any officer find a poor man without a boat, then he
+     shall bring him a craft belonging to another man in which
+     to carry the timber; and in return for this let the
+     former man do the loading of the timber for the latter."
+
+The tax-collectors were wont to commandeer the services of all the
+slaves in the town, and to detain them for six or seven days, "so that
+it was an excessive detention indeed." Often, too, they used to
+appropriate a portion of the tax for themselves. The new law, therefore,
+was as follows:--
+
+     "If there be any place where the officials are
+     tax-collecting, and any one shall hear the report saying
+     that they are tax-collecting to take the produce for
+     themselves, and another shall come to report saying, 'My
+     man slave or my female slave has been taken away and
+     detained many days at work by the officials,' the
+     offender's nose shall be cut off, and he shall be sent to
+     Tharu."
+
+One more law may here be quoted. The police used often to steal the
+hides which the peasants had collected to hand over to the Government as
+their tax. Horemheb, having satisfied himself that a tale of this kind
+was not merely an excuse for not paying the tax, made this law:--
+
+     "As for any policeman concerning whom one shall hear it
+     said that he goes about stealing hides, beginning with
+     this day the law shall be executed against him, by
+     beating him a hundred blows, opening five wounds, and
+     taking from him by force the hides which he took."
+
+To carry out these laws he appointed two chief judges of very high
+standing, who are said to have been "perfect in speech, excellent in
+good qualities, knowing how to judge the heart." Of these men the King
+writes: "I have directed them to the way of life, I have led them to the
+truth, I have taught them, saying, 'Do not receive the reward of
+another. How, then, shall those like you judge others, while there is
+one among you committing a crime against justice?'" Under these two
+officials Horemheb appointed many judges, who went on circuit around the
+country; and the King took the wise step of arranging, on the one hand,
+that their pay should be so good that they would not be tempted to take
+bribes, and, on the other hand, that the penalty for this crime should
+be most severe.
+
+So many were the King's reforms that one is inclined to forget that he
+was primarily a soldier. He appears to have made some successful
+expeditions against the Syrians, but the fighting was probably near his
+own frontiers, for the empire lost by Akhnaton was not recovered for
+many years, and Horemheb seems to have felt that Egypt needed to learn
+to rule herself before she attempted to rule other nations. An
+expedition against some tribes in the Sudan was successfully carried
+through, and it is said that "his name was mighty in the land of Kush,
+his battle-cry was in their dwelling-places." Except for a semi-military
+expedition which was dispatched to the land of Punt, these are the only
+recorded foreign activities of the King; but that he had spent much
+time in the organisation and improvement of the army is shown by the
+fact that three years after his death the Egyptian soldiers were
+swarming over the Lebanon and hammering at the doors of the cities of
+Jezreel.
+
+Had he lived for another few years he might have been famous as a
+conqueror as well as an administrator, though old age might retard and
+tired bones refuse their office. As it is, however, his name is written
+sufficiently large in the book of the world's great men; and when he
+died, about B.C. 1315, after a reign of some thirty-five years, he had
+done more for Egypt than had almost any other Pharaoh. He found the
+country in the wildest disorder, and he left it the master of itself,
+and ready to become once more the master of the empire which Akhnaton's
+doctrine of Peace and Goodwill had lost. Under his direction the purged
+worship of the old gods, which for him meant but the maintenance of some
+time-proved customs, had gained the mastery over the chimerical worship
+of Aton; without force or violence he had substituted the practical for
+the visionary; and to Amon and Order his grateful subjects were able to
+cry, "The sun of him who knew thee not has set, but he who knows thee
+shines; the sanctuary of him who assailed thee is overwhelmed in
+darkness, but the whole earth is now in light."
+
+The tomb of this great Pharaoh was cut in the rocks on the west side of
+the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, not far from the resting-place of
+Amenhotep II. In the days of the later Ramesside kings the
+tomb-plunderers entered the sepulchre, pulled the embalmed body of the
+king to pieces in the search for hidden jewels, scattered the bones of
+the three members of his family who were buried with him, and stole
+almost everything of value which they found. There must have been other
+robberies after this, and finally the Government inspectors of about
+B.C. 1100 entered the tomb, and, seeing its condition, closed its mouth
+with a compact mass of stones. The torrents of rain which sometimes fall
+in winter in Egypt percolated through this filling, and left it
+congealed and difficult to cut through; and on the top of this hard mass
+tons of rubbish were tossed from other excavations, thus completely
+hiding the entrance.
+
+In this condition the tomb was found by Mr Davis in February 1908. Mr
+Davis had been working on the side of the valley opposite to the tomb of
+Rameses III., where the accumulations of _debris_ had entirely hidden
+the face of the rocks, and, as this was a central and likely spot for a
+"find," it was hoped that when the skin of rubbish had been cleared away
+the entrance of at least one royal tomb would be exposed. Of all the
+XVIIIth-Dynasty kings, the burial-places of only Thutmosis II.,
+Tutankhamon, and Horemheb remained undiscovered, and the hopes of the
+excavators concentrated on these three Pharaohs.
+
+After a few weeks of digging, the mouth of a large shaft cut into the
+limestone was cleared. This proved to lead into a small chamber
+half-filled with rubbish, amongst which some fine jewellery, evidently
+hidden here, was found. This is now well published by Mr Davis in
+facsimile, and further mention of it here is unnecessary. Continuing the
+work, it was not long before traces of another tomb became apparent, and
+in a few days' time we were able to look down from the surrounding
+mounds of rubbish upon the commencement of a rectangular cutting in the
+rock. The size and style of the entrance left no doubt that the work was
+to be dated to the end of the XVIIIth Dynasty, and the excavators were
+confident that the tomb of either Tutankhamon or Horemheb lay before
+them. Steps leading down to the entrance were presently uncovered, and
+finally the doorway itself was freed from _debris_.
+
+On one of the door-posts an inscription was now seen, written in black
+ink by one of the Government inspectors of B.C. 1100. This stated, that
+in the fourth year of an unknown king the tomb had been inspected, and
+had been found to be that of Horemheb.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XXII. The mouth of the tomb of Horemheb at the time
+                         of its discovery. The author is seen emerging
+                         from the tomb after the first entrance had
+                         been effected. On the hillside the workmen
+                         are grouped.]
+
+                         [_Photo by Lady Glyn._
+
+
+We had hoped now to pass into the tomb without further difficulty, but
+in this we were disappointed, for the first corridor was quite choked
+with the rubbish placed there by the inspectors. This corridor led down
+at a steep angle through the limestone hillside, and, like all other
+parts of the tomb, it was carefully worked. It was not until two days
+later that enough clearing had been done to allow us to crawl in over
+the rubbish, which was still piled up so nearly to the roof that there
+was only just room to wriggle downwards over it with our backs pressing
+against the stone above. At the lower end of the corridor there was a
+flight of steps towards which the rubbish shelved, and, sliding down the
+slope, we were here able to stand once more. It was obvious that the
+tomb did not stop here, and work, therefore, had to be begun on the
+rubbish which choked the stairway in order to expose the entrance to
+further passages. A doorway soon became visible, and at last this was
+sufficiently cleared to permit of our crawling into the next corridor,
+though now we were even more closely squeezed between the roof and the
+_debris_ than before.
+
+The party which made the entrance consisted of Mr Davis; his assistant,
+Mr Ayrton; Mr Harold Jones; Mr Max Dalison, formerly of the Egypt
+Exploration Fund; and myself. Wriggling and crawling, we pushed and
+pulled ourselves down the sloping rubbish, until, with a rattling
+avalanche of small stones, we arrived at the bottom of the passage,
+where we scrambled to our feet at the brink of a large rectangular well,
+or shaft. Holding the lamps aloft, the surrounding walls were seen to be
+covered with wonderfully preserved paintings executed on slightly
+raised plaster. Here Horemheb was seen standing before Isis, Osiris,
+Horus, and other gods; and his cartouches stood out boldly from amidst
+the elaborate inscriptions. The colours were extremely rich, and, though
+there was so much to be seen ahead, we stood there for some minutes,
+looking at them with a feeling much akin to awe.
+
+The shaft was partly filled with rubbish, and not being very deep, we
+were able to climb down it by means of a ladder, and up the other side
+to an entrance which formed a kind of window in the sheer wall. In
+entering a large tomb for the first time, there are one or two scenes
+which fix themselves upon the memory more forcefully than others, and
+one feels as though one might carry these impressions intact to the
+grave. In this tomb there was nothing so impressive as this view across
+the well and through the entrance in the opposite wall. At one's feet
+lay the dark pit; around one the gaudy paintings gleamed; and through
+the window-like aperture before one, a dim suggestion could be obtained
+of a white-pillared hall. The intense eagerness to know what was beyond,
+and, at the same time, the feeling that it was almost desecration to
+climb into those halls which had stood silent for thousands of years,
+cast a spell over the scene and made it unforgetable.
+
+This aperture had once been blocked up with stones, and the paintings
+had passed across it, thus hiding it from view, so that a robber
+entering the tomb might think that it ended here. But the trick was an
+old one, and the plunderers had easily detected the entrance, had pulled
+away the blocks, and had climbed through. Following in their footsteps,
+we went up the ladder and passed through the entrance into the pillared
+hall. Parts of the roof had fallen in, and other parts appeared to be
+likely to do so at any moment. Clambering over the _debris_ we descended
+another sloping corridor, which was entered through a cutting in the
+floor of the hall, originally blocked up and hidden. This brought us
+into a chamber covered with paintings, like those around the well; and
+again we were brought to a standstill by the amazingly fresh colours
+which arrested and held the attention.
+
+We then passed on into the large burial-hall, the roof of which was
+supported by crumbling pillars. Slabs of limestone had broken off here
+and there and had crashed down on to the floor, bringing with them
+portions of the ceiling painted with a design of yellow stars on a black
+ground. On the walls were unfinished paintings, and it was interesting
+to notice that the north, south, east, and west were clearly marked upon
+the four walls for ceremonial purposes.
+
+The main feature towards which our eyes were turned was the great
+pink-granite sarcophagus which stood in the middle of the hall. Its
+sides were covered with well-cut inscriptions of a religious nature; and
+at the four corners there were figures of Isis and Nephthys, in relief,
+with their wings spread out as though in protection around the body.
+Looking into the sarcophagus, the lid having been thrown off by the
+plunderers, we found it empty except for a skull and a few bones of more
+than one person. The sarcophagus stood upon the limestone floor, and
+under it small holes had been cut, in each of which a little wooden
+statue of a god had been placed. Thus the king's body was, so to speak,
+carried on the heads of the gods, and held aloft by their arms. This is
+a unique arrangement, and has never before been found in any burial.
+
+In all directions broken figures of the gods were lying, and two defaced
+wooden statues of the king were overthrown beside the sarcophagus.
+Beautiful pieces of furniture, such as were found by Mr Davis in the
+tomb of Yuaa and Thuau, were not to be expected in the sepulchre of a
+Pharaoh; for whereas those two persons were only mortals and required
+mortal comforts in the Underworld, the king was a god and needed only
+the comfort of the presence of other gods. Dead flowers were found here
+and there amidst the _debris_, these being the remnant of the masses of
+garlands which were always heaped around and over the coffin.
+
+Peering into a little chamber on the right, we saw two skulls and some
+broken bones lying in the corner. These appeared to be female, and one
+of the skulls may have been that of Mutnezem, the queen. In another
+small chamber on the left there was a fine painting of Osiris on the
+back wall; and, crouching at the foot of this, a statuette of a god with
+upraised hands had been placed. As we turned the corner and came upon it
+in the full glare of the lamps, one felt that the arms were raised in
+horror at sight of us, and that the god was gasping with surprise and
+indignation at our arrival. In the floor of another ante-chamber a
+square hole was cut, leading down to a small room. A block of stone had
+neatly fitted over the opening, thus hiding it from view; but the
+robbers had detected the crack, and had found the hiding-place. Here
+there were a skull and a few bones, again of more than one person.
+Altogether there must have been four bodies buried in the tomb; and it
+seems that the inspectors, finding them strewn in all directions, had
+replaced one skull in the sarcophagus, two in the side room, and one in
+this hiding-place, dividing up the bones between these three places as
+they thought fit. It may be that the king himself was buried in the
+underground chamber, and that the sarcophagus was a sort of blind; for
+he had seen the destruction caused by robbers in the tomb of Thutmosis
+IV., which he had restored, and he may have made this attempt to secure
+the safety of his own body. Whether this be so or not, however, Fate has
+not permitted the body of the great king to escape the hands of the
+destroyer, and it will now never be known with certainty whether one of
+these four heads wore the crown of the Pharaohs.
