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diff --git a/17321-0.txt b/17321-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e2c9501 --- /dev/null +++ b/17321-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11071 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of History Of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, And Assyria In The Light Of Recent Discovery, by L.W. King and H.R. Hall + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: History Of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, And Assyria In The Light Of Recent Discovery + +Author: L.W. King and H.R. Hall + +Release Date: December 16, 2005 [eBook #17321] +[Most recently updated: January 31, 2023] + +Language: English + +Produced by: David Widger + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF EGYPT *** + + + + +[Illustration: Book Spines] + + + +HISTORY OF EGYPT + +CHALDEA, SYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA + + +IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT DISCOVERY + + +BY L. W. KING and H. R. HALL + +Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum + + + +Containing over 1200 colored plates and illustrations. + + +Copyright 1906 + + +[Illustration: Frontispiece1] + +[Illustration: Frontispiece1-text] + +[Illustration: Titlepage1] + +[Illustration: Versa1] + + + + +PUBLISHERS’ NOTE + +It should be noted that many of the monuments and sites of excavations +in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Kurdistan described in this volume +have been visited by the authors in connection with their own work in +those countries. The greater number of the photographs here published +were taken by the authors themselves. Their thanks are due to M. Ernest +Leroux, of Paris, for his kind permission to reproduce a certain number +of plates from the works of M. de Morgan, illustrating his recent +discoveries in Egypt and Persia, and to Messrs. W. A. Mansell & Co., of +London, for kindly allowing them to make use of a number of photographs +issued by them. + + + + +PREFACE + +The present volume contains an account of the most important additions +which have been made to our knowledge of the ancient history of Egypt +and Western Asia during the few years which have elapsed since the +publication of Prof. Maspero’s _Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de +l’Orient Classique_, and includes short descriptions of the excavations +from which these results have been obtained. It is in no sense a +connected and continuous history of these countries, for that has +already been written by Prof. Maspero, but is rather intended as an +appendix or addendum to his work, briefly recapitulating and describing +the discoveries made since its appearance. On this account we +have followed a geographical rather than a chronological system of +arrangement, but at the same time the attempt has been made to suggest +to the mind of the reader the historical sequence of events. + +At no period have excavations been pursued with more energy and +activity, both in Egypt and Western Asia, than at the present time, and +every season’s work obliges us to modify former theories, and extends +our knowledge of periods of history which even ten years ago were +unknown to the historian. For instance, a whole chapter has been added +to Egyptian history by the discovery of the Neolithic culture of the +primitive Egyptians, while the recent excavations at Susa are revealing +a hitherto totally unsuspected epoch of proto-Elamite civilization. +Further than this, we have discovered the relics of the oldest +historical kings of Egypt, and we are now enabled to reconstitute from +material as yet unpublished the inter-relations of the early dynasties +of Babylon. Important discoveries have also been made with regard to +isolated points in the later historical periods. We have therefore +attempted to include the most important of these in our survey of recent +excavations and their results. We would again remind the reader that +Prof. Maspero’s great work must be consulted for the complete history of +the period, the present volume being, not a connected history of Egypt +and Western Asia, but a description and discussion of the manner in +which recent discovery and research have added to and modified our +conceptions of ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilization. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. The Discovery of Prehistoric Egypt + +II. Abydos and the First Three Dynasties + +III. Memphis and the Pyramids + +IV. Recent Excavations in Western Asia and the Dawn of Chaldæan History + +V. Elam and Babylon, the Country of the Sea and the Kassites + +VI. Early Babylonian Life and Customs + +VII. Temples and Tombs of Thebes + +VIII. The Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires in the Light of Recent +Research + +IX. The Last Days of Ancient Egypt + + + + +EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA + +_In the Light of Recent Excavation and Research_ + + + + +CHAPTER I--THE DISCOVERY OF PREHISTORIC EGYPT + + +During the last ten years our conception of the beginnings of Egyptian +antiquity has profoundly altered. When Prof. Maspero published the +first volume of his great _Histoire Ancienne des Peuples des l’Orient +Classique_, in 1895, Egyptian history, properly so called, still began +with the Pyramid-builders, Sne-feru, Khufu, and Khafra (Cheops and +Chephren), and the legendary lists of earlier kings preserved at Abydos +and Sakkara were still quoted as the only source of knowledge of the +time before the IVth Dynasty. Of a prehistoric Egypt nothing was known, +beyond a few flint flakes gathered here and there upon the desert +plateaus, which might or might not tell of an age when the ancestors +of the Pyramid-builders knew only the stone tools and weapons of the +primeval savage. + +Now, however, the veil which has hidden the beginnings of Egyptian +civilization from us has been lifted, and we see things, more or less, +as they actually were, unobscured by the traditions of a later day. +Until the last few years nothing of the real beginnings of history in +either Egypt or Mesopotamia had been found; legend supplied the only +material for the reconstruction of the earliest history of the oldest +civilized nations of the globe. Nor was it seriously supposed that any +relics of prehistoric Egypt or Mesopotamia ever would be found. The +antiquity of the known history of these countries already appeared +so great that nobody took into consideration the possibility of our +discovering a prehistoric Egypt or Mesopotamia; the idea was too remote +from practical work. And further, civilization in these countries had +lasted so long that it seemed more than probable that all traces +of their prehistoric age had long since been swept away. Yet the +possibility, which seemed hardly worth a moment’s consideration in 1895, +is in 1905 an assured reality, at least as far as Egypt is concerned. +Prehistoric Babylonia has yet to be discovered. It is true, for example, +that at Mukay-yar, the site of ancient Ur of the Chaldees, burials +in earthenware coffins, in which the skeletons lie in the doubled-up +position characteristic of Neolithic interments, have been found; but +there is no doubt whatever that these are burials of a much later date, +belonging, quite possibly, to the Parthian period. Nothing that may +rightfully be termed prehistoric has yet been found in the Euphrates +valley, whereas in Egypt prehistoric antiquities are now almost as well +known and as well represented in our museums as are the prehistoric +antiquities of Europe and America. + +With the exception of a few palasoliths from the surface of the Syrian +desert, near the Euphrates valley, not a single implement of the Age +of Stone has yet been found in Southern Mesopotamia, whereas Egypt +has yielded to us the most perfect examples of the flint-knapper’s +art known, flint tools and weapons more beautiful than the finest that +Europe and America can show. The reason is not far to seek. Southern +Mesopotamia is an alluvial country, and the ancient cities, which +doubtless mark the sites of the oldest settlements in the land, are +situated in the alluvial marshy plain between the Tigris and the +Euphrates; so that all traces of the Neolithic culture of the country +would seem to have disappeared, buried deep beneath city-mounds, clay +and marsh. It is the same in the Egyptian Delta, a similar country; and +here no traces of the prehistoric culture of Egypt have been found. The +attempt to find them was made last year at Buto, which is known to be +one of the most antique centres of civilization, and probably was one of +the earliest settlements in Egypt, but without success. The infiltration +of water had made excavation impossible and had no doubt destroyed +everything belonging to the most ancient settlement. It is not going too +far to predict that exactly the same thing will be found by any explorer +who tries to discover a Neolithic stratum beneath a city-mound of +Babylonia. There is little hope that prehistoric Chaldæa will ever be +known to us. But in Egypt the conditions are different. The Delta is +like Babylonia, it is true; but in the Upper Nile valley the river flows +down with but a thin border of alluvial land on either side, through the +rocky and hilly desert, the dry Sahara, where rain falls but once in two +or three years. Antiquities buried in this soil in the most remote +ages are preserved intact as they were first interred, until the modern +investigator comes along to look for them. And it is on the desert +margin of the valley that the remains of prehistoric Egypt have been +found. That is the reason for their perfect preservation till our own +day, and why we know prehistoric Egypt so well. + +The chief work of Egyptian civilization was the proper irrigation of +the alluvial soil, the turning of marsh into cultivated fields, and the +reclamation of land from the desert for the purposes of agriculture. +Owing to the rainless character of the country, the only means +of obtaining water for the crops is by irrigation, and where the +fertilizing Nile water cannot be taken by means of canals, there +cultivation ends and the desert begins. Before Egyptian civilization, +properly so called, began, the valley was a great marsh through which +the Nile found its way north to the sea. The half-savage, stone-using +ancestors of the civilized Egyptians hunted wild fowl, crocodiles, +and hippopotami in the marshy valley; but except in a few isolated +settlements on convenient mounds here and there (the forerunners of the +later villages), they did not live there. Their settlements were on +the dry desert margin, and it was here, upon low tongues of desert hill +jutting out into the plain, that they buried their dead. Their simple +shallow graves were safe from the flood, and, but for the depredations +of jackals and hyenas, here they have remained intact till our own +day, and have yielded up to us the facts from which we have derived our +knowledge of prehistoric Egypt. Thus it is that we know so much of the +Egyptians of the Stone Age, while of their contemporaries in Mesopotamia +we know nothing, nor is anything further likely to be discovered. + +But these desert cemeteries, with their crowds of oval shallow graves, +covered by only a few inches of surface soil, in which the Neolithic +Egyptians lie crouched up with their flint implements and polished +pottery beside them, are but monuments of the later age of prehistoric +Egypt. Long before the Neolithic Egyptian hunted his game in the +marshes, and here and there essayed the work of reclamation for the +purposes of an incipient agriculture, a far older race inhabited the +valley of the Nile. The written records of Egyptian civilization go back +four thousand years before Christ, or earlier, and the Neolithic Age of +Egypt must go back to a period several thousand years before that. But +we can now go back much further still, to the Palaeolithic Age of Egypt. +At a time when Europe was still covered by the ice and snows of the +Glacial Period, and man fought as an equal, hardly yet as a superior, +with cave-bear and mammoth, the Palaeolithic Egyptians lived on the +banks of the Nile. Their habitat was doubtless the desert slopes, often, +too, the plateaus themselves; but that they lived entirely upon the +plateaus, high up above the Nile marsh, is improbable. There, it is +true, we find their flint implements, the great pear-shaped weapons of +the types of Chelles, St. Acheul, and Le Moustier, types well known +to all who are acquainted with the flint implements of the “Drift” in +Europe. And it is there that the theory, generally accepted hitherto, +has placed the habitat of the makers and users of these implements. + +The idea was that in Palaeolithic days, contemporary with the Glacial +Age of Northern Europe and America, the climate of Egypt was entirely +different from that of later times and of to-day. Instead of dry desert, +the mountain plateaus bordering the Nile valley were supposed to have +been then covered with forest, through which flowed countless streams +to feed the river below. It was suggested that remains of these streams +were to be seen in the side ravines, or wadis, of the Nile valley, which +run up from the low desert on the river level into the hills on either +hand. These wadis undoubtedly show extensive traces of strong water +action; they curve and twist as the streams found their easiest way +to the level through the softer strata, they are heaped up with great +water-worn boulders, they are hollowed out where waterfalls once fell. +They have the appearance of dry watercourses, exactly what any mountain +burns would be were the water-supply suddenly cut off for ever, the +climate altered from rainy to eternal sun-glare, and every plant and +tree blasted, never to grow again. Acting on the supposition that this +idea was a correct one, most observers have concluded that the climate +of Egypt in remote periods was very different from the dry, rainless one +now obtaining. To provide the water for the wadi streams, heavy +rainfall and forests are desiderated. They were easily supplied, on the +hypothesis. Forests clothed the mountain plateaus, heavy rains fell, and +the water rushed down to the Nile, carving out the great watercourses +which remain to this day, bearing testimony to the truth. And the +flints, which the Palaeolithic inhabitants of the plateau-forests made +and used, still lie on the now treeless and sun-baked desert surface. + +[Illustration: 007.jpg THE BED OF AN ANCIENT WATERCOURSE IN THE WADIYÊN, +THEBES.] + +This is certainly a very weak conclusion. In fact, it seriously damages +the whole argument, the water-courses to the contrary notwithstanding. +The palæoliths are there. They can be picked up by any visitor. There +they lie, great flints of the Drift types, just like those found in the +gravel-beds of England and Belgium, on the desert surface where they +were made. Undoubtedly where they were made, for the places where +they lie are the actual ancient flint workshops, where the flints were +chipped. Everywhere around are innumerable flint chips and perfect +weapons, burnt black and patinated by ages of sunlight. We are taking +one particular spot in the hills of Western Thebes as an example, but +there are plenty of others, such as the Wadi esh-Shêkh on the right bank +of the Nile opposite Maghagha, whence Mr. H. Seton-Karr has brought +back specimens of flint tools of all ages from the Palaeolithic to the +Neolithic periods. + +The Palæolithic flint workshops on the Theban hills have been visited of +late years by Mr. Seton-Karr, by Prof. Schweinfurth, Mr. Allen Sturge, +and Dr. Blanckenhorn, by Mr. Portch, Mr. Ayrton, and Mr. Hall. The +weapons illustrated here were found by Messrs. Hall and Ayrton, and are +now preserved in the British Museum. Among these flints shown we notice +two fine specimens of the pear-shaped type of St. Acheul, with curious +adze-shaped implements of primitive type to left and right. Below, to +the right, is a very primitive instrument of Chellean type, being merely +a sharpened pebble. Above, to left and right, are two specimens of the +curious half-moon-shaped instruments which are characteristic of +the Theban flint field and are hardly known elsewhere. All have the +beautiful brown patina, which only ages of sunburn can give. The +“poignard” type to the left, at the bottom of the plate, is broken off +short. + +[Illustration: 008.jpg Palaeolithic Implements of the Quaternary Period. +From the desert plateau and slopes west of Thebes.] + +In the smaller illustration we see some remarkable types: two scrapers +or knives with strongly marked “bulb of percussion” (the spot where the +flint-knapper struck and from which the flakes flew off), a very regular +_coup-de-poing_ which looks almost like a large arrowhead, and on the +right a much weathered and patinated scraper which must be of immemorial +age. + +[Illustration: 009.jpg (right): PALAEOLITHIC IMPLEMENTS. From Man, +March, 1905.] + +This came from the top plateau, not from the slopes (or subsidiary +plateaus at the head of the _wadis_), as did the great St. Acheulian +weapons. The circular object is very remarkable: it is the half of the +ring of a “morpholith “(a round flinty accretion often found in the +Theban limestone) which has been split, and the split (flat) side +carefully bevelled. Several of these interesting objects have been +found in conjunction with Palæolithic implements at Thebes. No doubt the +flints lie on the actual surface where they were made. No later water +action has swept them away and covered them with gravel, no later human +habitation has hidden them with successive deposits of soil, no gradual +deposit of dust and rubbish has buried them deep. They lie as they were +left in the far-away Palæolithic Age, and they have lain there till +taken away by the modern explorer. + +But this is not the case with all the Palæolithic flints of Thebes. In +the year 1882 Maj.-Gen. Pitt-Rivers discovered Palæolithic flints in the +deposit of diluvial detritus which lies between the cultivation and the +mountains on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor. Many of these are +of the same type as those found on the surface of the mountain plateau +which lies at the head of the great _wadi_ of the Tombs of the Kings, +while the diluvial deposit is at its mouth. The stuff of which the +detritus is composed evidently came originally from the high plateau, +and was washed down, with the flints, in ancient times. + +This is quite conceivable, but how is it that the flints left behind +on the plateau remain on the original ancient surface? How is it +conceivable that if (on the old theory) these plateaus were in +Palæolithic days clothed with forest, the Palæolithic flints could even +in a single instance remain undisturbed from Palæolithic times to the +present day, when the forest in which they were made and the forest soil +on which they reposed have entirely disappeared? If there were woods and +forests On the heights, it would seem impossible that we should find, +as we do, Palæolithic implements lying _in situ_ on the desert surface, +around the actual manufactories where they were made. Yet if the +constant rainfall and the vegetation of the Libyan desert area in +Palæolithic days is all a myth (as it most probably is), how came the +embedded palaeoliths, found by Gen. Pitt-Rivers, in the bed of diluvial +detritus which is apparently _débris_ from the plateau brought down by +the Palæolithic _wadi_ streams? + +Water erosion has certainly formed the Theban _wadis_. But this water +erosion was probably not that which would be the result of perennial +streams flowing down from wooded heights, but of torrents like those +of to-day, which fill the _wadis_ once in three years or so after heavy +rain, but repeated at much closer intervals. We may in fact suppose +just so much difference in meteorological conditions as would make it +possible for sudden rain-storms to occur over the desert at far more +frequent intervals than at present. That would account for the detritus +bed at the mouth of the _wadi_, and its embedded flints, and at the +same time maintain the general probability of the idea that the desert +plateaus were desert in Palæolithic days as now, and that early man only +knapped his flints up there because he found the flint there. He himself +lived on the slopes and nearer the marsh. + +This new view seems to be much sounder and more probable than the old +one, maintained by Flinders Petrie and Blanckenhorn, according to which +the high plateau was the home of man in Palæolithic times, when the +rainfall, as shown by the valley erosion and waterfalls, must have +caused an abundant vegetation on the plateau, where man could live and +hunt his game.[1] Were this so, it is patent that the Palæolithic +flints could not have been found on the desert surface as they are. Mr. +H. J. L. Beadnell, of the Geological Survey of Egypt, to whom we are +indebted for the promulgation of the more modern and probable view, +says: “Is it certain that the high plateau was then clothed with +forests? What evidence is there to show that it differed in any +important respect from its present aspect? And if, as I suggest, desert +conditions obtained then as now, and man merely worked his flints along +the edges of the plateaus overlooking the Nile valley, I see no reason +why flint implements, dating even from Palæolithic times should not in +favourable cases still be found in the spots where they were left, +surrounded by the flakes struck off in manufacture. On the flat +plateaus the occasional rains which fall--once in three or four +years--can effect but little transport of material, and merely lower +the general level by dissolving the underlying limestone, so that the +plateau surface is left with a coating of nodules and blocks of +insoluble flint and chert. Flint implements might thus be expected to +remain in many localities for indefinite periods, but they would +certainly become more or less ‘patinated,’ pitted on the surface, and +rounded at the angles after long exposure to heat, cold, and blown +sand.” This is exactly the case of the Palæolithic flint tools from the +desert plateau. + + [1] Petrie, _Nagada and Ballas_, p. 49. + +[Illustration: 012.jpg UPPER DESERT PLATEAU, WHERE PALEOLITHIC +IMPLEMENTS ARE FOUND, Thebes: 1,400 leet above the Nile.] + +We do not know whether Palæolithic man in Egypt was contemporary with +the cave-man of Europe. We have no means of gauging the age of the +Palæolithic Egyptian weapons, as we have for the Neolithic period. +The historical (dynastic) period of Egyptian annals began with the +unification of the kingdom under one head somewhere about 4500 B.C. At +that time copper as well as stone weapons were used, so that we may say +that at the beginning of the historical age the Egyptians were living +in the “Chalcolithic” period. We can trace the use of copper back for +a considerable period anterior to the beginning of the Ist Dynasty, +so that we shall probably not be far wrong if we do not bring down the +close of the purely Neolithic Age in Egypt--the close of the Age of +Stone, properly so called--later than +5000 B.C. How far back in the +remote ages the transition period between the Palæolithic and Neolithic +Ages should be placed, it is utterly impossible to say. The use of stone +for weapons and implements continued in Egypt as late as the time of +the XIIth Dynasty, about 2500-2000 B.C. But these XIIth Dynasty stone +implements show by their forms how late they are in the history of the +Stone Age. The axe heads, for instance, are in form imitations of +the copper and bronze axe heads usual at that period; they are stone +imitations of metal, instead of the originals on whose model the metal +weapons were formed. The flint implements of the XIIth Dynasty were +a curious survival from long past ages. After the time of the XIIth +Dynasty stone was no longer used for tools or weapons, except for the +sacred rite of making the first incision in the dead bodies before +beginning the operations of embalming; for this purpose, as Herodotus +tells us, an “Ethiopian stone” was used. This was no doubt a knife of +flint or chert, like those of the Neolithic ancestors of the Egyptians, +and the continued use of a stone knife for this one purpose only is a +very interesting instance of a ceremonial survival. We may compare the +wigs of British judges. + +[Illustration: 014.jpg FLINT KNIFE] + +We have no specimen of a flint knife which can definitely be asserted to +have belonged to an embalmer, but of the archaistic flint weapons of the +XIIth Dynasty we have several specimens. They were found by Prof. Petrie +at the place named by him “Kahun,” the site of a XIIth Dynasty town +built near the pyramid of King Usertsen (or Senusret) II at Illahun, +at the mouth of the canal leading from the Nile valley into the +oasis-province of the Payyum. These Kahun flints, and others of probably +the same period found by Mr. Seton-Karr at the very ancient flint +works in the Wadi esh-Shêkh, are of very coarse and poor workmanship +as compared with the stone-knapping triumphs of the late Neolithic and +early Chalcolithic periods. The delicacy of the art had all been lost. +But the best flint knives of the early period--dating to just a little +before the time of the Ist Dynasty, when flint-working had attained its +apogee, and copper had just begun to be used--are undoubtedly the most +remarkable stone weapons ever made in the world. The grace and utility +of the form, the delicacy of the fluted chipping on the side, and +the minute care with which the tiny serrations of the cutting edge, +serrations so small that often they can hardly be seen with the naked +eye, are made, can certainly not be parallelled elsewhere. The art +of flint-knapping reached its zenith in Ancient Egypt. The specimen +illustrated has a handle covered with gold decorated with incised +designs representing animals. + +The prehistoric Egyptians may also fairly be said to have attained +greater perfection than other peoples in the Neolithic stage of culture, +in other arts besides the making of stone tools and weapons. Their +pottery is of remarkable perfection. Now that the sites of the Egyptian +prehistoric settlements have been so thoroughly explored by competent +archæologists (and, unhappily, as thoroughly pillaged by incompetent +natives), this prehistoric Egyptian pottery has become extremely well +known. In fact, it is so common that good specimens may be bought +anywhere in Egypt for a few piastres. Most museums possess sets of this +pottery, of which great quantities have been brought back from Egypt +by Prof. Petrie and other explorers. It is of very great interest, +artistically as well as historically. The potter’s wheel was not yet +invented, and all the vases, even those of the most perfect shape, were +built up by hand. The perfection of form attained without the aid of the +wheel is truly marvellous. + +The commonest type of this pottery is a red polished ware vase with +black top, due to its having been baked mouth downward in a fire, the +ashes of which, according to Prof. Petrie, deoxidized the hæmatite +burnishing, and so turned the red colour to black. “In good examples +the hæmatite has not only been reduced to black magnetic oxide, but +the black has the highest polish, as seen on fine Greek vases. This is +probably due to the formation of carbonyl gas in the smothered fire. +This gas acts as a solvent of magnetic oxide, and hence allows it to +assume a new surface, like the glassy surface of some marbles subjected +to solution in water.” This black and red ware appears to be the most +ancient prehistoric Egyptian pottery known. Later in date are a red +ware and a black ware with rude geometrical incised designs, imitating +basketwork, and with the incised lines filled in with white. Later again +is a buff ware, either plain or decorated with wavy lines, concentric +circles, and elaborate drawings of boats sailing on the Nile, ostriches, +fish, men and women, and so on. + +[Illustration: 017.jpg (right) BUFF WARE VASE, Predynastic period, +before 4000 B.C.] + +These designs are in deep red. With this elaborate pottery the Neolithic +ceramic art of Egypt reached its highest point; in the succeeding period +(the beginning of the historic age) there was a decline in workmanship, +exhibiting clumsy forms and bad colour, and it is not until the time of +the IVth Dynasty that good pottery (a fine polished red) is once more +found. Meanwhile the invention of glazed pottery, which was unknown to +the prehistoric Egyptians, had been made (before the beginning of the +Ist Dynasty). The unglazed ware of the first three dynasties was bad, +but the new invention of light blue glazed faience (not porcelain +properly so called) seems to have made great progress, and we possess +fine specimens at the beginning of the Ist Dynasty. The prehistoric +Egyptians were also proficient in other arts. They carved ivory and they +worked gold, which is known to have been almost the first metal worked +by man; certainly in Egypt it was utilized for ornament even before +copper was used for work. We may refer to the illustration of a flint +knife with gold handle, already given.[2] + + [2] See illustration. + +The date of the actual introduction of copper for tools and weapons into +Egypt is uncertain, but it seems probable that copper was occasionally +used at a very early period. Copper weapons have been found in +pre-dynastic graves beside the finest buff pottery with elaborate red +designs, so that we may say that when the flint-working and pottery of +the Neolithic Egyptians had reached its zenith, the use of copper was +already known, and copper weapons were occasionally employed. We can +thus speak of the “Chalcolithic” period in Egypt as having already begun +at that time, no doubt several centuries before the beginning of the +historical or dynastic age. Strictly speaking, the Egyptians remained +in the “Chalcolithic” period till the end of the XIIth Dynasty, but in +practice it is best to speak of this period, when the word is used, as +extending from the time of the finest flint weapons and pottery of the +prehistoric age (when the “Neolithic” period may be said to close) till +about the IId or IIId Dynasty. By that time the “Bronze,” or, rather, +“Copper,” Age of Egypt had well begun, and already stone was not in +common use. + +The prehistoric pottery is of the greatest value to the archæologist, +for with its help some idea may be obtained of the succession of periods +within the late Neolithic-Chalcolithic Age. The enormous number of +prehistoric graves which have been examined enables us to make an +exhaustive comparison of the different kinds of pottery found in +them, so that we can arrange them in order according to pottery they +contained. By this means we obtain an idea of the development of +different types of pottery, and the sequence of the types. Thus it is +that we can say with some degree of confidence that the black and red +ware is the most ancient form, and that the buff with red designs is one +of the latest forms of prehistoric pottery. Other objects found in the +graves can be classified as they occur with different pottery types. + +With the help of the pottery we can thus gain a more or less reliable +conspectus of the development of the late “Neolithic” culture of Egypt. +This system of “sequence-dating” was introduced by Prof. Petrie, and is +certainly very useful. It must not, however, be pressed too far or be +regarded as an iron-bound system, with which all subsequent discoveries +must be made to fit in by force. It is not to be supposed that all +prehistoric pottery developed its series of types in an absolutely +orderly manner without deviations or throws-back. The work of man’s +hands is variable and eccentric, and does not develop or evolve in an +undeviating course as the work of nature does. It is a mistake, very +often made by anthropologists and archæologists, who forget this +elementary fact, to assume “curves of development,” and so forth, or +semi-savage culture, on absolutely even and regular lines. Human culture +has not developed either evenly or regularly, as a matter of fact. +Therefore we cannot always be sure that, because the Egyptian black and +red pottery does not occur in graves with buff and red, it is for +this reason absolutely earlier in date than the latter. Some of the +development-sequences may in reality be contemporary with others instead +of earlier, and allowance must always be made for aberrations and +reversions to earlier types. + +This caveat having been entered, however, we may provisionally +accept Prof. Petrie’s system of sequence-dating as giving the best +classification of the prehistoric antiquities according to development. +So it may fairly be said that, as far as we know, the black and red +pottery (“sequence-date 30--“) is the most ancient Neolithic Egyptian +ware known; that the buff and red did not begin to be used till about +“sequence-date 45;” that bone and ivory carvings were commonest in the +earlier period (“sequence-dates 30-50”); that copper was almost unknown +till “sequence-date 50,” and so on. The arbitrary numbers used range +from 30 to 80, in order to allow for possible earlier and later +additions, which may be rendered necessary by the progress of discovery. +The numbers are of course as purely arbitrary and relative as those +of the different thermometrical systems, but they afford a convenient +system of arrangement. The products of the prehistoric Egyptians are, so +to speak, distributed on a conventional plan over a scale numbered from +30 to 80, 30 representing the beginning and 80 the close of the term, +so far as its close has as yet been ascertained. It is probable that +“sequence-date 80” more or less accurately marks the beginning of the +dynastic or historical period. + +This hypothetically chronological classification is, as has been said, +due to Prof. Petrie, and has been adopted by Mr. Randall-Maclver and +other students of prehistoric Egypt in their work.[3] To Prof. Petrie +then is due the credit of systematizing the study of Egyptian +prehistoric antiquities; but the further credit of having _discovered_ +these antiquities themselves and settled their date belongs not to him +but to the distinguished French archæologist, M. J. de Morgan, who was +for several years director of the museum at Giza, and is now chief of +the French archæological delegation in Persia, which has made of late +years so many important discoveries. The proof of the prehistoric date +of this class of antiquities was given, not by Prof. Petrie after his +excavations at Dendera in 1897-8, but by M. de Morgan in his volume, +_Recherches sur les Origines de l’Égypte: l’Âge de la Pierre et les +Métaux_, published in 1895-6. In this book the true chronological +position of the prehistoric antiquities was pointed out, and the +existence of an Egyptian Stone Age finally decided. M. de Morgan’s work +was based on careful study of the results of excavations carried on for +several years by the Egyptian government in various parts of Egypt, in +the course of which a large number of cemeteries of the primitive type +had been discovered. It was soon evident to M. de Morgan that these +primitive graves, with their unusual pottery and flint implements, +could be nothing less than the tombs of the prehistoric Egyptians, the +Egyptians of the Stone Age. + + [3] _El Amra and Abydos_, Egypt Exploration Fund, 1902. + +Objects of the prehistoric period had been known to the museums for many +years previously, but owing to the uncertainty of their provenance and +the absence of knowledge of the existence of the primitive cemeteries, +no scientific conclusions had been arrived at with regard to them; and +it was not till the publication of M. de Morgan’s book that they were +recognized and classified as prehistoric. The necropoles investigated +by M. de Morgan and his assistants extended from Kawâmil in the north, +about twenty miles north of Abydos, to Edfu in the south. The chief +cemeteries between these two points were those of Bât Allam, Saghel +el-Baglieh, el-’Amra, Nakâda, Tûkh, and Gebelên. All the burials were +of simple type, analogous to those of the Neolithic races in the rest +of the world. In a shallow, oval grave, excavated often but a few inches +below the surface of the soil, lay the body, cramped up with the knees +to the chin, sometimes in a rough box of pottery, more often with only +a mat to cover it. Ready to the hand of the dead man were his flint +weapons and tools, and the usual red and black, or buff and red, pots +lay beside him; originally, no doubt, they had been filled with the +funeral meats, to sustain the ghost in the next world. Occasionally a +simple copper weapon was found. With the body were also buried slate +palettes for grinding the green eye-paint which the Egyptians loved even +at this early period. These are often carved to suggest the forms of +animals, such as birds, bats, tortoises, goats, etc.; on others are +fantastic creatures with two heads. Combs of bone, too, are found, +ornamented in a similar way with birds’ or goats’ heads, often double. +And most interesting of all are the small bone and ivory figures of men +and women which are also found. These usually have little blue beads for +eyes, and are of the quaintest and naivest appearance conceivable. Here +we have an elderly man with a long pointed beard, there two women with +inane smiles upon their countenances, here another woman, of better work +this time, with a child slung across her shoulder. This figure, which +is in the British Museum, must be very late, as prehistoric Egyptian +antiquities go. It is almost as good in style as the early Ist Dynasty +objects. Such were the objects which the simple piety of the early +Egyptian prompted him to bury with the bodies of his dead, in order that +they might find solace and contentment in the other world. + +All the prehistoric cemeteries are of this type, with the graves pressed +closely together, so that they often impinge upon one another. The +nearness of the graves to the surface is due to the exposed positions, +at the entrances to _wadis_, in which the primitive cemeteries are +usually found. The result is that they are always swept by the winds, +which prevent the desert sand from accumulating over them, and so have +preserved the original level of the ground. From their proximity to +the surface they are often found disturbed, more often by the agency of +jackals than that of man. + +Contemporaneously with M. de Morgan’s explorations, Prof. Flinders +Petrie and Mr. J. Quibell had, in the winter of 1894-5, excavated in +the districts of Tukh and Nakada, on the west bank of the Nile opposite +Koptos, a series of extensive cemeteries of the primitive type, from +which they obtained a large number of antiquities, published in their +volume Nagada and Dallas. The plates giving representations of the +antiquities found were of the highest interest, but the scientific value +of the letter-press is vitiated by the fact that the true historical +position of the antiquities was not perceived by their discoverers, who +came to the conclusion that these remains were those of a “New Pace” of +Libyan invaders. This race, they supposed, had entered Egypt after the +close of the flourishing period of the “Old Kingdom” at the end of the +VIth Dynasty, and had occupied part of the Nile valley from that time +till the period of the Xth Dynasty. + +This conclusion was proved erroneous by M. de Morgan almost as soon +as made, and the French archæologist’s identification of the primitive +remains as pre-dynastic was at once generally accepted. It was obvious +that a hypothesis of the settlement of a stone-using barbaric race in +the midst of Egypt at so late a date as the period immediately preceding +the XIIth Dynasty, a race which mixed in no way with the native +Egyptians themselves, and left no trace of their influence upon the +later Egyptians, was one which demanded greater faith than the simple +explanation of M. de Morgan. + +The error of the British explorers was at once admitted by Mr. Quibell, +in his volume on the excavations of 1897 at el-Kab, published in +1898.[4] Mr. Quibell at once found full and adequate confirmation of M. +de Morgan’s discovery in his diggings at el-Kab. Prof. Petrie admitted +the correctness of M. de Morgan’s views in the preface to his volume +Diospolis Parva, published three years later in 1901.[5] The preface to +the first volume of M. de Morgan’s book contained a generous +recognition of the method and general accuracy of Prof. Petrie’s +excavations, which contrasted favourably, according to M. de Morgan, +with the excavations of others, generally carried on without scientific +control, and with the sole aim of obtaining antiquities or literary +texts.