+
+The temperature was very great in the tomb, and the perspiration
+streamed down our faces as we stood contemplating the devastation. Now
+the electric lamps would flash upon the gods supporting the ransacked
+sarcophagus, lighting for a moment their grotesque forms; now the
+attention would concentrate upon some wooden figure of a
+hippopotamus-god or cow-headed deity; and now the light would bring into
+prominence the great overthrown statue of the king. There is something
+peculiarly sensational in the examining of a tomb which has not been
+entered for such thousands of years, but it must be left to the
+imaginative reader to infuse a touch of that feeling of the dramatic
+into these words. It would be hopeless to attempt to put into writing
+those impressions which go to make the entering of a great Egyptian
+sepulchre so thrilling an experience: one cannot describe the silence,
+the echoing steps, the dark shadows, the hot, breathless air; nor tell
+of the sense of vast Time the penetrating of it which stirs one so
+deeply.
+
+The air was too bad to permit of our remaining long so deep in the
+bowels of the earth; and we presently made our way through halls and
+corridors back to the upper world, scrambling and crashing over the
+_debris_, and squeezing ourselves through the rabbit-hole by which we
+had entered. As we passed out of this hot, dark tomb into the brilliant
+sunlight and the bracing north wind, the gloomy wreck of the place was
+brought before the imagination with renewed force. The scattered bones,
+the broken statues, the dead flowers, grouped themselves in the mind
+into a picture of utter decay. In some of the tombs which have been
+opened the freshness of the objects has caused one to exclaim at the
+inaction of the years; but here, where vivid and well-preserved
+wall-paintings looked down on a jumbled collection of smashed fragments
+of wood and bones, one felt how hardly the Powers deal with the dead.
+How far away seemed the great fight between Amon and Aton; how futile
+the task which Horemheb accomplished so gloriously! It was all over and
+forgotten, and one asked oneself what it mattered whether the way was
+difficult or the battle slow to win. In the fourth year of the reign of
+Horemheb a certain harper named Neferhotep partly composed a song which
+was peculiarly appropriate to the tune which ran in one's head at the
+opening of the tomb of this Pharaoh whom the harper served--
+
+     "(1.) Behold the dwellings of the dead. Their walls fall
+     down; their place is no more: they are as though they had
+     never existed. (2.) That which hath come into being must
+     pass away again. The young men and maidens go to their
+     places; the sun riseth at dawn, and setteth again in the
+     hills of the west. Men beget and women conceive. The
+     children, too, go to the places which are appointed for
+     them. O, then, be happy! Come, scents and perfumes are
+     set before thee: _mahu_-flowers and lilies for the arms
+     and neck of thy beloved. Come, songs and music are before
+     thee. Set behind thee all cares; think only upon
+     gladness, until that day cometh whereon thou shalt go
+     down to the land which loveth silence."
+
+Horemheb must often have heard this song sung in his palace at Thebes by
+its composer; but did he think, one wonders, that it would be the walls
+of his own tomb which would fall down, and his own bones which would be
+almost as though they had never existed?
+
+
+
+
+                               PART IV.
+
+                  THE PRESERVATION OF THE TREASURY.
+
+
+     "Laugh and mock if you will at the worship of stone
+     idols, but mark ye this, ye breakers of images, that in
+     one regard the stone idol bears awful semblance of
+     Deity--the unchangefulness in the midst of change--the
+     same seeming will, and intent for ever and ever
+     inexorable!... And we, we shall die, and Islam will
+     wither away, and the Englishman straining far over to
+     hold his loved India, will plant a firm foot on the banks
+     of the Nile and sit in the seats of the Faithful, and
+     still that sleepless rock will lie watching and watching
+     the works of the new busy race, with those same sad
+     earnest eyes, and the same tranquil mien everlastingly."
+                                 --KINGLAKE: _Eothen_ (1844).
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X.
+
+                             THEBAN THIEVES.
+
+
+Thebes was the ancient capital of Egypt, and its ruins are the most
+extensive in the Nile Valley. On the east bank of the river, at the
+modern towns of Luxor and Karnak, there are the remains of mighty
+temples; and on the west bank, in the neighbourhood of the village of
+Gurneh, tombs, mortuary chapels, and temples, literally cover the
+ground. The inhabitants of these three places have for generations
+augmented their incomes by a traffic in antiquities, and the peasants of
+Gurneh have, more especially, become famous as the most hardy pilferers
+of the tombs of their ancestors in all Egypt. In conducting this
+lucrative business they have lately had the misfortune to be recognised
+as thieves and robbers by the Government, and it is one of my duties to
+point this out to them. As a matter of fact they are no more thieves
+than you or I. It is as natural for them to scratch in the sand for
+antiquities as it is for us to pick flowers by the roadside:
+antiquities, like flowers, are the product of the soil, and it is
+largely because the one is more rare than the other that its
+promiscuous appropriation has been constituted an offence. The native
+who is sometimes child enough to put his eyes out rather than serve in
+the army, who will often suffer all manner of wrongs rather than carry
+his case to the local courts, and who will hide his money under his bed
+rather than trust it to the safest bank, is not likely to be intelligent
+enough to realise that, on scientific grounds, he is committing a crime
+in digging for scarabs. He is beginning to understand that in the eyes
+of the law he is a criminal, but he has not yet learnt so to regard
+himself. I here name him thief, for officially that is his designation;
+but there is no sting in the word, nor is any insult intended. By all
+cultured persons the robbery of antiquities must be regarded as a grave
+offence, and one which has to be checked. But the point is ethical; and
+what has the Theban to do with ethics? The robbery of antiquities is
+carried out in many different ways and from many different motives.
+Sometimes it is romantic treasure hunting that the official has to deal
+with; sometimes it is adventurous robbery with violence; sometimes it is
+the taking advantage of chance discoveries; sometimes it is the
+pilfering of objects found in authorised excavations; and sometimes it
+is the stealing of fragments smashed from the walls of the ancient
+monuments. All these forms of robbery, except the last, may call for the
+sympathy of every reader of these lines who happens not to have
+cultivated that vaguely defined "archaeological sense" which is,
+practically, the product of this present generation alone; and in the
+instances which are here to be given the point of view of the "Theban
+thief" will be readily appreciated.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XXIII. A modern Theban Fellah-woman and her child.]
+
+                          [_Photo by E. Bird._
+
+
+Treasure hunting is a relic of childhood that remains, like all other
+forms of romance and adventure, a permanently youthful feature in our
+worn old hearts. It has been drilled into us by the tales of our
+boyhood, and, in later life, it has become part of that universal desire
+to get something for nothing which lies behind our most honest efforts
+to obtain the goods of this world. Who has not desired the hidden wealth
+of the late Captain Kidd, or coveted the lost treasure of the Incas? I
+recently wrote an article which was entitled "Excavations in Egypt," but
+the editor of the magazine in which it appeared hastily altered these
+words to "Treasure Hunting in Egypt," and thereby commanded the
+attention of twice the number of readers. Can we wonder, then, that this
+form of adventure is so often met with in Egypt, the land of hidden
+treasure? The Department of Antiquities has lately published a
+collection of mediaeval traditions with regard to this subject, which is
+known as the Book of the Pearl. In it one is told the exact places where
+excavations should be made to lay bare the wealth of the ancients. "Go
+to such and such a spot," says this curious book, "and dig to the depth
+of so many cubits, and you will find a trap-door; descend through this
+and you will find a chamber wherein are forty jars filled with gold.
+Take what you want, and give thanks to God." Many of the sites referred
+to have been literally hacked out of all recognition by the picks and
+spades of thousands of gold-seekers; and it may be that sometimes their
+efforts have been rewarded, since a certain amount of genuine
+information is embodied in the traditions. Sir Gaston Maspero, the
+Director-General of the Department of Antiquities, tells a story of how
+a native came to him asking permission to excavate at a certain spot
+where he believed treasure to be hidden. Sir Gaston accompanied him to
+the place, and a tunnel was bored into what appeared to be virgin sand
+and rock. At the end of the first day's work the futility of his labours
+was pointed out to the man, but he was not to be daunted. For two more
+days he stood watching the work from morn to nightfall with hope burning
+in his eyes, and on the following morning his reward came. Suddenly the
+ground gave way before the picks of the workmen, and a hole was seen
+leading into a forgotten cave. In this cave the implements of mediaeval
+coiners were discovered, and an amount of metal, false and true, was
+found which had been used by them in the process of their business.
+
+A short time ago a man applied for permission to perform a similar kind
+of excavation at a place called Nag Hamadi, and in my absence
+permission was given him. On my return the following report was
+submitted: "... Having reached the spot indicated the man started to
+blow the stones by means of the Denamits. Also he slaught a lamb,
+thinking that there is a treasure, and that when the lamb being slaught
+he will discover it at once." In plainer English, the man had blown up
+the rocks with dynamite, and had attempted to further his efforts by
+sacrificing a lamb to the _djin_ who guarded the treasure. The _djin_,
+however, was not thus to be propitiated, and the gold of the Pharaohs
+was never found. More recently the watchmen of the famous temple of Der
+el Bahri found themselves in trouble owing to the discovery that part of
+the ancient pavement showed signs of having been raised, stone by stone,
+in order that the ground below might be searched for the treasure which
+a tradition, such as those in the Book of the Pearl, had reported as
+lying hid there.
+
+Almost as romantic as treasure hunting is robbery with violence. We all
+remember our boyhood's fascination for piracy, smuggling, and the
+profession of Dick Turpin; and to the Theban peasant, who is essentially
+youthful in his ideas, this form of fortune hunting has irresistible
+attractions. When a new tomb is discovered by authorised archaeologists,
+especially when it is situated in some remote spot such as the Valley of
+the Kings, there is always some fear of an armed raid; and police guard
+the spot night and day until the antiquities have been removed to Cairo.
+The workmen who have been employed in the excavation return to their
+homes with wonderful tales of the wealth which the tomb contains, and in
+the evening the discovery is discussed by the women at the well where
+the water is drawn for the village, with the result that it very soon
+assumes prodigious proportions, inflaming the minds of all men with the
+greed of gold. Visitors often ask why it is that the mummies of the
+Pharaohs are not left to lie each in its own tomb; and it is argued that
+they look neither congruous nor dignified in the glass cases of the
+museum. The answer is obvious to all who know the country: put them back
+in their tombs, and, without continuous police protection, they will be
+broken into fragments by robbers, bolts and bars notwithstanding. The
+experiment of leaving the mummy and some of the antiquities _in situ_
+has only once been tried, and it has not been a complete success. It was
+done in the case of the tomb of Amenhotep II. at Thebes, the mummy being
+laid in its original sarcophagus; and a model boat, used in one of the
+funeral ceremonies, was left in the tomb. One night the six watchmen who
+were in charge of the royal tombs stated that they had been attacked by
+an armed force; the tomb in question was seen to have been entered, the
+iron doors having been forced. The mummy of the Pharaoh was found lying
+upon the floor of the burial-hall, its chest smashed in; and the boat
+had disappeared, nor has it since been recovered. The watchmen showed
+signs of having put up something of a fight, their clothes being riddled
+with bullet-holes; but here and there the cloth looked much as though it
+had been singed, which suggested, as did other evidence, that they
+themselves had fired the guns and had acted the struggle. The truth of
+the matter will never be known, but its lesson is obvious. The mummy was
+put back into its sarcophagus, and there it has remained secure ever
+since; but one never knows how soon it will be dragged forth once more
+to be searched for the gold with which every native thinks it is
+stuffed.
+
+Some years ago an armed gang walked off with a complete series of
+mortuary reliefs belonging to a tomb at Sakkarah. They came by night,
+overpowered the watchmen, loaded the blocks of stone on to camels, and
+disappeared into the darkness. Sometimes it is an entire cemetery that
+is attacked; and, if it happens to be situated some miles from the
+nearest police-station, a good deal of work can be done before the
+authorities get wind of the affair. Last winter six hundred men set to
+work upon a patch of desert ground where a tomb had been accidently
+found, and, ere I received the news, they had robbed a score of little
+graves, many of which must have contained objects purchasable by the
+dealers in antiquities for quite large sums of money. At Abydos a tomb
+which we had just discovered was raided by the villagers, and we only
+regained possession of it after a rapid exchange of shots, one of which
+came near ending a career whose continuance had been, since birth, a
+matter of great importance to myself. But how amusing the adventure must
+have been for the raiders!