[6] That M. de Morgan’s own work was carried out as +scientifically and as carefully is evident from the fact that his +conclusions as to the chronological position of the prehistoric +antiquities have been shown to be correct. To describe M. de Morgan’s +discovery as a “happy guess,” as has been done, is therefore beside the +mark. + + [4] El-Kab. Egyptian Research Account, 1897, p. 11. + + [5] Diospolis Parva. Egypt Exploration Fund, 1901, p. 2. + + [6] Recherches: Age de la Pierre, p. xiii. + +Another most important British excavation was that carried on by +Messrs. Randall-Maclver and Wilkin at el-’Amra. The imposing lion-headed +promontory of el-’Amra stands out into the plain on the west bank of the +Nile about five miles south of Abydos. At the foot of this hill M. de +Morgan found a very extensive prehistoric necropolis, which he examined, +but did not excavate to any great extent, and the work of thoroughly +excavating it was performed by Messrs. Randall-MacIver and Wilkin for +the Egypt Exploration Fund. The results have thrown very great light +upon the prehistoric culture of Egypt, and burials of all prehistoric +types, some of them previously unobserved, were found. Among the most +interesting are burials in pots, which have also been found by Mr. +Garstang in a predynastic necropolis at Ragagna, north of Abydos. One +of the more remarkable observations made at el-’Amra was the progressive +development of the tombs from the simplest pot-burial to a small brick +chamber, the embryo of the brick tombs of the Ist Dynasty. Among the +objects recovered from this site may be mentioned a pottery model of +oxen, a box in the shape of a model hut, and a slate “palette” with what +is perhaps the oldest Egyptian hieroglyph known, a representation of the +fetish-sign of the god Min, in relief. All these are preserved in the +British Museum. The skulls of the bodies found were carefully preserved +for craniometric examination. + +In 1901 an extensive prehistoric cemetery was being excavated by Messrs. +Reisner and Lythgoe at Nag’ed-Dêr, opposite Girga, and at el-Ahaiwa, +further north, another prehistoric necropolis has been excavated by +these gentlemen, working for the University of California. + +[Illustration: 027.jpg CAMP OF THE EXPEDITION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF +CALIFORNIA AT NAG’ ED-DÊR, 1901.] + +The cemetery of Nag’ed-Dêr is of the usual prehistoric type, with its +multitudes of small oval graves, excavated just a little way below the +surface. Graves of this kind are the most primitive of all. Those at +el-’Amra are usually more developed, often, as has been noted, rising to +the height of regular brick tombs. They are evidently later, nearer to +the time of the Ist Dynasty. The position of the Nag’ed-Dêr cemetery is +also characteristic. It lies on the usual low ridge at the entrance to a +desert _wadi_, which is itself one of the most picturesque in this +part of Egypt, with its chaos of great boulders and fallen rocks. An +illustration of the camp of Mr. Reisner’s expedition at Nag’ed-Dêr is +given above. The excavations of the University of California are carried +out with the greatest possible care and are financed with the greatest +possible liberality. Mr. Reisner has therefore been able to keep an +absolutely complete photographic record of everything, even down to +the successive stages in the opening of a tomb, which will be of the +greatest use to science when published. + +For a detailed study of the antiquities of the prehistoric period the +publications of Prof. Petrie, Mr. Quibell, and Mr. Randall-Maclver are +more useful than that of M. de Morgan, who does not give enough details. +Every atom of evidence is given in the publications of the British +explorers, whereas it is a characteristic of French work to give +brilliant conclusions, beautifully illustrated, without much of the +evidence on which the conclusions are based. This kind of work does not +appeal to the Anglo-Saxon mind, which takes nothing on trust, even +from the most renowned experts, and always wants to know the why and +wherefore. The complete publication of evidence which marks the British +work will no doubt be met with, if possible in even more complete +detail, in the American work of Messrs. Reisner, Lythgoe, and Mace (the +last-named is an Englishman) for the University of California, when +published. The question of speedy versus delayed publication is a very +vexing one. Prof. Petrie prefers to publish as speedily as possible; six +months after the season’s work in Egypt is done, the full publication +with photographs of everything appears. Mr. Reisner and the French +explorers prefer to publish nothing until they have exhaustively studied +the whole of the evidence, and can extract nothing more from it. This +would be admirable if the French published their discoveries fully, but +they do not. Even M. de Morgan has not approached the fulness of +detail which characterizes British work and which will characterize Mr. +Reisner’s publication when it appears. The only drawback to this method +is that general interest in the particular excavations described tends +to pass away before the full description appears. + +Prof. Petrie has explored other prehistoric sites at Abadiya, and Mr. +Quibell at el-Kab. M. de Morgan and his assistants have examined a large +number of sites, ranging from the Delta to el-Kab. Further research has +shown that some of the sites identified by M. de Morgan as prehistoric +are in reality of much later date, for example, Kahun, where the late +flints of XIIth Dynasty date were found. He notes that “large numbers +of Neolithic flint weapons are found in the desert on the borders of +the Fayyum, and at Helwan, south of Cairo,” and that all the important +necropoles and kitchen-middens of the predynastic people are to be found +in the districts of Abydos and Thebes, from el-Kawamil in the North to +el-Kab in the South. It is of course too soon to assert with confidence +that there are no prehistoric remains in any other part of Egypt, +especially in the long tract between the Fayyûm and the district of +Abydos, but up to the present time none have been found in this region. + +This geographical distribution of the prehistoric remains fits in +curiously with the ancient legend concerning the origin of the ancestors +of the Egyptians in Upper Egypt, and supports the much discussed theory +that they came originally to the Nile valley from the shores of the Red +Sea by way of the Wadi Hammamat, which debouches on to the Nile in the +vicinity of Koptos and Kus, opposite Ballas and Tûkh. The supposition +seems a very probable one, and it may well be that the earliest +Egyptians entered the valley of the Nile by the route suggested and +then spread northwards and southwards in the valley. The fact that their +remains are not found north of el-Kawâmil nor south of el-Kab might +perhaps be explained by the supposition that, when they had extended +thus far north and south from their original place of arrival, they +passed from the primitive Neolithic condition to the more highly +developed copper-using culture of the period which immediately preceded +the establishment of the monarchy. The Neolithic weapons of the Fayyûm +and Hel-wân would then be the remains of a different people, which +inhabited the Delta and Middle Egypt in very early times. This people +may have been of Mediterranean stock, akin to the primitive inhabitants +of Palestine, Greece, Italy, and Spain; and they no doubt were identical +with the inhabitants of Lower Egypt who were overthrown and conquered by +Kha-sekhem and the other Southern founders of the monarchy (who belonged +to the race which had come from the Red Sea by the Wadi Hammamat), and +so were the ancestors of the later natives of Lower Egypt. Whether the +Southerners, whose primitive remains we find from el-Kawâmil to el-Kab, +were of the same race as the Northerners whom they conquered, cannot +be decided. The skull-form of the Southerners agrees with that of the +Mediterranean races. But we have no nécropoles of the Northerners to +tell us much of their peculiarities. We have nothing but their flint +arrowheads. + +But it should be observed that, in spite of the present absence of all +primitive remains (whether mere flints, or actual graves with bodies and +relics) of the primeval population between the Fayyûm and el-Kawâmil, +there is no proof that the primitive race of Upper Egypt was not +coterminous and identical with that of the lower country. It +might therefore be urged that the whole Neolithic population was +“Mediterranean” by its skull-form and body-structure, and specifically +“Nilotic” (indigenous Egyptian) in its culture-type. This is quite +possible, but we have again to account for the legends of distant origin +on the Red Sea coast, the probability that one element of the Egyptian +population was of extraneous origin and came from the east into the Nile +valley near Koptos, and finally the historical fact of an advance of the +early dynastic Egyptians from the South to the conquest of the North. +The latter fact might of course be explained as a civil war analogous +to that between Thebes and Asyût in the time of the IXth Dynasty, but +against this explanation is to be set the fact that the contemporary +monuments of the Southerners exhibit the men of the North as of foreign +and non-Egyptian ethnic type, resembling Libyans. It is possible that +they were akin to the Libyans; and this would square very well with the +first theory, but it may also be made to fit in with a development of +the second, which has been generally accepted. + +According to this view, the whole primitive Neolithic population of +North and South was Miotic, indigenous in origin, and akin to the +“Mediterraneans “of Prof. Sergi and the other ethnologists. It was not +this population, the stone-users whose nécropoles have been found by +Messrs. de Morgan, Pétrie, and Maclver, that entered the Nile valley by +the Wadi Hammamat. This was another race of different ethnic origin, +which came from the Red Sea toward the end of the Neolithic period, +and, being of higher civilization than the native Nilotes, assumed the +lordship over them, gave a great impetus to the development of their +culture, and started at once the institution of monarchy, the knowledge +of letters, and the use of metals. The chiefs of this superior tribe +founded the monarchy, conquered the North, unified the kingdom, and +began Egyptian history. From many indications it would seem probable +that these conquerors were of Babylonian origin, or that the culture +they brought with them (possibly from Arabia) was ultimately of +Babylonian origin. They themselves would seem to have been Semites, +or rather proto-Semites, who came from Arabia to Africa by way of +the straits of Bab el-Mandeb, and proceeded up the coast to about the +neighbourhood of Kusêr, whence the Wadi Hammamat offered them an open +road to the valley of the Nile. By this route they may have entered +Egypt, bringing with them a civilization, which, like that of the other +Semites, had been profoundly influenced and modified by that of the +Sumerian inhabitants of Babylonia. This Semitic-Sumerian culture, +mingling with that of the Nilotes themselves, produced the civilization +of Ancient Egypt as we know it. + +This is a very plausible hypothesis, and has a great deal of evidence in +its favour. It seems certain that in the early dynastic period two +races lived in Egypt, which differed considerably in type, and also, +apparently, in burial customs. The later Egyptians always buried the +dead lying on their backs, extended at full length. During the period of +the Middle Kingdom (XIth-XIIIth Dynasties) the head was usually turned +over on to the left side, in order that the dead man might look through +the two great eyes painted on that side of the coffin. Afterward the +rigidly extended position was always adopted. The Neolithic Egyptians, +however, buried the dead lying wholly on the left side and in a +contracted position, with the knees drawn up to the chin. The bodies +were not embalmed, and the extended position and mummification were +never used. Under the IVth Dynasty we find in the necropolis of Mêdûm +(north of the Payyûm) the two positions used simultaneously, and the +extended bodies are mummified. The contracted bodies are skeletons, as +in the case of most of the predynastic bodies. When these are found with +flesh, skin, and hair intact, their preservation is due to the dryness +of the soil and the preservative salts it contains, not to intentional +embalming, which was evidently introduced by those who employed the +extended position in burial. The contracted position is found as late as +the Vth Dynasty at Dashasha, south of the Eayyûm, but after that date it +is no longer found. + +The conclusion is obvious that the contracted position without +mummification, which the Neolithic people used, was supplanted in the +early dynastic period by the extended position with mummification, and +by the time of the VIth Dynasty it was entirely superseded. This points +to the supersession of the burial customs of the indigenous Neolithic +race by those of another race which conquered and dominated the +indigenes. And, since the extended burials of the IVth Dynasty are +evidently those of the higher nobles, while the contracted ones are +those of inferior people, it is probable that the customs of extended +burial and embalming were introduced by a foreign race which founded the +Egyptian monarchical state, with its hierarchy of nobles and officials, +and in fact started Egyptian civilization on its way. The conquerors of +the North were thus not the descendants of the Neolithic people of the +South, but their conquerors; in fact, they dominated the indigenes both +of North and South, who will then appear (since we find the custom of +contracted burial in the North at Dashasha and Mêdûm) to have originally +belonged to the same race. + +The conquering race is that which is supposed to have been of Semitic or +proto-Semitic origin, and to have brought elements of Sumerian culture +to savage Egypt. The reasons advanced for this supposition are the +following:-- + +(1) Just as the Egyptian race was evidently compounded of two elements, +of conquered “Mediterraneans” and conquering x, so the Egyptian language +is evidently compounded of two elements, the one Nilotic, perhaps +related in some degree to the Berber dialects of North Africa, the other +not x, but evidently Semitic. + +(2) Certain elements of the early dynastic civilization, which do not +appear in that of the earlier pre-dynastic period, resemble well-known +elements of the civilization of Babylonia. We may instance the use of +the cylinder-seal, which died out in Egypt in the time of the XVIIIth +Dynasty, but was always used in Babylonia from the earliest to the +latest times. The early Egyptian mace-head is of exactly the same +type as the early Babylonian one. In the British Museum is an Egyptian +mace-head of red breccia, which is identical in shape and size with +one from Babylonia (also in the museum) bearing the name of +Shargani-shar-ali (i.e. Sargon, King of Agade), one of the earliest +Chaldæan monarchs, who must have lived about the same time as the +Egyptian kings of the IId-IIId Dynasties, to which period the Egyptian +mace-head may also be approximately assigned. The Egyptian art of the +earliest dynasties bears again a remarkable resemblance to that of early +Babylonia. It is not till the time of the IId Dynasty that Egyptian art +begins to take upon itself the regular form which we know so well, and +not till that of the IVth that this form was finally crystallized. Under +the 1st Dynasty we find the figure of man or, to take other instances, +that of a lion, or a hawk, or a snake, often treated in a style very +different from that in which we are accustomed to see a man, a lion, a +hawk, or a snake depicted in works of the later period. And the striking +thing is that these early representations, which differ so much from +what we find in later Egyptian art, curiously resemble the works of +early Babylonian art, of the time of the patesis of Shirpurla or the +Kings Shargani-shar-ali and Narâm-Sin. One of the best known relics +of the early art of Babylonia is the famous “Stele of Vultures” now in +Paris. On this we see the enemies of Eannadu, one of the early rulers +of Shirpurla, cast out to be devoured by the vultures. On an Egyptian +relief of slate, evidently originally dedicated in a temple record of +some historical event, and dating from the beginning of the Ist Dynasty +(practically contemporary, according to our latest knowledge, with +Eannadu), we have an almost exactly similar scene of captives being cast +out into the desert, and devoured by lions and vultures. The two reliefs +are curiously alike in their clumsy, naïve style of art. A further +point is that the official represented on the stele, who appears to be +thrusting one of the bound captives out to die, wears a long fringed +garment of Babylonish cut, quite different from the clothes of the later +Egyptians. + +(3) There are evidently two distinct and different main strata in the +fabric of Egyptian religion. On the one hand we find a mass of myth and +religious belief of very primitive, almost savage, cast, combining +a worship of the actual dead in their tombs--which were supposed +to communicate and thus form a veritable “underworld,” or, rather, +“under-Egypt”--with veneration of magic animals, such as jackals, cats, +hawks, and crocodiles. On the other hand, we have a sun and sky worship +of a more elevated nature, which does not seem to have amalgamated with +the earlier fetishism and corpse-worship until a comparatively late +period. The main seats of the sun-worship were at Heliopolis in the +Delta and at Edfu in Upper Egypt. Heliopolis seems always to have been +a centre of light and leading in Egypt, and it is, as is well known, +the On of the Bible, at whose university the Jewish lawgiver Moses is +related to have been educated “in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” The +philosophical theories of the priests of the Sun-gods, Râ-Harmachis and +Turn, at Heliopolis seem to have been the source from which sprang the +monotheistic heresy of the Disk-Worshippers (in the time of the XVIIIth +Dynasty), who, under the guidance of the reforming King Akhunaten, +worshipped only the disk of the sun as the source of all life, the door +in heaven, so to speak, through which the hidden One Deity poured +forth heat and light, the origin of life upon the earth. Very early +in Egyptian history the Heliopolitans gained the upper hand, and the +Râ-worship (under the Vth Dynasty, the apogee of the Old Kingdom) came +to the front, and for the first time the kings took the afterwards +time-honoured royal title of “Son of the Sun.” It appears then as a +more or less foreign importation into the Nile valley, and bears most +undoubtedly a Semitic impress. Its two chief seats were situated, the +one, Heliopolis, in the North on the eastern edge of the Delta,--just +where an early Semitic settlement from over the desert might be expected +to be found,--the other, Edfu, in the Upper Egyptian territory south +of the Thebaïd, Koptos, and the Wadi Ham-mamat, and close to the chief +settlement of the earliest kings and the most ancient capital of Upper +Egypt. + +(4) The custom of burying at full length was evidently introduced into +Egypt by the second, or x race. The Neolithic Egyptians buried in the +cramped position. The early Babylonians buried at full length, as far +as we know. On the same “Stele of Vultures,” which has already been +mentioned, we see the burying at full length of dead warriors.[7] There +is no trace of any _early_ burial in Babylonia in the cramped position. +The tombs at Warka (Erech) with cramped bodies in pottery coffins are +of very late date. A further point arises with regard to embalming. The +Neolithic Egyptians did not embalm the dead. Usually their cramped +bodies are found as skeletons. When they are mummified, it is merely +owing to the preservative action of the salt in the soil, not to any +process of embalming. The second, or x race, however, evidently +introduced the custom of embalming as well as that of burial at full +length and the use of coffins. The Neolithic Egyptian used no box or +coffin, the nearest approach to this being a pot, which was inverted +over the coiled up body. Usually only a mat was put over the body. + + [7] See illustration. + +[Illustration: 038.jpg Portion of the “Stele of Vultures” Found at +Telloh] + +[Illustration: 038-text.jpg] + +Now it is evident that Babylonians and Assyrians, who buried the dead at +full length in chests, had some knowledge of embalming. An Assyrian king +tells us how he buried his royal father:-- + + “Within the grave, the secret place, + In kingly oil, I gently laid him. + The grave-stone marketh his resting-place. + With mighty bronze I sealed its entrance, + And I protected it with an incantation.” + +The “kingly oil” was evidently used with the idea of preserving the body +from decay. Salt also was used to preserve the dead, and Herodotus +says that the Babylonians buried in honey, which was also used by the +Egyptians. No doubt the Babylonian method was less perfect than the +Egyptian, but the comparison is an interesting one, when taken in +connection with the other points of resemblance mentioned above. + +We find, then, that an analysis of the Egyptian language reveals a +Semitic element in it; that the early dynastic culture had certain +characteristics which were unknown to the Neolithic Egyptians but are +closely parallelled in early Babylonia; that there were two elements in +the Egyptian religion, one of which seems to have originally belonged to +the Neolithic people, while the other has a Semitic appearance; and that +there were two sets of burial customs in early Egypt, one, that of the +Neolithic people, the other evidently that of a conquering race, which +eventually prevailed over the former; these later rites were analogous +to those of the Babylonians and Assyrians, though differing from them +in points of detail. The conclusion is that the x or conquering race +was Semitic and brought to Egypt the Semitic elements in the Egyptian +religion and a culture originally derived from that of the Sumerian +inhabitants of Babylonia, the non-Semitic parent of all Semitic +civilizations. + +The question now arises, how did this Semitic people reach Egypt? We +have the choice of two points of entry: First, Heliopolis in the North, +where the Semitic sun-worship took root, and, second, the Wadi Hamma-mat +in the South, north of Edfu, the southern centre of sun-worship, and +Hierakonpolis (Nekheb-Nekhen), the capital of the Upper Egyptian kingdom +which existed before the foundation of the monarchy. The legends which +seem to bring the ancestors of the Egyptians from the Red Sea coast have +already been mentioned. They are closely connected with the worship +of the Sky and Sun god Horus of Edfu. Hathor, his nurse, the “House of +Horus,” the centre of whose worship was at Dendera, immediately opposite +the mouth of the Wadi Hammamat, was said to have come from Ta-neter, +“The Holy Land,” i.e. Abyssinia or the Red Sea coast, with the company +or _paut_ of the gods. Now the Egyptians always seem to have had some +idea that they were connected racially with the inhabitants of the Land +of Punt or Puenet, the modern Abyssinia and Somaliland. In the time of +the XVIIIth Dynasty they depicted the inhabitants of Punt as greatly +resembling themselves in form, feature, and dress, and as wearing the +little turned-up beard which was worn by the Egyptians of the earliest +times, but even as early as the IVth Dynasty was reserved for the +gods. Further, the word _Punt_ is always written without the hieroglyph +determinative of a foreign country, thus showing that the Egyptians did +not regard the Punites as foreigners. This certainly looks as if the +Punites were a portion of the great migration from Arabia, left behind +on the African shore when the rest of the wandering people pressed on +northwards to the Wadi Hammamat and the Nile. It may be that the modern +Gallas and Abyssinians are descendants of these Punites. + +Now the Sky-god of Edfu is in legend a conquering hero who advances +down the Nile valley, with his _Mesniu_, or “Smiths,” to overthrow the +people of the North, whom he defeats in a great battle near Dendera. +This may be a reminiscence of the first fights of the invaders with the +Neolithic inhabitants. The other form of Horus, “Horus, son of Isis,” +has also a body of retainers, the _Shemsu-Heru_, or “Followers of +Horns,” who are spoken of in late texts as the rulers of Egypt before +the monarchy. They evidently correspond to the dynasties of _Manes_, +Νεκύες or “Ghosts,” of Manetho, and are probably intended for the early +kings of Hierakonpolis. + +The mention of the Followers of Horus as “Smiths” is very interesting, +for it would appear to show that the Semitic conquerors were notable +as metal-users, that, in fact, their conquest was that old story in the +dawn of the world’s history, the utter overthrow and subjection of the +stone-users by the metal-users, the primeval tragedy of the supersession +of flint by copper. This may be, but if the “Smiths” were the Semitic +conquerors who founded the kingdom, it would appear that the use of +copper was known in Egypt to some extent before their arrival, for we +find it in the graves of the late Neolithic Egyptians, very sparsely +from “sequence-date 30” to “45,” but afterwards more commonly. It was +evidently becoming known. The supposition, however, that the “Smiths” + were the Semitic conquerors, and that they won their way by the aid of +their superior weapons of metal, may be provisionally accepted. + +In favour of the view which would bring the conquerors by way of the +Wadi Hammamat, an interesting discovery may be quoted. Immediately +opposite Den-dera, where, according to the legend, the battle between +the _Mesniu_ and the aborigines took place, lies Koptos, at the mouth of +the Wadi Hammamat. Here, in 1894, underneath the pavement of the ancient +temple, Prof. Petrie found remains which he then diagnosed as belonging +to the most ancient epoch of Egyptian history. Among them were some +extremely archaic statues of the god Min, on which were curious +scratched drawings of bears, _crioceras-shells_, elephants walking over +hills, etc., of the most primitive description. With them were lions’ +heads and birds of a style then unknown, but which we now know to belong +to the period of the beginning of the Ist Dynasty. But the statues of +Min are older. The _crioceras-shells_ belong to the Red Sea. Are we to +see in these statues the holy images of the conquerors from the Red Sea +who reached the Nile valley by way of the Wadi Hammamat, and set up the +first memorials of their presence at Koptos? It may be so, or the Min +statues may be older than the conquerors, and belong to the Neolithic +race, since Min and his fetish (which we find on the slate palette from +el-’Amra, already mentioned) seem to belong to the indigenous Nilotes. +In any case we have in these statues, two of which are in the Ashmolean +Museum at Oxford, probably the most ancient cult-images in the world: + +This theory, which would make all the Neolithic inhabitants of Egypt +one people, who were conquered by a Semitic race, bringing a culture of +Sumerian origin to Egypt by way of the Wadi Hammamat, is that generally +accepted at the present time. It may, however, eventually prove +necessary to modify it. For reasons given above, it may well be that the +Neolithic population was itself not indigenous, and that it reached the +Nile valley by way of the Wadi Hammamat, spreading north and south +from the mouth of the _wadi_. It may also be considered probable that +a Semitic wave invaded Egypt by way of the Isthmus of Suez, where +the early sun-cultus of Heliopolis probably marks a primeval Semitic +settlement. In that case it would seem that the _Mesniu_ or “Smiths,” + who introduced the use of metal, would have to be referred to the +originally Neolithic pre-Semitic people, who certainly were acquainted +with the use of copper, though not to any great extent. But this is not +a necessary supposition. The _Mesniu_ are closely connected with the +Sky-god Horus, who was possibly of Semitic origin, and another Semitic +wave, quite distinct from that which entered Egypt by way of the +Isthmus, may very well also have reached Egypt by the Wadi Hammamat, or, +equally possibly, from the far south, coming down to the Nile from the +Abyssinian mountains. The legend of the coming of Hathor from Ta-neter +may refer to some such wandering, and we know that the Egyptians of the +Old Kingdom communicated with the Land of Punt, not by way of the Red +Sea coast as Hatshepsut did, but by way of the Upper Nile. This would +tally well with the march of the _Mesniu_ northwards from Edfu to their +battle with the forces of Set at Dendera. + +In any case, at the dawn of connected Egyptian history, we find two main +centres of civilization in Egypt, Heliopolis and Buto in the Delta +in the North, and Edfu and Hierakonpolis in the South. Here were +established at the beginning of the Chalcolithic stage of culture, we +may say, two kingdoms, of Lower and Upper Egypt, which were eventually +united by the superior arms of the kings of Upper Egypt, who imposed +their rule upon the North but at the same time removed their capital +thither. The dualism of Buto and Hierakonpolis really lasted throughout +Egyptian history. The king was always called “Lord of the Two Lands,” + and wore the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt; the snakes of Buto and +Nekhebet (the goddess of Nekheb, opposite Nekhen or Hierakonpolis) +always typified the united kingdom. This dualism of course often led to +actual division and reversion to the predynastic order of things, as, +for instance, in the time of the XXIst Dynasty. + +It might well seem that both the impulses to culture development in the +North and South came from Semitic inspiration, and that it was to +the Semitic invaders in North and South that the founding of the two +kingdoms was due. This may be true to some extent, but it is at the same +time very probable that the first development of political culture at +Hierakonpolis was really of pre-Semitic origin. The kingdom of Buto, +since its capital is situated so near to the seacoast, may have owed +its origin to oversea Mediterranean connections. There is much in +the political constitution of later Egypt which seems to have been of +indigenous and pre-Semitic origin. Especially does this seem to be so in +the case of the division and organization of the country into nomes. It +is obvious that so soon as agriculture began to be practised on a large +scale, boundaries would be formed, and in the unique conditions of +Egypt, where all boundaries disappear beneath the inundation every +year, it is evident that the fixing of division-lines as permanently as +possible by means of landmarks was early essayed. We can therefore with +confidence assign the formation of the nomes to very early times. Now +the names of the nomes and the symbols or emblems by which they were +distinguished are of very great interest in this connection. They are +nearly all figures of the magic animals of the primitive religion, and +fetish-emblems of the older deities. The names are, in fact, those of +the territories of the Neolithic Egyptian tribes, and their emblems are +those of the protecting tribal demons. The political divisions of the +country seem, then, to be of extremely ancient origin, and if the nomes +go back to a time before the Semitic invasions, so may also the kingdoms +of the South and North. + +Of these predynastic kingdoms we know very little, except from legendary +sources. The Northerners who were conquered by Aha, Narmer, and +Khâsekhehiui do not look very much like Egyptians, but rather resemble +Semites or Libyans. On the “Stele of Palermo,” a chronicle of early +kings inscribed in the period of the Vth Dynasty, we have a list of +early kings of the North,--Seka, Desau, Tiu, Tesh, Nihab, Uatjântj, +Mekhe. The names are primitive in form. We know nothing more about them. +Last year Mr. C. T. Currelly attempted to excavate at Buto, in order to +find traces of the predynastic kingdom, but owing to the infiltration of +water his efforts were unsuccessful. It is improbable that anything is +now left of the most ancient period at that site, as the conditions in +the Delta are so very different from those obtaining in Upper Egypt. +There, at Hierakonpolis, and at el-Kab on the opposite bank of the Nile, +the sites of the ancient cities Nekhen and Nekheb, the excavators have +been very successful. The work was carried out by Messrs. Quibell and +Green, in the years 1891-9. Prehistoric burials were found on the hills +near by, but the larger portion of the antiquities were recovered from +the temple-ruins, and date back to the beginning of the 1st Dynasty, +exactly the time when the kings of Hierakonpolis first conquered the +kingdom of Buto and founded the united Egyptian monarchy. + +The ancient temple, which was probably one of the earliest seats of +Egyptian civilization, was situated on a mound, now known as _el-Kom +el-ahmar_, “the Red Hill,” from its colour. The chief feature of the +most ancient temple seems to have been a circular mound, revetted by a +wall of sandstone blocks, which was apparently erected about the end of +the predynastic period. Upon this a shrine was probably erected. This +was the ancient shrine of Nekhen, the cradle of the Egyptian monarchy. +Close by it were found some of the most valuable relics of the earliest +Pharaonic age, the great ceremonial mace-heads and vases of Narmer and +“the Scorpion,” the shields or “palettes” of the same Narmer, the vases +and stelas of Khâsekhemui, and, of later date, the splendid copper +colossal group of King Pepi I and his son, which is now at Cairo. Most +of the 1st Dynasty objects are preserved in the Ashmo-lean Museum at +Oxford, which is one of the best centres for the study of early Egyptian +antiquities. Narmer and Khâsekhemui are, as we shall see, two of the +first monarchs of all Egypt. These sculptured and inscribed mace-heads, +shields, etc., are monuments dedicated by them in the ancestral shrine +at Hierakonpolis as records of their deeds. Both kings seem to have +waged war against the Northerners, the _Anu_ of Heliopolis and the +Delta, and on these votive monuments from Hierakonpolis we find +hieroglyphed records of the defeat of the _Anu_, who have very +definitely Semitic physiognomies. + +On one shield or palette we see Narmer clubbing a man of Semitic +appearance, who is called the “Only One of the Marsh” (Delta), while +below two other Semites fly, seeking “fortress-protection.” Above is a +figure of a hawk, symbolizing the Upper Egyptian king, holding a rope +which is passed through the nose of a Semitic head, while behind is a +sign which may be read as “the North,” so that the whole symbolizes the +leading away of the North into captivity by the king of the South. It +is significant, in view of what has been said above with regard to the +probable Semitic origin of the Heliopolitan Northerners, to find the +people typical of the North-land represented by the Southerners as +Semites. Equally Semitic is the overthrown Northerner on the other +side of this well-known monument which we are describing; he is being +trampled under the hoofs and gored by the horns of a bull, who, like the +hawk, symbolizes the king. The royal bull has broken down the wall of a +fortified enclosure, in which is the hut or tent of the Semite, and the +bricks lie about promiscuously. + +In connection with the Semitic origin of the Northerners, the form of +the fortified enclosures on both sides of this monument (that to whose +protection the two Semites on one side fly, and that out of which the +kingly bull has dragged the chief on the other) is noticeable. As usual +in Egyptian writing, the hieroglyph of these buildings takes the form of +a plan. The plan shows a crenelated enclosure, resembling the walls of +a great Babylonian palace or temple, such as have been found at Telloh, +Warka, or Mukayyar. The same design is found in Egypt at the Shuret +ez-Zebib, an Old Kingdom fortress at Abydos, in the tomb of King Aha at +Nakâda, and in many walls of mastaba-tombs of the early time. This is +another argument in favour of an early connection between Egypt and +Babylonia. We illustrate a fragment of another votive shield or palette +of the same kind, now in the museum of the Louvre, which probably came +originally from Hierakonpolis. It is of exactly similar workmanship to +that of Narmer, and is no doubt a fragment of another monument of that +king. On it we see the same subject of the overthrowing of a Northerner +(of Semitic aspect) by the royal bull. On one side, below, is a +fortified enclosure with crenelated walls of the type we have described, +and within it a lion and a vase; below this another fort, and a bird +within it. These signs may express the names of the two forts, but, +owing to the fact that at this early period Egyptian orthography was +not yet fixed, we cannot read them. On the other side we see a row of +animated nome-standards of Upper Egypt, with the symbols of the god Min +of Koptos, the hawk of Horus of Edfu, the ibis of Thot of Eshmunên, and +the jackals of Anubis of Abydos, which drag a rope; had we the rest +of the monument, we should see, bound at the end of the rope, some +prisoner, king, or animal symbolic of the North. On another slate +shield, which we also reproduce, we see a symbolical representation of +the capture of seven Northern cities, whose names seem to mean the “Two +Men,” the “Heron,” the “Owl,” the “Palm,” and the “Ghost” Cities. + +“Ghost City” is attacked by a lion, “Owl City” by a hawk, “Palm City” by +two hawk nome-standards, and another, whose name we cannot guess at, is +being opened up by a scorpion. + +[Illustration: 050.jpg (left) OBVERSE OF A SLATE RELIEF.] + +The operating animals evidently represent nomes and tribes of the Upper +Egyptians. Here again we see the same crenelated walls of the Northern +towns, and there is no doubt that this slate fragment also, which is +preserved in the Cairo Museum, is a monument of the conquests of Narmer. +It is executed in the same archaic style as those from Hierakonpolis. +The animals on the other side no doubt represent part of the spoil of +the North. + +Returning to the great shield or palette found by Mr. Quibell, we see +the king coming out, followed by his sandal-bearer, the _Hen-neter_ or +“God’s Servant,”[8] to view the dead bodies of the slain Northerners which +lie arranged in rows, decapitated, and with their heads between their +feet. The king is preceded by a procession of nome-standards. + +[Illustration: 051.jpg (right)] + +Above the dead men are symbolic representations of a hawk perched on a +harpoon over a boat, and a hawk and a door, which doubtless again refer +to the fights of the royal hawk of Upper Egypt on the Nile and at the +gate of the North. The designs on the mace-heads refer to the same +conquest of the North. + + [8] In his commentary (Hierakonpolis, i. p. 9) on this scene, + Prof. Petrie supposes that the seven-pointed star sign means + “king,” and compares the eight-pointed star “used for king + in Babylonia.” The eight-pointed star of the cuneiform + script does not mean “king,” but “god.” The star then ought + to mean “god,” and the title “servant of a god,” and this + supposition may be correct. _Hen-neter_, “god’s servant,” + was the appellation of a peculiar kind of priest in later + days, and was then spelt with the ordinary sign for a god, + the picture of an axe. But in the archaic period, with which + we are dealing, a star like the Babylonian sign may very + well have been used for “god,” and the title of Narmer’s + sandal-bearer may read _Hen-neter_. He was the slave of the + living god Narmer. All Egyptian kings were regarded as + deities, more or less. + +The monuments Khâsekhemui, a king, show us that he conquered the North +also and slew 47,209 “Northern Enemies.” The contorted attitudes of the +dead Northerners were greatly admired and sketched at the time, and were +reproduced on the pedestal of the king’s statue found by Mr. Quibell, +which is now at Oxford. It was an age of cheerful savage energy, like +most times when kingdoms and peoples are in the making. About 4000 B.C. +is the date of these various monuments. + +[Illustration: 052.jpg OBVERSE OP A SLATE RELIEF.] + +Khâsekhemui probably lived later than Narmer, and we may suppose that +his conquest was in reality a re-conquest. He may have lived as late +as the time of the IId Dynasty, whereas Narmer must be placed at the +beginning of the Ist, and his conquest was probably that which first +united the two kingdoms of the South and North. As we shall see in +the next chapter, he is probably one of the originals of the legendary +“Mena,” who was regarded from the time of the XVIIIth Dynasty onwards +as the founder of the kingdom, and was first made known to Europe by +Herodotus, under the name of “Menés.” + +[Illustration: 053.jpg REVERSE OF A SLATE RELIEF, REPRESENTING ANIMALS.] + +Narmer is therefore the last of the ancient kings of Hierakonpolis, the +last of Manetho’s “Spirits.” We may possibly have recovered the names of +one or two of the kings anterior to Narmer in the excavations at Abydos +(see Chapter II), but this is uncertain. To all intents and purposes we +have only legendary knowledge of the Southern kingdom until its close, +when Narmer the mighty went forth to strike down the Anu of the North, +an exploit which he recorded in votive monuments at Hierakonpolis, and +which was commemorated henceforward throughout Egyptian history in the +yearly “Feast of the Smiting of the Anu.” Then was Egypt for the first +time united, and the fortress of the “White Wall,” the “Good Abode” of +Memphis, was built to dominate the lower country. The Ist Dynasty was +founded and Egyptian history began. + +[Illustration: 054.jpg ] + + + + +CHAPTER II--ABYDOS AND THE FIRST THREE DYNASTIES + + +Until the recent discoveries had been made, which have thrown so much +light upon the early history of Egypt, the traditional order and names +of the kings of the first three Egyptian dynasties were, in default of +more accurate information, retained by all writers on the history of the +period. The names were taken from the official lists of kings at Abydos +and elsewhere, and were divided into dynasties according to the system +of Manetho, whose names agree more or less with those of the lists and +were evidently derived from them ultimately. With regard to the fourth +and later dynasties it was clear that the king-lists were correct, as +their evidence agreed entirely with that of the contemporary monuments. +But no means existed of checking the lists of the first three dynasties, +as no contemporary monuments other than a IVth Dynasty mention of a IId +Dynasty king, Send, had been found. The lists dated from the time of +the XVIIIth and XIXth Dynasties, so that it was very possible that with +regard to the earliest dynasties they might not be very correct. This +conclusion gained additional weight from the fact that no monuments of +these earliest kings were ever discovered; it therefore seemed probable +that they were purely legendary figures, in whose time (if they ever did +exist) Egypt was still a semi-barbarous nation. The jejune stories told +about them by Manetho seemed to confirm this idea. Mena, the reputed +founder of the monarchy, was generally regarded as a historical figure, +owing to the persistence of his name in all ancient literary accounts +of the beginnings of Egyptian history; for it was but natural to suppose +that the name of the man who unified Egypt and founded Memphis would +endure in the mouths of the people. But with regard to his successors +no such supposition seemed probable, until the time of Sneferu and the +pyramid-builders. + +This was the critical view. Another school of historians accepted all +the kings of the lists as historical _en bloc_, simply because the +Egyptians had registered their names as kings. To them Teta, Ateth, and +Ata were as historical as Mena. + +Modern discovery has altered our view, and truth is seen to lie between +the opposing schools, as usual. The kings after Mena do not seem to be +such entirely unhistorical figures as the extreme critics thought; +the names of several of them, e.g. Merpeba, of the Ist Dynasty, are +correctly given in the later lists, and those of others were simply +misread, e. g. that of Semti of the same dynasty, misread “Hesepti” by +the list-makers. On the other hand, Mena himself has become a somewhat +doubtful quantity. The real names of most of the early monarchs of Egypt +have been recovered for us by the latest excavations, and we can now see +when the list-makers of the XIXth Dynasty were right and when they were +wrong, and can distinguish what is legendary in their work from what is +really historical. It is true that they very often appear to have been +wrong, but, on the other hand, they were sometimes unexpectedly near +the mark, and the general number and arrangement of their kings +seems correct; so that we can still go to them for assistance in the +arrangement of the names which are communicated to us by the newly +discovered monuments. Manetho’s help, too, need never be despised +because he was a copyist of copyists; we can still use him to direct our +investigations, and his arrangement of dynasties must still remain the +framework of our chronological scheme, though he does not seem to have +been always correct as to the places in which the dynasties originated. + +More than the names of the kings have the new discoveries communicated +to us. They have shed a flood of light on the beginnings of Egyptian +civilization and art, supplementing the recently ascertained facts +concerning the prehistoric age which have been described in the +preceding chapter. The impulse to these discoveries was given by the +work of M. de Morgan, who excavated sites of the early dynastic as +well as of the predynastic age. Among these was a great mastaba-tomb at +Nakâda, which proved to be that of a very early king who bore the name +of Aha, “the Fighter.” The walls of this tomb are crenelated like +those of the early Babylonian palaces and the forts of the Northerners, +already referred to. M. de Morgan early perceived the difference between +the Neolithic antiquities and those of the later archaic period of +Egyptian civilization, to which the tomb at Nakâda belonged. In the +second volume of his great work on the primitive antiquities of Egypt +_(L’Age des Métaux et lé Tombeau Royale de Négadeh)_, he described +the antiquities of the Ist Dynasty which had been found at the time he +wrote. Antiquities of the same primitive period and even of an earlier +date had been discovered by Prof. Flinders Petrie, as has already been +said, at Koptos, at the mouth of the Wadi Hammamat. But though Prof. +Petrie correctly diagnosed the age of the great statues of the god +Min which he found, he was led, by his misdating of the “New Race” + antiquities from Ballas and Tûkh, also to misdate several of the +primitive antiquities,--the lions and hawks, for instance, found at +Koptos, he placed in the period between the VIIth and Xth Dynasties; +whereas they can now, in the light of further discoveries at Abydos, be +seen to date to the earlier part of the Ist Dynasty, the time of Narmer +and Aha. + +It is these discoveries at Abydos, coupled with those (already +described) of Mr. Quibell at Hierakonpolis, which have told us most of +what we know with regard to the history of the first three dynasties. +At Abydos Prof. Petrie was not himself the first in the field, the site +having already been partially explored by a French Egyptologist, M. +Amélineau. The excavations of M. Amélineau were, however, perhaps +not conducted strictly on scientific lines, and his results have been +insufficiently published with very few photographs, so that with the +best will in the world we are unable to give M. Amélineau the full +credit which is, no doubt, due to him for his work. The system of Prof. +Petrie’s publications has been often, and with justice, criticized, but +he at least tells us every year what he has been doing, and gives us +photographs of everything he has found. For this reason the epoch-making +discoveries at Abydos have been coupled chiefly with the name of Prof. +Petrie, while that of M. Amélineau is rarely heard in connection with +them. As a matter of fact, however, M. Amélineau first excavated the +necropolis of the early kings at Abydos, and discovered most of the +tombs afterwards worked over by Prof. Petrie and Mr. Mace. Yet most of +the important scientific results are due to the later explorers, who +were the first to attempt a classification of them, though we must +add that this classification has not been entirely accepted by the +scientific world. + +The necropolis of the earliest kings of Egypt is situated in the great +bay in the hills which lies behind Abydos, to the southwest of the main +necropolis. Here, at holy Abydos, where every pious Egyptian wished to +rest after death, the bodies of the most ancient kings were buried. It +is said by Manetho that the original seat of their dominion was This, +a town in the vicinity of Abydos, now represented by the modern Grîrga, +which lies a few miles distant from its site (el-Birba). This may be a +fact, but we have as yet obtained no confirmation of it. It may well be +that the attribution of a Thinite origin to the Ist and IId Dynasties +was due simply to the fact that the kings of these dynasties were buried +at Abydos, which lay within the Thinite nome. Manetho knew that they +were buried at Abydos, and so jumped to the conclusion that they lived +there also, and called them “Thinites.” + +[Illustration: 060.jpg PROF. PETRIE’S CAMP AT ABYDOS, 1901.] + +Their real place of origin must have been Hierakonpolis, where the +pre-dynastic kingdom of the South had its seat. The Hid Dynasty was no +doubt of Memphite origin, as Manetho says. It is certain that the +seat of the government of the IVth Dynasty was at Memphis, where the +pyramid-building kings were buried, and we know that the sepulchres +of two Hid Dynasty kings, at least, were situated in the necropolis of +Memphis (Sakkâra-Mêdûm). So that probably the seat of government was +transferred from Hierakonpolis to Memphis by the first king of the Hid +Dynasty. Thenceforward the kings were buried in the Memphite necropolis. + +The two great nécropoles of Memphis and Abydos were originally the +seats of the worship of the two Egyptian gods of the dead, Seker and +Khentamenti, both of whom were afterwards identified with the Busirite +god Osiris. Abydos was also the centre of the worship of Anubis, an +animal-deity of the dead, the jackal who prowls round the tombs at +night. Anubis and Osiris-Khentamenti, “He who is in the West,” were +associated in the minds of the Egyptians as the protecting deities of +Abydos. The worship of these gods as the chief Southern deities of the +dead, and the preeminence of the necropolis of Abydos in the South, no +doubt date back before the time of the Ist Dynasty, so that it would +not surprise us were burials of kings of the predynastic Hierakonpolite +kingdom discovered at Abydos. Prof. Petrie indeed claims to have +discovered actual royal relics of that period at Abydos, but this seems +to be one of the least certain of his conclusions. We cannot definitely +state that the names “Ro,” “Ka,” and “Sma” (if they are names at all, +which is doubtful) belong to early kings of Hierakonpolis who were +buried at Abydos. It may be so, but further confirmation is desirable +before we accept it as a fact; and as yet such confirmation has not been +forthcoming. The oldest kings, who were certainly buried at Abydos, seem +to have been the first rulers of the united kingdom of the North and +South, Aha and his successors. N’armer is not represented. It may +be that he was not buried at Abydos, but in the necropolis of +Hierakonpolis. This would point to the kings of the South not having +been buried at Abydos until after the unification of the kingdom. + +That Aha possessed a tomb at Abydos as well as another at Nakâda seems +peculiar, but it is a phenomenon not unknown in Egypt. Several kings, +whose bodies were actually buried elsewhere, had second tombs at Abydos, +in order that they might _possess_ last resting-places near the tomb +of Osiris, although they might not prefer to _use_ them. Usertsen (or +Senusret) III is a case in point. He was really buried in a pyramid at +Illahun, up in the North, but he had a great rock tomb cut for him in +the cliffs at Abydos, which he never occupied, and probably had never +intended to occupy. We find exactly the same thing far back at the +beginning of Egyptian history, when Aha possessed not only a great +mastaba-tomb at Nakâda, but also a tomb-chamber in the great necropolis +of Abydos. It may be that other kings of the earliest period also had +second sepulchres elsewhere. It is noteworthy that in none of the early +tombs at Abydos were found any bodies which might be considered those +of the kings themselves. M. Amélineau discovered bodies of attendants +or slaves (who were in all probability purposely strangled and buried +around the royal chamber in order that they should attend the king +in the next world), but no royalties. Prof. Petrie found the arm of a +female mummy, who may have been of royal blood, though there is nothing +to show that she was. And the quaint plait and fringe of false hair, +which were also found, need not have belonged to a royal mummy. It is +therefore quite possible that these tombs at Abydos were not the actual +last resting-places of the earliest kings, who may really have been +buried at Hierakonpolis or elsewhere, as Aha was. Messrs. Newberry +and Gtarstang, in their _Short History of Egypt_, suppose that Aha was +actually buried at Abydos, and that the great tomb with objects bearing +his name, found by M. de Morgan at Nakâda, is really not his, but +belonged to a royal princess named Neit-hetep, whose name is found in +conjunction with his at Abydos and Nakâda. But the argument is equally +valid turned round the other way: the Nakâda tomb might just as well be +Aha’s and the Abydos one Neit-hetep’s. Neit-hetep, who is supposed by +Messrs. Newberry and Garstang to have been Narmer’s daughter and Aha’s +wife, was evidently closely connected with Aha, and she may have been +buried with him at Nakâda and commemorated with him at Abydos.[1] It is +probable that the XIXth Dynasty list-makers and Manetho considered the +Abydos tombs to have been the real graves of the kings, but it is by no +means impossible that they were wrong. + + [1] A princess named Bener-ab (“Sweet-heart”), who may have + been Aha’s daughter, was actually buried beside his tomb at + Abydos. + +This view of the royal tombs at Abydos tallies to a great extent with +that of M. Naville, who has energetically maintained the view that M. +Amélineau and Prof. Petrie have not discovered the real tombs of the +early kings, but only their contemporary commemorative “tombs” at +Abydos. The only real tomb of the Ist Dynasty, therefore, as yet +discovered is that of Aha at Nakâda, found by M. de Morgan. The fact +that attendant slaves were buried around the Abydos tombs is no bar to +the view that the tombs were only the monuments, not the real graves, +of the kings. The royal ghosts would naturally visit their commemorative +chambers at Abydos, in order to be in the company of the great Osiris, +and ghostly servants would be as necessary to their Majesties at Abydos +as elsewhere. + +It must not be thought that this revised opinion of the Abydos tombs +detracts in the slightest degree from the importance of the discovery of +M. Amélineau and its subsequent and more detailed investigation by Prof. +Petrie. These monuments are as valuable for historical purposes as +the real tombs themselves. The actual bodies of these primeval kings +themselves we are never likely to find. The tomb of Aha at Nakâda had +been completely rifled in ancient times. + +The commemorative tombs of the kings of the Ist and IId Dynasties at +Abydos lie southwest of the great necropolis, far within the bay in the +hills. Their present aspect is that of a wilderness of sand hillocks, +covered with masses of fragments of red pottery, from which the site has +obtained the modern Arab name of _Umm el-Ga’ab_, “Mother of Pots.” It +is impossible to move a step in any direction without crushing some +of these potsherds under the heel. They are chiefly the remains of the +countless little vases of rough red pottery, which were dedicated here +as _ex-votos_ by the pious, between the XIXth and XXVIth Dynasties, to +the memory of the ancient kings and of the great god Osiris, whose tomb, +as we shall see, was supposed to have been situated here also. + +[Illustration: 065.jpg (right) THE TOMB OF KING DEN AT ABYDOS. About +4000 B.C.] + +Intermingled with these later fragments are pieces of the original +Ist Dynasty vases, which were filled with wine and provisions and were +placed in the tombs, for the refreshment and delectation of the royal +ghosts when they should visit their houses at Abydos. These were thrown +out and broken when the tombs were violated. Here and there one sees a +dip in the sand, out of which rise four walls of great bricks, forming +a rectangular chamber, half-filled with sand. This is one of the royal +tomb-chambers of the Ist Dynasty. That of King Den is illustrated above. +A straight staircase descends into it from the ground-level above. In +several of the tombs the original flooring of wooden beams is still +preserved. Den’s is the most magnificent of all, for it has a floor of +granite blocks; we know of no other instance of stone being used for +building in this early age. Almost every tomb has been burnt at some +period unknown. The brick walls are burnt red, and many of the alabaster +vases are almost calcined. This was probably the work of some unknown +enemy. + +The wide complicated tombs have around the main chamber a series of +smaller rooms, which were used to store what was considered necessary +for the use of the royal ghost. Of these necessaries the most +interesting to us are the slaves, who were, as there is little reason to +doubt, purposely killed and buried round the royal chamber so that their +spirits should be on the spot when the dead king came to Abydos; thus +they would be always ready to serve him with the food and other things +which had been stored in the tomb with them and placed under their +charge. There were stacks of great vases of wine, corn, and other food; +these were covered up with masses of fat to preserve the contents, +and they were corked with a pottery stopper, which was protected by +a conical clay sealing, stamped with the impress of the royal +cylinder-seal. There were bins of corn, joints of oxen, pottery dishes, +copper pans, and other things which might be useful for the ghostly +cuisine of the tomb. There were numberless small objects, used, no +doubt, by the dead monarch during life, which he would be pleased to see +again in the next world,--carved ivory boxes, little slabs for grinding +eye-paint, golden buttons, model tools, model vases with gold tops, +ivory and pottery figurines, and other _objets d’art_; the golden royal +seal of judgment of King Den in its ivory casket, and so forth. There +were memorials of the royal victories in peace and war, little ivory +plaques with inscriptions commemorating the founding of new buildings, +the institution of new religious festivals in honour of the gods, the +bringing of the captives of the royal bow and spear to the palace, the +discomfiture of the peoples of the North-land. + +[Illustration: 067.jpg CONICAL VASE-STOPPERS. From Abydos. 1st Dynasty: +about 4000 B.C.] + +All these things, which have done so much to reconstitute for us the +history of the earliest period of the Egyptian monarchy, were placed +under the care of the dead slaves whose bodies were buried round the +empty tomb-chamber of their royal master in Abydos. + +The killing and entombment of the royal servants is of the highest +anthropological interest, for it throws a vivid light upon the manners +of the time. It shows the primeval Egyptians as a semi-barbaric people +of childishly simple ways of thought. The king was dead. For all his +kingship he was a man, and no man was immortal in this world. But yet +how could one really die? Shadows, dreams, all kinds of phenomena which +the primitive mind could not explain, induced the belief that, though +the outer man might rot, there was an inner man which could not die +and still lived on. The idea of total death was unthinkable. And where +should this inner man still live on but in the tomb to which the outer +man was consigned? And here, doubtless it was believed, in the house to +which the body was consigned, the ghost lived on. And as each ghost had +his house with the body, so no doubt all ghosts could communicate with +one another from tomb to tomb; and so there grew up the belief in a +tomb-world, a subterranean Egypt of tombs, in which the dead Egyptians +still lived and had their being. Later on the boat of the sun, in which +the god of light crossed the heavens by day, was thought to pass through +this dead world between his setting and his rising, accompanied by the +souls of the righteous. But of this belief we find no trace yet in the +ideas of the Ist Dynasty. All we can see is that the _sahus_, or bodies +of the dead, were supposed to reside in awful majesty in the tomb, +while the ghosts could pass from tomb to tomb through the mazes of +the underworld. Over this dread realm of dead men presided a dead god, +Osiris of Abydos; and so the necropolis of Abydos was the necropolis of +the underworld, to which all ghosts who were not its rightful citizens +would come from afar to pay their court to their ruler. Thus the man +of substance would have a monumental tablet put up to himself in this +necropolis as a sort of _pied-à-terre_, even if he could not be buried +there; for the king, who, for reasons chiefly connected with local +patriotism, was buried near the city of his earthly abode, a second tomb +would be erected, a stately mansion in the city of Osiris, in which his +ghost could reside when it pleased him to come to Abydos. + +Now none could live without food, and men living under the earth needed +it as much as men living on the earth. The royal tomb was thus provided +with an enormous amount of earthly food for the use of the royal ghost, +and with other things as well, as we have seen. The same provision had +also to be made for the royal resting-place at Abydos. And in both cases +royal slaves were needed to take care of all this provision, and to +serve the ghost of the king, whether in his real tomb at Nakâda, or +elsewhere, or in his second tomb at Abydos. Ghosts only could serve +ghosts, so that of the slaves ghosts had to be made. That was easily +done; they died when their master died and followed him to the tomb. +No doubt it seemed perfectly natural to all concerned, to the slaves as +much as to anybody else. But it shows the child’s idea of the value of +life. An animate thing was hardly distinguished at this period from an +inanimate thing. The most ancient Egyptians buried slaves with their +kings as naturally as they buried jars of wine and bins of corn with +them. Both were buried with a definite object. The slaves had to die +before they were buried, but then so had the king himself. They all had +to die sometime or other. And the actual killing of them was no worse +than killing a dog, no worse even than “killing” golden buttons and +ivory boxes. For, when the buttons and boxes were buried with the king, +they were just as much dead as the slaves. Of the sanctity of _human_ +life as distinct from other life, there was probably no idea at all. The +royal ghost needed ghostly servants, and they were provided as a matter +of course. + +But as civilization progressed, the ideas of the Egyptians changed +on these points, and in the later ages of the ancient world they were +probably the most humane of the peoples, far more so than the Greeks, +in fact. The cultured Hellenes murdered their prisoners of war without +hesitation. Who has not been troubled in mind by the execution of Mkias +and Demosthenes after the surrender of the Athenian army at Syracuse? +When we compare this with Grant’s refusal even to take Lee’s sword +at Appomattox, we see how we have progressed in these matters; while +Gylippus and the Syracusans were as much children as the Ist Dynasty +Egyptians. But the Egyptians of Gylippus’s time had probably advanced +much further than the Greeks in the direction of rational manhood. When +Amasis had his rival Apries in his power, he did not put him to death, +but kept him as his coadjutor on the throne. Apries fled from him, +allied himself with Greek pirates, and advanced against his generous +rival. After his defeat and murder at Momemphis, Amasis gave him a +splendid burial. When we compare this generosity to a beaten foe with +the savagery of the Assyrians, for instance, we see how far the later +Egyptians had progressed in the paths of humanity. + +The ancient custom of killing slaves was first discontinued at the death +of the lesser chieftains, but we find a possible survival of it in the +case of a king, even as late as the time of the XIth Dynasty; for at +Thebes, in the precinct of the funerary temple of King Neb-hapet-Râ +Mentuhetep and round the central pyramid which commemorated his memory, +were buried a number of the ladies of his _harîm_. They were all buried +at one and the same time, and there can be little doubt that they were +all killed and buried round the king, in order to be with him in the +next world. Now with each of these ladies, who had been turned into +ghosts, was buried a little waxen human figure placed in a little model +coffin. This was to replace her own slave. She who went to accompany +the king in the next world had to have her own attendant also. But, not +being royal, a real slave was not killed for her; she only took with her +a waxen figure, which by means of charms and incantations would, when +she called upon it, turn into a real slave, and say, “Here am I,” and do +whatever work might be required of her. The actual killing and burial +of the slaves had in all cases except that of the king been long +“commuted,” so to speak, into a burial with the dead person of +_ushabtis_, or “Answerers,” little figures like those described above, +made more usually of stone, and inscribed with the name of the deceased. +They were called “Answerers” because they answered the call of their +dead master or mistress, and by magic power became ghostly servants. +Later on they were made of wood and glazed _faïence_, as well as stone. +By this means the greater humanity of a later age sought a relief from +the primitive disregard of the death of others. + +Anthropologically interesting as are the results of the excavations at +Umm el-Gra’ab, they are no less historically important. There is no need +here to weary the reader with the details of scientific controversy; it +will suffice to set before him as succinctly and clearly as possible the +net results of the work which has been done. + +Messrs. Amélineau and Petrie have found the secondary tombs and have +identified the names of the following primeval kings of Egypt. We +arrange them in their apparent historical order. + +1. Aha Men (?). + +2. Narmer (or Betjumer) Sma (?). + +3. Tjer (or Khent). Besh. + +4. Tja Ati. + +5. Den Semti. + +6. Atjab Merpeba. + +7. Semerkha Nekht. + +8. Qâ Sen. + +9. Khâsekhem (Khâsekhemui) + +10. Hetepsekhemui. + +11. Räneb. + +12. Neneter. + +13. Sekhemab Perabsen. + + +Two or three other names are ascribed by Prof. Petrie to the +Hierakonpolite dynasty of Upper Egypt, which, as it occurs before the +time of Mena and the Ist Dynasty, he calls “Dynasty 0.” Dynasty 0, +however, is no dynasty, and in any case we should prefer to call the +“predynastic” dynasty “Dynasty I.” The names of “Dynasty minus One,” + however, remain problematical, and for the present it would seem safer +to suspend judgment as to the place of the supposed royal names “Ro” and +“Ka”(Men-kaf), which Prof. Petrie supposes to have been those of two +of the kings of Upper Egypt who reigned before Mena. The king +“Sma”(“Uniter”) is possibly identical with Aha or Narmer, more +probably the latter. It is not necessary to detail the process by which +Egyptologists have sought to identify these thirteen kings with the +successors of Mena in the lists of kings and the Ist and IId Dynasties +of Manetho. The work has been very successful, though not perhaps quite +so completely accomplished as Prof. Petrie himself inclines to believe. +The first identification was made by Prof. Sethe, of Gottingen, who +pointed out that the names Semti and Merpeba on a vase-fragment found +by M. Amélineau were in reality those of the kings Hesepti and Merbap +of the lists, the Ousaphaïs and Miebis of Manetho. The perfectly certain +identifications are these:-- + +5. Den Semti = Hesepti, _Ousaphaïs_, Ist Dynasty. + +6. Atjab Merpeba = Merbap, _Miebis_, Ist Dynasty. + +7. Semerkha Nekht= Shemsu or Semsem (?), _Semempres_, Ist Dynasty. + +8. Qâ Sen = Qebh, _Bienehhes_, Ist Dynasty. + +9. Khâsekhemui Besh = Betju-mer (?), _Boethos_, IId Dynasty. + +10. Neneter = Bineneter, _Binothris_, IId Dynasty. + + +Six of the Abydos kings have thus been identified with names in the +lists and in Manetho; that is to say, we now know the real names of six +of the earliest Egyptian monarchs, whose appellations are given us +under mutilated forms by the later list-makers. Prof. Petrie further +identifies (4) Tja Ati with Ateth, (3) Tjer with Teta, and (1) Aha with +Mena. Mena, Teta, Ateth, Ata, Hesepti, Merbap, Shemsu (?), and Qebh are +the names of the 1st Dynasty as given in the lists. The equivalent of +Ata Prof. Petrie finds in the name “Merneit,” which is found at Umm +el-Ga’ab. But there is no proof whatever that Merneit was a king; he +was much more probably a prince or other great personage of the reign +of Den, who was buried with the kings. Prof. Petrie accepts the +identification of the personal name of Aha as “Men,” and so makes him +the only equivalent of Mena. But this reading of the name is still +doubtful. Arguing that Aha must be Mena, and having all the rest of the +kings of the Ist Dynasty identified with the names in the lists, Prof. +Petrie is compelled to exclude Narmer from the dynasty, and to relegate +him to “Dynasty 0,” before the time of Mena. It is quite possible, +however, that Narmer was the successor, not the predecessor, of Mena. +He was certainly either the one or the other, as the style of art in his +time was exactly the same as that in the time of Aha. The “Scorpion,” + too, whose name is found at Hierakonpolis, certainly dates to the same +time as Narmer and Aha, for the style of his work is the same. And it +may well be that he is not to be counted as a separate king, belonging +to “Dynasty 0 “(or “Dynasty -I”) at all, but as identical with Narmer, +just as “Sma” may also be. We thus find that the two kings who left the +most developed remains at Hierakonpolis are the two whose monuments at +Abydos are the oldest of all on that site. That is to say, the kings +whose monuments record the conquest of the North belong to the period +of transition from the old Hierakonpolite dominion of Upper Egypt to the +new kingdom of all Egypt. They, in fact, represent the “Mena” or Menés +of tradition. It may be that Aha bore the personal name of _Men_, which +would thus be the original of Mena, but this is uncertain. In any case +both Aha and Narmer must be assigned to the Ist Dynasty, with the result +that we know of more kings belonging to the dynasty than appear in the +lists. + +Nor is this improbable. Manetho’s list is evidently based upon old +Egyptian lists derived from the authorities upon which the king-lists of +Abydos and Sakkâra were based. These old lists were made under the +XIXth Dynasty, when an interest in the oldest kings seems to have been +awakened, and the ruling monarchs erected temples at Abydos in their +honour. This phenomenon can only have been due to a discovery of Umm +el-Ga’ab and its treasures, the tombs of which were recognized as +the burial-places (real or secondary) of the kings before the +pyramid-builders. Seti I. and his son Ramses then worshipped the kings +of Umm el-Ga’ab, with their names set before them in the order, number, +and spelling in which the scribes considered they ought to be inscribed. +It is highly probable that the number known at that time was not quite +correct. We know that the spelling of the names was very much garbled +(to take one example only, the signs for _Sen_ were read as one sign +_Qebh_), so that one or two kings may have been omitted or displaced. +This may be the case with Narmer, or, as his name ought possibly to be +read, _Betjumer_. His monuments show by their style that he belongs to +the very beginning of the Ist Dynasty. No name in the Ist Dynasty list +corresponds to his. But one of the lists gives for the first king of the +IId Dynasty (the successor of “Qebh” = Sen) a name which may also be read +Betjumer, spelt syllabically this time, not ideographically. On this +account Prof. Naville wishes to regard the Hierakonpolite monuments of +Narmer as belonging to the IId Dynasty, but, as we have seen, they are +among the most archaic known, and certainly must belong to the beginning +of the Ist Dynasty. It is therefore probable that Khasekhemui Besh +and Narmer (Betjumer?) were confused by this list-maker, and the +name Betjumer was given to the first king of the IId Dynasty, who was +probably in reality Khasekhemui. The resemblance of _Betju_ to _Besh_ +may have contributed to this confusion. + +So Narmer (or Betjumer) found his way out of his proper place at the +beginning of the 1st Dynasty. Whether Aha was also called “Men” or not, +it seems evident that he and Narmer were jointly the originals of the +legendary Mena. Narmer, who possibly also bore the name of Sma, “the +Uniter,” conquered the North. Aha, “the Fighter,” also ruled both South +and North at the same period. Khasekhemui, too, conquered the North, but +the style of his monuments shows such an advance upon that of the days +of Aha and Narmer that it seems best to make him the successor of Sen +(or “Qebh “), and, explaining the transference of the name Betjumer +to the beginning of the IId Dynasty as due to a confusion with +Khasekhemui’s personal name Besh, to make Khasekhemui the founder of the +IId Dynasty. The beginning of a new dynasty may well have been marked +by a reassertion of the new royal power over Lower Egypt, which may have +lapsed somewhat under the rule of the later kings of the Ist Dynasty. + +Semti is certainly the “Hesepti” of the lists, and Tja Ati is probably +“Ateth.” “Ata” is thus unidentified. Prof. Petrie makes him = Merneit, +but, as has already been said, there is no proof that the tomb of +Merneit is that of a king. “Teta” may be Tjer or Khent, but of this +there is no proof. It is most probable that the names “Teta,” “Ateth,” + and “Ata” are all founded on Ati, the personal name of Tja. The king +Tjer is then not represented in the lists, and “Mena” is a compound of +the two oldest Abydos kings, Narmer (Betjumer) Sma (?) and Aha Men (?). + +These are the bare historical results that have been attained with +regard to the names, identity, and order of the kings. The smaller +memorials that have been found with them, especially the ivory plaques, +have told us of events that took place during their reigns; but, with +the exception of the constantly recurring references to the conquest of +the North, there is little that can be considered of historical interest +or importance. We will take one as an example. This is the tablet No. +32,650 of the British Museum, illustrated by Prof. Petrie, _Royal Tombs_ +i (Egypt Exploration Fund), pi. xi, 14, xv, 16. This is the record of +a single year, the first in the reign of Semti, King of Upper and Lower +Egypt. On it we see a picture of a king performing a religious dance +before the god Osiris, who is seated in a shrine placed on a dais. This +religious dance was performed by all the kings in later times. Below we +find hieroglyphic (ideographic) records of a river expedition to fight +the Northerners and of the capture of a fortified town called An. The +capture of the town is indicated by a broken line of fortification, +half-encircling the name, and the hoe with which the emblematic hawks +on the slate reliefs already described are armed; this signifies the +opening and breaking down of the wall. + +On the other half of the tablet we find the viceroy of Lower Egypt, +Hemaka, mentioned; also “the Hawk (i. e. the king) seizes the seat of +the Libyans,” and some unintelligible record of a jeweller of the palace +and a king’s carpenter. On a similar tablet (of Sen) we find the words +“the king’s carpenter made this record.” All these little tablets are +then the records of single years of a king’s life, and others like them, +preserved no doubt in royal archives, formed the base of regular annals, +which were occasionally carved upon stone. We have an example of one of +these in the “Stele of Palermo,” a fragment of black granite, inscribed +with the annals of the kings up to the time of the Vth Dynasty, when +the monument itself was made. It is a matter for intense regret that the +greater portion of this priceless historical monument has disappeared, +leaving us but a piece out of the centre, with part of the records +of only six kings before Snefru. Of these six the name of only one, +Neneter, of the lid Dynasty, whose name is also found at Abydos, is +mentioned. The only important historical event of Neneter’s reign seems +to have occurred in his thirteenth year, when the towns or palaces of +_Ha_ (“North”) and Shem-Râ (“The Sun proceeds”) were founded. Nothing +but the institution and celebration of religious festivals is recorded +in the sixteen yearly entries preserved to us out of a reign of +thirty-five years. The annual height of the Nile is given, and the +occasions of numbering the people are recorded (every second year): +nothing else. Manetho tells us that in the reign of Binothris, who +is Neneter, it was decreed that women could hold royal honours and +privileges. This first concession of women’s rights is not mentioned on +the strictly official “Palermo Stele.” + +More regrettable than aught else is the absence from the “Palermo Stele” + of that part of the original monument which gave the annals of the +earliest kings. At any rate, in the lines of annals which still exist +above that which contains the chronicle of the reign of Neneter no +entry can be definitely identified as belonging to the reigns of Aha +or Narmer. In a line below there is a mention of the “birth of +Khâsekhemui,” apparently a festival in honour of the birth of that king +celebrated in the same way as the reputed birthday of a god. This shows +the great honour in which Khâsekhemui was held, and perhaps it was he +who really finally settled the question of the unification of North and +South and consolidated the work of the earlier kings. + +As far as we can tell, then, Aha and Narmer were the first conquerors +of the North, the unifiers of the kingdom, and the originals of the +legendary Mena. In their time the kingdom’s centre of gravity was still +in the South, and Narmer (who is probably identical with “the Scorpion”) +dedicated the memorials of his deeds in the temple of Hierakonpolis. It +may be that the legend of the founding of Memphis in the time of “Menés” + is nearly correct (as we shall see, historically, the foundation may +have been due to Merpeba), but we have the authority of Manetho for +the fact that the first two dynasties were “Thinite” (that is, Upper +Egyptian), and that Memphis did not become the capital till the time of +the Hid Dynasty. With this statement the evidence of the monuments fully +agrees. The earliest royal tombs in the pyramid-field of Memphis date +from the time of the Hid Dynasty, so that it is evident that the kings +had then taken up their abode in the Northern capital. We find that soon +after the time of Khâsekhemui the king Perabsen was especially connected +with Lower Egypt. His personal name is unknown to us (though he may +be the “Uatjnes” of the lists), but we do know that he had two +banner-names, Sekhem-ab and Perabsen. The first is his hawk or +Horus-name, the second his Set-name; that is to say, while he bore the +first name as King of Upper Egypt under the special patronage of Horus, +the hawk-god of the Upper Country, he bore the second as King of Lower +Egypt, under the patronage of Set, the deity of the Delta, whose fetish +animal appears above this name instead of the hawk. This shows how +definitely Perabsen wished to appear as legitimate King of Lower as well +as Upper Egypt. In later times the Theban kings of the XIIth Dynasty, +when they devoted themselves to winning the allegiance of the +Northerners by living near Memphis rather than at