+
+The appropriation of treasure-trove come upon by chance, or the digging
+out of graves accidentally discovered, is a very natural form of robbery
+for the natives to indulge in, and one which commends itself to the
+sympathies of all those not actively concerned in its suppression. There
+are very few persons even in western countries who would be willing to
+hand over to the Government a hoard of gold discovered in their own back
+garden. In Egypt the law is that the treasure-trove thus discovered
+belongs to the owner of the property; and thus there is always a certain
+amount of excavation going on behind the walls of the houses. It is also
+the law that the peasants may carry away the accumulated rubbish on the
+upper layers of ancient town sites, in order to use it as a fertiliser
+for their crops, since it contains valuable phosphates. This work is
+supervised by watchmen, but this does not prevent the stealing of almost
+all the antiquities which are found. As illegal excavators these
+_sebakhin_, or manure-diggers, are the worst offenders, for they search
+for the phosphates in all manner of places, and are constantly coming
+upon tombs or ruins which they promptly clear of their contents. One
+sees them driving their donkeys along the roads, each laden with a sack
+of manure, and it is certain that some of these sacks contain
+antiquities. In Thebes many of the natives live inside the tombs of the
+ancient nobles, these generally consisting of two or three rock-hewn
+halls from which a tunnel leads down to the burial-chamber. Generally
+this tunnel is choked with _debris_, and the owner of the house will
+perhaps come upon it by chance, and will dig it out, in the vain hope
+that earlier plunderers have left some of the antiquities undisturbed.
+It recently happened that an entire family was asphyxiated while
+attempting to penetrate into a newly discovered tunnel, each member
+entering to ascertain the fate of the previous explorer, and each being
+overcome by the gases. On one occasion I was asked by a native to
+accompany him down a tunnel, the entrance of which was in his stable, in
+order to view a sarcophagus which lay at the bottom. We each took a
+candle, and, crouching down to avoid the low roof, we descended the
+narrow, winding passage, the loose stones sliding beneath our feet. The
+air was very foul; and below us there was the thunderous roar of
+thousands of wings beating through the echoing passage--the wings of
+evil-smelling bats. Presently we reached this uncomfortable zone. So
+thickly did the bats hang from the ceiling that the rock itself seemed
+to be black; but as we advanced, and the creatures took to their wings,
+this black covering appeared to peel off the rock. During the entire
+descent this curious spectacle of regularly receding blackness and
+advancing grey was to be seen a yard or so in front of us. The roar of
+wings was now deafening, for the space into which we were driving the
+bats was very confined. My guide shouted to me that we must let them
+pass out of the tomb over our heads. We therefore crouched down, and a
+few stones were flung into the darkness ahead. Then, with a roar and a
+rush of air, they came, bumping into us, entangling themselves in our
+clothes, slapping our faces and hands with their unwholesome wings, and
+clinging to our fingers. At last the thunder died away in the passage
+behind us, and we were able to advance more easily, though the ground
+was alive with the bats maimed in the frantic flight which had taken
+place, floundering out of our way and squeaking shrilly. The sarcophagus
+proved to be of no interest, so the encounter with the bats was to no
+purpose.
+
+The pilfering of antiquities found during the course of authorised
+excavations is one of the most common forms of robbery. The overseer
+cannot always watch the workmen sufficiently closely to prevent them
+pocketing the small objects which they find, and it is an easy matter to
+carry off the stolen goods, even though the men are searched at the end
+of the day. A little girl minding her father's sheep and goats in the
+neighbourhood of the excavations, and apparently occupying her hands
+with the spinning of flax, is perhaps the receiver of the objects. Thus
+it is more profitable to dig for antiquities even in authorised
+excavations than to work the water-hoist, which is one of the usual
+occupations of the peasant. Pulling the hoisting-pole down, and swinging
+it up again with its load of water many thousands of times in the day,
+is monotonous work; whereas digging in the ground, with the eyes keenly
+watching for the appearance of antiquities, is always interesting and
+exciting. And why should the digger refrain from appropriating the
+objects which his pick reveals? If he does not make use of his
+opportunities and carry off the antiquities, the western director of the
+works will take them to his own country and sell them for his own
+profit. All natives believe that the archaeologists work for the purpose
+of making money. Speaking of Professor Flinders Petrie, a peasant said
+to me the other day: "He has worked five-and-twenty years now; he must
+be _very_ rich." He would never believe that the antiquities were given
+to museums without any payment being made to the finder.
+
+The stealing of fragments broken out of the walls of "show" monuments is
+almost the only form of robbery which will receive general condemnation.
+That this vandalism is also distasteful to the natives themselves is
+shown by the fact that several better-class Egyptians living in the
+neighbourhood of Thebes subscribed, at my invitation, the sum of L50 for
+the protection of certain beautiful tombs. When they were shown the
+works undertaken with their money, they expressed themselves as being
+"pleased with the delicate inscriptions in the tombs, but very awfully
+angry at the damage which the devils of ignorant people had made." A
+native of moderate intelligence can quite appreciate the argument that
+whereas the continuous warfare between the agents of the Department of
+Antiquities and the illegal excavators of small graves is what might be
+called an honourable game, the smashing of public monuments cannot be
+called fair-play from whatever point of view the matter is approached.
+Often revenge or spite is the cause of this damage. It is sometimes
+necessary to act with severity to the peasants who infringe the rules of
+the Department, but a serious danger lies in such action, for it is the
+nature of the Thebans to revenge themselves not on the official directly
+but on the monuments which he is known to love. Two years ago a native
+illegally built himself a house on Government ground, and I was obliged
+to go through the formality of pulling it down, which I did by obliging
+him to remove a few layers of brickwork around the walls. A short time
+afterwards a famous tomb was broken into and a part of the paintings
+destroyed; and there was enough evidence to show that the owner of
+this house was the culprit, though unfortunately he could not be
+convicted. One man actually had the audacity to warn me that any
+severity on my part would be met by destruction of monuments. Under
+these circumstances an official finds himself in a dilemma. If he
+maintains the dignity and prestige of his Department by punishing any
+offences against it, he endangers the very objects for the care of which
+he is responsible; and it is hard to say whether under a lax or a severe
+administration the more damage would be done.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XXIV. A modern Gournawi beggar.]
+
+                         [_Photo by E. Bird._
+
+
+The produce of these various forms of robbery is easily disposed of.
+When once the antiquities have passed into the hands of the dealers
+there is little chance of further trouble. The dealer can always say
+that he came into possession of an object years ago, before the
+antiquity laws were made, and it is almost impossible to prove that he
+did not. You may have the body of a statue and he the head: he can
+always damage the line of the breakage, and say that the head does not
+belong to that statue, or, if the connection is too obvious, he can say
+that he found the head while excavating twenty years ago on the site
+where now you have found the body. Nor is it desirable to bring an
+action against the man in a case of this kind, for it might go against
+the official. Dealing in antiquities is regarded as a perfectly
+honourable business. The official, crawling about the desert on his
+stomach in the bitter cold of a winter's night in order to hold up a
+convoy of stolen antiquities, may use hard language in regard to the
+trade, but he cannot say that it is pernicious as long as it is confined
+to minor objects. How many objects of value to science would be
+destroyed by their finders if there was no market to take them to! One
+of the Theban dealers leads so holy a life that he will assuredly be
+regarded as a saint by future generations.
+
+The sale of small antiquities to tourists on the public roads is
+prohibited, except at certain places, but of course it can be done with
+impunity by the exercise of a little care. Men and boys and even little
+girls as they pass will stare at you with studying eyes, and if you seem
+to be a likely purchaser, they will draw from the folds of their
+garments some little object which they will offer for sale. Along the
+road in the glory of the setting sun there will come as fine a young man
+as you will see on a day's march. Surely he is bent on some noble
+mission: what lofty thoughts are occupying his mind, you wonder. But as
+you pass, out comes the scarab from his pocket, and he shouts, "Wanty
+scarab, mister?--two shillin'," while you ride on your way a greater
+cynic than before.
+
+Some years ago a large inscribed stone was stolen from a certain temple,
+and was promptly sold to a man who sometimes traded in such objects.
+This man carried the stone, hidden in a sack of grain, to the house of
+a friend, and having deposited it in a place of hiding, he tramped home,
+with his stick across his shoulders, in an attitude of deep unconcern.
+An enemy of his, however, had watched him, and promptly gave
+information. Acting on this the police set out to search the house. When
+we reached the entrance we were met by the owner, and a warrant was
+shown to him. A heated argument followed, at the end of which the
+infuriated man waved us in with a magnificent and most dramatic gesture.
+There were some twenty rooms in the house, and the stifling heat of a
+July noon made the task none too enjoyable. The police inspector was
+extremely thorough in his work, and an hour had passed before three
+rooms had been searched. He looked into the cupboards, went down on his
+knees to peer into the ovens, stood on tiptoe to search the fragile
+wooden shelves (it was a heavy stone which we were looking for), hunted
+under the mats, and even peeped into a little tobacco-tin. In one of the
+rooms there were three or four beds arranged along the middle of the
+floor. The inspector pulled off the mattresses, and out from under each
+there leapt a dozen rats, which, if I may be believed, made for the
+walls and ran straight up them, disappearing in the rafter-holes at the
+top. The sight of countless rats hurrying up perpendicular walls may be
+familiar to some people, but I venture to call it an amazing spectacle,
+worthy of record. Then came the opening of one or two
+travelling-trunks. The inspector ran his hand through the clothes which
+lay therein, and out jumped a few more rats, which likewise went up the
+walls. The searching of the remaining rooms carried us well through the
+afternoon; and at last, hot and weary, we decided to abandon the hunt.
+Two nights later a man was seen walking away from the house with a heavy
+sack on his back; and the stone is now, no doubt, in the Western
+hemisphere.
+
+The attempt to regain a lost antiquity is seldom crowned with success.
+It is so extremely difficult to obtain reliable information; and as soon
+as a man is suspected his enemies will rush in with accusations.
+Thirty-eight separate accusations were sent in against a certain
+head-watchman during the first days after the fact had leaked out that
+he was under suspicion. Not one of them could be shown to be true.
+Sometimes one man will bring a charge against another for the betterment
+of his own interests. Here is a letter from a watchman who had resigned,
+but wished to rejoin, "To his Exec. Chief Dircoter of the tembels. I
+have honner to inform that I am your servant X, watchman on the tembels
+before this time. Sir from one year ago I work in the Santruple (?) as a
+watchman about four years ago. And I not make anything wrong and your
+Exec. know me. Now I want to work in my place in the tembel, because the
+man which in it he not attintive to His, but alway he in the coffee....
+He also steal the scribed stones. Please give your order to point me
+again. Your servant, X." "The coffee" is, of course, the _cafe_ which
+adjoins the temple.
+
+A short time ago a young man came to me with an accusation against his
+own father, who, he said, had stolen a statuette. The tale which he told
+was circumstantial, but it was hotly denied by his infuriated parent. He
+looked, however, a trifle more honest than his father, and when a
+younger brother was brought in as witness, one felt that the guilt of
+the old man would be the probable finding. The boy stared steadfastly at
+the ground for some moments, however, and then launched out into an
+elaborate explanation of the whole affair. He said that he asked his
+father to lend him four pounds, but the father had refused. The son
+insisted that that sum was due to him as his share in some transaction,
+and pointed out that though he only asked for it as a loan, he had in
+reality a claim to it. The old man refused to hand it over, and the son,
+therefore, waited his opportunity and stole it from his house, carrying
+it off triumphantly to his own establishment. Here he gave it into the
+charge of his young wife, and went about his business. The father,
+however, guessed where the money had gone; and while his son was out,
+invaded his house, beat his daughter-in-law on the soles of her feet
+until she confessed where the money was hidden, and then, having
+obtained it, returned to his home. When the son came back to his house
+he learnt what had happened, and, out of spite, at once invented the
+accusation which he had brought to me. This story appeared to be true in
+so far as the quarrel over the money was concerned, but that the
+accusation was invented proved to be untrue.
+
+Sometimes the peasants have such honest faces that it is difficult to
+believe that they are guilty of deceit. A lady came to the camp of a
+certain party of excavators at Thebes, holding in her hand a scarab. "Do
+tell me," she said to one of the archaeologists, "whether this scarab is
+genuine. I am sure it must be, for I bought it from a boy who assured me
+that he had stolen it from your excavations, and he looked such an
+honest and truthful little fellow."
+
+In order to check pilfering in a certain excavation in which I was
+assisting we made a rule that the selected workmen should not be allowed
+to put unselected substitutes in their place. One day I came upon a man
+whose appearance did not seem familiar, although his back was turned to
+me. I asked him who he was, whereupon he turned upon me a countenance
+which might have served for the model of a painting of St John, and in a
+low, sweet-voice he told me of the illness of the real workman, and of
+how he had taken over the work in order to obtain money for the purchase
+of medicine for him, they being friends from their youth up. I sent him
+away and told him to call for any medicine he might want that evening.