Thebes, seem to have +been imitating the successors of Khâsekhemui. + +Moreover, we now find various evidences of increasing connection with +the North. A princess named Ne-maat-hap, who seems to have been the +mother of Sa-nekht, the first king of the Hid Dynasty, bears the name of +the sacred Apis of Memphis, her name signifying “Possessing the right of +Apis.” According to Manetho, the kings of the Hid Dynasty are the first +Memphites, and this seems to be quite correct. With Ne-maat-hap the +royal right seems to have been transferred to a Memphite house. But the +Memphites still had associations with Upper Egypt: two of them, Tjeser +Khet-neter and Sa-nekht, were buried near Abydos, in the desert at Bêt +Khallâf, where their tombs were discovered and excavated by Mr. Garstang +in 1900. The tomb of Tjeser is a great brick-built mastaba, forty feet +high and measuring 300 feet by 150 feet. The actual tomb-chambers are +excavated in the rock, twenty feet below the ground-level and sixty feet +below the top of the mastaba. They had been violated in ancient times, +but a number of clay jar-sealings, alabaster vases, and bowls belonging +to the tomb furniture were found by the discoverer. Sa-nekht’s tomb is +similar. In it was found the preserved skeleton of its owner, who was a +giant seven feet high. + +[Illustration: 082.jpg THE TOMB OF KING TJESER AT BÊT KHALLÂF. About +3700 B.C.] + +It is remarkable that Manetho chronicles among the kings of the early +period a king named Sesokhris, who was five cubits high. This may have +been Sa-nekht. + +Tjeser had two tombs, one, the above-mentioned, near Abydos, the +other at Sakkâra, in the Memphite pyramid-field. This is the famous +Step-Pyramid. Since Sa-nekht seems really to have been buried at Bêt +Khal-laf, probably Tjeser was, too, and the Step-Pyramid may have been +his secondary or sham tomb, erected in the necropolis of Memphis as a +compliment to Seker, the Northern god of the dead, just as Aha had his +secondary tomb at Abydos in compliment to Khentamenti. Sne-feru, also, +the last king of the Hid Dynasty, seems to have had two tombs. One of +these was the great Pyramid of Mêdûm, which was explored by Prof. Petrie +in 1891, the other was at Dashûr. Near by was the interesting necropolis +already mentioned, in which was discovered evidence of the continuance +of the cramped position of burial and of the absence of mummification +among a certain section of the population even as late as the time of +the IVth Dynasty. This has been taken to imply that the fusion of the +primitive Neolithic and invading sub-Semitic races had not been effected +at that time. + +With the IVth Dynasty the connection of the royal house with the South +seems to have finally ceased. The governmental centre of gravity was +finally transferred to Memphis, and the kings were thenceforth for +several centuries buried in the great pyramids which still stand in +serried order along the western desert border of Egypt, from the Delta +to the province of the Fayyum. With the latest discoveries in this +Memphite pyramid-field we shall deal in the next chapter. + +The transference of the royal power to Memphis under the Hid Dynasty +naturally led to a great increase of Egyptian activity in the Northern +lands. We read in Manetho of a great Libyan war in the reign of +Neche-rophes, and both Sa-nekht and Tjeser seem to have finally +established Egyptian authority in the Sinaitic peninsula, where their +rock-inscriptions have been found. + +In 1904 Prof. Petrie was despatched to Sinai by the Egypt Exploration +Fund, in order finally to record the inscriptions of the early kings +in the Wadi Maghara, which had been lately very much damaged by the +operations of the turquoise-miners. It seems almost incredible that +ignorance and vandalism should still be so rampant in the twentieth +century that the most important historical monuments are not safe from +desecration in order to obtain a few turquoises, but it is so. Prof. +Petrie’s expedition did not start a day too soon, and at the suggestion +of Sir William Garstin, the adviser to the Ministry of the Interior, the +majority of the inscriptions have been removed to the Cairo Museum for +safety and preservation. Among the new inscriptions discovered is one of +Sa-nekht, which is now in the British Museum. Tjeser and Sa-nekht were +not the first Egyptian kings to visit Sinai. Already, in the days of the +1st Dynasty, Semerkha had entered that land and inscribed his name upon +the rocks. But the regular annexation, so to speak, of Sinai to Egypt +took place under the Memphites of the Hid Dynasty. + +With the Hid Dynasty we have reached the age of the pyramid-builders. +The most typical pyramids are those of the three great kings of the IVth +Dynasty, Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura, at Giza near Cairo. But, as +we have seen, the last king of the Hid Dynasty, Snefru, also had one +pyramid, if not two; and the most ancient of these buildings known to +us, the Step-Pyramid of Sakkâra, was erected by Tjeser at the beginning +of that dynasty. The evolution of the royal tombs from the time of the +1st Dynasty to that of the IVth is very interesting to trace. At the +period of transition from the predynastic to the dynastic age we have +the great mastaba of Aha at Nakâda, and the simplest chamber-tombs +at Abydos. All these were of brick; no stone was used in their +construction. Then we find the chamber-tomb of Den Semti at Abydos +with a granite floor, the walls being still of brick. Above each of the +Abydos tombs was probably a low mound, and in front a small chapel, from +which a flight of steps descended into the simple chamber. On one of the +little plaques already mentioned, which were found in these tombs, we +have an archaic inscription, entirely written in ideographs, which +seems to read, “The Big-Heads (i. e. the chiefs) come to the tomb.” The +ideograph for “tomb” seems to be a rude picture of the funerary chapel, +but from it we can derive little information as to its construction. +Towards the end of the Ist Dynasty, and during the lid, the royal tombs +became much more complicated, being surrounded with numerous chambers +for the dead slaves, etc. Khâsekhemui’s tomb has thirty-three such +chambers, and there is one large chamber of stone. We know of no other +instance of the use of stone work for building at this period except in +the royal tombs. No doubt the mason’s art was still so difficult that it +was reserved for royal use only. + +Under the Hid Dynasty we find the last brick mastabas built for royalty, +at Bêt Khallâf, and the first pyramids, in the Memphite necropolis. +In the mastaba of Tjeser at Bêt Khallâf stone was used for the great +portcullises which were intended to bar the way to possible plunderers +through the passages of the tomb. The Step-Pyramid at Sakkâra is, so to +speak, a series of mastabas of stone, imposed one above the other; it +never had the continuous casing of stone which is the mark of a true +pyramid. The pyramid of Snefru at Mêdûm is more developed. It also +originated in a mastaba, enlarged, and with another mastaba-like +erection on the top of it; but it was given a continuous sloping casing +of fine limestone from bottom to top, and so is a true pyramid. A +discussion of recent theories as to the building of the later pyramids +of the IVth Dynasty will be found in the next chapter. + +In the time of the Ist Dynasty the royal tomb was known by the name of +“Protection-around-the-Hawk, i.e. the king”(_Sa-ha-heru_); but under +the Hid and IVth Dynasties regular names, such as “the Firm,” “the +Glorious,” “the Appearing,” etc., were given to each pyramid. + +[Illustration: 086.jpg FALSE DOOR OF THE TOMB OF TETA, about 3600 B.C.] + +We must not omit to note an interesting point in connection with the +royal tombs at Abydos, In that of King Khent or Tjer (the reading of +the ideograph is doubtful) M. Amélineau found a large bed or bier of +granite, with a figure of the god Osiris lying in state sculptured in +high relief upon it. This led him to jump to the conclusion that he +had found the tomb of the god Osiris himself, and that a skull he found +close by was the veritable cranium of the primeval folk-hero, who, +according to the euhemerist theory, was the deified original of the god. +The true explanation is given by Dr. Wallis Budge in his _History of +Egypt_, i, p. 19. It is a fact that the tomb of Tjer was regarded by +the Egyptians of the XIXth Dynasty as the veritable tomb of Osiris. +They thought they had discovered it, just as M. Amélineau did. When the +ancient royal tombs of Umm el-Ga’ab were rediscovered and identified at +the beginning of the XIXth Dynasty, and Seti I built the great temple of +Abydos to the divine ancestors in honour of the discovery, embellishing +it with a relief of himself and his son Ramses making offerings to the +names of his predecessors (the “Tablet of Abydos “), the name of King +Khent or Tjer (which is perhaps the really correct original form) was +read by the royal scribes as “Khent” and hastily identified with the +first part of the name of the god _Khent-amenti_ Osiris, the lord of +Abydos. The tomb was thus regarded as the tomb of Osiris himself, and +it was furnished with a great stone figure of the god lying on his bier, +attended by the two hawks of Isis and Nephthys; ever after the site was +visited by crowds of pilgrims, who left at Umm el-Ga’ab the thousands of +little votive vases whose fragments have given the place its name of the +“Mother of Pots.” This is the explanation of the discovery of the “Tomb +of Osiris.” We have not found what M. Amélineau seems rather naively to +have thought possible, a confirmation of the ancient view that Osiris +was originally a man who ruled over Egypt and was deified after his +death; but we have found that the Egyptians themselves were more or less +euhemerists, and did think so. + +It may seem remarkable that all this new knowledge of ancient Egypt is +derived from tombs and has to do with the resting-places of the kings +when dead, rather than with their palaces or temples when living. Of +temples at this early period we have no trace. The oldest temple in +Egypt is perhaps the little chapel in front of the pyramid of Snefru at +Mêdûm. We first hear of temples to the gods under the IVth Dynasty, but +of the actual buildings of that period we have recovered nothing but one +or two inscribed blocks of stone. Prof. Petrie has traced out the plan +of the oldest temple of Osiris at Abydos, which may be of the time of +Khufu, from scanty evidences which give us but little information. It is +certain, however, that this temple, which is clearly one of the oldest +in Egypt, goes back at least to his time. Its site is the mound +called Kom es-Sultan, “The Mound of the King,” close to the village of +el-Kherba, and on the borders of the cultivation northeast of the royal +tombs at Umm el-Oa’ab. + +Of royal palaces we have more definite information. North of the Kom +es-Sultan are two great fortress-enclosures of brick: the one is known +as _Sûnet es-Zebîb_, “the Storehouse of Dried Orapes;” the other is +occupied by the Coptic monastery of Dêr Anba Musâs. Both are certainly +fortress-palaces of the earliest period of the Egyptian monarchy. We +know from the small record-plaques of this period that the kings were +constantly founding or repairing places of this kind, which were always +great rectangular enclosures with crenelated brick walls like those of +early Babylonian buildings. + +We have seen that the Northern Egyptian possessed similar +fortress-cities which were captured by Narmer. These were the seats of +the royal residence in various parts of the country. Behind their walls +was the king’s house, and no doubt also a town of nobles and retainers, +while the peasants lived on the arable land without. + +[Illustration: 089.jpg THE SHUNET EZ-ZEBIB: THE FORTRESS-TOWN, About +3900 B.C.] + +The Shûnet ez-Zebîb and its companion fortress were evidently the royal +cities of the 1st and IId Dynasties at Abydos. The former has been +excavated by Mr. E. R. Ayrton for the Egypt Exploration Fund, under the +supervision of Prof. Petrie. He found jar-sealings of Khâsekhemui and +Perabsen. In later times the place was utilized as a burial-place for +ibis-mummies (it had already been abandoned as a city before the time of +the XIIth Dynasty), and from this fact it received the name of _Shenet +deb-hib_, or “Storehouse of Ibis Burials.” The Arab invaders adapted +this name to their own language in the nearest form which would have +any meaning, as _Shûnet ez-Zebïb_, “the Storehouse of Dried Grapes.” + The Arab word _shûna_ (“Barn” or “Storehouse”) was, it should be noted, +taken over from the Coptic _sheune,_ which is the old-Egyptian _shenet_. +The identity of _sheune_ or _shûna_ with the German “Scheune” is a +quaint and curious coincidence. In the illustration of the Shûnet +ez-Zebib the curved line of crenelated wall, following the contour of +the hill, should be noted, as it is a remarkable example of the building +of this early period. + +It will have been seen from the foregoing description of what +far-reaching importance the discoveries at Abydos have been. A new +chapter of the history of the human race has been opened, which contains +information previously undreamt of, information which Egyptologists +had never dared to hope would be recovered. The sand of Egypt indeed +conceals inexhaustible treasures, and no one knows what the morrow’s +work may bring forth. + +_Ex Africa semper aliquid novi!_ + + + + +CHAPTER III--MEMPHIS AND THE PYRAMIDS + + +Memphis, the “beautiful abode,” the “City of the White Wall,” is said +to have been founded by the legendary Menés, who in order to build it +diverted the stream of the Nile by means of a great dyke constructed +near the modern village of Koshêsh, south of the village of Mitrahêna, +which marks the central point of the ancient metropolis of Northern +Egypt. It may be that the city was founded by Aha or Narmer, the +historical originals of Mena or Menés; but we have another theory with +regard to its foundation, that it was originally built by King Merpeba +Atjab, whose tomb was also discovered at Abydos near those of Aha and +Narmer. Merpeba is the oldest king whose name is absolutely identified +with one occurring in the XIXth Dynasty king-lists and in Manetho. He +is certainly the “Merbap” or “Merbepa” (“Merbapen”) of the lists and the +_Miebis_ of Manetho. In both the lists and in Manetho he stands fifth in +order from Mena, and he was therefore the sixth king of the Ist Dynasty. +The lists, Manetho, and the small monuments in his own tomb agree in +making him the immediate successor of Semti Den (Ousaphaïs), and from +the style of these latter it is evident that he comes after Tja, Tjer, +Narmer, and Aha. That is to say, the contemporary evidence makes him the +fifth king from Aha, the first original of “Menés.” + +Now after the piety of Seti I had led him to erect a great temple at +Abydos in memory of the ancient kings, whose sepulchres had probably +been brought to light shortly before, and to compile and set up in the +temple a list of his predecessors, a certain pious snobbery or snobbish +piety impelled a worthy named Tunure, who lived at Memphis, to put up in +his own tomb at Sakkâra a tablet of kings like the royal one at Abydos. +If Osiris-Khentamenti at Abydos had his tablet of kings, so should +Osiris-Seker at Sakkâra. But Tunure does not begin his list with Mena; +his initial king is Merpeba. For him Merpeba was the first monarch to be +commemorated at Sakkâra. Does not this look very much as if the strictly +historical Merpeba, not the rather legendary and confused Mena, was +regarded as the first Memphite king? It may well be that it was in +the reign of Merpeba, not in that of Aha or Narmer, that Memphis was +founded. + +The XIXth Dynasty lists of course say nothing about Mena or Merpeba +having founded Memphis; they only give the names of the kings, nothing +more. The earliest authority for the ascription of Memphis to “Menés”, +is Herodotus, who was followed in this ascription, as in many other +matters, by Manetho; but it must be remembered that Manetho was writing +for the edification of a Greek king (Ptolemy Philadelphus) and his Greek +court at Alexandria, and had therefore to evince a respect for the great +Greek classic which he may not always have really felt. Herodotus is +not, of course, accused of any wilful misstatement in this or in any +other matter in which his accuracy is suspected. He merely wrote +down what he was told by the Egyptians themselves, and Merpeba was +sufficiently near in time to Aha to be easily confounded with him by +the scribes of the Persian period, who no doubt ascribed everything +to “Mena” that was done by the kings of the Ist and IId Dynasties. +Therefore it may be considered quite probable that the “Menés” who +founded Memphis was Merpeba, the fifth or sixth king of the Ist Dynasty, +whom Tunure, a thousand years before the time of Herodotus and his +informants, placed at the head of the Memphite “List of Sakkâra.” + +The reconquest of the North by Khâsekhemui doubtless led to a further +strengthening of Memphis; and it is quite possible that the deeds of +this king also contributed to make up the sum total of those ascribed to +the Herodotean and Manethonian Menés. + +It may be that a town of the Northerners existed here before the time of +the Southern Conquest, for Phtah, the local god of Memphis, has a very +marked character of his own, quite different from that of Khen-tamenti, +the Osiris of Abydos. He is always represented as a little bow-legged +hydrocephalous dwarf very like the Phoenician _Kabeiroi_. It may be +that here is another connection between the Northern Egyptians and the +Semites. The name “Phtah,” the “Opener,” is definitely Semitic. We may +then regard the dwarf Phtah as originally a non-Egyptian god of the +Northerners, probably Semitic in origin, and his town also as antedating +the conquest. But it evidently was to the Southerners that Memphis owed +its importance and its eventual promotion to the position of capital of +the united kingdom. Then the dwarf Phtah saw himself rivalled by another +Phtah of Southern Egyptian origin, who had been installed at Memphis by +the Southerners. This Phtah was a sort of modified edition of Osiris, in +mummy-form and holding crook and whip, but with a refined edition of +the Kabeiric head of the indigenous Phtah. The actual god of “the White +Wall” was undoubtedly confused vith the dead god of the necropolis, +whose name was Seker or Sekri (Sokari), “the Coffined.” The original +form of this deity was a mummied hawk upon a coffin, and it is very +probable that he was imported from the South, like the second Phtah, at +the time of the conquest, when the great Northern necropolis began +to grow up as a duplicate of that at Abydos. Later on we find Seker +confused with the ancient dwarf-god, and it is the latter who was +afterwards chiefly revered as Phtah-Socharis-Osiris, the protector of +the necropolis, the mummied Phtah being the generally recognized ruler +of the City of the White Wall. + +It is from the name of Seker that the modern Sak-kâra takes its title. +Sakkâra marks the central point of the great Memphite necropolis, as it +is the nearest point of the western desert to Memphis. Northwards the +necropolis extended to Griza and Abu Roâsh, southwards, to Daslmr; +even the nécropoles of Lisht and Mêdûm may be regarded as appanages of +Sakkâra. At Sakkâra itself Tjeser of the IIId Dynasty had a pyramid, +which, as we have seen, was probably not his real tomb (which was +the great mastaba at Bêt Khallâf), but a secondary or sham tomb +corresponding to the “tombs” of the earliest kings at Umm el-Ga’ab in +the necropolis of Abydos. Many later kings, however, especially of the +Vith Dynasty, were actually buried at Sakkâra. Their tombs have all been +thoroughly described by their discoverer, Prof. Maspero, in his history. +The last king of the Hid Dynasty, Snefru, was buried away down south at +Mêdûm, in splendid isolation, but he may also have had a second pyramid +at Sakkâra or Abu Roash. + +The kings of the IVth Dynasty were the greatest of the pyramid builders, +and to them belong the huge edifices of Griza. The Vth Dynasty favoured +Abusîr, between Cîza and Sakkâra; the Vith, as we have said, preferred +Sakkâra itself. With them the end of the Old Kingdom and of Memphite +dominion was reached; the sceptre fell from the hands of the Memphite +kings and was taken up by the princes of Herakleopolis (Ahnasyet +el-Medina, near Béni Suêf, south of the Eayyûm) and Thebes. Where the +Herakleopolite kings were buried we do not know; probably somewhere in +the local necropolis of the Gebel es-Sedment, between Ahnasya and the +Fayyûm. The first Thebans (the XIth Dynasty) were certainly buried at +Thebes, but when the Herakleopolites had finally disappeared, and all +Egypt was again united under one strong sceptre, the Theban kings seem +to have been drawn northwards. They removed to the seat of the dominion +of those whom they had supplanted, and they settled in the neighbourhood +of Herakleopolis, near the fertile province of the Fayyûm, and between +it and Memphis. Here, in the royal fortress-palace of Itht-taui, +“Controlling the Two Lands,” the kings of the XIIth Dynasty lived, +and they were buried in the nécropoles of Dashûr, Lisht, and Illahun +(Hawara), in pyramids like those of the old Memphite kings. These facts, +of the situation of Itht-taui, of their burial in the southern an ex of +the old necropolis of Memphis, and of the fori of their tombs (the +true Upper Egyptian and Thebian form was a rock-cut gallery and chamber +driven deep into the hill), show how solicitous were the Amenemhats +and Senusrets of the suffrages of Lower Egypt, how anxious they were to +conciliate the ancient royal pride of Memphis. + +Where the kings of the XIIIth Dynasty and the Hyksos or “Shepherds” were +buried, we do not know. The kings of the restored Theban empire were +all interred at Thebes. There are, in fact, no known royal sepulchres +between the Fayyûm and Abydos. The great kings were mostly buried in +the neighbourhood of Memphis, Abydos, and Thebes. The sepulchres of the +“Middle Empire”--the XIth to XIIIth Dynasties--in the neighbourhood +of the Fayyûm may fairly be grouped with those of the same period at +Dashûr, which belongs to the necropolis of Memphis, since it is only a +mile or two south of Sakkâra. + +It is chiefly with regard to the sepulchres of the kings that the most +momentous discoveries of recent years have been made at Thebes, and at +Sakkâra, Abusîr, Dashûr, and Lisht, as at Abydos. For this reason we +deal in succession with the finds in the nécropoles of Abydos, Memphis, +and Thebes respectively. And with the sepulchres of the “Old Kingdom,” + in the Memphite necropolis proper, we have naturally grouped those of +the “Middle Kingdom” at Dashûr, Lisht, Illahun, and Hawara. + +Some of these modern discoveries have been commented on and illustrated +by Prof. Maspero in his great history. But the discoveries that have +been made since this publication have been very important,--those at +Abusîr, indeed, of first-rate importance, though not so momentous as +those of the tombs of the Ist and IId Dynasties at Abydos, already +described. At Abu Roash and at Gîza, at the northern end of the Memphite +necropolis, several expeditions have had considerable success, notably +those of the American Dr. Reisner, assisted by Mr. Mace, who excavated +the royal tombs at Umm el-Ga’ab for Prof. Petrie, those of the +German Drs. Steindorff and Borchardt,--the latter working for the +_Beutsch-Orient Gesellschaft_,--and those of other American excavators. +Until the full publication of the results of these excavations appears, +very little can be said about them. Many mastaba-tombs have, it is +understood, been found, with interesting remains. Nothing of great +historical importance seems to have been discovered, however. It is +otherwise when we come to the discoveries of Messrs. Borchardt and +Schâfer at Abusîr, south of Gîza and north of Sakkâra. At this place +results of first-rate historical importance have been attained. + +The main group of pyramids at Abusir consists of the tombs of the kings +Sahurà, Neferarikarâ, and Ne-user-Râ, of the Vth Dynasty. The pyramids +themselves are smaller than those of Gîza, but larger than those of +Sakkâra. In general appearance and effect they resemble those of Gîza, +but they are not so imposing, as the desert here is low. Those of Gîza, +Sakkâra, and Dashûr owe much of their impressiveness to the fact that +they are placed at some height above the cultivated land. The excavation +and planning of these pyramids were carried out by Messrs. Borchardt and +Schâfer at the expense of Baron von Bissing, the well-known Egyptologist +of Munich, and of the _Deutsch-Orient Gesell-schaft_ of Berlin. The +antiquities found have been divided between the museums of Berlin and +Cairo. + +One of the most noteworthy discoveries was that of the funerary temple +of Ne-user-Râ, which stood at the base of his pyramid. The plan is +interesting, and the granite lotus-bud columns found are the most +ancient yet discovered in Egypt. Much of the paving and the wainscoting +of the walls was of fine black marble, beautifully polished. An +interesting find was a basin and drain with lion’s-head mouth, to +carry away the blood of the sacrifices. Some sculptures in relief were +discovered, including a gigantic representation of the king and the +goddess Isis, which shows that in the early days of the Vth Dynasty the +king and the gods were already depicted in exactly the same costume as +they wore in the days of the Ramses and the Ptolemies. The hieratic art +of Egypt had, in fact, now taken on itself the final outward appearance +which it retained to the very end. There is no more of the archaism +and absence of conventionality, which marks the art of the earliest +dynasties. + +We can trace by successive steps the swift development of Egyptian art +from the rude archaism of the Ist Dynasty to its final consummation +under the Vth, when the conventions became fixed. In the time of +Khäsekhemui, at the beginning of the IId Dynasty, the archaic character +of the art has already begun to wear off. Under the same dynasty we +still have styles of unconventional naïveté, such as the famous Statue +“No. 1” of the Cairo Museum, bearing the names of Kings Hetepahaui, +Neb-râ, and Neneter. But with the IVth Dynasty we no longer look for +unconventionality. Prof. Petrie discovered at Abydos a small ivory +statuette of Khufu or Cheops, the builder of the Great Pyramid of Gîza. +The portrait is a good one and carefully executed. It was not till +the time of the XVIIIth Dynasty, indeed, that the Egyptians ceased +to portray their kings as they really were, and gave them a purely +conventional type of face. This convention, against which the heretical +King Amenhetep IV (Akhunaten) rebelled, in order to have himself +portrayed in all his real ungainliness and ugliness, did not exist till +long after the time of the IVth and Vth Dynasties. + +[Illustration: 100.jpg STATUE NO. 1 OF THE CAIRO MUSEUM, About 3900 +B.C.] + +The kings of the XIIth Dynasty especially were most careful that their +statues should be accurate portraits; indeed, the portraits of Usertsen +(Senusret) III vary from a young face to an old one, showing that the +king was faithfully depicted at different periods of his life. + +But the general conventions of dress and deportment were finally fixed +under the Vth Dynasty. After this time we no longer have such absolutely +faithful and original presentments as the other little ivory statuette +found by Prof. Petrie at Abydos (now in the British Museum), which shows +us an aged monarch of the Ist Dynasty. It is obvious that the features +are absolutely true to life, and the figure wears an unconventionally +party-coloured and bordered robe of a kind which kings of a later day +may have worn in actual life, but which they would assuredly never be +depicted as wearing by the artists of their day. To the end of Egyptian +history, the kings, even the Roman emperors, were represented on the +monuments clothed in the official costume of their ancestors of the IVth +and Vth Dynasties, in the same manner as we see Khufu wearing his robe +in the little figure from Abydos, and Ne-user-Rà on the great +relief from Abusîr. There are one or two exceptions, such as the +representations of the original genius Akhunaten at Tell el-Amarna and +the beautiful statue of Ramses II at Turin, in which we see these kings +wearing the real costume of their time, but such exceptions are very +rare. + +The art of Abusîr is therefore of great interest, since it marks the end +of the development of the priestly art. Secular art might develop as it +liked, though the crystallizing influence of the ecclesiastical canon is +always evident here also. But henceforward it was an impiety, which only +an Akhunaten could commit, to depict a king or a god on the walls of a +temple otherwise (except so far as, the portrait was concerned) than as +he had been depicted in the time of the Vth Dynasty. + +Other buildings have been excavated by the Germans at Abusîr, notably +the usual town of mastaba-tombs belonging to the chief dignitaries of +the reign, which is always found at the foot of a royal pyramid of this +period. Another building of the highest interest, belonging to the same +age, was also excavated, and its true character was determined. This is +a building at a place called er-Rîgha or Abû Ghuraib, “Father of Crows,” + between Abusîr and Gîza. It was formerly supposed to be a pyramid, but +the German excavations have shown that it is really a temple of the +Sun-god Râ of Heliopolis, specially venerated by the kings of the Vth +Dynasty, who were of Heliopolitan origin. The great pyramid-builders of +the IVth Dynasty seem to have been the last true Memphites. At the end +of the reign of Shepseskaf, the last monarch of the dynasty, the sceptre +passed to a Heliopolitan family. The following VIth Dynasty may again +have been Memphite, but this is uncertain. The capital continued to be +Memphis, and from the beginning of the Hid Dynasty to the end of the Old +Kingdom and the rise of Herakle-opolis and Thebes, Memphis remained the +chief city of Egypt. + +The Heliopolitans were naturally the servants of the Sun-god above all +other gods, and they were the first to call themselves “Sons of the +Sun,” a title retained by the Pharaohs throughout all subsequent +history. It was Ne-user-Râ who built the Sun-temple of Abu Ghuraib, +on the edge of the desert, north of his pyramid and those of his two +immediate predecessors at Abusir. As now laid bare by the excavations of +1900, it is seen to consist of an artificial mound, with a great court +in front to the eastward. On the mound was erected a truncated obelisk, +the stone emblem of the Sun-god. The worshippers in the court below +looked towards the Sun’s stone erected upon its mound in the west, +the quarter of the sun’s setting; for the Sun-god of Heliopolis was +primarily the setting sun, Tum-Râ, not Râ Harmachis, the rising sun, +whose emblem is the Great Sphinx at Gîza, which looks towards the east. +The sacred emblem of the Heliopolitan Sun-god reminds us forcibly of the +Semitic _bethels_ or _baetyli_, the sacred stones of Palestine, and may +give yet another hint of the Semitic origin of the Heliopolitan cult. +In the court of the temple is a huge circular altar of fine alabaster, +several feet across, on which slain oxen were offered to the Sun, and +behind this, at the eastern end of the court, are six great basins of +the same stone, over which the beasts were slain, with drains running +out of them by which their blood was carried away. This temple is a most +interesting monument of the civilization of the “Old Kingdom” at the time +of the Vth Dynasty. + +At Sakkâra itself, which lies a short distance south of Abusir, no new +royal tombs have, as has been said, been discovered of late years. But a +great deal of work has been done among the private mastaba-tombs by the +officers of the _Service des Antiquités_, which reserves to itself the +right of excavation here and at Dashûr. The mastaba of the sage and +writer Kagernna (or rather Gemnika, “I-have-found-a-ghost,” which +sounds very like an American Indian appellation) is very fine. +“I-have-found-a-ghost” lived in the reign of the king Tatkarâ Assa, the +“Tancheres” of Manetho, and he wrote maxims like his great contemporary +Phtahhetep (“Offered to Phtah”), who was also buried at Sakkâra. The +officials of the _Service des Antiquités_ who cleaned the tomb unluckily +misread his name Ka-bi-n (an impossible form which could only mean, +literally translated, “Ghost-soul-of” or “Ghost-soul-to-me”), and they +have placed it in this form over the entrance to his tomb. This mastaba, +like those, already known, of Mereruka (sometimes misnamed “Mera”) +and the famous Ti, both also at Sakkâra, contains a large number of +chambers, ornamented with reliefs. In the vicinity M. Grébaut, then +Director of the Service of Antiquities, discovered a very interesting +Street of Tombs, a regular Via Sacra, with rows of tombs of the +dignitaries of the VIth Dynasty on either side of it. They are generally +very much like one another; the workmanship of the reliefs is fine, and +the portrait of the owner of the tomb is always in evidence. + +Several of the smaller mastabas have lately been disposed of to the +various museums, as they are liable to damage if they remain where they +stand; moreover, they are not of great value to the Museum of Cairo, +but are of considerable value to various museums which do not already +possess complete specimens of this class of tombs. A fine one, belonging +to the chief Uerarina, is now exhibited in the Assyrian Basement of the +British Museum; another is in the Museum of Leyden; a third at Berlin, +and so on. Most of these are simple tombs of one chamber. In the centre +of the rear wall we always see the _stele_ or gravestone proper, +built into the fabric of the tomb. Before this stood the low table +of offerings with a bowl for oblations, and on either side a tall +incense-altar. From the altar the divine smoke (_senetr_) arose when +the _hen-ka_, or priest of the ghost (literally, “Ghost’s Servant”), +performed his duty of venerating the spirits of the deceased, while the +_Kher-heb_, or cantor, enveloped in the mystic folds of the leopard-skin +and with bronze incense-burner in hand, sang the holy litanies and +spells which should propitiate the ghost and enable him to win his way +to ultimate perfection in the next world. + +The stele is always in the form of a door with pyloni-form cornice. On +either side is a figure of the deceased, and at the sides are carved +prayers to Anubis, and at a later date to Osiris, who are implored to +give the funerary meats and “everything good and pure on which the god +there (as the dead man in the tomb has been constituted) lives;” often +we find that the biography and list of honorary titles and dignities of +the deceased have been added. + +Sakkâra was used as a place of burial in the latest as well as in the +earliest time. The Egyptians of the XXVIth Dynasty, wearied of the long +decadence and devastating wars which had followed the glorious epoch of +the conquering Pharaohs of the XVIIIth and XIXth Dynasties, turned for +a new and refreshing inspiration to the works of the most ancient kings, +when Egypt was a simple self-contained country, holding no intercourse +with outside lands, bearing no outside burdens for the sake of pomp and +glory, and knowing nothing of the decay and decadence which follows in +the train of earthly power and grandeur. They deliberately turned their +backs on the worn-out and discredited imperial trappings of the Thothmes +and Ramses, and they took the supposed primitive simplicity of the +Snefrus, the Khufus, and the Ne-user-Râs for a model and ensampler to +their lives. It was an age of conscious and intended archaism, and in +pursuit of the archaistic ideal the Mem-phites of the Saïte age had +themselves buried in the ancient necropolis of Sakkâra, side by side +with their ancestors of the time of the Vth and VIth Dynasties. Several +of these tombs have lately been discovered and opened, and fitted with +modern improvements. One or two of them, of the Persian period, have +wells (leading to the sepulchral chamber) of enormous depth, down which +the modern tourist is enabled to descend by a spiral iron staircase. The +Serapeum itself is lit with electricity, and in the Tombs of the Kings +at Thebes nothing disturbs the silence but the steady thumping pulsation +of the dynamo-engine which lights the ancient sepulchres of the +Pharaohs. Thus do modern ideas and inventions help us to see and so to +understand better the works of ancient Egypt. But it is perhaps a little +too much like the Yankee at the Court of King Arthur. The interiors of +the later tombs are often decorated with reliefs which imitate those of +the early period, but with a kind of delicate grace which at once marks +them for what they are, so that it is impossible to confound them with +the genuine ancient originals from which they were adapted. + +Riding from Sakkâra southwards to Dashûr, we pass on the way the +gigantic stone mastaba known as the _Mastabat el-Fara’ûn_, “Pharaoh’s +Bench.” This was considered to be the tomb of the Vth Dynasty king, +Unas, until his pyramid was found by Prof. Maspero at Sakkâra. From its +form it might be thought to belong to a monarch of the Hid Dynasty, but +the great size of the stone blocks of which it is built seems to point +rather to the XIIth. All attempts to penetrate its secret by actual +excavation have been unavailing. + +Further south across the desert we see from the Mastabat el-Fara’ûn +four distinct pyramids, symmetrically arranged in two lines, two in each +line. The two to the right are great stone erections of the usual +type, like those of Gîza and Abusîr, and the southernmost of them has a +peculiar broken-backed appearance, due to the alteration of the angle +of inclination of its sides during construction. Further, it is covered +almost to the ground by the original casing of polished white limestone +blocks, so that it gives a very good idea of the original appearance +of the other pyramids, which have lost their casing. These two +pyramids very probably belong to kings of the Hid Dynasty, as does the +Step-Pyramid of Sakkâra. They strongly resemble the Gîza type, and +the northernmost of the two looks very like an understudy of the Great +Pyramid. It seems to mark the step in the development of the royal +pyramid which was immediately followed by the Great Pyramid. But no +excavations have yet proved the accuracy of this view. Both pyramids +have been entered, but nothing has been found in them. It is very +probable that one of them is the second pyramid of Snefru. + +The other two pyramids, those nearest the cultivation, are of very +different appearance. They are half-ruined, they are black in colour, +and their whole effect is quite different from that of the stone +pyramids. For they are built of brick, not of stone. They are pyramids, +it is true, but of a different material and of a different date from +those which we have been describing. They are built above the sepulchres +of kings of the XIIth Dynasty, the Theban house which transferred +its residence northwards to the neighbourhood of the ancient Northern +capital. We have, in fact, reached the end of the Old Kingdom at +Sakkâra; at Dashûr begin the sepulchres of the Middle Kingdom. Pyramids +are still built, but they are not always of stone; brick is used, +usually with stone in the interior. The general effect of these brick +pyramids, when new, must have been indistinguishable from that of the +stone ones, and even now, when it has become half-ruined, such a great +brick pyramid as that of Usertsen (Senusret) III at Dashûr is not +without impressiveness. After all, there is no reason why a brick +building should be less admirable than a stone one. And in its own way +the construction of such colossal masses of bricks as the two eastern +pyramids of Dashûr must have been as arduous, even as difficult, as that +of building a moderate-sized stone pyramid. The photograph of the brick +pyramids of Dashûr on this page shows well the great size of these +masses of brickwork, which are as impressive as any of the great brick +structures of Babylonia and Assyria. + + [Illustration: EXTERIOR OF THE SOUTHERN BRICK PYRAMID OF DASHÛR: + XIITH DYNASTY. + Excavated by M. de Morgan, 1895. This is the secondary tomb of + Amenemhat III; about 2200 B.C. + +The XIIth Dynasty use of brick for the royal tombs was a return to the +custom of earlier days, for from the time of Aha to that Tjeser, from +the 1st Dynasty to the Hid, brick had been used for the building of the +royal mastaba-tombs, out of which the pyramids had developed. + +At this point, where we take leave of the great pyramids of the Old +Kingdom, we may notice the latest theory as to the building of these +monuments, which has of late years been enunciated by Dr. Borchardt, and +is now generally accepted. The great Prussian explorer Lepsius, when he +examined the pyramids in the ‘forties, came to the conclusion that each +king, when he ascended the throne, planned a small pyramid for himself. +This was built in a few years’ time, and if his reign were short, or if +he were unable to enlarge the pyramid for other reasons, it sufficed for +his tomb. If, however, his reign seemed likely to be one of some length, +after the first plan was completed he enlarged his pyramid by building +another and a larger one around it and over it. Then again, when this +addition was finished, and the king still reigned and was in possession +of great resources, yet another coating, so to speak, was put on to the +pyramid, and so on till colossal structures like the First and Second +Pyramid of Giza, which, we know, belonged to kings who were unusually +long-lived, were completed. And finally the aged monarch died, and was +buried in the huge tomb which his long life and his great power had +enabled him to erect. This view appeared eminently reasonable at the +time, and it seemed almost as though we ought to be able to tell whether +a king had reigned long or not by the size of his pyramid, and even +to obtain a rough idea of the length of his reign by counting the +successive coats or accretions which it had received, much as we tell +the age of a tree by the rings in its bole. A pyramid seemed to have +been constructed something after the manner of an onion or a Chinese +puzzle-box. + +Prof. Pétrie, however, who examined the Griza pyramids in 1881, and +carefully measured them all up and finally settled their trigonometrical +relation, came to the conclusion that Lepsius’s theory was entirely +erroneous, and that every pyramid was built and now stands as it was +originally planned. Dr. + +[Illustration: 111.jpg THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA DURING THE INUNDATION.] + +Borchardt, however, who is an architect by profession, has examined +the pyramids again, and has come to the conclusion that Prof. Pétrie’s +statement is not correct, and that there is an element of truth in +Lepsius’s hypothesis. He has shown that several of the pyramids, notably +the First and Second at Giza, show unmistakable signs of a modified, +altered, and enlarged plan; in fact, long-lived kings like Khufu seem +to have added considerably to their pyramids and even to have entirely +remodelled them on a larger scale. This has certainly been the case with +the Great Pyramid. We can, then, accept Lepsius’s theory as modified by +Dr. Borchardt. + +Another interesting point has arisen in connection with the Great +Pyramid. Considerable difference of opinion has always existed between +Egyptologists and the professors of European archaeology with regard +to the antiquity of the knowledge of iron in Egypt. The majority of +the Egyptologists have always maintained, on the authority of the +inscriptions, that iron was known to the ancient Egyptians from the +earliest period. They argued that the word for a certain metal in old +Egyptian was the same as the Coptic word for “iron.” They stated that in +the most ancient religious texts the Egyptians spoke of the firmament +of heaven as made of this metal, and they came to the conclusion that it +was because this metal was blue in colour, the hue of iron or steel; and +they further pointed out that some of the weapons in the tomb-paintings +were painted blue and others red, some being of iron, that is to +say, others of copper or bronze. Finally they brought forward as +incontrovertible evidence an actual fragment of worked iron, which had +been found between two of the inner blocks, down one of the air-shafts, +in the Great Pyramid. Here was an actual piece of iron of the time of +the IVth Dynasty, about 3500 B.C. + +This conclusion was never accepted by the students of the development of +the use of metal in prehistoric Europe, when they came to know of it. +No doubt their incredulity was partly due to want of appreciation of the +Egyptological evidence, partly to disinclination to accept a conclusion +which did not at all agree with the knowledge they had derived from +their own study of prehistoric Europe. In Southern Europe it was quite +certain that iron did not come into use till about 1000 B.C.; in Central +Europe, where the discoveries at Hallstatt in the Salzkammergut exhibit +the transition from the Age of Bronze to that of Iron, about 800 B.C. +The exclusively Iron Age culture of La Tène cannot be dated earlier than +the eighth century, if as early as that. How then was it possible that, +if iron had been known to the Egyptians as early as 3500 B.C., its +knowledge should not have been communicated to the Europeans until over +two thousand years later? No; iron could not have been really known to +the Egyptians much before 1000 B.C. and the Egyptological evidence was +all wrong. This line of argument was taken by the distinguished +Swedish archaeologist, Prof. Oscar Montelius, of Upsala, whose previous +experience in dealing with the antiquities of Northern Europe, great as +it was, was hardly sufficient to enable him to pronounce with authority +on a point affecting far-away African Egypt. And when dealing with Greek +prehistoric antiquities Prof. Montelius’s views have hardly met with +that ready agreement which all acknowledge to be his due when he is +giving us the results of his ripe knowledge of Northern antiquities. He +has, in fact, forgotten, as most “prehistoric” archaeologists do forget, +that the antiquities of Scandinavia, Greece, Egypt, the Semites, +the bronze-workers of Benin, the miners of Zimbabwe, and the Ohio +mound-builders are not to be treated all together as a whole, and that +hard and fast lines of development cannot be laid down for them, based +on the experience of Scandinavia. + +We may perhaps trace this misleading habit of thought to the influence +of the professors of natural science over the students of Stone Age and +Bronze Age antiquities. Because nature moves by steady progression and +develops on even lines--_nihil facit per sal-tum_--it seems to have been +assumed that the works of man’s hands have developed in the same way, +in a regular and even scheme all over the world. On this supposition it +would be impossible for the great discovery of the use of iron to have +been known in Egypt as early as 3500 B.C. for this knowledge to have +remained dormant there for two thousand years, and then to have +been suddenly communicated about 1000 B.C. to Greece, spreading with +lightning-like rapidity over Europe and displacing the use of bronze +everywhere. Yet, as a matter of fact, the work of man does develop +in exactly this haphazard way, by fits and starts and sudden leaps of +progress after millennia of stagnation. Throwsback to barbarism are just +as frequent. The analogy of natural evolution is completely inapplicable +and misleading. + +Prof. Montelius, however, following the “evolutionary” line of thought, +believed that because iron was not known in Europe till about 1000 B.C. +it could not have been known in Egypt much earlier; and in an important +article which appeared in the Swedish ethnological journal _Ymer_ in +1883, entitled _Bronsaldrn i Egypten_ (“The Bronze Age in Egypt”), he +essayed to prove the contrary arguments of the Egyptologists wrong. His +main points were that the colour of the weapons in the frescoes was of +no importance, as it was purely conventional and arbitrary, and that the +evidence of the piece of iron from the Great Pyramid was insufficiently +authenticated, and therefore valueless, in the absence of other definite +archaeological evidence in the shape of iron of supposed early date. To +this article the Swedish Egyptologist, Dr. Piehl, replied in the same +periodical, in an article entitled _Bronsaldem i Egypten_, in which he +traversed Prof. Montelius’s conclusions from the Egyptological point of +view, and adduced other instances of the use of iron in Egypt, all, +it is true, later than the time of the IVth Dynasty. But this protest +received little notice, owing to the fact that it remained buried in +a Swedish periodical, while Prof. Montelius’s original article was +translated into French, and so became well-known. + +For the time Prof. Montelius’s conclusions were generally accepted, and +when the discoveries of the prehistoric antiquities were made by M. de +Morgan, it seemed more probable than ever that Egypt had gone through a +regular progressive development from the Age of Stone through those of +copper and bronze to that of iron, which was reached about 1100 or 1000 +B.C. The evidence of the iron fragment from the Great Pyramid was put on +one side, in spite of the circumstantial account of its discovery +which had been given by its finders. Even Prof. Pétrie, who in 1881 +had accepted the pyramid fragment as undoubtedly contemporary with that +building, and had gone so far as to adduce additional evidence for its +authenticity, gave way, and accepted Montelius’s view, which held its +own until in 1902 it was directly controverted by a discovery of Prof. +Pétrie at Abydos. This discovery consisted of an undoubted fragment of +iron found in conjunction with bronze tools of VIth Dynasty date; and it +settled the matter.[1] The VIth Dynasty date of this piece of iron, which +was more probably worked than not (since it was buried with tools), was +held to be undoubted by its discoverer and by everybody else, and, if +this were undoubted, the IVth Dynasty date of the Great Pyramid fragment +was also fully established. The discoverers of the earlier fragment had +no doubt whatever as to its being contemporary with the pyramid, and +were supported in this by Prof. Pétrie in 1881. Therefore it is now +known to be the fact that iron was used by the Egyptians as early as +3500 B.C.[2] + + [1] See H. R. Hall’s note on “The Early Use of Iron in Egypt,” + in _Man_ (the organ of the Anthropological Society of + London), iii (1903), No. 86. + + [2] Prof. Montelius objected to these conclusions in a review + of the British Museum “Guide to the Antiquities of the + Bronze Age,” which was published in Man, 1005 (Jan.), No 7. + For an answer to these objections, see Hall, ibid., No. 40. + +It would thus appear that though the Egyptians cannot be said to have +used iron generally and so to have entered the “Iron Age” before about +1300 B.C. (reign of Ramses II), yet iron was well known to them and had +been used more than occasionally by them for tools and building purposes +as early as the time of the IVth Dynasty, about 3500 B.C. Certainly +dated examples of its use occur under the IVth, VIth, and XIIIth +Dynasties. Why this knowledge was not communicated to Europe before +about 1000 B.C. we cannot say, nor are Egyptologists called upon to find +the reason. So the Great Pyramid has played an interesting part in the +settlement of a very important question. + +It was supposed by Prof. Pétrie that the piece of iron from the Great +Pyramid had been part of some arrangement employed for raising the +stones into position. Herodotus speaks of the machines, which were used +to raise the stones, as made of little pieces of wood. The generally +accepted explanation of his meaning used to be that a small crane or +similar wooden machine was used for hoisting the stone by means +of pulley and rope; but M. Legrain, the director of the works of +restoration in the Great Temple of Karnak, has explained it differently. +Among the “foundation deposits” of the XVIIIth Dynasty at Dêr el-Bahari +and elsewhere, beside the little plaques with the king’s name and the +model hoes and vases, was usually found an enigmatic wooden object like +a small cradle, with two sides made of semicircular pieces of wood, +joined along the curved portion by round wooden bars. M. Legrain has now +explained this as a model of the machine used to raise heavy stones from +tier to tier of a pyramid or other building, and illustrations of +the method of its use may be found in Choisy’s _Art de Bâtir chez les +anciens Egyptiens_. There is little doubt that this primitive machine +is that to which Herodotus refers as having been used in the erection of +the pyramids. + +The later historian, Diodorus, also tells us that great mounds or ramps +of earth were used as well, and that the stones were dragged up these +to the requisite height. There is no doubt that this statement also is +correct. We know that the Egyptians did build in this very way, and +the system has been revived by M. Legrain for his work at Karnak, where +still exist the remains of the actual mounds and ramps by which the +great western pylon was erected in Ptolemaïc times. Work carried on +in this way is slow and expensive, but it is eminently suited to the +country and understood by the people. If they wish to put a great stone +architrave weighing many tons across the top of two columns, they do not +hoist it up into position; they rear a great ramp or embankment of earth +against the two pillars, half-burying them in the process, then drag +the architrave up the ramp by means of ropes and men, and put it into +position. Then the ramp is cleared away. This is the ancient system +which is now followed at Karnak, and it is the system by which, with the +further aid of the wooden machines, the Great Pyramid and its compeers +were erected in the days of the IVth Dynasty. _Plus cela change, plus +c’est la même chose_. + +The brick pyramids of the XIIth Dynasty were erected in the same way, +for the Egyptians had no knowledge of the modern combination of wooden +scaffolding and ladders. There was originally a small stone pyramid of +the same dynasty at Dashûr, half-way between the two brick ones, but +this has now almost disappeared. It belonged to the king Amenemhat II, +while the others belonged, the northern to Usertsen (Sen-usret) III, the +southern to Amenemhat III. Both these latter monarchs had other tombs +elsewhere, Usertsen a great rock-cut gallery and chamber in the cliff at +Abydos, Amenemhat a pyramid not very far to the south, at Hawara, close +to the Fayyûm. It is uncertain whether the Hawara pyramid or that of +Dashûr was the real burial-place of the king, as at neither place is his +name found alone. At Hawara it is found in conjunction with that of his +daughter, the queen-regnant Se-bekneferurâ (Skemiophris), at Dashûr with +that of a king Auabrâ Hor, who was buried in a small tomb near that of +the king, and adjoining the tombs of the king’s children. Who King Hor +was we do not quite know. His name is not given in the lists, and was +unknown until M. de Morgan’s discoveries at Dashûr. It is most probable +that he was a prince who was given royal honours during the lifetime of +Amenemhat III, whom he predeceased.[3] In the beautiful wooden statue +of him found in his tomb, which is now in the Cairo Museum, he is +represented as quite a youth. Amenemhat III was certainly succeeded by +Amenemhat IV, and it is impossible to intercalate Hor between them. + + [3] See below, p. 121. Possibly he was a son of Amenemhat III. + +The identification of the owners of the three western pyramids of Dashûr +is due to M. de Morgan and his assistants, Messrs. Legrain and Jéquier, +who excavated them from 1894 till 1896. The northern pyramid, that of +Usertsen (Senusret) III, is not so well preserved as the southern. It is +more worn away, and does not present so imposing an appearance. In +both pyramids the outer casing of white stone has entirely disappeared, +leaving only the bare black bricks. Each stood in the midst of a great +necropolis of dignitaries of the period, as was usually the case. +Many of the mastabas were excavated by M. de Morgan. Some are of older +periods than the XIIth Dynasty, one belonging to a priest of King +Snefru, Aha-f-ka (“Ghost-fighter”), who bore the additional titles of +“director of prophets and general of infantry.” There were pluralists +even in those days. And the distinction between the privy councillor +(Geheimrat) and real privy councillor (Wirk-licher-Greheimrat) was quite +familiar; for we find it actually made, many an old Egyptian officially +priding himself in his tomb on having been a real privy councillor! The +Egyptian bureaucracy was already ancient and had its survivals and its +anomalies even as early as the time of the pyramid-builders. + +In front of the pyramid of Usertsen (Senusret) III at one time stood the +usual funerary temple, but it has been totally destroyed. By the side of +the pyramid were buried some of the princesses of the royal family, in +a series of tombs opening out of a subterranean gallery, and in this +gallery were found the wonderful jewels of the princesses Sit-hathor and +Merit, which are among the greatest treasures of the Cairo Museum. Those +who have not seen them can obtain a perfect idea of their appearance +from the beautiful water-colour paintings of them by M. Legrain, which +are published in M. de Morgan’s work on the “Fouilles à Dahchour” + (Vienna, 1895). Altogether one hundred and seven objects were recovered, +consisting of all kinds of jewelry in gold and coloured stones. Among +the most beautiful are the great “pectorals,” or breast-ornaments, in +the shape of pylons, with the names of Usertsen II, Usertsen III, and +Amenemhat III; the names are surrounded by hawks standing on the sign +for gold, gryphons, figures of the king striking down enemies, etc., all +in _cloisonné_ work, with beautiful stones such as lapis lazuli, green +felspar, and carnelian taking the place of coloured enamels. The massive +chains of golden beads and cowries are also very remarkable. These +treasures had been buried in boxes in the floor of the subterranean +gallery, and had luckily escaped the notice of plunderers, and so by a +fortunate chance have survived to tell us what the Egyptian jewellers +could do in the days of the XIIth Dynasty. Here also were found two +great Nile barges, full-sized boats, with their oars and other gear +complete. They also may be seen in the Museum of Cairo. It can only be +supposed that they had served as the biers of the royal mummies, and had +been brought up in state on sledges. The actual royal chamber was not +found, although a subterranean gallery was driven beneath the centre of +the pyramid. + +The southern brick pyramid was constructed in the same way as the +northern one. At the side of it were also found the tombs of members of +the royal house, including that of the king Hor, already mentioned, with +its interesting contents. The remains of the mummy of this ephemeral +monarch, known only from his tomb, were also found. The entrails of the +king were placed in the usual “canopic jars,” which were sealed with the +seal of Amenemhat III; it is thus that we know that Hor died before him. +In many of the inscriptions of this king, on his coffin and stelo, a +peculiarly affected manner of writing the hieroglyphs is found,--the +birds are without their legs, the snake has no tail, the bee no head. +Birds are found without their legs in other inscriptions of this period; +it was a temporary fashion and soon discarded. + +In the tomb of a princess named Nubhetep, near at hand, were found more +jewels of the same style as those of Sit-hathor and Merit. The pyramid +itself contained the usual passages and chambers, which were reached +with much difficulty and considerable tunnelling by M. de Morgan. In +fact, the search for the royal death-chambers lasted from December 5, +1894, till March 17, 1895, when the excavators’ gallery finally struck +one of the ancient passages, which were found to be unusually extensive, +contrasting in this respect with the northern pyramid. The royal +tomb-chamber had, of course, been emptied of what it contained. It must +be remembered that, in any case, it is probable that the king was not +actually buried here, but in the pyramid of Hawara. + +The pyramid of Amenemhat II, which lies between the two brick pyramids, +was built entirely of stone. Nothing of it remains above ground, but the +investigation of the subterranean portions showed that it was remarkable +for the massiveness of its stones and the care with which the masonry +was executed. The same characteristics are found in the dependent tombs +of the princesses Ha and Khnumet, in which more jewelry was found. This +splendid stonework is characteristic of the Middle Kingdom; we find it +also in the temple of Mentuhetep III at Thebes. + +Some distance south of Dashûr is Mêdûm, where the pyramid of Sneferu +reigns in solitude, and beyond this again is Lisht, where in the +years 1894-6 MM. Gautier and Jéquier excavated the pyramid of Usertsen +(Sen-usret) I. The most remarkable find was a cache of the seated +statues of the king in white limestone, in absolutely perfect condition. +They were found lying on their sides, just as they had been hidden. Six +figures of the king in the form of Osiris, with the face painted red, +were also found. Such figures seem to have been regularly set up in +front of a royal sepulchre; several were found in front of the funerary +temple of Mentu-hetep III, Thebes, which we shall describe later. A +fine altar of gray granite, with representations in relief of the nomes +bringing offerings, was also recovered. The pyramid of Lisht itself is +not built of bricks, like those of Dashûr, but of stone. It was not, +however, erected in so solid a fashion as those of earlier days at Gîza +or Abusîr, and nothing is left of it now but a heap of débris. The XIIth +Dynasty architects built walls of magnificent masonry, as we have +seen, and there is no doubt that the stone casing of their pyramids +was originally very fine, but the interior is of brick or rubble; the +wonderful system of building employed by kings of the IVth Dynasty at +Giza was not practised. + +South of Lisht is Illahun, and at the entrance to the province of the +Fayyûm, and west of this, nearer the Fayyûm, is Hawara, where Prof. +Petrie excavated the pyramids of Usertsen (Senusret) II and Amenem-hat +III. His discoveries have already been described by Prof. Maspero in his +history, so that it will suffice here merely to compare them with the +results of M. de Morgan’s later work at Dashûr and that of MM. Gautier +and Jéquier at Lisht, to note recent conclusions in connection with +them, and to describe the newest discoveries in the same region. + +Both pyramids are of brick, lined with stone, like those of Dashûr, with +some differences of internal construction, since stone walls exist in +the interior. The central chambers and passages leading to them were +discovered; and in both cases the passages are peculiarly complex, with +dumb chambers, great stone portcullises, etc., in order to mislead +and block the way to possible plunderers. The extraordinary sepulchral +chamber of the Hawara pyramid, which, though it is over twenty-two feet +long by ten feet wide over all, is hewn out of one solid block of hard +yellow quartzite, gives some idea of the remarkable facility of dealing +with huge stones and the love of utilizing them which is especially +characteristic of the XIIth Dynasty. The pyramid of Hawara was provided +with a funerary temple the like of which had never been known in Egypt +before and was never known afterwards. It was a huge building far larger +than the pyramid itself, and built of fine limestone and crystalline +white quartzite, in a style eminently characteristic of the XIIth +Dynasty. In actual superficies this temple covered an extent of ground +within which the temples of Karnak, Luxor, and the Ramesseum, at Thebes, +could have stood, but has now almost entirely disappeared, having been +used as a quarry for two thousand years. In Roman times this destroying +process had already begun, but even then the building was still +magnificent, and had been noted with wonder by all the Greek visitors to +Egypt from the time of Herodotus downwards. Even before his day it +had received the name of the “Labyrinth,” on account of its supposed +resemblance to the original labyrinth in Crete. + +That the Hawara temple was the Egyptian labyrinth was pointed out by +Lepsius in the ‘forties of the last century. Within the last two or +three years attention has again been drawn to it by Mr. Arthur Evans’s +discovery of the Cretan labyrinth itself in the shape of the Minoan +or early Mycenæan palace of Knossos, near Candia in Crete. It is +impossible to enter here into all the arguments by which it has been +proved that the Knossian palace is the veritable labyrinth of the +Minotaur legend, nor would it be strictly germane to our subject were we +to do so; but it may suffice to say here that the word + +[Illustration: 125.jpg (Greek word)] + +has been proved to be of Greek-or rather of pre-Hellenic-origin, and +would mean in Karian “Place of the Double-Axe,” like La-braunda in +Karia, where Zeus was depicted with a double axe (labrys) in his hand. +The non-Aryan, “Asianic,” group of languages, to which certainly Lycian +and probably Karian belong, has been shown by the German philologer +Kretschmer to have spread over Greece into Italy in the period before +the Aryan Greeks entered Hellas, and to have left undoubted traces of +its presence in Greek place-names and in the Greek language itself. +Before the true Hellenes reached Crete, an Asianic dialect must have +been spoken there, and to this language the word “labyrinth” must +originally have belonged. The classical labyrinth was “in the Knossian +territory.” The palace of Knossos was emphatically the chief seat of the +worship of a god whose emblem was the double-axe; it was the Knossian +“Place of the Double-Axe,” the Cretan “Labyrinth.” + +It used to be supposed that the Cretan labyrinth had taken its name from +the Egyptian one, and the, word itself was supposed to be of Egyptian +origin. An Egyptian etymology was found for it as “_Ro-pi-ro-henet_,” + “Temple-mouth-canal,” which might be interpreted, with some violence to +Egyptian construction, as “The temple at the mouth of the canal,” i.e. +the Bahr Yusuf, which enters the Fayyûm at Hawara. But unluckily this +word would have been pronounced by the natives of the vicinity as +“Elphilahune,” which is not very much like + +[Illustration: 126.jpg (Greek word)] + +“_Ro-pi-ro-henet_” is, in fact, a mere figment of the philological +imagination, and cannot be proved ever to have existed. The element +_Ro-henet_, “canal-mouth” (according to the local pronunciation of the +Fayyûm and Middle Egypt, called _La-hunè_), is genuine; it is the +origin of the modern Illahun (_el-Lahun_), which is situated at the +“canal-mouth.” However, now that we know that the word labyrinth can be +explained satisfactorily with the help of Karian, as evidently of Greek +(pre-Aryan) origin, and as evidently the original name of the Knossian +labyrinth, it is obvious that there is no need to seek a far-fetched +explanation of the word in Egypt, and to suppose that the Greeks called +the Cretan labyrinth after the Egyptian one. + +The contrary is evidently the case. Greek visitors to Egypt found a +resemblance between the great Egyptian building, with its numerous halls +and corridors, vast in extent, and the Knossian palace. Even if very +little of the latter was visible in the classical period, as seems +possible, yet the site seems always to have been kept holy and free from +later building till Roman times, and we know that the tradition of the +mazy halls and corridors of the labyrinth was always clear, and was +evidently based on a vivid reminiscence. Actually, one of the most +prominent characteristics of the Knossian palace is its mazy and +labyrinthine system of passages and chambers. The parallel between the +two buildings, which originally caused the Greek visitors to give the +pyramid-temple of Hawara the name of “labyrinth,” has been traced still +further. The white limestone walls and the shining portals of “Parian +marble,” described by Strabo as characteristic of the Egyptian +labyrinth, have been compared with the shining white selenite or gypsum +used at Knossos, and certain general resemblances between the Greek +architecture of the Minoan age and the almost contemporary Egyptian +architecture of the XIIth Dynasty have been pointed out.[4] Such +resemblances may go to swell the amount of evidence already known, which +tells us that there was a close connection between Egyptian and Minoan +art and civilization, established at least as early as 2500 B.C. + + [4] See H. R. Hall, Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1905 (Pt. + ii). The Temple of the Sphinx at Gîza may also be compared + with those of Hawara and Knossos. It seems most probable + that the Temple of the Sphinx is a XIIth Dynasty building. + +For it must be remembered that within the last few years we have learned +from the excavations in Crete a new chapter of ancient history, which, +it might almost seem, shows us Greece and Egypt in regular communication +from nearly the beginnings of Egyptian history. As the excavations which +have told us this were carried on in Crete, not in Egypt, to describe +them does not lie within the scope of this book, though a short sketch +of their results, so far as they affect Egyptian history in later days, +is given in Chapter VII. Here it may suffice to say that, as far as +the early period is concerned, Egypt and Crete were certainly in +communication in the time of the XIIth Dynasty, and quite possibly in +that of the VIth or still earlier. We have IIId Dynasty Egyptian vases +from Knossos, which were certainly not imported in later days, for no +ancient nation had antiquarian tastes till the time of the Saïtes in +Egypt and of the Romans still later. In fact, this communication seems +to go so far back in time that we are gradually being led to perceive +the possibility that the Minoan culture of Greece was in its origin an +offshoot from that of primeval Egypt, probably in early Neolithic times. +That is to say, the Neolithic Greeks and Neolithic Egyptians were both +members of the same “Mediterranean” stock, which quite possibly may have +had its origin in Africa, and a portion of which may have crossed the +sea to Europe in very early times, taking with it the seeds of culture +which in Egypt developed in the Egyptian way, in Greece in the Greek +way. Actual communication and connection may not have been maintained +at first, and probably they were not. Prof. Petrie thinks otherwise, and +would see in the boats painted on the predynastic Egyptian vases (see +Chapter I) the identical galleys by which, in late Neolithic +times, commerce between Crete and Egypt was carried on across the +Mediterranean. It is certain, however, that these boats are ordinary +little river craft, the usual Nile _felûkas_ and _gyassas_ of the time; +they are depicted together with emblems of the desert and cultivated +land,-ostriches, antelopes, hills, and palm-trees,-and the thoroughly +inland and Upper Egyptian character of the whole design springs to the +eye. There can be no doubt whatever that the predynastic boats were not +seagoing galleys. + +It was probably not till the time of the pyramid-builders that +connection between the Greek Mediterraneans and the Nilotes was +re-established. Thence-forward it increased, and in the time of the +XIIth Dynasty, when the labyrinth of Amenemhat III was built, there +seems to have been some kind of more or less regular communication +between the two countries. + +It is certain that artistic ideas were exchanged between them at this +period. How communication was carried on we do not know, but it was +probably rather by way of Cyprus and the Syrian coast than directly +across the open sea. We shall revert to this point when we come to +describe the connection between Crete and Egypt in the time of the +XVIIIth Dynasty, when Cretan ambassadors visited the Egyptian court and +were depicted in tomb paintings at Thebes. Between the time of the XIIth +Dynasty and that of the XVIIIth this connection seems to have been very +considerably strengthened; for at Knossos have been found an Egyptian +statuette of an Egyptian named Abnub, who from his name must have lived +about the end of the XIIIth Dynasty, and the top of an alabastron with +the royal name of Khian, one of the Hyksos kings. + +Quite close to Hawara, at Illahun, in the ruins of the town which was +built by Usertsen’s workmen when they were building his pyramid, Prof. +Petrie found fragments of pottery of types which we now know well from +excavations in Crete and Cyprus, though they were then unknown. They are +fragments of the polychrome Cretan ware called, after the name of the +place where it was first found in Crete, Kamares ware, and of a black +ware ornamented with small punctures, which are often filled up with +white. This latter ware has been found elsewhere associated with XIIIth +Dynasty antiquities. The former is known to belong in Crete to the +“early Minoan” period, long anterior to the “late Minoan” or “Palace” + period, which was contemporary with the Egyptian XVIIIth Dynasty. +We have here another interesting proof of a connection between XIIth +Dynasty Egypt and early Minoan Crete. The later connection, under the +XVIIIth and following dynasties, is also illustrated in the same reign +by Prof. Petrie’s finds of late Mycenaean objects and foreign graves at +Medinet Gurob.[5] + + [5] One man who was buried here bore the name An-Tursha, + “Pillar of the Tursha.” The Tursha were a people of the + Mediterranean, possibly Tylissians of Crete. + +These excavations at Hawara, Illahun, Kahun, and Gurob were carried out +in the years 1887-9. Since then Prof. Petrie and his co-workers have +revisited the same district, and Gurob has been re-examined (in 1904) +by Messrs. Loat and Ayrton, who discovered there a shrine devoted to +the worship of fish. This work was carried on at the same time as Prof. +Petrie’s main excavation for the Egypt Exploration Fund at Annas, or +Ahnas-yet el-Medina, the site of the ancient Henensu, the Herakleopolis +of the Greeks. Prof. Naville had excavated there for the Egypt +Exploration Fund in 1892, but had not completely cleared the temple. +This work was now taken up by Prof. Petrie, who laid the whole building +bare. It is dedicated to Hershefi, the local deity of Herakleopolis. +This god, who was called Ar-saphes by the Greeks, and identified with +Herakles, was in fact a form of Horus with the head of a ram; his name +means “Terrible-Face.” The greater part of the temple dates to the time +of the XIXth Dynasty, and nothing of the early period is left. We know, +however, that the Middle Kingdom was the flourishing period of the +city of Hershefi. For a comparatively brief period, between the age of +Memphite hegemony and that of Theban dominion, Herakleopolis was the +capital city of Egypt. The kings of the IXth and Xth Dynasties were +Herakleopolites, though we know little of them. One, Kheti, is said to +have been a great tyrant. Another, Nebkaurâ, is known only as a figure +in the “Legend of the Eloquent Peasant,” a classical story much in vogue +in later days. Another, Merikarâ, is a more real personage, for we have +contemporary records of his days in the inscriptions of the tombs at +Asyût, from which we see that the princes of Thebes were already wearing +down the Northerners, in spite of the resistance of the adherents of +Herakleopolis, among whom the most valiant were the chiefs of Asyût. The +civil war eventuated in favour of Thebes, and the Theban XIth Dynasty +assumed the double crown. The sceptre passed from Memphis and the North, +and Thebes enters upon the scene of Egyptian history. + +With this event the Nile-land also entered upon a new era of +development. The metropolis of the kingdom was once more shifted to the +South, and, although the kings of the XIIth Dynasty actually resided +in the North, their Theban origin was never forgotten, and Thebes +was regarded as the chief city of the country. The XIth Dynasty kings +actually reigned at Thebes, and there the later kings of the XIIIth +Dynasty retired after the conquest of the Hyksos. The fact that with +Thebes were associated all the heroic traditions of the struggle against +the Hyksos ensured the final stability of the capital there when the +hated Semites were finally driven out, and the national kingdom +was re-established in its full extent from north to south. But for +occasional intervals, as when Akhunaten held his court at Tell el-Amarna +and Ramses II at Tanis, Thebes remained the national capital for six +hundred years, till the time of the XXIId Dynasty. + +Another great change which differentiates the Middle Kingdom +(XIth-XIIIth Dynasties) from the Old Kingdom was caused by Egypt’s +coming into contact with other outside nations at this period. During +the whole history of the Old Kingdom, Egyptian relations with the outer +world had been nil. We have some inkling of occasional connection +with the Mediterranean peoples, the _Ha-nebu_ or Northerners; we have +accounts of wars with the people of Sinai and other Bedawin and negroes; +and expeditions were also sent to the land of Punt (Somaliland) by way +of the Upper Nile. But we have not the slightest hint of any connection +with, or even knowledge of, the great nations of the Euphrates valley +or the peoples of Palestine. The Babylonian king Narâm-Sin invaded the +Sinaitic peninsula (the land of Magan) as early as 3750 b. c, about +the time of the IIId Egyptian Dynasty. The great King Tjeser, of that +dynasty, also invaded Sinai, and so did Snefru, the last king of the +dynasty. But we have no hint of any collision between Babylonians and +Egyptians at that time, nor do either of them betray the slightest +knowledge of one another’s existence. It can hardly be that the two +civilized peoples of the world in those days were really absolutely +ignorant of each other, but we have no trace of any connection between +them, other than the possible one before the founding of the Egyptian +monarchy. + +This early connection, however, is very problematical. We have seen that +there seems to be in early Egyptian civilization an element ultimately +of Babylonian origin, and that there are two theories as to how it +reached Egypt. One supposes that it was brought by a Semitic people of +Arab affinities (represented by the modern Grallas), who crossed the +Straits of Bab el-Man-deb and reached Egypt either by way of the Wadi +Hammamat or by the Upper Nile. The other would bring it across the +Isthmus of Suez to the Delta, where, at Heliopolis, there certainly +seems to have been a settlement of a Semitic type of very ancient +culture. In both cases we should have Semites bringing Babylonian +culture to Egypt. This, as we may remind the reader, was not itself of +Semitic origin, but was a development due to a non-Semitic people, +the Sumerians as they are called, who, so far as we know, were the +aboriginal inhabitants of Babylonia. The Sumerian language was of +agglutinative type, radically distinct both from the pure Semitic idioms +and from Egyptian. The Babylonian elements of culture which the early +Semitic invaders brought with them to Egypt were, then, ultimately of +Sumerian origin. Sumerian civilization had profoundly influenced the +Semitic tribes for centuries before the Semitic conquest of Babylonia, +and when the Sumerians became more and more a conquered race, finally +amalgamating with their conquerors and losing their racial and +linguistic individuality, they were conquered by an alien race but not +by an alien culture. For the culture of the Semites was Sumerian, the +Semitic races owing their civilization to the Sumerians. That is as +much as to say that a great deal of what we call Semitic culture is +fundamentally non-Semitic. + +In the earliest days, then, Egypt received elements of Sumerian culture +through a Semitic medium, which introduced Semitic elements into the +language of the people, and a Semitic racial strain. It is possible. +that both theories as to the routes of these primeval conquerors are +true, and that two waves of Semites entered the Nile valley towards +the close of the Neolithic period, one by way of the Upper Nile or Wadi +Hammamat, the other by way of Heliopolis. + +After the reconsolidation of the Egyptian people, with perhaps an +autocratic class of Semitic origin and a populace of indigenous Nilotic +race, we have no trace of further connection with the far-away centre of +Semitic culture in Babylonia till the time of the Theban hegemony. +Under the XIIth Dynasty we see Egyptians in friendly relations with the +Bedawin of Idumsea and Southern Palestine. Thus Sanehat, the younger son +of Amenemhat I, when the death of his royal father was announced, fled +from the new king Usertsen (Senusret) into Palestine, and there married +the daughter of the chief Ammuanshi and became a Syrian chief himself, +only finally returning to Egypt as an old man on the assurance of the +royal pardon and favour. We have in the reign of Usertsen (Senusret) II +the famous visit of the Arab chief Abisha (Abêshu’) with his following +to the court of Khnumhetep, the prince of the Oryx nome in Middle Egypt, +as we see it depicted on the walls of Khnumhetep’s tomb at Beni Hasan. +We see Usertsen (Senusret) III invading Palestine to chastise the land +of Sekmem and the vile Syrians.