+I did not see him again until about a week later, when I happened to
+meet him in the village with a policeman on either side of him, from one
+of whom I learned that he was a well-known thief. Thus is one deceived
+even in the case of real criminals: how then can one expect to get at
+the truth when the crime committed is so light an affair as the stealing
+of an antiquity?
+
+The following is a letter received from one of the greatest thieves in
+Thebes, who is now serving a term of imprisonment in the provincial
+gaol:--
+
+     "SIR GENERAL INSPECTOR,--I offer this application stating
+     that I am from the natives of Gurneh, saying the
+     following:--
+
+     'On Saturday last I came to your office and have been
+     told that my family using the sate to strengthen against
+     the Department. The result of this talking that all these
+     things which somebody pretends are not the fact. In fact
+     I am taking great care of the antiquities for the purpose
+     of my living matter. Accordingly, I wish to be appointed
+     in the vacant of watching to the antiquities in my
+     village and promise myself that if anything happens I do
+     hold myself resposible.'"
+
+I have no idea what "using the sate to strengthen" means.
+
+It is sometimes said that European excavators are committing an offence
+against the sensibilities of the peasants by digging up the bodies of
+their ancestors. Nobody will repeat this remark who has walked over a
+cemetery plundered by the natives themselves. Here bodies may be seen
+lying in all directions, torn limb from limb by the gold-seekers; here
+beautiful vases may be seen smashed to atoms in order to make more rare
+the specimens preserved. The peasant has no regard whatsoever for the
+sanctity of the ancient dead, nor does any superstition in this regard
+deter him in his work of destruction. Fortunately superstition sometimes
+checks other forms of robbery. _Djins_ are believed to guard the hoards
+of ancient wealth which some of the tombs are thought to contain, as,
+for example, in the case of the tomb in which the family was
+asphyxiated, where a fiend of this kind was thought to have throttled
+the unfortunate explorers. Twin brothers are thought to have the power
+of changing themselves into cats at will; and a certain Huseyn Osman, a
+harmless individual enough, and a most expert digger, would turn himself
+into a cat at night-time, not only for the purpose of stealing his
+brother Muhammed Osman's dinner, but also in order to protect the tombs
+which his patron was occupied in excavating. One of the overseers in
+some recent excavations was said to have power of detecting all
+robberies on his works. The archaeologist, however, is unfortunately
+unable to rely upon this form of protection, and many are the schemes
+for the prevention of pilfering which are tried.
+
+In some excavations a sum of money is given to the workman for every
+antiquity found by him, and these sums are sufficiently high to prevent
+any outbidding by the dealers. Work thus becomes very expensive for the
+archaeologist, who is sometimes called upon to pay L10 or L20 in a day.
+The system has also another disadvantage, namely, that the workmen are
+apt to bring antiquities from far and near to "discover" in their
+diggings in order to obtain a good price for them. Nevertheless, it
+would seem to be the most successful of the systems. In the Government
+excavations it is usual to employ a number of overseers to watch for the
+small finds, while for only the really valuable discoveries is a reward
+given.
+
+For finding the famous gold hawk's head at Hieraconpolis a workman
+received L14, and with this princely sum in his pocket he went to a
+certain Englishman to ask advice as to the spending of it. He was
+troubled, he said, to decide whether to buy a wife or a cow. He admitted
+that he had already one wife, and that two of them would be sure to
+introduce some friction into what was now a peaceful household; and he
+quite realised that a cow would be less apt to quarrel with his first
+wife. The Englishman, very properly, voted for the cow, and the peasant
+returned home deep in thought. While pondering over the matter during
+the next few weeks, he entertained his friends with some freedom, and
+soon he found to his dismay that he had not enough money left to buy
+either a wife or a cow. Thereupon he set to with a will, and soon spent
+the remaining guineas in riotous living. When he was next seen by the
+Englishman he was a beggar, and, what was worse, his taste for evil
+living had had several weeks of cultivation.
+
+The case of the fortunate finder of a certain great _cache_ of mummies
+was different. He received a reward of L400, and this he buried in a
+very secret place. When he died his possessions descended to his sons.
+After the funeral they sat round the grave of the old man, and very
+rightly discussed his virtues until the sun set. Then they returned to
+the house and began to dig for the hidden money. For some days they
+turned the sand of the floor over; but failing to find what they sought,
+they commenced operations on a patch of desert under the shade of some
+tamarisks where their father was wont to sit of an afternoon. It is said
+that for twelve hours they worked like persons possessed, the men
+hacking at the ground, and the boys carrying away the sand in baskets to
+a convenient distance. But the money was never found.
+
+It is not often that the finders of antiquities inform the authorities
+of their good fortune, but when they do so an attempt is made to give
+them a good reward. A letter from the finder of an inscribed statue, who
+wished to claim his reward, read as follows: "With all delight I please
+inform you that on 8th Jan. was found a headless temple of granite
+sitting on a chair and printed on it."
+
+I will end this chapter as I began it, in the defence of the Theban
+thieves. In a place where every yard of ground contains antiquities, and
+where these antiquities may be so readily converted into golden guineas,
+can one wonder that every man, woman, and child makes use of his
+opportunities in this respect to better his fortune? The peasant does
+not take any interest in the history of mankind, and he cannot be
+expected to know that in digging out a grave and scattering its
+contents, through the agency of dealers, over the face of the globe, he
+loses for ever the facts which the archaeologist is striving so hard to
+obtain. The scientific excavator does not think the antiquities
+themselves so valuable as the record of the exact arrangement in which
+they were found. From such data alone can he obtain his knowledge of the
+manners and customs of this wonderful people. When two objects are found
+together, the date of one being known and that of the other unknown, the
+archaeological value of the find lies in the fact that the former will
+place the latter in its correct chronological position. But if these two
+objects are sold separately, the find may perhaps lose its entire
+significance. The trained archaeologist records every atom of information
+with which he meets; the native records nothing. And hence, if there is
+any value at all in the study of the history of mankind, illegal
+excavation must be stopped.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+
+                     THE FLOODING OF LOWER NUBIA.
+
+
+The country of Lower Nubia lies between the First and Second Cataracts
+of the Nile. The town of Aswan, once famous as the frontier outpost of
+Egypt and now renowned as a winter resort for Europeans and Americans,
+stands some two or three miles below the First Cataract; and two hundred
+miles southwards, at the foot of the Second Cataract, stands Wady Halfa.
+About half-way between these two points the little town of Derr nestles
+amidst its palms; and here the single police-station of the province is
+situated. Agriculturally the land is extremely barren, for the merest
+strip of cultivation borders the river, and in many reaches the desert
+comes down to the water's edge. The scenery is rugged and often
+magnificent. As one sails up the Nile the rocky hills on either side
+group themselves into bold compositions, rising darkly above the palms
+and acacias reflected in the water. The villages, clustered on the
+hillsides as though grown like mushrooms in the night, are not
+different in colour to the ground upon which they are built; but here
+and there neatly whitewashed houses of considerable size are to be
+observed. Now we come upon a tract of desert sand which rolls down to
+the river in a golden slope; now the hills recede, leaving an open bay
+wherein there are patches of cultivated ground reclaimed from the
+wilderness; and now a dense but narrow palm-grove follows the line of
+the bank for a mile or more, backed by the villages at the foot of the
+hills.
+
+The inhabitants are few in number. Most of the males have taken service
+as cooks, butlers, waiters, and bottle-washers in European houses or
+hotels throughout Egypt; and consequently one sees more women than men
+pottering about the villages or working in the fields. They are a fine
+race, clean in their habits and cheery in character. They can be
+distinguished with ease from the Egyptian _fellahin_; for their skin has
+more the appearance of bronze, and their features are often more
+aquiline. The women do not wear the veil, and their dresses are draped
+over one shoulder in a manner unknown to Egypt. The method of dressing
+the hair, moreover, is quite distinctive: the women plait it in
+innumerable little strands, those along the forehead terminating in
+bead-like lumps of bee's-wax. The little children go nude for the first
+six or eight years of their life, though the girls sometimes wear around
+their waists a fringe made of thin strips of hide. The men still carry
+spears in some parts of the country, and a light battle-axe is not an
+uncommon weapon.
+
+There is no railway between Aswan and Halfa, all traffic being conducted
+on the river. Almost continuously a stream of native troops and English
+officers passes up and down the Nile bound for Khartoum or Cairo; and in
+the winter the tourists on steamers and _dahabiyehs_ travel through the
+country in considerable numbers to visit the many temples which were
+here erected in the days when the land was richer than it is now. The
+three most famous ruins of Lower Nubia are those of Philae, just above
+Aswan; Kalabsheh, some forty miles to the south; and Abu Simbel, about
+thirty miles below Halfa: but besides these there are many buildings of
+importance and interest. The ancient remains date from all periods of
+Egyptian history; for Lower Nubia played an important part in Pharaonic
+affairs, both by reason of its position as the buffer state between
+Egypt and the Sudan, and also because of its gold-mining industries. In
+old days it was divided into several tribal states, these being governed
+by the Egyptian Viceroy of Ethiopia; but the country seldom revolted or
+gave trouble, and to the present day it retains its reputation for
+peacefulness and orderly behaviour.
+
+Owing to the building, and now the heightening, of the great Nile dam at
+Aswan, erected for the purpose of regulating the flow of water by
+holding back in the plenteous autumn and winter the amount necessary to
+keep up the level in the dry summer months, the whole of the valley from
+the First Cataract to the neighbourhood of Derr will be turned into a
+vast reservoir, and a large number of temples and other ruins will be
+flooded. Before the dam was finished the temples on the island of Philae
+were strengthened and repaired so as to be safe from damage by the
+water; and now every other ruin whose foundations are below the future
+high-water level has been repaired and safeguarded.
+
+In 1906 and 1907 the present writer was dispatched to the threatened
+territory to make a full report on the condition of the monuments
+there;[1] and a very large sum of money was then voted for the work. Sir
+Gaston Maspero took the matter up in the spirit which is associated with
+his name; Monsieur Barsanti was sent to repair and underpin the temples;
+French, German, and English scholars were engaged to make copies of the
+endangered inscriptions and reliefs; and Dr Reisner, Mr C. Firth, and
+others, under the direction of Captain Lyons, were entrusted with the
+complete and exhaustive excavation of all the cemeteries and remains
+between the dam and the southern extremity of the reservoir. As a result
+of this work, not one scrap of information of any kind will be lost by
+the flooding of the country.
+
+    [Footnote 1: Weigall: 'A Report on the Antiquities of Lower Nubia.'
+                 (Department of Antiquities, Cairo, 1907.)]
+
+As was to be expected, the building and raising of the dam caused
+consternation amongst the archaeologically interested visitors to Egypt,
+and very considerably troubled the Egyptologists. Philae, one of the
+most picturesque ruins on the Nile, was to be destroyed, said the more
+hysterical, and numerous other buildings were to meet with the same
+fate. A very great deal of nonsense was written as to the vandalism of
+the English; and the minds of certain people were so much inflamed by
+the controversy that many regrettable words were spoken. The Department
+of Antiquities was much criticised for having approved the scheme,
+though it was more generally declared that the wishes of that Department
+had not been consulted, which was wholly untrue. These strictures are
+pronounced on all sides at the present day, in spite of the very
+significant silence and imperturbation (not to say supination) of
+Egyptologists, and it may therefore be as well to put the matter plainly
+before the reader, since the opinion of the person who is in charge of
+the ruins in question, has, whether right or wrong, a sort of interest
+attached to it.
+
+In dealing with a question of this kind one has to clear from the brain
+the fumes of unbalanced thought and to behold all things with a level
+head. Strong wine is one of the lesser causes of insobriety, and there
+is often more damage done by intemperance of thought in matters of
+criticism than there is by actions committed under the influence of
+other forms of immoderation. We are agreed that it is a sad spectacle
+which is to be observed in the Old Kent Road on a Saturday night, when
+the legs of half the pedestrians appear to have lost their cunning. We
+say in disgust that these people are intoxicated. What, then, have we to
+say regarding those persons whose brains are unbalanced by immoderate
+habits of thought, who are suffering from that primary kind of
+intoxication which the dictionary tells us is simply a condition of the
+mind wherein clear judgment is obscured? There is sometimes a debauchery
+in the reasoning faculties of the polite which sends their opinions
+rollicking on their way just as drink will send a man staggering up the
+highroad. Temperance and sobriety are virtues which in their relation to
+thought have a greater value than they possess in any other regard; and
+we stand in more urgent need of missionaries to preach to us sobriety of
+opinion, a sort of critical teetotalism, than ever a drunkard stood in
+want of a pledge.
+
+This case of Philae and the Lower Nubian temples illustrates my meaning.
+On the one hand there are those who tell us that the island temple, far
+from being damaged by its flooding, is benefited thereby; and on the
+other hand there are persons who urge that the engineers concerned in
+the making of the reservoir should be tarred and feathered to a man.
+Both these views are distorted and intemperate. Let us endeavour to
+straighten up our opinions, to walk them soberly and decorously before
+us in an atmosphere of propriety.
+
+It will be agreed by all those who know Egypt that a great dam was
+necessary, and it will be admitted that no reach of the Nile below Wady
+Halfa could be converted into a reservoir with so little detriment to
+_modern_ interests as that of Lower Nubia. Here there were very few
+cultivated fields to be inundated and a very small number of people to
+be dislodged. There were, however, these important ruins which would be
+flooded by such a reservoir, and the engineers therefore made a most
+serious attempt to find some other site for the building. A careful
+study of the Nile valley showed that the present site of the dam was the
+only spot at which a building of this kind could be set up without
+immensely increasing the cost of erection and greatly adding to the
+general difficulties and the possible dangers of the undertaking. The
+engineers had, therefore, to ask themselves whether the damage to the
+temples weighed against these considerations, whether it was right or
+not to expend the extra sum from the taxes. The answer was plain enough.
+They were of opinion that the temples would not be appreciably damaged
+by their flooding. They argued, very justly, that the buildings would be
+under water for only five months in each year, and for seven months the
+ruins would appear to be precisely as they always had been. It was not
+necessary, then, to state the loss of money and the added
+inconveniences on the one hand against the total loss of the temples
+on the other. It was simply needful to ask whether the temporary and
+apparently harmless inundation of the ruins each year was worth avoiding
+at the cost of several millions of precious Government money; and,
+looking at it purely from an administrative point of view, remembering
+that public money had to be economised and inextravagantly dealt with, I
+do not see that the answer given was in any way outrageous. Philae and
+the other temples were not to be harmed: they were but to be closed to
+the public, so to speak, for the winter months.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XXV. The island and temples of Philae when the
+                        reservoir is empty.]
+
+                        [_Photo by R. Glendinning._
+
+
+This view of the question is not based upon any error. In regard to the
+possible destruction of Philae by the force of the water, Mr Somers
+Clarke, F.S.A., whose name is known all over the world in connection
+with his work at St Paul's Cathedral and elsewhere, states definitely[1]
+that he is convinced that the temples will not be overthrown by the
+flood, and his opinion is shared by all those who have studied the
+matter carefully. Of course it is possible that, in spite of all the
+works of consolidation which have been effected, some cracks may appear;
+but during the months when the temple is out of water each year, these
+may be repaired. I cannot see that there is the least danger of an
+extensive collapse of the buildings; but should this occur, the entire
+temple will have to be removed and set up elsewhere. Each summer and
+autumn when the water goes down and the buildings once more stand as
+they did in the days of the Ptolemies and Romans, we shall have ample
+time and opportunity to discuss the situation and to take all proper
+steps for the safeguarding of the temples against further damage; and
+even were we to be confronted by a mass of fallen ruins, scattered
+pell-mell over the island by the power of the water, I am convinced that
+every block could be replaced before the flood rose again. The temple of
+Maharraka was entirely rebuilt in three or four weeks.
+
+    [Footnote 1: Proc. Soc. Antiq., April 20, 1898.]
+
+Now, as to the effect of the water upon the reliefs and inscriptions
+with which the walls of the temples at Philae are covered. In June 1905
+I reported[1] that a slight disintegration of the surface of the stone
+was noticeable, and that the sharp lines of the hieroglyphs had become
+somewhat blurred. This is due to the action of the salts in the
+sandstone; but these salts have now disappeared, and the disintegration
+will not continue. The Report on the Temples of Philae, issued by the
+Ministry of Public Works in 1908, makes this quite clear; and I may add
+that the proof of the statement is to be found at the many points on the
+Nile where there are the remains of quay walls dating from Pharaonic
+times. Many of these quays are constructed of inscribed blocks of a
+stone precisely similar in quality to that used at Philae; and although
+they have been submerged for many hundreds of years, the lines of the
+hieroglyphs are almost as sharp now as they ever were. The action of the
+water appears to have little effect upon sandstone, and it may thus be
+safely predicted that the reliefs and inscriptions at Philae will not
+suffer.
+
+    [Footnote 1: Les Annales du Service des Antiquites
+                 d'Egypte, vii. 1, p. 74.]
+
+There still remain some traces of colour upon certain reliefs, and these
+will disappear. But archaeologically the loss will be insignificant, and
+artistically it will not be much felt. With regard to the colour upon
+the capitals of the columns in the Hall of Isis, however, one must admit
+that its destruction would be a grave loss to us, and it is to be hoped
+that the capitals will be removed and replaced by dummies, or else most
+carefully copied in facsimile.
+
+Such is the case of Philae when looked at from a practical point of
+view. Artistically and sentimentally, of course, one deeply regrets the
+flooding of the temple. Philae with its palms was a very charming sight,
+and although the island still looks very picturesque each year when the
+flood has receded and the ground is covered with grasses and vegetation,
+it will not again possess quite the magic that once caused it to be
+known as the "pearl of Egypt." But these are considerations which are to
+be taken into account with very great caution as standing against the
+interest of modern Egypt. If Philae were to be destroyed, one might,
+very properly, desire that modern interests should not receive sole
+consideration; but it is not to be destroyed, or even much damaged, and
+consequently the lover of Philae has but two objections to offer to the
+operations now proceeding: firstly, that the temples will be hidden from
+sight during a part of each year; and secondly, that water is an
+incongruous and unharmonious element to introduce into the sanctuaries
+of the gods.
+
+Let us consider these two objections. As to the hiding of the temple
+under the water, we have to consider to what class of people the
+examination of the ruins is necessary. Archaeologists, officials,
+residents, students, and all natives, are able to visit the place in the
+autumn, when the island stands high and dry, and the weather is not
+uncomfortably hot. Every person who desires to see Philae in its
+original condition can arrange to make his journey to Lower Nubia in the
+autumn or early winter. It is only the ordinary winter tourist who will
+find the ruins lost to view beneath the brown waters; and while his
+wishes are certainly to be consulted to some extent, there can be no
+question that the fortunes of the Egyptian farmers must receive the
+prior attention. And as to the incongruity of the introduction of the
+water into these sacred precincts, one may first remark that water
+stands each year in the temples of Karnak, Luxor, the Ramesseum,
+Shenhur, Esneh, and many another, introduced by the natural rise of the
+Nile, thus giving us a quieting familiarity with such a condition; and
+one may further point out that the presence of water in the buildings is
+not (speaking archaeologically) more discordant than that of the palms
+and acacias which clustered around the ruins previous to the building of
+the dam, and gave Philae its peculiar charm. Both water and trees are
+out of place in a temple once swept and garnished, and it is only a
+habit of thought that makes the trees which grow in such ruins more
+congruous to the eye than water lapping around the pillars and taking
+the fair reflections of the stonework.
+
+What remains, then, of the objections? Nothing, except an undefined
+sense of dismay that persists in spite of all arguments. There are few
+persons who will not feel this sorrow at the flooding of Philae, who
+will not groan inwardly as the water rises; and yet I cannot too
+emphatically repeat that there is no real cause for this apprehension
+and distress.
+
+A great deal of damage has been done to the prestige of the archaeologist
+by the ill-considered outbursts of those persons who have allowed this
+natural perturbation to have full sway in their minds. The man or woman
+who has protested the loudest has seldom been in a position even to
+offer an opinion. Thus every temperate thinker has come to feel a
+greater distaste for the propaganda of those persons who would have
+hindered the erection of the dam than for the actual effects of its
+erection. Vegetarians, Anti-Vivisectionists, Militant Suffragists,
+Little Englanders, and the like, have taught us to beware of the signs
+and tokens of the unbalanced mind; and it becomes the duty of every
+healthy person to fly from the contamination of their hysteria, even
+though the principles which lie at the base of their doctrines may not
+be entirely without reason. We must avoid hasty and violent judgment as
+we would the plague. No honest man will deny that the closing of Philae
+for half the year is anything but a very regrettable necessity; but it
+has come to this pass, that a self-respecting person will be very chary
+in admitting that he is not mightily well satisfied with the issue of
+the whole business.
+
+Recently a poetic effusion has been published bewailing the "death" of
+Philae, and because the author is famous the world over for the charm of
+his writing, it has been read, and its lament has been echoed by a large
+number of persons. It is necessary to remind the reader, however, that
+because a man is a great artist it does not follow that he has a sober
+judgment. The outward appearance, and a disordered opinion on matters of
+everyday life, are often sufficient indication of this intemperance of
+mind which is so grave a human failing. A man and his art, of course,
+are not to be confused; and perhaps it is unfair to assess the art by
+the artist, but there are many persons who will understand my meaning
+when I suggest that it is extremely difficult to give serious attention
+to writers or speakers of a certain class. Philae is _not_ dead. It may
+safely be said that the temples will last as long as the dam itself. Let
+us never forget that Past and Present walk hand in hand, and, as between
+friends, there must always be much "give and take." How many millions of
+pounds, I wonder, has been spent by the Government, from the revenues
+derived from the living Egyptians, for the excavation and preservation
+of the records of the past? Will the dead not make, in return, this
+sacrifice for the benefit of the striving farmers whose money has been
+used for the resuscitation of their history?
+
+A great deal has been said regarding the destruction of the ancient
+inscriptions which are cut in such numbers upon the granite rocks in the
+region of the First Cataract, many of which are of great historical
+importance. Vast quantities of granite have been quarried for the
+building of the dam, and fears have been expressed that in the course of
+this work these graffiti may have been blasted into powder. It is
+necessary to say, therefore, that with the exception of one inscription
+which was damaged when the first quarrymen set to work upon the
+preliminary tests for suitable stone, not a single hieroglyph has been
+harmed. The present writer numbered all the inscriptions in white paint
+and marked out quarrying concessions, while several watchmen were set to
+guard these important relics. In this work, as in all else, the
+Department of Antiquities received the most generous assistance from
+the Department concerned with the building of the dam; and I should like
+to take this opportunity of saying that archaeologists owe a far greater
+debt to the officials in charge of the various works at Aswan than they
+do to the bulk of their own fellow-workers. The desire to save every
+scrap of archaeological information has been dominant in the minds of all
+concerned in the work throughout the whole undertaking.
+
+Besides the temples of Philae there are several other ruins which will
+be flooded in part by the water when the heightening of the reservoir is
+completed. On the island of Bigeh, over against Philae, there is a
+little temple of no great historical value which will pass under water.
+The cemeteries on this island, and also on the mainland in this
+neighbourhood, have been completely excavated, and have yielded most
+important information. Farther up stream there stands the little temple
+of Dabod. This has been repaired and strengthened, and will not come to
+any harm; while all the cemeteries in the vicinity, of course, have been
+cleared out. We next come to the fortress and quarries of Kertassi,
+which will be partly flooded. These have been put into good order, and
+there need be no fear of their being damaged. The temple of Tafeh, a few
+miles farther to the south, has also been safeguarded, and all the
+ancient graves have been excavated.
+
+Next comes the great temple of Kalabsheh which, in 1907, when my report
+was made, was in a sorry state. The great hall was filled with the ruins
+of the fallen colonnade and its roof; the hypostyle hall was a mass of
+tumbled blocks over which the visitor was obliged to climb; and all the
+courts and chambers were heaped up with _debris_. Now, however, all this
+has been set to rights, and the temple stands once more in its glory.
+The water will flood the lower levels of the building each year for a
+few months, but there is no chance of a collapse taking place, and the
+only damage which is to be anticipated is the loss of the colour upon
+the reliefs in the inner chambers, and the washing away of some later
+Coptic paintings, already hardly distinguishable, in the first hall.
+
+The temple is not very frequently visited, and it cannot be said that
+its closing for each winter will be keenly felt; and since it will
+certainly come to no harm under the gentle Nile, I do not see that its
+fate need cause any consternation. Let those who are able visit this
+fine ruin in the early months of winter, and they will be rewarded for
+their trouble by a view of a magnificent temple in what can only be
+described as apple-pie order. I venture to think that a building of this
+kind washed by the water is a more inspiring sight than a tumbled mass
+of ruins rising from amidst an encroaching jumble of native hovels.