[6] + + [6] We know of this campaign from the interesting historical + stele of the general Sebek-khu (who took part in it), which + was found during Mr. Garstang’s excavations at Abydos, not + previously referred to above. They were carried out in 1900, + and resulted in the complete clearance of a part of the + great cemetery which had been created during the XIIth + Dynasty. The group of objects from the tombs of this + cemetery, and those of XVIIIth Dynasty tombs also found, is + especially valuable as showing the styles of objects in use + at these two periods (see Garstang, el-Ardbah, 1901). + +The arm of Egypt was growing longer, and its weight was being felt in +regions where it had previously been entirely unknown. Eventually the +collision came. Egypt collided with an Asiatic power, and got the worst +of the encounter. So much the worse that the Theban monarchy of the +Middle Kingdom was overthrown, and Northern Egypt was actually conquered +by the Asiatic foreigners and ruled by a foreign house for several +centuries. Who these conquering Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, were no +recent discovery has told us. An old idea was that they were Mongols. It +was supposed that the remarkable faces of the sphinxes of Tanis, now +in the Cairo Museum, which bore the names of Hyksos kings, were of +Mongolian type, as also those of two colossal royal heads discovered +by M. Naville at Bubastis. But M. Golénischeff has now shown that these +heads are really those of XIIth Dynasty kings, and not of Hyksos at all. +Messrs. Newberry and Garstang have lately endeavoured to show that this +type was foreign, and probably connected with that of the Kheta, or +Hittites, of Northern Syria, who came into prominence as enemies of +Egypt at a later period. They think that the type was introduced into +the Egyptian royal family by Nefret, the queen of Usertsen (Senusret) +II, whom they suppose to have been a Hittite princess. At the same time +they think it probable that the type was also that of the Hyksos, whom +they consider to have been practically Hittites. They therefore revive +the theory of de Cara, which connects the Hyksos with the Hittites and +these with the Pelasgi and Tyrseni. + +This is a very interesting theory, which, when carried out to its +logical conclusion, would connect the Hyksos and Hittites racially with +the pre-Hellenic “Minoan” Mycenseans of Greece, as well as with the +Etruscans of Italy. But there is little of certainty in it. It is by no +means impossible that we may eventually come to know that the Hittites +(_Kheta_, the _Khatte_ of the Assyrians) and other tribes of Asia +Minor were racially akin to the “Minoans” of Greece, but the connection +between the Hyksos and the Hittites is to seek. The countenances of the +Kheta on the Egyptian monuments of Ramses II’s time have an angular +cast, and so have those of the Tanis sphinxes, of Queen Nefret, of +the Bubastis statues, and the statues of Usertsen (Senusret) III +and Amenemhat III. We might then suppose, with Messrs. Newberry and +Garstang, that Nefret was a Kheta princess, who gave her peculiar racial +traits to her son Usertsen (Senusret) III and his son Amenem-hat, were +it not far more probable that the resemblance between this peculiar +XIIth Dynasty type and the Kheta face is purely fortuitous. + +There is really no reason to suppose that the type of face presented by +Nefret, Usertsen, and Amenemhat is not purely Egyptian. It may be seen +in many a modern fellah, and the truth probably is that the sculptors +have in the case of these rulers very faithfully and carefully depicted +their portraits, and that their faces happen to have been of a rather +hard and forbidding type. But, if we grant the contention of Messrs. +Newberry and Garstang for the moment, where is the connection between +these XIIth Dynasty kings and the Hyksos? All the Tanite monuments with +this peculiar facial type which would be considered Hyksos are certainly +of the XIIth Dynasty. The only statue of a Hyksos king, which was +undoubtedly originally made for him and is not one of the XIIth Dynasty +usurped, is the small one of Khian at Cairo, discovered by M. Naville at +Bubastis, and this has no head. So that we have not the slightest idea +of what a Hyksos looked like. Moreover, the evidence of the Hyksos names +which are known to us points in quite a different direction. The Kheta, +or Hittites, were certainly not Semites, yet the Hyksos names are +definitely Semitic. In fact it is most probable that the Hyksos, or +Shepherd Kings, were, as the classical authorities say they were, and as +their name (_hiku-semut_ or _hihu-shasu_,) “princes of the deserts” or +(“princes of the Bedawîn”) also testifies, purely and simply Arabs. + +Now it is not a little curious that almost at the same time that a nomad +Arab race conquered Lower Egypt and settled in it as rulers (just as +‘Amr and the followers of Islam did over two thousand years later), +another Arab race may have imposed its rule upon Babylonia. Yet this +may have been the case; for the First Dynasty of Babylon, to which the +famous Hammurabi belonged, was very probably of Arab origin, to judge by +the forms of some of the royal names. It is by no means impossible that +there was some connection between these two conquests, and that both +Babylonia and Egypt fell, in the period before the year 2000 B.C. before +some great migratory movement from Arabia, which overran Babylonia, +Palestine, and even the Egyptian Delta. + +In this manner Egypt and Babylonia may have been brought together +in common subjection to the Arab. We do not know whether any regular +communication between Egypt, under Semitic rule, and Babylonia was now +established; but we do know that during the Hyksos period there were +considerable relations between Egypt and over-sea Crete, and relations +with Mesopotamia may possibly have been established. At any rate, when +the war of liberation, which was directed by the princes of Thebes, was +finally brought to a successful conclusion and the Arabs were expelled, +we find the Egyptians a much changed nation. They had adopted for war +the use of horse and chariot, which they learnt from their Semitic +conquerors, whose victory was in all probability largely gained by their +use, and, generally speaking, they had become much more like the Western +Asiatic nations. Egypt was no longer isolated, for she had been forcibly +brought into contact with the foreign world, and had learned much. +She was no longer self-contained within her own borders. If the Semites +could conquer her, so could she conquer the Semites. Armed with horse +and chariot, the Egyptians went forth to battle, and their revenge was +complete. All Palestine and Syria were Egyptian domains for five hundred +years after the conquest by Thothmes I and III, and Ashur and Babel sent +tribute to the Pharaoh of Egypt. + +The reaction came, and Egypt was thrown prostrate beneath the feet of +Assyria; but her claim to dominion over the Western Asiatics was never +abandoned, and was revived in all its pomp by Ptolemy Euergetes, who +brought back in triumph to Egypt the images of the gods which had been +removed by Assyrians and Babylonians centuries before. This claim was +never allowed by the Asiatics, it is true, and their kings wrote to the +proudest Pharaoh as to an absolute equal. Even the King of Cyprus calls +the King of Egypt his brother. But Palestine was admitted to be +an Egyptian possession, and the Phoenicians were always energetic +supporters of the Egyptian régime against the lawless Bedawîn tribes, +who were constantly intriguing with the Kheta or Hittite power to the +north against Egypt. + +The existence of this extra-Egyptian imperial possession meant that the +eyes of the Egyptians were now permanently turned in the direction of +Western Asia, with which they were henceforth in constant and intimate +communication. The first Theban period and the Hyksos invasion, +therefore, mark a turning-point in Egyptian history, at which we may +fitly leave it for a time in order to turn our attention to those +peoples of Western Asia with whom the Egyptians had now come into +permanent contact. + +Just as new discoveries have been made in Egypt, which have modified our +previous conception of her history, so also have the excavators of +the ancient sites in the Mesopotamian valley made, during the last few +years, far-reaching discoveries, which have enabled us to add to and +revise much of our knowledge of the history of Babylonia and Assyria. In +Palestine and the Sinaitic peninsula also the spade has been used with +effect, but a detailed account of work in Sinai and Palestine falls +within the limits of a description of Biblical discoveries rather than +of this book. The following chapters will therefore deal chiefly with +modern discoveries which have told us new facts with regard to the +history of the ancient Sumerians themselves, and of the Babylonians, +Elamites, Kassites, and Assyrians, the inheritors of the ancient +Sumerian civilization, which was older than that of Egypt, and which, as +we have seen, probably contributed somewhat to its formation. These +were the two primal civilizations of the ancient world. For two thousand +years each marched upon a solitary road, without meeting the other. +Eventually the two roads converged. We have hitherto dealt with the road +of the Egyptians; we now describe that of the Mesopotamians, up to the +point of convergence. + + + + +CHAPTER IV--RECENT EXCAVATIONS IN WESTERN ASIA AND THE DAWN OF CHALDÆAN HISTORY + + +In the preceding pages it has been shown how recent excavations in Egypt +have revealed an entirely new chapter in the history of that country, +and how, in consequence, our theories with regard to the origin of +Egyptian civilization have been entirely remodelled. Excavations have +been and are being carried out in Mesopotamia and the adjacent countries +with no less enthusiasm and energy than in Egypt itself, and, although +it cannot be said that they have resulted in any sweeping modification +of our conceptions with regard to the origin and kinship of the early +races of Western Asia, yet they have lately added considerably to our +knowledge of the ancient history of the countries in that region of the +world. This is particularly the case in respect of the Sumerians, who, +so far as we know at present, were the earliest inhabitants of the +fertile plains of Mesopotamia. The beginnings of this ancient people +stretch back into the remote past, and their origin is still shrouded in +the mists of antiquity. When first we come across them they have already +attained a high level of civilization. They have built temples and +palaces and houses of burnt and unburnt brick, and they have reduced +their system of agriculture to a science, intersecting their country +with canals for purposes of irrigation and to ensure a good supply of +water to their cities. Their sculpture and pottery furnish abundant +evidence that they have already attained a comparatively high level in +the practice of the arts, and finally they have evolved a complicated +system of writing which originally had its origin in picture-characters, +but afterwards had been developed along phonetic lines. To have attained +to this pitch of culture argues long periods of previous development, +and we must conclude that they had been settled in Southern Babylonia +many centuries before the period to which we must assign the earliest of +their remains at present discovered. + +That this people were not indigenous to Babylonia is highly probable, +but we have little data by which to determine the region from which +they originally came. Prom the fact that they built their ziggurats, or +temple towers, of huge masses of unburnt brick which rose high above +the surrounding plain, and that their ideal was to make each “like a +mountain,” it has been argued that they were a mountain race, and the +home from which they sprang has been sought in Central Asia. Other +scholars have detected signs of their origin in their language and +system of writing, and, from the fact that they spoke an agglutinative +tongue and at the earliest period arranged the characters of their +script in vertical lines like the Chinese, it has been urged that +they were of Mongol extraction. Though a case may be made out for this +hypothesis, it would be rash to dogmatize for or against it, and it is +wiser to await the discovery of further material on which a more certain +decision may be based. But whatever their origin, it is certain that the +Sumerians exercised an extraordinary influence on all races with +which, either directly or indirectly, they came in contact. The ancient +inhabitants of Elam at a very early period adopted in principle +their method of writing, and afterwards, living in isolation in the +mountainous districts of Persia, developed it on lines of their own. [* +See Chap. V, and note.] On their invasion of Babylonia the Semites +fell absolutely under Sumerian influence, and, although they eventually +conquered and absorbed the Sumerians, their civilization remained +Sumerian to the core. Moreover, by means of the Semitic inhabitants of +Babylonia Sumerian culture continued to exert its influence on other +and more distant races. We have already seen how a Babylonian element +probably enters into Egyptian civilization through Semitic infiltration +across the Straits of Bab el-Mandeb or by way of the Isthmus of Suez, +and it was Sumerian culture which these Semites brought with them. +In like manner, through the Semitic Babylonians, the Assyrians, the +Kassites, and the inhabitants of Palestine and Syria, and of some +parts of Asia Minor, Armenia, and Kurdistan, all in turn experienced +indirectly the influence of Sumerian civilization and continued in a +greater or less degree to reproduce elements of this early culture. + +It will be seen that the influence of the Sumerians furnishes us with +a key to much that would otherwise prove puzzling in the history of the +early races of Western Asia. It is therefore all the more striking to +recall the fact that but a few years ago the very existence of this +ancient people was called in question. At that time the excavations in +Mesopotamia had not revealed many traces of the race itself, and its +previous existence had been mainly inferred from a number of Sumerian +compositions inscribed upon Assyrian tablets found in the library +of Ashur-bani-pal at Nineveh. These compositions were furnished with +Assyrian translations upon the tablets on which they were inscribed, +and it was correctly argued by the late Sir Henry Rawlinson, the late M. +Oppert, Prof. Schrader, Prof. Sayce, and other scholars that they were +written in the language of the earlier inhabitants of the country whom +the Semitic Babylonians had displaced. But M. Halévy started a theory to +the effect that Sumerian was not a language at all, in the proper sense +of the term, but was a cabalistic method of writing invented by the +Semitic Babylonian priests. + +[Illustration: 147.jpg LIST OF ARCHAIC CUNEIFORM SIGNS. + + Drawn up by an Assyrian scribe to assist him in his studies + of early texts. Photograph by Messrs. Mansell & Co. + +The argument on which the upholders of this theory mainly relied was +that many of the phonetic values of the Sumerian signs were obviously +derived from Semitic equivalents, and they hastily jumped to the +conclusion that the whole language was similarly derived from Semitic +Babylonian, and was, in fact, a purely arbitrary invention of the +Babylonian priests. This theory ignored all questions of inherent +probability, and did not attempt to explain why the Babylonian priests +should have troubled themselves to make such an invention and afterwards +have stultified themselves by carefully appending Assyrian translations +to the majority of the Sumerian compositions which they copied out. +Moreover, the nature of these compositions is not such as we should +expect to find recorded in a cabalistic method of writing. They contain +no secret lore of the Babylonian priests, but are merely hymns and +prayers and religious compositions similar to those employed by the +Babylonians and Assyrians themselves. + +But in spite of its inherent improbabilities, M. Halévy succeeded in +making many converts to his theory, including Prof. Friedrich Delitzsch +and a number of the younger school of German Assyriologists. More +conservative scholars, such as Sir Henry Rawlinson, M. Oppert, and Prof. +Schrader, stoutly opposed the theory, maintaining that Sumerian was a +real language and had been spoken by an earlier race whom the Semitic +Babylonians had conquered; and they explained the resemblance of some of +the Sumerian values to Semitic roots by supposing that Sumerian had +not been suddenly superseded by the language of the Semitic invaders +of Babylonia, but that the two tongues had been spoken for long periods +side by side and that each had been strongly influenced by the other. +This very probable and sane explanation has been fully corroborated +by subsequent excavations, particularly those that were carried out at +Telloh in Southern Babylonia by the late M. de Sarzec. In these mounds, +which mark the site of the ancient Sumerian city of Shirpurla, were +found thousands of clay tablets inscribed in archaic characters and in +the Sumerian language, proving that it had actually been the language of +the early inhabitants of Babylonia; while the examples of their art and +the representations of their form and features, which were also afforded +by the diggings at Telloh, proved once for all that the Sumerians were +a race of strongly marked characteristics and could not be ascribed to a +Semitic stock. + +The system of writing invented by the ancient Sumerians was adopted by +the Semitic Babylonians, who modified it to suit their own language. +Moreover, the archaic forms of the characters, many of which under the +Sumerians still retained resemblances to the pictures of objects from +which they were descended, were considerably changed. The lines, of +which they were originally composed, gave way to wedges, and the number +of the wedges of which each sign consisted was gradually diminished, so +that in the time of the Assyrians and the later Babylonians many of the +characters bore small resemblance to the ancient Sumerian forms +from which they had been derived. The reading of Sumerian and early +Babylonian inscriptions by the late Assyrian scribes was therefore an +accomplishment only to be acquired as the result of long study, and it +is interesting to note that as an assistance to the reading of these +early texts the scribes compiled lists of archaic signs. Sometimes +opposite each archaic character they drew a picture of the object from +which they imagined it was derived. This fact is significant as proving +that the Assyrian scribes recognized the pictorial origin of cuneiform +writing, but the pictures they drew opposite the signs are rather +fanciful, and it cannot be said that their guesses were very successful. +That we are able to criticize the theories of the Assyrians as to the +origin and forms of the early characters is in the main due to M. de +Sarzec’s labours, from whose excavations many thousands of inscriptions +of the Sumerians have been recovered. + +The main results of M. de Sarzec’s diggings at Telloh have already been +described by M. Maspero in his history, and therefore we need not go +over them again, but will here confine ourselves to the results which +have been obtained from recent excavations at Telloh and at other sites +in Western Asia. With the death of M. de Sarzec, which occurred in his +sixty-fifth year, on May 31, 1901, the wonderfully successful series of +excavations which he had carried out at Telloh was brought to an end. In +consequence it was feared at the time that the French diggings on this +site might be interrupted for a considerable period. Such an event would +have been regretted by all those who are interested in the early history +of the East, for, in spite of the treasures found by M. de Sarzec in the +course of his various campaigns, it was obvious that the site was far +from being exhausted, and that the tells as yet unexplored contained +inscriptions and antiquities extending back to the very earliest periods +of Sumerian history. + +[Illustration: 150.jpg FRAGMENT OF A LIST OF ARCHAIC CUNEIFORM SIGNS.] + + Opposite each the scribe has drawn a picture of the object + from which he imagined it was derived. Photograph by Messrs. + Mansell & Co. + +The announcement which was made in 1902, that the French government had +appointed Capt. Gaston Cros as the late M. de Sarzec’s successor, was +therefore received with general satisfaction. The fact that Capt. Cros +had already successfully carried out several difficult topographical +missions in the region of the Sahara was a sufficient guarantee that the +new diggings would be conducted on a systematic and exhaustive scale. + +The new director of the French mission in Chaldæa arrived at Telloh in +January, 1903, and one of his first acts was to shift the site of the +mission’s settlement from the bank of the Shatt el-Hai, where it had +always been established in the time of M. de Sarzec, to the mounds where +the actual digging took place. The Shatt el-Hai had been previously +chosen as the site of the settlement to ensure a constant supply of +water, and as it was more easily protected against attack by night. +But the fact that it was an hour’s ride from the diggings caused an +unnecessary loss of time, and rendered the strict supervision of the +diggers a matter of considerable difficulty. During the first season’s +work rough huts of reeds, surrounded by a wall of earth and a ditch, +served the new expedition for its encampment among the mounds of Telloh, +but last year these makeshift arrangements were superseded by a regular +house built out of the burnt bricks which are found in abundance on the +site. A reservoir has also been built, and caravans of asses bring water +in skins from the Shatt el-Hai to keep it filled with a constant supply +of water, while the excellent relations which Capt. Cros has established +with the Karagul Arabs, who occupy Telloh and its neighbourhood, have +proved to be the best kind of protection for the mission engaged in +scientific work upon the site. + +The group of mounds and hillocks, known as Telloh, which marks the site +of the ancient Sumerian city of Shirpurla, is easily distinguished from +the flat surrounding desert. The mounds extend in a rough oval formation +running north and south, about two and a half miles long and one and a +quarter broad. In the early spring, when the desert is covered with a +light green verdure, the ruins are clearly marked out as a yellow spot +in the surrounding green, for vegetation does not grow upon them. In the +centre of this oval, which approximately marks the limits of the ancient +city and its suburbs, are four large tells or mounds running, roughly, +north and south, their sides descending steeply on the east, but with +their western slopes rising by easier undulations from the plain. These +four principal tells are known as the “Palace Tell,” the “Tell of the +Fruit-house,” the “Tell of the Tablets,” and the “Great Tell,” and, +rising as they do in the centre of the site, they mark the position of +the temples and the other principal buildings of the city. + +An indication of the richness of the site in antiquities was afforded +to the new mission before it had started regular excavation and while +it was yet engaged in levelling its encampment and surrounding it with a +wall and ditch. The spot selected for the camp was a small mound to the +south of the site of Telloh, and here, in the course of preparing the +site for the encampment and digging the ditch, objects were found at +a depth of less than a foot beneath the surface of the soil. These +included daggers, copper vases, seal-cylinders, rings of lapis and +cornelian, and pottery. M. de Sarzec had carried out his latest +diggings in the Tell of the Tablets, and here Capt. Cros continued +the excavations and came upon the remains of buildings and recovered +numerous objects, dating principally from the period of Gudea and +the kings of Ur. The finds included small terra-cotta figures, a +boundary-stone of Gamil-Sin, and a new statue of Gudea, to which we will +refer again presently. + +In the Tell of the Fruit-house M. de Sarzec had already discovered +numbers of monuments dating from the earlier periods of Sumerian history +before the conquest and consolidation of Babylonia under Sargon of +Agade, and had excavated a primitive terrace built by the early king +Ur-Ninâ. Both on and around this large mound Capt. Cros cut an extensive +series of trenches, and in digging to the north of the mound he found a +number of objects, including an alabaster tablet of Ente-mena which had +been blackened by fire. At the foot of the tell he found a copper helmet +like those represented on the famous Stele of Vultures discovered by +M. de Sarzec, and among the tablets here recovered was one with an +inscription of the time of Urukagina, which records the complete +destruction of the city of Shirpurla during his reign, and will be +described in greater detail later on in this chapter. On the mound +itself a considerable area was uncovered with remains of buildings +still in place, the use of which appears to have been of an industrial +character. They included flights of steps, canals with raised banks, +and basins for storing water. Not far off are the previously discovered +wells of Bannadu, so that it is legitimate to suppose that Capt. Cros +has here come upon part of the works which were erected at a very early +period of Sumerian history for the distribution of water to this portion +of the city. + +[Illustration: 154.jpg Obelisk of Manishtusu.] + + An early Semitic king of the city of Kish in Babylonia. The + photograph is taken from M. de Morgan’s _Délégation en Perse, + Mém_., t. i, pi. ix. + +In the Palace Tell Capt. Cros has sunk a series of deep shafts to +determine precisely the relations which the buildings of Ur-Bau and +Gudea, found already on this part of the site, bear to each other, and +to the building of Adad-nadin-akhê, which had been erected there at +a much later period. Prom this slight sketch of the work carried out +during the last two years at Telloh it will have been seen that the +Prench mission in Chaldæa is at present engaged in excavations of a +most important character, which are being conducted in a regular and +scientific manner. As the area of the excavations marks the site of the +chief city of the Sumerians, the diggings there have yielded and +are yielding material of the greatest interest and value for the +reconstruction of the early history of Chaldæa. After briefly describing +the character and results of other recent excavations in Mesopotamia and +the neighbouring lands, we will return to the discoveries at Telloh and +sketch the new information they supply on the history of the earliest +inhabitants of the country. + +Another French mission that is carrying out work of the very greatest +interest to the student of early Babylonian history is that which is +excavating at Susa in Persia, under the direction of M. J. de Morgan, +whose work on the prehistoric and early dynastic sites in Egypt has +already been described. M. de Morgan’s first season’s digging at Susa +was carried out in the years 1897-8, and the success with which he met +from the very first, when cutting trenches in the mound which marks +the acropolis of the ancient city, has led him to concentrate his main +efforts in this part of the ruins ever since. Provisional trenches cut +in the part of the ruins called “the Royal City,” and in others of the +mounds at Susa, indicate that many remains may eventually be found there +dating from the period of the Achæmenian Kings of Persia. But it is in +the mound of the acropolis at Susa that M. de Morgan has found monuments +of the greatest historical interest and value, not only in the history +of ancient Elam, but also in that of the earliest rulers of Chaldæa. + +In the diggings carried out during the first season’s work on the site, +an obelisk was found inscribed on four sides with a long text of some +sixty-nine columns, written in Semitic Babylonian by the orders +of Manishtusu, a very early Semitic king of the city of Kish in +Babylonia.[* See illustration.] The text records the purchase by the +King of Kish of immense tracts of land situated at Kish and in +its neighbourhood, and its length is explained by the fact that it +enumerates full details of the size and position of each estate, and the +numbers and some of the names of the dwellers on the estates who were +engaged in their cultivation. After details have been given of a number +of estates situated in the same neighbourhood, a summary is appended +referring to the whole neighbourhood, and the fact is recorded that the +district dealt with in the preceding catalogue and summary had been duly +acquired by purchase by Manishtusu, King of Kish. The long text upon +the obelisk is entirely taken up with details of the purchase of the +territory, and therefore its subject has not any great historical value. +Mention is made in it of two personages, one of whom may possibly +be identified with a Babylonian ruler whose name is known from other +sources. If the proposed identification t should prove to be correct, +it would enable us to assign a more precise date to Manishtusu than has +hitherto been possible. One of the personages in question was a certain +Urukagina, the son of Engilsa, patesi of Shirpurla, and it has been +suggested that he is the same Urukagina who is known to have occupied +the throne of Shirpurla, though this identification would bring +Manishtusu down somewhat later than is probable from the general +character of his inscriptions. The other personage mentioned in the text +is the son of Manishtusu, named Mesalim, and there is more to be said +for the identification of this prince with Mesilim, the early King of +Kish, who reigned at a period anterior to that of Eannadu, patesi of +Shirpurla. + +The mere fact of so large and important an obelisk, inscribed with a +Semitic text by an early Babylonian king, being found at Susa was +an indication that other monuments of even greater interest might be +forthcoming from the same spot; and this impression was intensified when +a stele of victory was found bearing an inscription of Naram-Sin, the +early Semitic King of Agade, who reigned about 3750 B.C. One face of +this stele is sculptured with a representation of the king conquering +his enemies in a mountainous country. [* See illustration.] The king +himself wears a helmet adorned with the horns of a bull, and he carries +his battle-axe and his bow and an arrow. He is nearly at the summit of +a high mountain, and up its steep sides, along paths through the +trees which clothe the mountain, climb his allies and warriors bearing +standards and weapons. The king’s enemies are represented suing for +mercy as they turn to fly before him. One grasps a broken spear, while +another, crouching before the king, has been smitten in the throat by an +arrow from the king’s bow. On the plain surface of the stele above the +king’s head may be seen traces of an inscription of Narâm-Sin engraved +in three columns in the archaic characters of his period. From the few +signs of the text that remain, we gather that Narâm-Sin had conducted +a campaign with the assistance of certain allied princes, including the +Princes of Sidur, Saluni, and Lulubi, and it is not improbable that +they are to be identified with the warriors represented on the stele as +climbing the mountain behind Narâm-Sin. + +In reference to this most interesting stele of Narâm-Sin we may here +mention another inscription of this king, found quite recently at +Susa and published only this year, which throws additional light on +Narâm-Sin’s allies and on the empire which he and his father Sargon +founded. The new inscription was engraved on the base of a diorite +statue, which had been broken to pieces so that only the base with +a portion of the text remained. From this inscription we learn that +Narâm-Sin was the head of a confederation of nine chief allies, or +vassal princes, and waged war on his enemies with their assistance. +Among these nine allies of course the Princes of Sidur, Saluni, and +Lulubi are to be included. The new text further records that Narâm-Sin +made an expedition against Magan (the Sinaitic peninsula), and defeated +Manium, the lord of that region, and that he cut blocks of stone in the +mountains there and transported them to his city of Agade, where +from one of them he made the statue on the base of which the text was +inscribed. It was already known from the so-called “Omens of Sargon +and Narâm-Sin” (a text inscribed on a clay tablet from Ashur-bani-pal’s +library at Nineveh which associates the deeds of these two early rulers +with certain augural phenomena) that Narâm-Sin had made an expedition +to Sinai in the course of his reign and had conquered the king of the +country. The new text gives contemporary confirmation of this assertion +and furnishes us with additional information with regard to the name of +the conquered ruler of Sinai and other details of the campaign. + +That monuments of such great interest to the early history of Chaldæa +should have been found at Susa in Persia was sufficiently startling, +but an easy explanation was at first forthcoming from the fact that +Narâm-Sin’s stele of victory had been used by the later Elamite king, +Shutruk-Nakhkhunte, for an inscription of his own; this he had engraved +in seven long lines along the great cone in front of Narâm-Sin, which is +probably intended to represent the peak of the mountain. From the fact +that it had been used in this way by Shutruk-Nakhkhunte, it seemed +permissible to infer that it had been captured in the course of a +campaign and brought to Susa as a trophy of war. But we shall see later +on that the existence of early Babylonian inscriptions and monuments in +the mound of the acropolis at Susa is not to be explained in this way, +but was due to the wide extension of both Sumerian and Semitic influence +throughout Western Asia from the very earliest periods. This subject +will be treated more fully in the chapter dealing with the early history +of Blam. + +The upper surface of the tell of the acropolis at Susa for a depth of +nearly two metres contains remains of the buildings and antiquities +of the Achæmenian kings and others of both later and earlier dates. +In these upper strata of the mound are found remains of the +Arab, Sassanian, Parthian, Seleucian, and Persian periods, mixed +indiscriminately with one another and with Elamite objects and materials +of all ages, from that of the earliest patesis down to that of the +Susian kings of the seventh century B.C. + +[Illustration: 160.jpg BABIL.] + + The most northern of the mounds which now mark the site of + the ancient city of Babylon; used for centuries as a quarry + for building materials. + +The reason of this mixture of the remains of many races and periods is +that the later builders on the mound made use of the earlier building +materials which they found preserved within it. Along the skirts of the +mound may still be seen the foundations of the wall which formed the +principal defence of the acropolis in the time of Xerxes, and in many +places not only are the foundations preserved but large pieces of the +wall itself still rise above the surface of the soil. + +[Illustration: 160a.jpg “STELE OF VICTORY”] + +[Illustration: 160a-text.jpg TEXT FOR “STELE OF VICTORY”] + + Stele of Narâm-Sin, an early Semitic King of Agade in + Babylonia, who reigned about B. C. 3750. From the photograph + by Messrs. Mansell & Co. + +The plan of the wall is quite irregular, following the contours of the +mound, and, though it is probable that the wall was strengthened and +defended at intervals by towers, no trace of these now remains. The +wall is very thick and built of unburnt bricks, and the system of +fortification seems to have been extremely simple at this period. + + + +[Illustration: 161.jpg ROUGHLY HEWN SCULPTURE OF A LION STANDING OVER A +FALLEN MAN, FOUND AT BABYLON.] + + The group probably represents Babylon or the Babylonian king + triumphing over the country’s enemies. The Arabs regard the + figure as an evil spirit, and it is pitted with the marks of + bullets shot at it. They also smear it with filth when they + can do so unobserved; in the photograph some newly smeared + filth may be seen adhering to the side of the lion. + +The earlier citadel or fortress of the city of Susa was built at the top +of the mound and must have been a more formidable stronghold than that +of the Achæmenian kings, for, besides its walls, it had the additional +protection of the steep slopes of the mound. + +Below the depth of two metres from the surface of the mound are found +strata in which Elamite objects and materials are, no longer mixed with +the remains of later ages, but here the latest Elamite remains are found +mingled with objects and materials dating from the earliest periods of +Elam’s history. The use of un-burnt bricks as the principal material +for buildings erected on the mound in all ages has been another cause +of this mixture of materials, for it has little power of resistance to +water, and a considerable rain-storm will wash away large portions +of the surface and cause the remains of different strata to be mixed +indiscriminately with one another. In proportion as the trenches were +cut deeper into the mound the strata which were laid bare showed remains +of earlier ages than those in the upper layers, though here also remains +of different periods are considerably mixed. The only building that has +hitherto been discovered at Susa by M. de Morgan, the ground plan of +which was in a comparatively good state of preservation, was a small +temple of the god Shu-shinak, and this owed its preservation to the +fact that it was not built of unburnt brick, but was largely composed of +burnt brick and plaques and tiles of enamelled terra-cotta. + +But although the diggings of M. de Morgan at Susa have so far afforded +little information on the subject of Elamite architecture, the separate +objects found have enabled us to gain considerable knowledge of the +artistic achievements of the race during the different periods of +its existence. Moreover, the stelæ and stone records that have been +recovered present a wealth of material for the study of the long history +of Elam and of the kings who ruled in Babylonia during the earliest +ages. + +[Illustration: 163.jpg GENERAL VIEW OF THE EXCAVATIONS ON THE KASR AT +BABYLON.] + + Showing the depth in the mound to which the diggings are + carried. + +The most famous of M. de Morgan’s recent finds is the long code of +laws drawn up by Hammurabi, the greatest king of the First Dynasty of +Babylon.