+
+Farther up the river stands the temple of Dendur. This will be partly
+inundated, though the main portion of the building stands above the
+highest level of the reservoir. Extensive repairs have been carried out
+here, and every grave in the vicinity has been examined. The fortress of
+Koshtamneh, which is made of mud-bricks, will be for the most part
+destroyed; but now that a complete record of this construction has been
+made, the loss is insignificant. Somewhat farther to the south stands
+the imposing temple of Dakkeh, the lower levels of which will be
+flooded. This temple has been most extensively patched up and
+strengthened, and no damage of any kind will be caused by its
+inundation. The vast cemeteries in the neighbourhood have all been
+excavated, and the remains of the town have been thoroughly examined.
+Still farther to the south stands the mud-brick fortress of Kubban,
+which, like Koshtamneh, will be partly destroyed; but the detailed
+excavations and records which have here been made will prevent any loss
+being felt by archaeologists. Finally, the temple of Maharraka requires
+to be mentioned. This building in 1907 was a complete ruin, but it was
+carefully rebuilt, and now it is quite capable of withstanding the
+pressure of the water. From this point to the southern end of the new
+reservoir there are no temples below the new flood-level; and by the
+time that the water is raised every grave and other relic along the
+entire banks of the river will have been examined.
+
+To complete these works it is proposed to erect a museum at Aswan
+wherein the antiquities discovered in Lower Nubia should be exhibited;
+and a permanent collection of objects illustrating the arts, crafts, and
+industries of Lower Nubia at all periods of its history, should be
+displayed. It is a question whether money will be found for the
+executing of this scheme; but there can be no doubt that a museum of
+this kind, situated at the virtual capital of Lower Nubia, would be a
+most valuable institution.
+
+In 1907 the condition of the monuments of Lower Nubia was very bad. The
+temples already mentioned were in a most deplorable state; the
+cemeteries were being robbed, and there was no proper organisation for
+the protection of the ancient sites. There are, moreover, several
+temples above the level of high water, and these were also in a sad
+condition. Gerf Husen was both dirty and dilapidated; Wady Sabua was
+deeply buried in sand; Amada was falling to pieces; Derr was the
+receptacle for the refuse of the town; and even Abu Simbel itself was in
+a dangerous state. In my report I gave a gloomy picture indeed of the
+plight of the monuments. But now all this is changed. Sir Gaston Maspero
+made several personal visits to the country; every temple was set in
+order; many new watchmen were appointed; and to-day this territory may
+be said to be the "show" portion of this inspectorate. Now, it must be
+admitted that the happy change is due solely to the attention to which
+the country was subjected by reason of its flooding; and it is not the
+less true because it is paradoxical that the proposed submersion of
+certain temples has saved all the Lower Nubian monuments from rapid
+destruction at the hands of robbers, ignorant natives, and barbarous
+European visitors. What has been lost in Philae has been gained a
+thousand-fold in the repairing and safeguarding of the temples, and in
+the scientific excavation of the cemeteries farther to the south.
+
+Here, then, is the sober fact of the matter. Are the English and
+Egyptian officials such vandals who have voted over a hundred thousand
+pounds for the safeguarding of the monuments of Lower Nubia? What
+country in the whole world has spent such vast sums of money upon the
+preservation of the relics of the Past as has Egypt during the last
+five-and-twenty years? The Government has treated the question
+throughout in a fair and generous manner; and those who rail at the
+officials will do well to consider seriously the remarks which I have
+dared to make upon the subject of temperate criticism.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+
+                        ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE OPEN.
+
+
+In this chapter I propose to state the case in favour of the
+archaeologist who works abroad in the field, in contrast to him who
+studies at home in the museum, in the hope that others will follow the
+example of that scholar to whom this volume is dedicated, who does both.
+
+I have said in a previous chapter that the archaeologist is generally
+considered to be a kind of rag-and-bone man: one who, sitting all his
+life in a dusty room, shuns the touch of the wind and takes no pleasure
+in the vanities under the sun. Actually, this is not so very often a
+true description of him. The ease with which long journeys are now
+undertaken, the immunity from insult or peril which the traveller now
+enjoys, have made it possible for the archaeologist to seek his
+information at its source in almost all the countries of the world; and
+he is not obliged, as was his grandfather, to take it at second-hand
+from the volumes of mediaeval scholars. Moreover, the necessary
+collections of books of reference are now to be found in very diverse
+places; and thus it comes about that there are plenty of archaeologists
+who are able to leave their own museums and studies for limited periods.
+
+And as regards his supposed untidy habits, the phase of cleanliness
+which, like a purifying wind, descended suddenly upon the world in the
+second half of the nineteenth century, has penetrated even to libraries
+and museums, removing every speck of dust therefrom. The archaeologist,
+when engaged in the sedentary side of his profession, lives nowadays in
+an atmosphere charged with the odours of furniture-polish and
+monkey-brand. A place less dusty than the Victoria and Albert Museum in
+South Kensington, or than the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, could not
+easily be imagined. The disgusting antiquarian of a past generation,
+with his matted locks and stained clothing, could but be ill at ease in
+such surroundings, and could claim no brotherhood with the majority of
+the present-day archaeologists. Cobwebs are now taboo; and the misguided
+old man who dwelt amongst them is seldom to be found outside of
+caricature, save in the more remote corners of the land.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XXVI. A relief representing Queen Tiy, from the tomb
+                         of Userhat at Thebes. This relief was stolen
+                         from the tomb, and found its way to the
+                         Brussels Museum, where it is shown in the
+                         damaged condition seen in Plate xxvii.]
+
+                         [_Photo by H. Carter._
+
+
+The archaeologist in these days, then, is not often confined permanently
+to his museum, though in many cases he remains there as much as
+possible; and still less often is he a person of objectionable
+appearance. The science is generally represented by two classes of
+scholar: the man who sits in the museum or library for the greater part
+of his life, and lives as though he would be worthy of the
+furniture-polish, and the man who works in the field for a part of the
+year and then lives as though he regarded the clean airs of heaven in
+even higher estimation. Thus, in arguing the case for the field-worker,
+as I propose here to do, there is no longer the easy target of the dusty
+antiquarian at which to hurl the javelin. One cannot merely urge a musty
+individual to come out into the open air: that would make an easy
+argument. One has to take aim at the less vulnerable person of the
+scholar who chooses to spend the greater part of his time in a smart
+gallery of exhibits or in a well-ordered and spotless library, and whose
+only fault is that he is too fond of those places. One may no longer
+tease him about his dusty surroundings; but I think it is possible to
+accuse him of setting a very bad example by his affection for "home
+comforts," and of causing indirectly no end of mischief. It is a fact
+that there are many Greek scholars who are so accustomed to read their
+texts in printed books that they could not make head nor tail of an
+original document written in a cursive Greek hand; and there are not a
+few students of Egyptian archaeology who do not know the conditions and
+phenomena of the country sufficiently to prevent the occurrence of
+occasional "howlers" in the exposition of their theories.
+
+There are three main arguments which may be set forward to induce
+Egyptologists to come as often as possible to Egypt, and to urge their
+students to do so, instead of educating the mind to the habit of working
+at home.
+
+Firstly, the study of archaeology in the open helps to train the young
+men in the path of health in which they should go. Work in the Egyptian
+desert, for example, is one of the most healthy and inspiring pursuits
+that could be imagined; and study in the shrines overlooking the Nile,
+where, as at Gebel Silsileh, one has to dive into the cool river and
+swim to the sun-scorched scene of one's work, is surely more
+invigorating than study in the atmosphere of the British Museum. A
+gallop up to the Tombs of the Kings puts a man in a readier mood for a
+morning's work than does a drive in an omnibus along Tottenham Court
+Road; and he will feel a keenness as he pulls out his note-book that he
+can never have experienced in his western city. There is, moreover, a
+certain amount of what is called "roughing it" to be endured by the
+archaeologist in Egypt; and thus the body becomes toughened and prepared
+for any necessary spurt of work. To rough it in the open is the best
+medicine for tired heads, as it is the finest tonic for brains in a
+normal condition.
+
+In parenthesis an explanation must be given of what is meant here by
+that much misunderstood condition of life which is generally known as
+"roughing it." A man who is accustomed to the services of two valets
+will believe that he is roughing it when he is left to put the diamond
+studs in his evening shirts with his own fingers; and a man who has
+tramped the roads all his life will hardly consider that he is roughing
+it when he is outlawed upon the unsheltered moors in late autumn. The
+degree of hardship to which I refer lies between these two extremes. The
+science of Egyptology does not demand from its devotees a performance of
+many extreme acts of discomfort; but, during the progress of active
+work, it does not afford many opportunities for luxurious
+self-indulgence, or for any slackness in the taking of exercise.
+
+As a protest against the dilettante antiquarian (who is often as
+objectionable a character as the unwashed scholar) there are certain
+archaeologists who wear the modern equivalent of a hair shirt, who walk
+abroad with pebbles in their shoes, and who speak of the sitting upon an
+easy-chair as a moral set-back. The strained and posed life which such
+savants lead is not to be regarded as a rough one; for there is constant
+luxury in the thought of their own toughness, and infinite comfort in
+the sense of superiority which they permit themselves to feel. It is not
+roughing it to feed from a bare board when a tablecloth adds
+insignificantly to the impedimenta of the camp: it is pretending to
+rough it. It is not roughing it to eat tinned food out of the tin when a
+plate costs a penny or two: it is either hypocrisy or slovenliness.
+
+To rough it is to lead an exposed life under conditions which preclude
+the possibility of indulging in certain comforts which, in their place
+and at the right time, are enjoyed and appreciated. A man may well be
+said to rough it when he camps in the open, and dispenses with the
+luxuries of civilisation; when he pours a jug of water over himself
+instead of lying in ecstasy in an enamelled bath; eats a meal of two
+undefined courses instead of one of five or six; twangs a banjo to the
+moon instead of ravishing his ear with a sonata upon the grand piano;
+rolls himself in a blanket instead of sitting over the library fire;
+turns in at 9 P.M. and rises ere the sun has topped the hills instead of
+keeping late hours and lying abed; sleeps on the ground or upon a narrow
+camp-bed (which occasionally collapses) instead of sprawling at his ease
+in a four-poster.
+
+A life of this kind cannot fail to be of benefit to the health; and,
+after all, the work of a healthy man is likely to be of greater value
+than that of one who is anaemic or out of condition. It is the first duty
+of a scholar to give attention to his muscles, for he, more than other
+men, has the opportunity to become enfeebled by indoor work. Few
+students can give sufficient time to physical exercise; but in Egypt the
+exercise is taken during the course of the work, and not an hour is
+wasted. The muscles harden and the health is ensured without the
+expending of a moment's thought upon the subject.
+
+Archaeology is too often considered to be the pursuit of weak-chested
+youths and eccentric old men: it is seldom regarded as a possible
+vocation for normal persons of sound health and balanced mind. An
+athletic and robust young man, clothed in the ordinary costume of a
+gentleman, will tell a new acquaintance that he is an Egyptologist,
+whereupon the latter will exclaim in surprise: "Not really?--you don't
+look like one." A kind of mystery surrounds the science. The layman
+supposes the antiquarian to be a very profound and erudite person, who
+has pored over his books since a baby, and has shunned those games and
+sports which generally make for a healthy constitution. The study of
+Egyptology is thought to require a depth of knowledge that places its
+students outside the limits of normal learning, and presupposes in them
+an unhealthy amount of schooling. This, of course, is absurd.
+
+Nobody would expect an engineer who built bridges and dams, or a great
+military commander, to be a seedy individual with longish hair, pale
+face, and weak eyesight; and yet probably he has twice the brain
+capacity of the average archaeologist. It is because the life of the
+antiquarian is, or is generally thought to be, unhealthy and sluggish
+that he is so universally regarded as a worm.
+
+Some attempt should be made to rid the science of this forbidding
+aspect; and for this end students ought to do their best to make it
+possible for them to be regarded as ordinary, normal, healthy men. Let
+them discourage the popular belief that they are prodigies, freaks of
+mental expansion. Let their first desire be to show themselves good,
+useful, hardy, serviceable citizens or subjects, and they will do much
+to remove the stigma from their profession. Let them be acquainted with
+the feeling of a bat or racket in the hands, or a saddle between the
+knees; let them know the rough path over the mountains, or the
+diving-pool amongst the rocks, and their mentality will not be found to
+suffer. A winter's "roughing it" in the Theban necropolis or elsewhere
+would do much to banish the desire for perpetual residence at home in
+the west; and a season in Egypt would alter the point of view of the
+student more considerably than he could imagine. Moreover, the
+appearance of the scholar prancing about upon his fiery steed (even
+though it be but an Egyptian donkey) will help to dispel the current
+belief that he is incapable of physical exertion; and his reddened face
+rising, like the morning sun, above the rocks on some steep pathway over
+the Theban hills will give the passer-by cause to alter his opinion of
+those who profess and call themselves Egyptologists.