[1] This was engraved upon a huge block of black diorite, and +was found in the tell of the acropolis in the winter of 1901-2. This +document in itself has entirely revolutionized current theories as to +the growth and origin of the principal ancient legal codes. It proves +that Babylonia was the fountainhead from which many later races borrowed +portions of their legislative systems. Moreover, the subjects dealt +with in this code of laws embrace most of the different classes of the +Babylonian people, and it regulates their duties and their relations +to one another in their ordinary occupations and pursuits. It therefore +throws much light upon early Babylonian life and customs, and we shall +return to it in the chapter dealing with these subjects. + + [1] It will be noted that the Babylonian dynasties are + referred to throughout this volume as “First Dynasty,” + “Second Dynasty,” “Third Dynasty,” etc. They are thus + distinguished from the Egyptian dynasties, the order of + which is indicated by Roman numerals, e.g. “Ist Dynasty,” + “IId Dynasty,” “IIId Dynasty.” + +The American excavators at Nippur, under the direction of Mr. Haynes, +have done much in the past to increase our knowledge of Sumerian and +early Babylonian history, but the work has not been continued in +recent years, and, unfortunately, little progress has been made in the +publication of the material already accumulated. In fact, the leadership +in American excavation has passed from the University of Pennsylvania to +that of Chicago. This progressive university has sent out an expedition, +under the general direction of Prof. R. F. Harper (with Dr. E. J. Banks +as director of excavations), which is doing excellent work at Bismya, +and, although it is too early yet to expect detailed accounts of their +achievements, it is clear that they have already met with considerable +success. One of their recent finds consists of a white marble statue of +an early Sumerian king named Daudu, which was set up in the temple of +E-shar in the city of Udnun, of which he was ruler. From its archaic +style of workmanship it may be placed in the earliest period of Sumerian +history, and may be regarded as an earnest of what may be expected to +follow from the future labours of Prof. Harper’s expedition. + +[Illustration: 165.jpg WITHIN THE PALACE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR II.] + +At Fâra and at Abû Hatab in Babylonia, the Deutsch-Orient Gesellschaft, +under Dr. Koldewey’s direction, has excavated Sumerian and Babylonian +remains of the early period. At the former site they unearthed the +remains of many private houses and found some Sumerian tablets of +accounts and commercial documents, but little of historical interest; +and an inscription, which seems to have come from Abu Hatab, probably +proves that the Sumerian name of the city whose site it marks was +Kishurra. But the main centre of German activity in Babylonia is the +city of Babylon itself, where for the last seven years Dr. Koldewey has +conducted excavations, unearthing the palaces of Nebuchadnezzar II on +the mound termed the Kasr, identifying the temple of E-sagila under the +mound called Tell Amran ibn-Ali, tracing the course of the sacred way +between E-sagila and the palace-mound, and excavating temples dedicated +to the goddess Ninmakh and the god Ninib. + +[Illustration: 166.jpg EXCAVATIONS IN THE TEMPLE OP NINIB AT BABYLON.] + + In the middle distance may be seen the metal trucks running + on light rails which are employed on the work for the + removal of the débris from the diggings. + +Dr. Andrae, Dr. Koldewey’s assistant, has also completed the excavation +of the temple dedicated to Nabû at Birs Nimrud. On the principal mound +at this spot, which marks the site of the ancient city of Borsippa, +traces of the ziggurat, or temple tower, may still be seen rising from +the soil, the temple of Nabû lying at a lower level below the steep +slope of the mound, which is mainly made up of débris from the +ziggurat. Dr. Andrae has recently left Babylonia for Assyria, where +his excavations at Sher-ghat, the site of the ancient Assyrian city of +Ashur, are confidently expected to throw considerable light on the early +history of that country and the customs of the people, and already he +has made numerous finds of considerable interest. + +[Illustration: 167.jpg THE PRINCIPAL MOUND OF BIRS NIMRUD, WHICH MARKS +THE SITE OP THE ANCIENT CITY OP BORSIPPA.] + +Since the early spring of 1903 excavations have been conducted at +Kuyunjik, the site of the city of Nineveh, by Messrs. L. W. King and R. +C. Thompson on behalf of the Trustees of the British Museum, and have +resulted in the discovery of many early remains in the lower strata of +the mound, in addition to the finding of new portions of the two palaces +already known and partly excavated, the identification of a third +palace, and the finding of an ancient temple dedicated to Nabû, whose +existence had already been inferred from a study of the Assyrian +inscriptions.[2] All these diggings at Babylon, at Ashur, and at Nineveh +throw more light upon the history of the country during the Assyrian and +Neo-Babylonian periods, and will be referred to later in the volume. + + [2] It may be noted that excavations are also being actively + carried on in Palestine at the present time. Mr. Macalister + has for some years been working for the Palestine + Exploration Fund at Gezer; Dr. Schumacher is digging at + Megiddo for the German Palestine Society; and Prof. Sellin + is at present excavating at Taanach (Ta’annak) and will + shortly start work at Dothan. Good work on remains of later + historical periods is also being carried on under the + auspices of the Deutsch-Orient Gesellschaft at Ba’albek and + in Galilee. It would be tempting to include here a summary + of the very interesting results that have recently been + achieved in this fruitful field of archaeological research, + for it is true that these excavations may strictly be said + to bear on the history of a portion of Western Asia. But the + problems which they raise would more naturally be discussed + in a work dealing with recent excavation and research in + relation to the Bible, and to have summarized them + adequately would have increased the size of the present + volume considerably beyond its natural limits. They have + therefore not been included within the scope of the present + work. + +[Illustration: 168.jpg THE PRINCIPAL MOUND AT SHERGHAT, WHICH MARKS THE +SITE OF ASHUK, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE ASSYRIANS.] + +Meanwhile, we will return to the diggings described at the beginning +of this chapter, as affording new information concerning the earliest +periods of Chaldæan history. + +A most interesting inscription has recently been discovered by Capt. +Cros at Telloh, which throws considerable light on the rivalry which +existed between the cities of Shirpurla and Gishkhu, and at the same +time furnishes valuable material for settling the chronology of the +earliest rulers whose inscriptions have been found at Mppur and their +relations to contemporary rulers in Shirpurla. + +[Illustration: 169.jpg THE MOUND OF KUYUNJIK, WHICH FORMED ONE OF THE +PALACE MOUNDS OF THE ANCIENT ASSYRIAN CITY OF NINEVEH.] + +The cities of Gishkhu and Shirpurla were probably situated not far from +one another, and their rivalry is typical of the history of the early +city-states of Babylonia. The site of the latter city, as has already +been said, is marked by the mounds of Telloh on the east bank of the +Shatt el-Hai, the natural stream joining the Tigris and Euphrates, which +has been improved and canalized by the dwellers in Southern Babylonia +from the earliest period. + +[Illustration: 170.jpg WINGED BULL IN THE PALACE OF SENNACHERIB ON +KUYUNJIK, THE PRINCIPAL MOUND MARKING THE SITE OF NINEVEH.] + +The site of Gishkhu may be set with considerable probability not far to +the north of Telloh on the opposite bank of the Shatt el-Hai. These +two cities, situated so close to one another, exercised considerable +political influence, and though less is known of Gishkhu than of +the more famous Babylonian cities such as Ur, Brech, and Larsam, her +proximity to Shirpurla gave her an importance which she might not +otherwise have possessed. The earliest knowledge we possess of the +relations existing between Gishkhu and Shirpurla refers to the reign of +Mesilim, King of Kish, the period of whose rule may be provisionally set +before that of Sargon of Agade, i.e, about 4000 B.C. + +At this period there was rivalry between the two cities, in consequence +of which Mesilim, King of Kish, was called in as arbitrator. A record of +the treaty of delimitation that was drawn up on this occasion has been +preserved upon the recently discovered cone of Entemena. This document +tells us that at the command of the god Enlil, described as “the king +of the countries,” Ningirsu, the chief god of Shirpurla, and the god of +Gishkhu decided to draw up a line of division between their respective +territories, and that Mesilim, King of Kish, acting under the direction +of his own god Kadi, marked out the frontier and set up a stele between +the two territories to commemorate the fixing of the boundary. + +This policy of fixing the boundary by arbitration seems to have been +successful, and to have secured peace between Shirpurla and Gishkhu +for some generations. But after a period which cannot be accurately +determined a certain patesi of Gishkhu, named Ush, was filled with +ambition to extend his territory at the expense of Shirpurla. He +therefore removed the stele which Mesilim had set up, and, invading the +plain of Shirpurla, succeeded in conquering and holding a district named +Gu-edin. But Ush’s successful raid was not of any permanent benefit to +his city, for he was in his turn defeated by the forces of Shirpurla, +and his successor upon the throne, a patesi named Enakalli, abandoned a +policy of aggression, and concluded with Eannadu, patesi of Shirpurla, a +solemn treaty concerning the boundary between their realms, the text of +which has been preserved to us upon the famous Stele of Vultures in the +Louvre.[3] + + [3] A fragment of this stele is also preserved in the British + Museum. It is published in Cuneiform Texts in the British + Museum, Pt. vii. + +According to this treaty Gu-edin was restored to Shirpurla, and a deep +ditch was dug between the two territories which should permanently +indicate the line of demarcation. The stele of Mesilim was restored to +its place, and a second stele was inscribed and set up as a memorial +of the new treaty. Enakalli did not negotiate the treaty on equal terms +with Eannadu, for he only secured its ratification by consenting to pay +heavy tribute in grain for the supply of the great temples of Nin-girsu +and Ninâ in Shirpurla. It would appear that under Eannadu the power +and influence of Shirpurla were extended over the whole of Southern +Babylonia, and reached even to the borders of Elam. At any rate, it is +clear that during his lifetime the city of Gishkhu was content to remain +in a state of subjection to its more powerful neighbour. But it was +always ready to seize any opportunity of asserting itself and of +attempting to regain its independence. + +[Illustration: 172.jpg CLAY MEMORIAL-TABLET OF EANNADU.] + + The characters of the inscription well illustrate the + pictorial origin of the Sumerian system of writing. + Photograph by Messrs. Mansell & Co. + +Accordingly, after Eannadu’s death the men of Gishkhu again took the +offensive. At this time Urlumma, the son and successor of Enakalli, was +on the throne of Gishkhu, and he organized the forces of the city +and led them out to battle. His first act was to destroy the frontier +ditches named after Ningirsu and Ninâ, the principal god and goddess of +Shirpurla, which Eannadu, the powerful foe of Gishkhu, had caused to be +dug. He then tore down the stele on which the terms of Eannadu’s treaty +had been engraved and broke it into pieces by casting it into the fire, +and the shrines which Eannadu had built near the frontier, and had +consecrated to the gods of Shirpurla, he razed to the ground. But +again Shirpurla in the end proved too strong for Gishkhu. The ruler +in Shirpurla at this time was Enannadu, who had succeeded his brother +Eannadu upon the throne. He marched out to meet the invading forces +of the men of Gishkhu, and a battle was fought in the territory of +Shirpurla. According to one account, the forces of Shirpurla were +victorious, while on the cone of Ente-mena no mention is made of +the issue of the combat. The result may not have been decisive, but +Enannadu’s action at least checked Urlumma’s encroachments for the time. + +It would appear that the death of the reigning patesi in Shirpurla was +always the signal for an attack upon that city by the men of Gishkhu. +They may have hoped that the new ruler would prove a less successful +leader than the last, or that the accession of a new monarch might give +rise to internal dissensions in the city which would weaken Shirpurla’s +power of resisting a sudden attack. As Eannadu’s death had encouraged +Urlumma to lead out the men of Gishkhu, so the death of Enannadu seemed +to him a good opportunity to make another bid for victory. But this time +the result of the battle was not indecisive. Entemena had succeeded his +father Enannadu, and he led out to victory the forces of Shir-purla. The +battle was fought near the canal Lumma-girnun-ta, and when the men of +Gishkhu were put to flight they left sixty of their fellows lying dead +upon the banks of the canal. Entemena tells us that the bones of these +warriors were left to bleach in the open plain, but he seems to have +buried those of the men of Gishkhu who fell in the pursuit, for he +records that in five separate places he piled up burial-mounds in which +the bodies of the slain were interred. Entemena was not content with +merely inflicting a defeat upon the army of Gishkhu and driving it back +within its own borders, for he followed up his initial advantage and +captured the capital itself. He deposed and imprisoned Urlumma, and +chose one of his own adherents to rule as patesi of Gishkhu in his +stead. The man he appointed for this high office was named Hi, and he +had up to that time been priest in Ninâb. Entemena summoned him to his +presence, and, after marching in a triumphal procession from Girsu +in the neighbourhood of Shirpurla to the conquered city, proceeded to +invest him with the office of patesi of Gishkhu. + +Entemena also repaired the frontier ditches named after Ningirsu and +Ninâ, which had been employed for purposes of irrigation as well as for +marking the frontier; and he gave instructions to Hi to employ the men +dwelling in the district of Karkar on this work, as a punishment for +the active part they had taken in the recent raid into the territory of +Shirpurla. Entemena also restored and extended the system of canals +in the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates, lining one of the +principal channels with stone. + +[Illustration: 175.jpg MARBLE GATE] + + Marble Gate-Socket Bearing An Inscription Of Entemena, A Powerful + Patesi, Or Viceroy, Of Shirpurla. + In the photograph the gate-socket is resting on its side so as to + show the inscription, but when in use it was set flat upon the + ground and partly buried below the level of the pavement of the + building in which it was used. It was fixed at the side of a + gateway and the pivot of the heavy gate revolved in the shallow + hole or depression in its centre. As stone is not found in the + alluvial soil of Babylonia, the blocks for gate-sockets had to be + brought from great distances and they were consequently highly + prized. The kings and patesis who used them in their buildings + generally had their names and titles engraved upon them, and they + thus form a valuable class of inscriptions for the study of the + early history. Photograph by Messrs. Man-sell & Co. + +He thus added greatly to the wealth of Shirpurla by increasing the area +of territory under cultivation, and he continued to exercise authority +in Gishkhu by means of officers appointed by himself. A record of his +victory over Gishkhu was inscribed by Entemena upon a number of clay +cones, that the fame of it might be preserved in future days to the +honour of Ningirsu and the goddess Ninâ. He ends this record with a +prayer for the preservation of the frontier. If ever in time to come the +men of Gishkhu should break out across the frontier-ditch of Ningirsu, +or the frontier-ditch of Ninâ, in order to seize or lay waste the lands +of Shirpurla, whether they be men of the city of Gishkhu itself or men +of the mountains, he prays that Enlil may destroy them and that Ningirsu +may lay his curse upon them; and if ever the warriors of his own city +should be called upon to defend it, he prays that they may be full of +courage and ardour for their task. + +The greater part of this information with regard to the struggles +between Gishkhu and Shirpurla, between the period of Mesilim, King of +Kish, and that of Entemena, is supplied by the inscription of the latter +ruler which has been found written around a small cone of clay. There is +little doubt that the text was also engraved by the orders of Entemena +upon a stone stele which was set up, like those of Mesilim and Eannadu, +upon the frontier. Other copies of the inscription were probably +engraved and erected in the cities of Gishkhu and Shirpurla, and to +ensure the preservation of the record Entemena probably had numerous +copies of it made upon small cones of clay which were preserved and +possibly buried in the structure of the temples of Shirpurla. Entemena’s +foresight in this matter has been justified by results, for, while his +great memorials of stone have perished, the preservation of one of his +small cones has sufficed to make known to later ages his own and his +forefathers’ prowess in their continual contests with their ancient rival +Gishkhu. + +After the reign of Entemena we have little information with regard to +the relations between Gishkhu and Shirpurla, though it is probable that +the effects of his decisive victory continued to exercise a moderating +influence on Gishkhu’s desire for expansion and secured a period +of peaceful development for Shirpurla without the continual fear of +encroachments on the part of her turbulent neighbour. We may assume that +this period of tranquillity continued during the reigns of Enannadu II, +Enlitarzi, and Lugal-anda, but, when in the reign of Urukagina the men +of Gishkhu once more emerge from their temporary obscurity, they appear +as the authors of deeds of rapine and bloodshed committed on a scale +that was rare even in that primitive age. + +In the earlier stages of their rivalry Gishkhu had always been defeated, +or at any rate checked, in her actual conflicts with Shirpurla. When +taking the aggressive the men of Gishkhu seem generally to have confined +themselves to the seizure of territory, such as the district of Gu-edin, +which was situated on the western bank of the Shaft el-Hai and divided +from their own lands only by the frontier-ditch. If they ever actually +crossed the Shaft el-Hai and raided the lands on its eastern bank, they +never ventured to attack the city of Shirpurla itself. And, although +their raids were attended with some success in their initial stages, the +ruling patesis of Shirpurla were always strong enough to check them; and +on most occasions they carried the war into the territory of Gishkhu, +with the result that they readjusted the boundary on their own terms. +But it would appear that all these primitive Chalæan cities were subject +to alternate periods of expansion and defeat, and Shirpurla was not an +exception to the rule. It was probably not due so much to Urukagina’s +personal qualities or defects as a leader that Shirpurla suffered +the greatest reverse in her history during his reign, but rather to +Gishkhu’s gradual increase in power at a time when Shirpurla herself +remained inactive, possibly lulled into a false sense of security by the +memory of her victories in the past. Whatever may have been the cause of +Gishkhu’s final triumph, it is certain that it took place in Urukagina’s +reign, and that for many years afterwards the hegemony of Southern +Babylonia remained in her hands, while Shirpurla for a long period +passed completely out of existence as an independent or semi-independent +state. + +The evidence of the catastrophe that befell Shirpurla at this period is +furnished by a small clay tablet recently found at Telloh during Captain +Cros’s excavations on that site. The document on which the facts in +question are recorded had no official character, and in all probability +it had not been stored in any library or record chamber. The actual spot +at Telloh where it was found was to the north of the mound in which +the most ancient buildings have been recovered, and at the depth of two +metres below the surface. No other tablets appear to have been found +near it, but that fact in itself would not be sufficient evidence on +which to base any theory as to its not having originally formed part of +the archives of the city. Its unofficial character is attested by the +form of the tablet and the manner in which the information upon it is +arranged. In shape there is little to distinguish the document from the +tablets of accounts inscribed in the reign of Urukagina, great numbers +of which have been found recently at Telloh. Roughly square in shape, +its edges are slightly convex, and the text is inscribed in a series of +narrow columns upon both the obverse and the reverse. The text itself +is not a carefully arranged composition, such as are the votive and +historical inscriptions of early Sumerian rulers. It consists of a +series of short sentences enumerating briefly and without detail the +separate deeds of violence and sacrilege performed by the men of Gishkhu +after their capture of the city. It is little more than a catalogue or +list of the shrines and temples destroyed during the sack of the city, +or defiled by the blood of the men of Shirpurla who were slain therein. +No mention is made in the list of the palace of the Urukagina, or of any +secular building, or of the dwellings of the citizens themselves. There +is little doubt that these also were despoiled and destroyed by the +victorious enemy, but the writer of the tablet is not concerned for the +moment with the fate of his city or his fellow citizens. He appears to +be overcome with the thought of the deeds of sacrilege committed against +his gods; his mind is entirely taken up with the magnitude of the +insult offered to the god Ningirsu, the city-god of Shirpurla. His bare +enumeration of the deeds of sacrilege and violence loses little by its +brevity, and, when he has ended the list of his accusations against the +men of Gishkhu, he curses the goddess to whose influence he attributes +their success. + +No composition at all like this document has yet been recovered, and as +it is not very long we may here give a translation of the text. It will +be seen that the writer plunges at once into the subject of his +charges against the men of Gishkhu. No historical _résumé_ prefaces +his accusations, and he gives no hint of the circumstances that have +rendered their delivery possible. The temples of his city have been +profaned and destroyed, and his indignation finds vent in a mere +enumeration of their titles. To his mind the facts need no comment, +for to him it is barely conceivable that such sacred places of ancient +worship should have been defiled. He launches his indictment against +Gishkhu in the following terms: “The men of Gishkhu have set fire to the +temple of E-ki [... ], they have set fire to Antashura, and they have +carried away the silver and the precious stones therefrom! They have +shed blood in the palace of Tirash, they have shed blood in Abzubanda, +they have shed blood in the shrine of Enlil and in the shrine of the +Sun-god, they have shed blood in Akhush, and they have carried away the +silver and the precious stones therefrom! They have shed blood in the +Gikana of the sacred grove of the goddess Ninmakh, and they have carried +away the silver and the precious stones therefrom! They have shed blood +in Baga, and they have carried away the silver and the precious stones +therefrom! They have shed blood in Abzu-ega, they have set fire to +the temple of Gatumdug, and they have carried away the silver and the +precious stones therefrom, and have destroyed her statue! They have set +fire to the.... of the temple E-anna of the goddess Ninni, and they +have carried away the silver and the precious stones therefrom, and have +destroyed her statue! They have shed blood in Shapada, and they have +carried away the silver and precious stones therefrom! They have.... +in Khenda, they have shed blood in the temple of Nindar in the town +of Kiab, and they have carried away the silver and the precious stones +therefrom! They have set fire to the temple of Dumuzi-abzu in the town +of Kinunir, and they have carried away the silver and the precious +stones therefrom! They have set fire to the temple of Lugaluru, and they +have carried away the silver and the precious stones therefrom! They +have shed blood in E-engura, the temple of the goddess Ninâ, and they +have carried away the silver and the precious stones therefrom! They +have shed blood in Sag..., the temple of Amageshtin, and the silver +and the precious stones of Amageshtin have they carried away! They have +removed the grain from Ginarbaniru, the field of the god Ningirsu, +so much of it as was under cultivation! The men of Gishkhu, by the +despoiling of Shirpurla, have committed a transgression against the god +Ningirsu! The power that is come unto them, from them shall be taken +away! Of transgression on the part of Urukagina, King of Girsu, there +is none. As for Lugalzaggisi, patesi of Gishkhu, may his goddess Ni-daba +bear on her head (the weight of) this transgression!” + +Such is the account, which has come down to us from the rough tablet of +some unknown scribe, of the greatest misfortune experienced by Shirpurla +during the long course of her history. Many of the great temples +mentioned in the text as among those which were burnt down and despoiled +of their treasures are referred to more than once in the votive and +historical inscriptions of earlier rulers of Shirpurla, who occupied the +throne before the ill-fated Urukagina. The names of some of them, too, +are to be found in the texts of the later pate-sis of that city, so +that it may be concluded that in course of time they were rebuilt and +restored to their former splendour. But there is no doubt that the +despoiling and partial destruction of Shirpurla in the reign of +Urukagina had a lasting effect upon the fortunes of that city, and +effectively curtailed her influence among the greater cities of Southern +Babylonia. + +We may now turn our attention to the leader of the men of Gishkhu, under +whose direction they achieved their final triumph over their ancient, +and for long years more powerful, rival Shirpurla. The writer of our +tablet mentions his name in the closing words of his text when he curses +him and his goddess for the destruction and sacrilege that they have +wrought. “As for Lugalzaggisi,” he says, “patesi of Gishkhu, may his +goddess Nidaba bear on her head (the weight of ) this transgression!” + Now the name of Lugalzaggisi has been found upon a number of fragments +of vases made of white calcite stalagmite which were discovered by Mr. +Haynes during his excavations at Nippur. All the vases were engraved +with the same inscription, so that it was possible by piecing the +fragments of text together to obtain a more or less complete copy of +the records which were originally engraved upon each of them. From +these records we learned for the first time, not only the name of +Lugalzaggisi, but the fact that he founded a powerful coalition of +cities in Babylonia at what was obviously a very early period in the +history of the country. In the text he describes himself as “King of +Erech, king of the world, the priest of Ana, the hero of Nidaba, the +son of Ukush, patesi of Gishkhu, the hero of Nidaba, the man who was +favourably regarded by the sure eye of the King of the Lands (i.e. +the god Enlil), the great patesi of Enlil, unto whom understanding was +granted by Enki, the chosen of the Sun-god, the exalted minister of +Enzu, endowed with strength by the Sun-god, the worshipper of Ninni, the +son who was conceived by Nidaba, who was nourished by Ninkharsag with +the milk of life, the attendant of Umu, priestess of Erech, the servant +who was trained by Ninâgidkhadu, the mistress of Erech, the great +minister of the gods.” Lugalzaggisi then goes on to describe the extent +of his dominion, and he says: “When the god Enlil, the lord of the +countries, bestowed upon Lugalzaggisi the kingdom of the world, and +granted unto him success in the sight of the world, when he filled the +lands with his power, and conquered them from the rising of the sun unto +the setting of the same, at that time he made straight his path from the +Lower Sea of the Tigris and Euphrates unto the Upper Sea, and he granted +him dominion over all from the rising of the sun unto the setting of the +same, so that he caused the lands to dwell in peace.” + +Now when first the text of this inscription was published there existed +only vague indications of the date to be assigned to Lugalzaggisi and +the kingdom that he founded. It was clear from the titles which he bore, +that, though Gishkhu was his native place, he had extended his authority +far beyond that city and had chosen Erech as his capital. Moreover, +he claimed an empire extending from “the Lower Sea of the Tigris and +Euphrates unto the Upper Sea.” There is no doubt that the Lower Sea here +mentioned is the Persian Gulf, and it has been suggested that the Upper +Sea may be taken to be the Mediterranean, though it may possibly have +been Lake Van or Lake Urmi. But whichever of these views might be +adopted, it was clear that Lugalzaggisi was a great conqueror, and had +achieved the right to assume the high-sounding title of lugal halama, +“king of the world.” In these circumstances it was of the first +importance for the study of primitive Chaldæan history and chronology +to ascertain approximately the period at which Lugalzaggisi reigned. + +The evidence on which such a question could be provisionally settled was +of the vaguest and most uncertain character, but such as it was it +had to suffice, in the absence of more reliable data. In settling all +problems connected with early Chaldæan chronology, the starting-point +was, and in fact still is, the period of Sargon I, King of Agade, +inasmuch as the date of his reign is settled, according to the reckoning +of the scribes of Nabonidus, as about 3800 B.C. It is true that this +date has been called in question, and ingenious suggestions for amending +it have been made by some writers, while others have rejected it +altogether, holding that it merely represented a guess on the part of +the late Babylonians and could be safely ignored in the chronological +schemes which they brought forward. But nearly every fresh discovery +made in the last few years has tended to confirm some point in the +traditions current among the later Babylonians with regard to the +earlier history of their country. Consequently, reliance may be placed +with increased confidence on the truth of such traditions as a +whole, and we may continue to accept those statements which yet await +confirmation from documents more nearly contemporary with the early +period to which they refer. It is true that such a date as that assigned +by Nabonidus to Sargon is not to be regarded as absolutely fixed, for +Nabonidus is obviously speaking in round numbers, and we may allow for +some minor inaccuracies in the calculations of his scribes. But it is +certain that the later Babylonian priests and scribes had a wealth of +historical material at their disposal which has not come down to us. We +may therefore accept the date given by Nabonidus for Sargon of Agade +and his son Narâm-Sin as approximately accurate, and this is also the +opinion of the majority of writers on early Babylonian history. + +The diggings at Nippur furnished indications that certain inscriptions +found on that site and written in a very archaic form of script were +to be assigned to a period earlier than that of Sargon. One class of +evidence was obtained from a careful study of the different levels at +which the inscriptions and the remains of buildings were found. At a +comparatively deep level in the mound inscriptions of Sargon himself +were recovered, along with bricks stamped with the name of Narâm-Sin, +his son. It was, therefore, a reasonable conclusion roughly to date the +particular stratum in which these objects were found to the period of +the empire established by Sargon, with its centre at Agade. Later on +excavations were carried to a lower level, and remains of buildings +were discovered which appeared to belong to a still earlier period +of civilization. An altar was found standing in a small enclosure +surrounded by a kind of curb. Near by were two immense clay vases which +appeared to have been placed on a ramp or inclined plane leading up to +the altar, and remains were also found of a massive brick building in +which was an arch of brick. No inscriptions were actually found at this +level, but in the upper level assigned to Sargon were a number of texts +which might very probably be assigned to the pre-Sargonic period. None +of these were complete, and they had the appearance of having been +intentionally broken into small fragments. There was therefore something +to be said for the theory that they might have been inscribed by the +builders of the construction in the lowest levels of the mound, and that +they were destroyed and scattered by some conqueror who had laid their +city in ruins. + +But all such evidence derived from noting the levels at which +inscriptions are found is in its nature extremely uncertain and liable +to many different interpretations, especially if the strata show signs +of having been disturbed. Where a pavement or building is still intact, +with the inscribed bricks of the builder remaining in their original +positions, conclusions may be confidently drawn with regard to the age +of the building and its relative antiquity to the strata above and below +it. But the strata in the lowest levels at Nippur, as we have seen, were +not in this condition, and such evidence as they furnished could only be +accepted if confirmed by independent data. Such confirmation was to be +found by examination of the early inscriptions themselves. + +It has been remarked that most of them were broken into small pieces, +as though by some invader of the country; but this was not the case with +certain gate-sockets and great blocks of diorite which were too hard +and big to be easily broken. Moreover, any conqueror of a city would be +unlikely to spend time and labour in destroying materials which might +be usefully employed in the construction of other buildings which he +himself might erect. Stone could not be obtained in the alluvial plains +of Babylonia and had to be quarried in the mountains and brought great +distances. + +[Illustration: 188.jpg STONE GATE] + + Stone Gate-Socket Bearing An Inscription of Uk-Engur, An Early King + of The City Of Ur. Photograph by Messrs. Mansell & Co. + +From any building of his predecessors which he razed to the ground, an +invader would therefore remove the gate-sockets and blocks of stone for +his own use, supposing he contemplated building on the site. If he left +the city in ruins and returned to his own country, some subsequent king, +when clearing the ruined site for building operations, might come across +the stones, and he would not leave them buried, but would use them for +his own construction. And this is what actually did happen in the case +of some of the building materials of one of these early kings, from the +lower strata of Nippur. Certain of the blocks which bore the name of +Lugalkigubnidudu had been used again by Sargon, King of Agade, who +engraved his own name upon them without obliterating the name of the +former king. + +It followed that Lugalkigubnidudu belonged to the pre-Sargonic period, +and, although the same conclusive evidence was not forthcoming in the +case of Lugalzag-gisi, he also without much hesitation was set in +this early period, mainly on the strength of the archaic forms of the +characters employed in his inscriptions. In fact, they were held to be +so archaic that, not only was he said to have reigned before Sargon of +Agade, but he was set in the very earliest period of Chaldæan history, +and his empire was supposed to have been contemporaneous with the very +earliest rulers of Shirpurla. The new inscription found by Captain +Cros will cause this opinion to be considerably modified. While it +corroborates the view that Lugalzaggisi is to be set in the pre-Sargonic +period, it proves that he lived and reigned very shortly before him. As +we have already seen, he was the contemporary of Urukagina, who belongs +to the middle period of the history of Shirpurla. Lugalzaggisi’s capture +and sack of the city of Shirpurla was only one of a number of conquests +which he achieved. His father Ukush had been merely patesi of the city +of Gish-khu, but he himself was not content with the restricted sphere +of authority which such a position implied, and he eventually succeeded +in enforcing his authority over the greater part of Babylonia. From +the fact that he styles himself King of Erech, we may conclude that +he removed his capital from Ukush to that city, after having probably +secured its submission by force of arms. In fact, his title of “king of +the world” can only have been won as the result of many victories, and +Captain Cros’s tablet gives us a glimpse of the methods by which he +managed to secure himself against the competition of any rival. The +capture of Shirpurla must have been one of his earliest achievements, +for its proximity to Gish-khu rendered its reduction a necessary +prelude to any more extensive plan of conquest. But the kingdom which +Lugalzaggisi founded cannot have endured long. + +Under Sargon of Agade, the Semites gained the upper hand in Babylonia, +and Erech, Grishkhu, and Shirpurla, as well as the other ancient cities +in the land, fell in turn under his domination and formed part of the +extensive empire which he ruled. + +Concerning the later rulers of city-states of Babylonia which succeeded +the disruption of the empire founded by Sargon of Agade and consolidated +by Narâm-Sin, his son, the excavations have little to tell us which has +not already been made use of by Prof. Maspero in his history of this +period.