+
+As a second argument a subject must be introduced which will be
+distasteful to a large number of archaeologists. I refer to the
+narrow-minded policy of the curators of certain European and American
+museums, whose desire it is at all costs to place Egyptian and other
+eastern antiquities actually before the eyes of western students, in
+order that they and the public may have the entertainment of examining
+at home the wonders of lands which they make no effort to visit. I have
+no hesitation in saying that the craze for recklessly bringing away
+unique antiquities from Egypt to be exhibited in western museums for the
+satisfaction of the untravelled man, is the most pernicious bit of folly
+to be found in the whole broad realm of archaeological misbehaviour.
+
+A museum has three main justifications for its existence. In the first
+place, like a home for lost dogs, it is a repository for stray objects.
+No curator should endeavour to procure for his museum any antiquity
+which could be safely exhibited on its original site* and in its original
+position. He should receive only those stray objects which otherwise
+would be lost to sight, or those which would be in danger of
+destruction. The curator of a picture gallery is perfectly justified in
+purchasing any old master which is legitimately on sale; but he is not
+justified in obtaining a painting direct from the walls of a church
+where it has hung for centuries, and where it should still hang. In the
+same way a curator of a museum of antiquities should make it his first
+endeavour not so much to obtain objects direct from Egypt as to gather
+in those antiquities which are in the possession of private persons who
+cannot be expected to look after them with due care.
+
+    *Transcriber's note: Original text read "sight".
+
+In the second place, a museum is a store-house for historical documents
+such as papyri and ostraca, and in this respect it is simply to be
+regarded as a kind of public library, capable of unlimited and perfectly
+legitimate expansion. Such objects are not often found by robbers in the
+tombs which they have violated, nor are they snatched from temples to
+which they belong. They are almost always found accidentally, and in a
+manner which precludes any possibility of their actual position having
+much significance. The immediate purchase, for example, by museum agents
+of the Tell el Amarna tablets--the correspondence of a great
+Pharaoh--which had been discovered by accident, and would perhaps have
+been destroyed, was most wise.
+
+In the third place, a museum is a permanent exhibition for the
+instruction of the public, and for the enlightenment of students
+desirous of obtaining comparative knowledge in any one branch of their
+work, and for this purpose it should be well supplied not so much with
+original antiquities as with casts, facsimiles, models, and
+reproductions of all sorts.
+
+To be a serviceable exhibition both for the student and the public a
+museum does not need to possess only original antiquities. On the
+contrary, as a repository for stray objects, a museum is not to be
+expected to have a complete series of original antiquities in any
+class, nor is it the business of the curator to attempt to fill up the
+gaps by purchase, except in special cases. To do so is to encourage the
+straying of other objects. The curator so often labours under the
+delusion that it is his first business to collect together as large a
+number as possible of valuable masterpieces. In reality that is a very
+secondary matter. His first business, if he is an Egyptologist, is to
+see that Egyptian masterpieces remain in Egypt so far as is practicable;
+and his next is to save what has irrevocably strayed from straying
+further. If the result of this policy is a poor collection, then he must
+devote so much the more time and money to obtaining facsimiles and
+reproductions. The keeper of a home for lost dogs does not search the
+city for a collie with red spots to complete his series of collies, or
+for a peculiarly elongated dachshund to head his procession of those
+animals. The fewer dogs he has got the better he is pleased, since this
+is an indication that a larger number are in safe keeping in their
+homes. The home of Egyptian antiquities is Egypt, a fact which will
+become more and more realised as travelling is facilitated.
+
+But the curator generally has the insatiable appetite of the collector.
+The authorities of one museum bid vigorously against those of another at
+the auction which constantly goes on in the shops of the dealers in
+antiquities. They pay huge prices for original statues, vases, or
+sarcophagi: prices which would procure for them the finest series of
+casts or facsimiles, or would give them valuable additions to their
+legitimate collection of papyri. And what is it all for? It is not for
+the benefit of the general public, who could not tell the difference
+between a genuine antiquity and a forgery or reproduction, and who would
+be perfectly satisfied with the ordinary, miscellaneous collection of
+minor antiquities. It is not for that class of Egyptologist which
+endeavours to study Egyptian antiquities in Egypt. It is almost solely
+for the benefit of the student and scholar who cannot, or will not, go
+to Egypt. Soon it comes to be the curator's pride to observe that
+savants are hastening to his museum to make their studies. His civic
+conceit is tickled by the spectacle of Egyptologists travelling long
+distances to take notes in his metropolitan museum. He delights to be
+able to say that the student can study Egyptology in his well-ordered
+galleries as easily as he can in Egypt itself.
+
+All this is as wrong-headed as it can be. While he is filling his museum
+he does not seem to understand that he is denuding every necropolis in
+Egypt. I will give one or two instances of the destruction wrought by
+western museums. I them at random from my memory.
+
+In the year 1900 the then Inspector-General of Antiquities in Upper
+Egypt discovered a tomb at Thebes in which there was a beautiful relief
+sculptured on one of the walls, representing Queen Tiy. This he
+photographed (Plate XXVI.), and the tomb was once more buried. In 1908 I
+chanced upon this monument, and proposed to open it up as a "show place"
+for visitors; but alas!--the relief of the queen had disappeared, and
+only a gaping hole in the wall remained. It appears that robbers had
+entered the tomb at about the time of the change of inspectors; and,
+realising that this relief would make a valuable exhibit for some
+western museum, they had cut out of the wall as much as they could
+conveniently carry away--namely, the head and upper part of the figure
+of Tiy. The hieroglyphic inscription which was sculptured near the head
+was carefully erased, in case it should contain some reference to the
+name of the tomb from which they were taking the fragment; and over the
+face some false inscriptions were scribbled in Greek characters, so as
+to give the stone an unrecognisable appearance. In this condition it was
+conveyed to a dealer's shop, and it now forms one of the exhibits in the
+Royal Museum at Brussels. The photograph on Plate XXVII. shows the
+fragment as it appears after being cleaned.
+
+
+[Illustration: PL. XXVII. A Relief representing Queen Tiy, from the tomb
+                          of Userhat, Thebes.
+                          --BRUSSELS MUSEUM.
+                          (See PL. xxvi.)]
+
+                          [_Photo by T. Capart._
+
+
+In the same museum, and in others also, there are fragments of beautiful
+sculpture hacked out of the walls of the famous tomb of Khaemhat at
+Thebes. In the British Museum there are large pieces of wall-paintings
+broken out of Theban tombs. The famous inscription in the tomb of Anena
+at Thebes, which was one of the most important texts of the early
+XVIIIth Dynasty, was smashed to pieces several years ago to be sold in
+small sections to museums; and the scholar to whom this volume is
+dedicated was instrumental in purchasing back for us eleven of the
+fragments, which have now been replaced in the tomb, and, with certain
+fragments in Europe, form the sole remnant of the once imposing stela.
+One of the most important scenes out of the famous reliefs of the
+Expedition to Pount, at Der el Bahri, found its way into the hands of
+the dealers, and was ultimately purchased by our museum in Cairo. The
+beautiful and important reliefs which decorated the tomb of Horemheb at
+Sakkara, hacked out of the walls by robbers, are now exhibited in six
+different museums: London, Leyden, Vienna, Bologna, Alexandria, and
+Cairo. Of the two hundred tombs of the nobles now to be seen at Thebes,
+I cannot, at the moment, recall a single one which has not suffered in
+this manner at some time previous to the organisation of the present
+strict supervision.
+
+The curators of western museums will argue that had they not purchased
+these fragments they would have fallen into the hands of less desirable
+owners. This is quite true, and, indeed, it forms the nearest approach
+to justification that can be discovered. Nevertheless, it has to be
+remembered that this purchasing of antiquities is the best stimulus to
+the robber, who is well aware that a market is always to be found for
+his stolen goods. It may seem difficult to censure the purchaser, for
+certainly the fragments were "stray" when the bargain was struck, and it
+is the business of the curator to collect stray antiquities. But why
+were they stray? Why were they ever cut from the walls of the Egyptian
+monuments? Assuredly because the robbers knew that museums would
+purchase them. If there had been no demand there would have been no
+supply.
+
+To ask the curators to change their policy, and to purchase only those
+objects which are legitimately on sale, would, of course, be as futile
+as to ask the nations to disarm. The rivalry between museum and museum
+would alone prevent a cessation of this indiscriminate traffic. I can
+see only one way in which a more sane and moral attitude can be
+introduced, and that is by the development of the habit of visiting
+Egypt and of working upon archaeological subjects in the shadow of the
+actual monuments. Only the person who is familiar with Egypt can know
+the cost of supplying the stay-at-home scholar with exhibits for his
+museums. Only one who has resided in Egypt can understand the fact that
+Egypt itself is the true museum for Egyptian antiquities. He alone can
+appreciate the work of the Egyptian Government in preserving the remains
+of ancient days.
+
+The resident in Egypt, interested in archaeology, comes to look with a
+kind of horror upon museums, and to feel extraordinary hostility to what
+may be called the museum spirit. He sees with his own eyes the
+half-destroyed tombs, which to the museum curator are things far off and
+not visualised. While the curator is blandly saying to his visitor:
+"See, I will now show you a beautiful fragment of sculpture from a
+distant and little-known Theban tomb," the white resident in Egypt, with
+black murder in his heart, is saying: "See, I will show you a beautiful
+tomb of which the best part of one wall is utterly destroyed that a
+fragment might be hacked out for a distant and little-known European
+museum."
+
+To a resident in Europe, Egypt seems to be a strange and barbaric land,
+far, far away beyond the hills and seas; and her monuments are thought
+to be at the mercy of wild Bedwin Arabs. In the less recent travel books
+there is not a published drawing of a temple in the Nile valley but has
+its complement of Arab figures grouped in picturesque attitudes. Here a
+fire is being lit at the base of a column, and the black smoke curls
+upwards to destroy the paintings thereon; here a group of children sport
+upon the lap of a colossal statue; and here an Arab tethers his camel at
+the steps of the high altar. It is felt, thus, that the objects
+exhibited in European museums have been _rescued_ from Egypt and
+recovered from a distant land. This is not so. They have been snatched
+from Egypt and lost to the country of their origin.
+
+He who is well acquainted with Egypt knows that hundreds of watchmen,
+and a small army of inspectors, engineers, draughtsmen, surveyors, and
+other officials now guard these monuments, that strong iron gates bar
+the doorways against unauthorised visitors, that hourly patrols pass
+from monument to monument, and that any damage done is punished by long
+terms of imprisonment; he knows that the Egyptian Government spends
+hundreds of thousands of pounds upon safeguarding the ancient remains;
+he is aware that the organisation of the Department of Antiquities is an
+extremely important branch of the Ministry of Public Works. He has seen
+the temples swept and garnished, the tombs lit with electric light, and
+the sanctuaries carefully rebuilt. He has spun out to the Pyramids in
+the electric tram or in a taxi-cab; has strolled in evening dress and
+opera hat through the halls of Karnak, after dinner at the hotel; and
+has rung up the Theban Necropolis on the telephone.
+
+A few seasons' residence in Egypt shifts the point of view in a
+startling manner. No longer is the country either distant or insecure;
+and, realising this, the student becomes more balanced, and he sees both
+sides of the question with equal clearness. The archaeologist may
+complain that it is too expensive a matter to come to Egypt. But why,
+then, are not the expenses of such a journey met by the various museums?
+A hundred pounds will pay for a student's winter in Egypt and his
+journey to and from that country. Such a sum is given readily enough
+for the purchase of an antiquity; but surely rightly-minded students are
+a better investment than wrongly-acquired antiquities.
+
+It must now be pointed out, as a third argument, that an Egyptologist
+cannot study his subject properly unless he be thoroughly familiar with
+Egypt and the modern Egyptians.
+
+A student who is accustomed to sit at home, working in his library or
+museum, and who has never resided in Egypt, or has but travelled for a
+short time in that country, may do extremely useful work in one way and
+another, but that work will not be faultless. It will be, as it were,
+lop-sided; it will be coloured with hues of the west, unknown to the
+land of the Pharaohs and antithetical thereto. A London architect may
+design an apparently charming villa for a client in Jerusalem, but
+unless he knows by actual and prolonged experience the exigencies of the
+climate of Palestine, he will be liable to make a sad mess of his job.
+By bitter experience the military commanders learnt in South Africa that
+a plan of campaign prepared in England was of little use to them. The
+cricketer may play a very good game upon the home ground, but upon a
+foreign pitch the first straight ball will send his bails flying into
+the clear blue sky.
+
+An archaeologist who attempts to record the material relating to the
+manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians cannot complete his task,
+or even assure himself of the accuracy of his statements, unless he has
+studied the modern customs and has made himself acquainted with the
+permanent conditions of the country. The modern Egyptians, as has been
+pointed out in chapter ii. (page 28), are the same people as those who
+bowed the knee to Pharaoh, and many of their customs still survive. A
+student can no more hope to understand the story of Pharaonic times
+without an acquaintance with Egypt as she now is than a modern statesman
+can hope to understand his own times solely from a study of the past.
+
+Nothing is more paralysing to a student of archaeology than continuous
+book-work. A collection of hard facts is an extremely beneficial mental
+exercise, but the deductions drawn from such a collection should be
+regarded as an integral part of the work. The road-maker must also walk
+upon his road to the land whither it leads him; the shipbuilder must
+ride the seas in his vessel, though they be uncharted and unfathomed.
+Too often the professor will set his students to a compilation which
+leads them no farther than the final fair copy. They will be asked to
+make for him, with infinite labour, a list of the High Priests of Amon;
+but unless he has encouraged them to put such life into those figures
+that each one seems to step from the page to confront his recorder,
+unless the name of each calls to mind the very scenes amidst which he
+worshipped, then is the work uninspired and as deadening to the student
+as it is useful to the professor. A catalogue of ancient scarabs is
+required, let us suppose, and students are set to work upon it. They
+examine hundreds of specimens, they record the variations in design,
+they note the differences in the glaze or material. But can they picture
+the man who wore the scarab?--can they reconstruct in their minds the
+scene in the workshop wherein the scarab was made?--can they hear the
+song of the workmen or their laughter when the overseer was not nigh? In
+a word, does the scarab mean history to them, the history of a period,
+of a dynasty, of a craft? Assuredly not, unless the students know Egypt
+and the Egyptians, have heard their songs and their laughter, have
+watched their modern arts and crafts. Only then are they in a position
+to reconstruct the picture.
+
+Theodore Roosevelt, in his Romanes lecture at Oxford, gave it as his
+opinion that the industrious collector of facts occupied an honourable
+but not an exalted position; and he added that the merely scientific
+historian must rest content with the honour, substantial, but not of the
+highest type, that belongs to him who gathers material which some time
+some master shall arise to use. Now every student should aim to be a
+master, to _use_ the material which he has so laboriously collected; and
+though at the beginning of his career, and indeed throughout his life,
+the gathering of material is a most important part of his work, he
+should never compile solely for the sake of compilation, unless he be
+content to serve simply as a clerk of archaeology.
+
+An archaeologist must be an historian. He must conjure up the past; he
+must play the Witch of Endor. His lists and indices, his catalogues and
+note-books, must be but the spells which he uses to invoke the dead. The
+spells have no potency until they are pronounced: the lists of the kings
+of Egypt have no more than an accidental value until they call before
+the curtain of the mind those monarchs themselves. It is the business of
+the archaeologist to awake the dreaming dead: not to send the living to
+sleep. It is his business to make the stones tell their tale: not to
+petrify the listener. It is his business to put motion and commotion
+into the past that the present may see and hear: not to pin it down,
+spatchcocked, like a dead thing. In a word, the archaeologist must be in
+command of that faculty which is known as the historic imagination,
+without which Dean Stanley was of opinion that the story of the past
+could not be told.
+
+But how can that imagination be at once exerted and controlled, as it
+must needs be, unless the archaeologist is so well acquainted with the
+conditions of the country about which he writes that his pictures of it
+can be said to be accurate? The student must allow himself to be
+saturated by the very waters of the Nile before he can permit himself
+to write of Egypt. He must know the modern Egyptians before he can
+construct his model of Pharaoh and his court.
+
+In a recent London play dealing with ancient Egypt, the actor-manager
+exerted his historic imagination, in one scene, in so far as to
+introduce a _shadoof_ or water-hoist, which was worked as a naturalistic
+side-action to the main incident. But, unfortunately, it was displayed
+upon a hillside where no water could ever have reached it; and thus the
+audience, all unconsciously, was confronted with the remarkable
+spectacle of a husbandman applying himself diligently to the task of
+ladelling thin air on to crops that grew upon barren sand. If only his
+imagination had been controlled by a knowledge of Egypt, the picture
+might have been both true and effective.
+
+When the mummy of Akhnaton was discovered and was proved to be that of a
+man of twenty-eight years of age, many persons doubted the
+identification on the grounds that the king was known to have been
+married at the time when he came to the throne, seventeen years before
+his death,[1] and it was freely stated that a marriage at the age of ten
+or eleven was impossible and out of the question. Thus it actually
+remained for the writer to point out that the fact of the king's death
+occurring seventeen years after his marriage practically fixed his age
+at his decease at not much above twenty-eight years, so unlikely was it
+that his marriage would have been delayed beyond his eleventh year.
+Those who doubted the identification on such grounds were showing all
+too clearly that the manners and customs of the Egyptians of the
+nineteenth and twentieth centuries, so many of which have come down
+intact from olden times, were unknown to them.
+
+    [Footnote 1: Weigall: Life of Akhnaton, p. 56.]
+
+Here we come to the root of the trouble. The Egyptologist who has not
+resided for some time in Egypt is inclined to allow his ideas regarding
+the ancient customs of the land to be influenced by his
+unconsciously-acquired knowledge of the habits of the west. Men do not
+marry before the age of eighteen or twenty in Europe: therefore they did
+not do so in Egypt. There are streams of water upon the mountains in
+Europe: therefore water may be hoisted upon the hillsides in Egypt. But
+is he blind that he sees not the great gulf fixed between the ways of
+the east and those of his accustomed west? It is of no value to science
+to record the life of Thutmosis III. with Napoleon as our model for it,
+nor to describe the daily life of the Pharaoh with the person of an
+English king before our mind's eye. Our European experience will not
+give us material for the imagination to work upon in dealing with Egypt.
+The setting for our Pharaonic pictures must be derived from Egypt alone;
+and no Egyptologist's work that is more than a simple compilation is of
+value unless the sunlight and the sandy glare of Egypt have burnt into
+his eyes, and have been reflected on to the pages under his pen.
+
+The archaeologist must possess the historic imagination, but it must be
+confined to its proper channels. It is impossible to exert this
+imagination without, as a consequence, a figure rising up before the
+mind partially furnished with the details of a personality and fully
+endowed with the broad character of an individual. The first lesson,
+thus, which we must learn is that of allowing no incongruity to appear
+in our figures. A king whose name has survived to us upon some monument
+becomes at once such a reality that the legends concerning him are apt
+to be accepted as so much fact. Like John Donne once* says--
+
+         "Thou art so true, that thoughts of thee suffice
+          To make dreams truth, and fables histories."
+
+    *Transcriber's note: Original text read "one".
+
+But only he who has resided in Egypt can judge how far the fables are to
+be regarded as having a nucleus of truth. In ancient history there can
+seldom be sufficient data at the Egyptologist's disposal with which to
+build up a complete figure; and his puppets must come upon the stage
+sadly deficient, as it were, in arms, legs, and apparel suitable to
+them, unless he knows from an experience of modern Egyptians how to
+restore them and to clothe them in good taste. The substance upon which
+the imagination works must be no less than a collective knowledge of the
+people of the nation in question. Rameses must be constructed from an
+acquaintance with many a Pasha of modern Egypt, and his Chief Butler
+must reflect the known characteristics of a hundred Beys and Effendis.
+Without such "padding" the figures will remain but names, and with names
+Egyptology is already overstocked.
+
+It is remarkable to notice how little is known regarding the great
+personalities in history. Taking three characters at random: we know
+extremely little that is authentic regarding King Arthur; our knowledge
+of the actual history of Robin Hood is extremely meagre; and the precise
+historian would have to dismiss Cleopatra in a few paragraphs. But let
+the archaeologist know so well the manners and customs of the period with
+which he is dealing that he will not, like the author of the stories of
+the Holy Grail, dress Arthur in the armour of the thirteenth century,
+nor fill the mind of Cleopatra with the thoughts of the Elizabethan
+poet; let him be so well trained in scientific cautiousness that he will
+not give unquestioned credence to the legends of the past; let him have
+sufficient knowledge of the nation to which his hero or heroine belonged
+to be able to fill up the lacunae with a kind of collective appreciation
+and estimate of the national characteristics,--and I do not doubt that
+his interpretations will hold good till the end of all history.
+
+The student to whom Egypt is not a living reality is handicapped in his
+labours more unfairly than is realised by him. Avoid Egypt, and though
+your brains be of vast capacity, though your eyes be never raised from
+your books, you will yet remain in many ways an ignoramus, liable to be
+corrected by the merest tourist in the Nile valley. But come with me to
+a Theban garden that I know, where, on some still evening, the dark
+palms are reflected in the placid Nile, and the acacias are mellowed by
+the last light of the sunset; where, in leafy bowers, the grapes cluster
+overhead, and the fig-tree is burdened with fruit. Beyond the broad
+sheet of the river rise those unchangeable hills which encompass the
+Valley of the Tombs of the Kings; and at their foot, dimly seen in the
+evening haze, sit the twin colossi, as they have sat since the days of
+Amenhotep the Magnificent. The stars begin to be seen through the leaves
+now that the daylight dies, and presently the Milky Way becomes
+apparent, stretching across the vault of the night, as when it was
+believed to be the Nile of the Heavens.
+
+The owls hoot to one another through the garden; and at the edge of the
+alabaster tank wherein the dusk is mirrored, a frog croaks unseen amidst
+the lilies. Even so croaked he on this very ground in those days when,
+typifying eternity, he seemed to utter the endless refrain, "I am the
+resurrection, I am the resurrection," into the ears of men and maidens
+beneath these self-same stars.
+
+And now a boat floats past, on its way to Karnak, silhouetted against
+the last-left light of the sky. There is music and song on board. The
+sound of the pipes is carried over the water and pulses to the ears,
+inflaming the imagination with the sorcery of its cadences and stirring
+the blood by its bold rhythm. The gentle breeze brings the scent of many
+flowers to the nostrils, and with these come drifting thoughts and
+undefined fancies, so that presently the busy considerations of the day
+are lulled and forgotten. The twilight seems to cloak the extent of the
+years, and in the gathering darkness the procession of the centuries is
+hidden. Yesterday and to-day are mingled together, and there is nothing
+to distinguish to the eye the one age from the other. An immortal,
+brought suddenly to the garden at this hour, could not say from direct
+observation whether he had descended from the clouds into the twentieth
+century before or the twentieth century after Christ; and the sound of
+the festal pipes in the passing boat would but serve to confuse him the
+more.
+
+In such a garden as this the student will learn more Egyptology than he
+could assimilate in many an hour's study at home; for here his five
+senses play the student and Egypt herself is his teacher. While he may
+read in his books how this Pharaoh or that feasted o' nights in his
+palace beside the river, here, not in fallible imagination but in actual
+fact, he may see Nilus and the Libyan desert to which the royal eyes
+were turned, may smell the very perfume of the palace garden, and may
+hearken to the self-same sounds that lulled a king to sleep in
+Hundred-gated Thebes.
+
+Not in the west, but only by the waters of the Nile will he learn how
+best to be an historian of ancient Egypt, and in what manner to make his
+studies of interest, as well as of technical value, to his readers, for
+he will here discover the great secret of his profession. Suddenly the
+veil will be lifted from his understanding, and he will become aware
+that Past and Present are so indissoluble as to be incapable of separate
+interpretation or single study. He will learn that there is no such
+thing as a distinct Past or a defined Present. "Yesterday this day's
+madness did prepare," and the affairs of bygone times must be
+interpreted in the light of recent events. The Past is alive to-day, and
+all the deeds of man in all the ages are living at this hour in
+offspring. There is no real death. The earthly grave will not hide, nor
+the mountain tomb imprison, the actions of the men of old Egypt, so
+consequent and fruitful are all human affairs. This is the knowledge
+which will make his work of lasting value; and nowhere save in Egypt can
+he acquire it. This, indeed, is the secret of the Sphinx; and only at
+the lips of the Sphinx itself can he learn it.
+
+
+
+
+                 PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Treasury of Ancient Egypt
+by Arthur E. P. B. Weigall
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TREASURY OF ANCIENT EGYPT ***
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