[4] + + [4] The tablets found at Telloh by the late M. de Sarzec, and + published during his lifetime, fall into two main classes, + which date from different periods in early Chaldæan + history. The great majority belong to the period when the + city of Ur held pre-eminence among the cities of Southern + Babylonia, and they are dated in the reigns of Dungi, Bur- + Sin, Gamil-Sin, and Ine-Sin. The other and smaller + collection belongs to the earlier period of Sargon and + Narâm-Sin; while many of the tablets found in M. de Sarzec’s + last diggings, which were published after his death, are to + be set in the great gap between these two periods. Some of + those recently discovered, which belong to the period of + Dungi, contain memoranda concerning the supply of food for + the maintenance of officials stopping at Shirpurla in the + course of journeys in Babylonia and Elam, and they throw an + interesting light on the close and constant communication + which took place at this time between the great cities of + Mesopotamia and the neighbouring countries. + +[Illustration: 190.jpg STATUE OF GUDEA.] + + The most famous of the later patesis, or viceroys, of + Shirpurla, the Sumerian city in Southern Babylonia now + marked by the mounds of Telloh. Photograph by Messrs. + Mansell & Co. + +Ur, Isin, and,Larsam succeeded one another in the position of leading +city in Babylonia, holding Mppur, Eridu, Erech, Shirpurla, and the other +chief cities in a condition of semi-dependence upon themselves. We may +note that the true reading of the name of the founder of the dynasty +of Ur has now been ascertained from a syllabary to be Ur-Engur; and an +unpublished chronicle in the British Museum relates that his son Dungi +cared greatly for the city of Eridu, but sacked Babylon and carried off +its spoil, together with the treasures from E-sagila, the great temple +of Marduk. Such episodes must have been common at this period when each +city was striving for hegemony. Meanwhile, Shirpurla remained the centre +of Sumerian influence in Babylonia, and her patesis were content to owe +allegiance to so powerful a ruler as Dungi, King of Ur, while at all +times exercising complete authority within their own jurisdiction. + +During the most recent diggings that have been carried out at Telloh a +find of considerable value to the history of Sumerian art has been +made. The find is also of great general interest, since it enables us +to identify a portrait of Gudea, the most famous of the later Sumerian +patesis. In the course of excavating the Tell of Tablets Captain Cros +found a little seated statue made of diorite. It was not found in place, +but upside down, and appeared to have been thrown with other débris +scattered in that portion of the mound. On lifting it from the trench it +was seen that the head of the statue was broken off, as is the case +with all the other statues of Gudea found at Telloh. The statue bore an +inscription of Gudea, carefully executed and well preserved, but it +was smaller than other statues of the same ruler that had been +already recovered, and the absence of the head thus robbed it of any +extraordinary interest. On its arrival at the Louvre, M. Léon Heuzey was +struck by its general resemblance to a Sumerian head of diorite formerly +discovered by M. de Sarzec at Telloh, which has been preserved in the +Louvre for many years. On applying the head to the newly found statue, +it was found to fit it exactly, and to complete the monument, and we +are thus enabled to identify the features of Gudea. Prom a photographic +reproduction of this statue, it is seen that the head is larger than +it should be, in proportion to the body, a characteristic which is also +apparent in a small Sumerian statue preserved in the British Museum. + +[Illustration: 192.jpg TABLET INSCRIBED IN SUMERIAN WITH DETAILS OF A +SURVEY OF CERTAIN PROPERTY.] + + Probably situated in the neighbourhood of Telloh. The + circular shape is very unusual, and appears to have been + used only for survey-tablets. Photograph by Messrs. Mansell + & Co. + +Gudea caused many statues of himself to be made out of the hard diorite +which he brought for that purpose from the Sinaitic peninsula, and from +the inscriptions preserved upon them it is possible to ascertain the +buildings in which they were originally placed. Thus one of the statues +previously found was set up in the temple of Ninkharsag, two others in +E-ninnû, the temple of the god Ningirsu, three more in the temple of the +goddess Bau, one in E-anna, the temple of the goddess Ninni, and another +in the temple of Gatumdug. The newly found statue of the king was made +to be set up in the temple erected by Gudea at Girsu in honour of the +god Ningishzida, as is recorded in the inscription engraved on the front +of the king’s robe, which reads as follows: + +“In the day when the god Ningirsu, the strong warrior of Enlil, granted +unto the god Ningishzida, the son of Ninâzu, the beloved of the gods, +(the guardianship of) the foundation of the city and of the hills and +valleys, on that day Gudea, patesi of Shirpurla, the just man who +loveth his god, who for his master Ningirsu hath constructed his temple +E-ninnu, called the shining Imgig, and his temple E-pa, the temple +of-the seven zones of heaven, and for the goddess Ninâ, the queen, his +lady, hath constructed the temple Sirara-shum, which riseth higher than +(all) the temples in the world, and hath constructed their temples for +the great gods of Lagash, built for his god Ningishzida his temple in +Girsu. Whosoever shall proclaim the god Ningirsu as his god, even as +I proclaim him, may he do no harm unto the temple of my god! May he +proclaim the name of this temple! May that man be my friend, and may he +proclaim my name! Gudea hath made the statue, and ‘Unto - Gudea - the +- builder - of - the - temple - hath life-been-given hath he called its +name, and he hath brought it into the temple.” + +The long name which Gudea gave to the statue, “Unto - Gudea - the - +builder - of - the - temple - hath - life-been-given,” is characteristic +of the practice of the Sumerian patesis, who always gave long and +symbolical names to statues, stelae, and sacred objects dedicated and +set up in their temples. The occasion on which the temple was built, and +this statue erected within it, seems to have been the investiture of +the god Ningishzida with special and peculiar powers, and it possibly +inaugurated his introduction into the pantheon of Shirpurla. Ningishzida +is called in the inscription the son of Ninazu, who was the husband of +the Queen of the Underworld. + +In one of his aspects he was therefore probably a god of the underworld +himself, and it is in this character that he was appointed by Ningirsu +as guardian of the city’s foundations. But “the hills and valleys” + (i.e. the open country) were also put under his jurisdiction, so that +in another aspect he was a god of vegetation. It is therefore not +improbable that, like the god Dumuzi, or Tammuz, he was supposed to +descend into the underworld in winter, ascending to the surface of the +earth with the earliest green shoots of vegetation in the spring.* + + * Cf. Thureau-Dangin, Rev. d’Assyr., vol. vi. (1904), p. 24. + +A most valuable contribution has recently been made to our knowledge of +Sumerian religion and of the light in which these early rulers regarded +the cult and worship of their gods, by the complete interpretation of +the long texts inscribed upon the famous cylinders of Gudea, the patesi +of Shirpurla, which have been preserved for many years in the Louvre. +These two great cylinders of baked clay were discovered by the late M. +de Sarzec so long ago as the year 1877, during the first period of his +diggings at Telloh, and, although the general nature of their contents +has long been recognized, no complete translation of the texts inscribed +upon them had been published until a few months ago. M. Thureau-Dangin, +who has made the early Sumerian texts his special study, has devoted +himself to their interpretation for some years past, and he has just +issued the first part of his monograph upon them. In view of the +importance of the texts and of the light they throw upon the religious +beliefs and practices of the early Sumerians, a somewhat detailed +account of their contents may here be given. + +The occasion on which the cylinders were made was the rebuilding by +Gudea of E-ninnû, the great temple of the god Ningirsu, in the city of +Shirpurla. The two cylinders supplement one another, one of them having +been inscribed while the work of construction was still in progress, the +other after the completion of the temple, when the god Ningirsu had been +installed within his shrine with due pomp and ceremony. It would appear +that Southern Babylonia had been suffering from a prolonged drought, and +that the water in the rivers and canals had fallen, so that the crops +had suffered and the country was threatened with famine. Gudea was at a +loss to know by what means he might restore prosperity to his country, +when one night he had a dream, and it was in consequence of this dream +that he eventually erected one of the most sumptuously appointed of +Sumerian temples. By this means he secured the return of Ningirsu’s +favour and that of the other gods, and his country once more enjoyed the +blessings of peace and prosperity. + +In the opening words of the first of his cylinders Gudea describes how +the great gods themselves took counsel and decreed that he should build +the temple of E-ninnû and thereby restore to his city the supply of +water it had formerly enjoyed. He records that on the day on which the +destinies were fixed in heaven and upon earth, Enlil, the chief of the +gods, and Ningirsu, the city-god of Shirpurla, held converse. And Enlil, +turning to Ningirsu, said: “In my city that which is fitting is not +done. The stream doth not rise. The stream of Enlil doth not rise. The +high waters shine not, neither do they show their splendour. The stream +of Enlil bringeth not good water like the Tigris. Let the King (i.e. +Ningirsu) therefore proclaim the temple. Let the decrees of the temple +E-ninnû be made illustrious in heaven and upon earth!” The great gods +did not communicate their orders directly to Gudea, but conveyed their +wishes to him by means of a dream. And while the patesi slept a vision +of the night came to him, and he beheld a man whose stature was so great +that it equalled the heavens and the earth. And by the crown he wore +upon his head Gudea knew that the figure must be a god. And by his side +was the divine eagle, the emblem of Shirpurla, and his feet rested upon +the whirlwind, and a lion was crouching upon his right hand and upon his +left. And the figure spoke to the patesi, but he did not understand the +meaning of the words. Then it seemed to Gudea that the sun rose from +the earth and he beheld a woman holding in her hand a pure reed, and she +carried also a tablet on which was a star of the heavens, and she seemed +to take counsel with herself. And while Gudea was gazing he seemed to +see a second man who was like a warrior; and he carried a slab of lapis +lazuli and on it he drew out the plan of a temple. And before the patesi +himself it seemed that a fair cushion was placed, and upon the cushion +was set a mould, and within the mould was a brick, the brick of destiny. +And on the right hand the patesi beheld an ass which lay upon the +ground. + +Such was the dream which Gudea beheld in a vision of the night, and he +was troubled because he could not interpret it. So he decided to go +to the goddess Ninâ, who could divine all mysteries of the gods, and +beseech her to tell him the meaning of the vision. But before applying +to the goddess for her help, he thought it best to secure the mediation +of the god Ningirsu and the goddess Gatumdug, in order that they should +use their influence with Ninâ to induce her to reveal the interpretation +of the dream. So the patesi set out to the temple of Ningirsu, and, +having offered a sacrifice and poured out fresh water, he prayed to the +god that his sister, Ninâ, the child of Eridu, might be prevailed upon +to give him help. And the god hearkened to his prayer. Then Gudea made +offerings, and before the sleeping-chamber of the goddess Gatumdug he +offered a sacrifice and poured out fresh water. And he prayed to the +goddess, calling her his queen and the child of the pure heaven, who +gave life to the countries and befriended and preserved the people or +the man on whom she looked with favour. + +“I have no mother,” cried Gudea, “but thou art my mother! I have no +father, but thou art a father to me!” And the goddess Gatumdug gave +ear to the patesi’s prayer. Thus encouraged by her favour and that of +Ningirsu, Gudea set out for the temple of the goddess Ninâ. + +On his arrival at the temple, the patesi offered a sacrifice and poured +out fresh water, as he had already done when approaching the presence of +Ningirsu and Gatumdug. And he prayed to Ninâ, as the goddess who divines +the secrets of the gods, beseeching her to interpret the vision that had +been sent to him; and he then recounted to her the details of his dream. +When the patesi had finished his story, the goddess addressed him and +told him that she would explain the meaning of his dream to him. And +this was the interpretation of the dream. The man whose stature was so +great that it equalled the heavens and the earth, whose head was that +of a god, at whose side was the divine eagle, whose feet rested on the +whirlwind, while a lion couched on his right hand and on his left, was +her brother, the god Ningirsu. And the words which he uttered were an +order to the patesi that he should build the temple E-ninnû. And the sun +which rose from the earth before the patesi was the god Ningishzida, +for like the sun he goes forth from the earth. And the maiden who held +a pure reed in her hand, and carried the tablet with the star, was her +sister, the goddess Nidaba: the star was the pure star of the temple’s +construction, which she proclaimed. And the second man, who was like a +warrior and carried the slab of lapis lazuli, was the god Nindub, and the +plan of the temple which he drew was the plan of E-ninnû. And the brick +which rested in its mould upon the cushion was the sacred brick of +E-ninnû. And as for the ass which lay upon the ground, that, the goddess +said, was the patesi himself. + +Having interpreted the meaning of the dream, the goddess Ninâ proceeded +to give Gudea instruction as to how he should go to work to build the +temple. She told him first of all to go to his treasure-house and bring +forth his treasures from their sealed cases, and out of these to make +certain offerings which he was to place near the god Ningirsu, in the +temple in which he was dwelling at that time. The offerings were to +consist of a chariot, adorned with pure metal and precious stones; +bright arrows in a quiver; the weapon of the god, his sacred emblem, on +which Gudea was to inscribe his own name; and finally a lyre, the music +of which was wont to soothe the god when he took counsel with himself. +Ninâ added that if the patesi carried out her instructions and made the +offerings she had specified, Ningirsu would reveal to him the plan on +which the temple was to be built, and would also bless him. Gudea bowed +himself down in token of his submission to the commands of the goddess, +and proceeded to execute them forthwith. He brought out his treasures, +and from the precious woods and metals which he possessed his craftsmen +fashioned the objects he was to present, and he set them in Ningirsu’s +temple near to the god. He worked day and night, and, having prepared a +suitable spot in the precincts of the temple at the place of judgment, +he spread out upon it as offerings a fat sheep and a kid and the skin of +a young female kid. Then he built a fire of cypress and cedar and other +aromatic woods, to make a sweet savour, and, entering the inner chamber +of the temple, he offered a prayer to Ningirsu. He said that he wished +to build the temple, but he had received no sign that this was the will +of the god, and he prayed for a sign. + +While he prayed the patesi was stretched out upon the ground, and the +god, standing near his head, then answered him. He said that he who +should build his temple was none other than Gudea, and that he would +give him the sign for which he asked. But first he described the plan +on which the temple was to be built, naming its various shrines and +chambers and describing the manner in which they were to be fashioned +and adorned. And the god promised that when Gudea should build the +temple, the land would once more enjoy abundance, for Ningirsu would +send a wind which should proclaim to the heavens the return of the +waters. And on that day the waters would fall from the heavens, the +water in the ditches and canals would rise, and water would gush out +from the dry clefts in the ground. And the great fields would once +more produce their crops, and oil would be poured out plenteously in +Sumer[sp.] and wool would again be weighed in great abundance. In that +day the god would go to the mountain where dwelt the whirlwind, and he +would himself direct the wind which should give the land the breath of +life. Gudea must therefore work day and night at the task of building +the temple. One company of men was to relieve another at its toil, and +during the night the men were to kindle lights so that the plain should +be as bright as day. Thus the builders would build continuously. Men +were also to be sent to the mountains to cut down cedars and pines and +other trees and bring their trunks to the city, while masons were to go +to the mountains and were to cut and transport huge blocks of stone to +be used in the construction of the temple. Finally the god gave Gudea +the sign for which he asked. The sign was that he should feel his side +touched as by a flame, and thereby he should know that he was the man +chosen by Ningirsu to carry out his commands. + +Gudea bowed his head in submission, and his first act was to consult the +omens, and the omens were favourable. He then proceeded to purify the +city by special rites, so that the mother when angered did not chide her +son, and the master did not strike his servant’s head, and the mistress, +though provoked by her handmaid, did not smite her face. And Gudea drove +all the evil wizards and sorcerers from the city, and he purified and +sanctified the city completely. Then he kindled a great fire of cedar +and other aromatic woods, to make a sweet savour for the gods, and +prayers were offered day and night; and the patesi addressed a prayer +to the Anun-naki, or Spirits of the Earth, who dwelt in Shirpurla, +and assigned a place to them in the temple. Then, having completed +his purification of the city itself, he consecrated its immediate +surroundings. Thus he consecrated the district of Gu-edin, whence the +revenues of Ningirsu were derived, and the lands of the goddess Ninâ +with their populous villages. And he consecrated the wild and savage +bulls which no man could turn aside, and the cedars which were sacred +to Ningirsu, and the cattle of the plains. And he consecrated the armed +men, and the famous warriors, and the warriors of the Sun-god. And the +emblems of the god Ningirsu, and of the two great goddesses, Ninâ and +Ninni, he installed before them in their shrines. + +Then Gudea sent far and wide to fetch materials for the construction of +the temple. And the Elamite came from Elani, and men of Susa came from +Susa, and men brought wood from the mountains of Sinai and Melukh-kha. +And into the mountain of cedars, where no man before had penetrated, +the patesi cut a road, and he brought cedars and beams of other precious +woods in great quantities to the city. And he also made a road into the +mountain where stone was quarried, into places where no man before had +penetrated. And he carried great blocks of stone down from the mountain +and loaded them into barges and brought them to the city. And the barges +brought bitumen and plaster, and they were loaded as though they were +carrying grain, and all manner of great things were brought to the +city. Copper ore was brought from the mountain of copper in the land of +Kimash, and gold was brought in powder from the mountains, and silver +was brought from the mountains and porphyry from the land of Melukhkha, +and marble from the mountain of marble. And the patesi installed +goldsmiths and silversmiths, who wrought in these precious metals, for +the adornment of the temple; and he brought smiths who worked in copper +and lead, who were priests of Nin-tu-kalama. In his search for fitting +materials for the building of the temple, Gudea journeyed from the lower +country to the upper country, and from the upper country to the lower +country he returned. + +The only other materials now wanting for the construction of the temple +were the sun-dried bricks of clay, of which the temple platform and +the structure of the temple itself were in the main composed. Their +manufacture was now inaugurated by a symbolical ceremony carried out by +the patesi in person. At dawn he performed an ablution with the fitting +rites that accompanied it, and when the day was more advanced he slew +a bull and a kid as sacrifices, and he then entered the temple of +Ningirsu, where he prostrated himself. And he took the sacred mould +and the fair cushion on which it rested in the temple, and he poured a +libation into the mould. Afterwards, having made offerings of honey and +butter, and having burnt incense, he placed the cushion and the mould +upon his head and carried it to the appointed place. There he placed +clay in the mould, shaping it into a brick, and he left the brick in its +mould within the temple. And last of all he sprinkled oil of cedar-wood +around. + +The next day at dawn Gudea broke the mould and set the brick in the sun. +And the Sun-god was rejoiced at the brick that he had fashioned. And +Gudea took the brick and raised it on high towards the heavens, and he +carried the brick to his people. In this way the patesi inaugurated the +manufacture of the sun-dried bricks for the temple, the sacred brick +which he had made being the symbol and pattern of the innumerable bricks +to be used in its construction. He then marked out the plan of the +temple, and the text states that he devoted himself to the building of +the temple like a young man who has begun building a house and allows +no pleasure to interfere with his task. And he chose out skilled workmen +and employed them on the building, and he was filled with joy. The gods, +too, are stated to have helped with the building, for Enki fixed the +temennu of the temple, and the goddess Ninâ looked after its oracles, +and Gatumdug, the mother of Shir-purla, fashioned bricks for it morning +and evening, while the goddess Bau sprinkled aromatic oil of cedar-wood. +Gudea himself laid its foundations, and as he did so he blessed the +temple seven times, comparing it to the sacred brick, to the holy +libation-vase, to the divine eagle of Shirpurla, to a terrible couching +panther, to the beautiful heavens, to the day of offerings, and to the +morning light which brightens the land. He caused the temple to rise +towards heaven like a mountain, or like a cedar growing in the desert. +He built it of bricks of Sumer, and the timbers which he set in place +were as strong as the dragon of the deep. + +While he was engaged on the building Gudea took counsel of the god Enki, +and he built a fountain for the gods, where they might drink. With the +great stones which he had brought and fashioned he built a reservoir +and a basin for the temple. And seven of the great stones he set up as +stelæ, and he gave them favourable names. The text then recounts +the various parts and shrines of the temple, and it describes their +splendours in similes drawn from the heavens and the earth and the +abyss, or deep, beneath the earth. The temple itself is described as, +being like the crescent of the new moon, or like the sun in the midst +of the stars, or like a mountain of lapis lazuli, or like a mountain of +shining marble. Parts of it are said to have been terrible and strong as +a savage bull, or a lion, or the antelope of the abyss, or the monster +Lakhamu who dwells in the abyss, or the sacred leopard that inspires +terror. One of the doors of the temple was guarded by a figure of the +hero who slew the monster with six heads, and at another door was a good +dragon, and at another a lion; opposite the city were set figures of +the seven heroes, and facing the rising sun was fixed the emblem of the +Sun-god. Figures of other heroes and favourable monsters were set up as +guardians of other portions of the temple. The fastenings of the main +entrance were decorated with dragons shooting out their tongues, and the +bolt of the great door was fashioned like a raging hound. + +After this description of the construction and adornment of the +temple the text goes on to narrate how Gudea arranged for its material +endowment. He stalled oxen and sheep, for sacrifice and feasting, in the +outhouses and pens within the temple precincts, and he heaped up grain +in its granaries. Its storehouses he filled with spices so that +they were like the Tigris when its waters are in flood, and in its +treasure-chambers he piled up precious stones, and silver, and lead in +abundance. Within the temple precincts he planted a sacred garden which +was like a mountain covered with vines; and on the terrace he built +a great reservoir, or tank, lined with lead, in addition to the great +stone reservoir within the temple itself. He constructed a special +dwelling-place for the sacred doves, and among the flowers of the temple +garden and under the shade of the great trees the birds of heaven flew +about unmolested. + +The first of the two great cylinders of Gudea ends at this point in the +description of the temple, and it is evident that its text was composed +while the work of building was still in progress. Moreover, the writing +of the cylinder was finished before the actual work of building the +temple was completed, for the last column of the text concludes with a +prayer to Ningirsu to make it glorious during the progress of the work, +the prayer ending with the words, “O Ningirsu, glorify it! Glorify the +temple of Ningirsu during its construction!” The text of the second of +the two great cylinders is shorter than that of the first, consisting +of twenty-four instead of thirty columns of writing, and it was composed +and written after the temple was completed. Like the first of the +cylinders, it concludes with a prayer to Ningirsu on behalf of the +temple, ending with the similar refrain, “O Ningirsu, glorify it! +Glorify the temple of Ningirsu after its construction!” The first +cylinder, as we have seen, records how it came about that Gudea decided +to rebuild the temple E-ninnû in honour of Ningirsu. It describes how, +when the land was suffering from drought and famine, Gudea had a dream, +how Ninâ interpreted the dream to mean that he must rebuild the temple, +and how Ningirsu himself promised that this act of piety would restore +abundance and prosperity to the land. Its text ends with the long +description of the sumptuous manner in which the patesi carried out the +work, the most striking points of which we have just summarized. The +narrative of the second cylinder begins at the moment when the building +of the temple was finished, and when all was ready for the great god +Nin-girsu to be installed therein, and its text is taken up with a +description of the ceremonies and rites with which this solemn function +was carried out. It presents us with a picture, drawn from life, of the +worship and cult of the ancient Sumerians in actual operation. In view +of its importance from the point of view of the study and comparison of +the Sumerian and Babylonian religious systems, its contents also may be +summarized. We will afterwards discuss briefly the information furnished +by both the cylinders on the Sumerian origin of many of the religious +beliefs and practices which were current among the later Semitic +inhabitants of Babylonia and Assyria. + +When Gudea had finished building the new temple of E-ninnû, and had +completed the decoration and adornment of its shrines, and had planted +its gardens and stocked its treasure-chambers and storehouses, he +applied himself to the preliminary ceremonies and religious preparations +which necessarily preceded the actual function of transferring the +statue of the god Ningirsu from his old temple to his new one. Gudea’s +first act was to install the Anunnaki, or Spirits of the Earth, in the +new temple, and when he had done this, and had supplied additional +sheep for their sacrifices and food in abundance for their offerings, he +prayed to them to give him their assistance and to pronounce a prayer at +his side when he should lead Ningirsu into his new dwelling-place. +The text then describes how Gudea went to the old temple of Ningirsu, +accompanied by his protecting spirits who walked before him and behind +him. Into the old temple he carried sumptuous offerings, and when he +had set them before the god, he addressed him in prayer and said: “O +my King, Ningirsu! O Lord, who curbest the raging waters! O Lord, whose +word surpasseth all others! O Son of Enlil, O warrior, what commands +shall I faithfully carry out? O Ningirsu, I have built thy temple, and +with joy would I lead thee therein, and my goddess Bau would install at +thy side.” We are told that the god accepted Gudea’s prayer, and thereby +he gave his consent to be removed from the old temple of E-ninnû to his +new one which bore the same name. + +But the ceremony of the god’s removal was not carried out at once, for +the due time had not arrived. The year ended, and the new year came, +and then “the month of the temple” began. The third day of the month +was that appointed for the installation of Ningirsu. Gudea meanwhile had +sprinkled the ground with oil, and set out offerings of honey and butter +and wine, and grain mixed with milk, and dates, and food untouched +by fire, to serve as food for the gods; and the gods themselves had +assisted in the preparations for the reception of Ningirsu. The god +Asaru made ready the temple itself, and Ninmada performed the ceremony +of purification. The god Enki issued oracles, and the god Nindub, the +supreme priest of Eridu, brought incense. Ninâ performed chants within +the temple, and brought black sheep and holy cows to its folds and +stalls. This record of the help given by the other gods we may interpret +as meaning that the priests attached to the other great Sumerian +temples took part in the preparation of the new temple, and added their +offerings to the temple stores. To many of the gods, also, special +shrines within the temple were assigned. + +When the purification of E-ninnû was completed and the way between +the old temple and the new made ready, all the inhabitants of the city +prostrated themselves on the ground. “The city,” says Gudea, “was like +the mother of a sick man who prepareth a potion for him, or like the +cattle of the plain which lie down together, or like the fierce lion, +the master of the plain, when he coucheth.” During the day and the night +before the ceremony of removal, prayers and supplications were uttered, +and at the first light of dawn on the appointed day the god Ningirsu +went into his new temple “like a whirlwind,” the goddess Bau entering +at his side “like the sun rising over Shirpurla.” She entered beside his +couch, like a faithful wife, whose cares are for her own household, and +she dwelt beside his ear and bestowed abundance upon Shirpurla. + +As the day began to brighten and the sun rose, Gudea set out as +offerings in the temple a fat ox and a fat sheep, and he brought a vase +of lead and filled it with wine, which he poured out as a libation, and +he performed incantations. Then, having duly established Ningirsu and +Bau in the chief shrine, he turned his attention to the lesser gods and +installed them in their appointed places in the temple, where they would +be always ready to assist Ningirsu in the temple ceremonies and in the +issue of his decrees for the welfare of the city and its inhabitants. +Thus he established the god Galalim, the son of Ningirsu, in a chosen +spot in the great court in front of the temple, where, under the orders +of his father, he should direct the just and curb the evil-doer; he +would also by his presence strengthen and preserve the temple, while +his special duty was to guard the throne of destiny and, on behalf of +Ningirsu, to place the sceptre in the hands of the reigning patesi. +Near to Ningirsu and under his orders Gudea also established the god +Dunshaga, whose function it was to sanctify the temple and to look after +its libations and offerings, and to see to the due performance of the +ceremonies of ablution. This god would offer water to Ningirsu with a +pure hand, he would pour out libations of wine and strong drink, and +would tend the oxen, sheep, kids, and other offerings which were brought +to the temple night and day. To the god Lugalkurdub, who was also +installed in the temple, was assigned the privilege of holding in his +hand the mace with the seven heads, and it was his duty to open the door +of the Gate of Combat. He guarded the sacred weapons of Ningirsu and +destroyed the countries of his enemies. He was Ningirsu’s chief leader +in battle, and another god with lesser powers was associated with him as +his second leader. + +Ningirsu’s counsellor was the god Lugalsisa, and he also had his +appointed place in E-ninnû. It was his duty to receive the prayers +of Shirpurla and render them propitious; he superintended and blessed +Ningirsu’s journey when he visited Eridu or returned from that city, +and he made special intercessions for the life of Gudea. The minister of +Ningirsu’s harîm was the god Shakanshabar, and he was installed near to +Nin-girsu that he might issue his commands, both great and small. The +keeper of the harîm was the god Urizu, and it was his duty to purify the +water and sanctify the grain, and he tended Ningirsu’s sleeping-chamber +and saw that all was arranged therein as was fitting. The driver of +Ningirsu’s chariot was the god Ensignun; it was his duty to keep the +sacred chariot as bright as the stars of heaven, and morning and evening +to tend and feed Ningirsu’s sacred ass, called Ug-kash, and the ass +of Eridu. The shepherd of Ningirsu’s kids was the god Enlulim, and he +tended the sacred she-goat who suckled the kids, and he guarded her so +that the serpent should not steal her milk. This god also looked +after the oil and the strong drink of E-ninnû, and saw that its store +increased. + +Ningirsu’s beloved musician was the god Ushum-gabkalama, and he was +installed in E-ninnû that he might take his flute and fill the temple +court with joy. It was his privilege to play to Ningirsu as he listened +in his harîm, and to render the life of the god pleasant in E-ninnû. +Ningirsu’s singer was the god Lugaligi-khusham, and he had his appointed +place in E-ninnû, for he could appease the heart and soften anger; he +could stop the tears which flowed from weeping eyes, and could lessen +sorrow in the sighing heart. Gudea also installed in E-ninnû the seven +twin-daughters of the goddess Bau, all virgins, whom Ningirsu had +begotten. Their names were Zarzaru, Impaë, Urenuntaëa, Khegir-nuna, +Kheshaga, Gurmu, and Zarmu. Gudea installed them near their father that +they might offer favourable prayers. + +The cultivator of the district of Gu-edin was the god Gishbare, and he +was installed in the temple that he might cause the great fields to be +fertile, and might make the wheat glisten in Gu-edin, the plain assigned +to Ningirsu for his revenues. It was this god’s duty also to tend the +machines for irrigation, and to raise the water into the canals and +ditches of Shirpurla, and thus to keep the city’s granaries well filled. +The god Kal was the guardian of the fishing in Gu-edin, and his chief +duty was to place fish in the sacred pools. The steward of Gu-edin was +the god Dimgalabzu, whose duty it was to keep the plain in good order, +so that the birds might abound there and the beasts might raise their +young in peace; he also guarded the special privilege, which the plain +enjoyed, of freedom from any tax levied upon the increase of the +cattle pastured there. Last of all Gudea installed in E-ninnû the god +Lugalenurua-zagakam, who looked after the construction of houses in the +city and the building of fortresses upon the city wall; in the temple it +was his privilege to raise on high a battle-axe made of cedar. + +All these lesser deities, having close relations to the god Ningirsu, +were installed by Gudea in his temple in close proximity to him, that +they might be always ready to perform their special functions. But the +greater deities also had their share in the inauguration of the temple, +and of these Gudea specially mentions Ana, Enlil, Ninkharsag, Enki, and +Enzu, who all assisted in rendering the temple’s lot propitious. For at +least three of the greater gods (Ana, Enlil, and the goddess Nin-makh) +Gudea erected shrines near one another and probably within the temple’s +precincts, and, as the passage which records this fact is broken, it is +possible that the missing portion of the text recorded the building of +shrines to other deities. In any case, it is clear that the composer +of the text represents all the great gods as beholding the erection and +inauguration of Ningirsu’s new temple with favour. + +After the account of the installation of Ningirsu, and his spouse Bau, +and his attendant deities, the text records the sumptuous offerings +which Gudea placed within Ningirsu’s shrine. These included another +chariot drawn by an ass, a seven-headed battle-axe, a sword with nine +emblems, a bow with terrible arrows and a quiver decorated with wild +beasts and dragons shooting out their tongues, and a bed which was +set within the god’s sleeping-chamber. On the couch in the shrine the +goddess Bau reclined beside her lord Ningirsu, and ate of the great +victims which were sacrificed in their honour. + +When the ceremony of installation had been successfully performed, Gudea +rested, and for seven days he feasted with his people. During this time +the maid was the equal of her mistress, and master and servant consorted +together as friends. The powerful and the humble man lay down side by +side, and in place of evil speech only propitious words were heard. The +rich man did not wrong the orphan and the strong man did not oppress the +widow. The laws of Ninâ and Ningirsu were observed, justice was bright +in the sunlight, and the Sun-god trampled iniquity under foot. The +building of the temple also restored material prosperity to the land, +for the canals became full of water and fish swarmed in the pools, the +granaries were filled with grain and the flocks and herds brought forth +their increase. The city of Shirpurla was satiated with abundance. + +Such is a summary of the account which Gudea has left us of his +rebuilding of the temple E-ninnû, of the reasons which led him to +undertake the work, and of the results which followed its completion. It +has often been said that the inscriptions of the ancient Sumerians are +without much intrinsic value, that they mainly consist of dull votive +formulæ, and that for general interest the best of them cannot be +compared with the later inscriptions of the Semitic inhabitants +of Mesopotamia. This reproach, for which until recently there was +considerable justification, has been finally removed by the working +out of the texts upon Gudea’s cylinders. For picturesque narrative, for +wealth of detail, and for striking similes, it would be hard to find +their superior in Babylonian and Assyrian literature. They are, in fact, +very remarkable compositions, and in themselves justify the claim that +the Sumerians were possessed of a literature in the proper sense of the +term. + +But that is not their only value, for they give a vivid picture of +ancient Sumerian life and of the ideals and aims which actuated the +people and their rulers. The Sumerians were essentially an unmilitary +race. That they could maintain a stubborn fight for their territory is +proved by the prolonged struggle maintained by Shirpurla against her +rival Gishkhu, but neither ruler nor people was inflamed by love of +conquest for its own sake. They were settled in a rich and fertile +country, which supplied their own wants in abundance, and they were +content to lead a peaceful life therein, engaged in agricultural and +industrial pursuits, and devoted wholly to the worship of their gods. +Gudea’s inscriptions enable us to realize with what fervour they carried +out the rebuilding of a temple, and how the whole resources of the +nation were devoted to the successful completion of the work. It is true +that the rebuilding of E-ninnû was undertaken in a critical period when +the land was threatened with famine, and the peculiar magnificence with +which the work was carried out may be partly explained as due to the +belief that such devotion would ensure a return of material prosperity. +But the existence of such a belief is in itself an index to the people’s +character, and we may take it that the record faithfully represents the +relations of the Sumerians to their gods, and the important place which +worship and ritual occupied in the national life. + +Moreover, the inscriptions of Gudea furnish much valuable information +with regard to the details of Sumerian worship and the elaborate +organization of the temples. From them we can reconstruct a picture of +one of these immense buildings, with its numerous shrines and courts, +surrounded by sacred gardens and raising its ziggurat, or temple tower, +high above the surrounding city. Within its dark chambers were the +mysterious figures of the gods, and what little light could enter would +have been reflected in the tanks of sacred water sunk to the level of +the pavement. The air within the shrines must have been heavy with the +smell of incense and of aromatic woods, while the deep silence would +have been broken only by the chanting of the priests and the feet of +those that bore offerings. Outside in the sunlight cedars and other rare +trees cast a pleasant shade, and birds flew about among the flowers and +bushes in the outer courts and on the garden terraces. The area covered +by the temple buildings must have been enormous, for they included the +dwellings of the priests, stables and pens for the cattle, sheep, and +kids employed for sacrifice, and treasure-chambers and storehouses and +granaries for the produce from the temple lands. + +We also get much information with regard to the nature of the offerings +and the character of the ceremonies which were performed. We may mention +as of peculiar interest Gudea’s symbolical rite which preceded the +making of the sun-dried bricks, and the ceremony of the installation of +Ningirsu in the presence of the prostrate city. The texts also throw +an interesting light on the truly Oriental manner in which, when +approaching one deity for help, the cooperation and assistance of other +deities were first secured. Thus Gudea solicited the intercession of +Ningirsu and Gatumdug before applying to the goddess Ninâ to interpret +his dream. The extremely human character of the gods themselves is also +well illustrated. Thus we gather from the texts that Ningirsu’s temple +was arranged like the palace of a Sumerian ruler and that he was +surrounded by gods who took the place of the attendants and ministers +of his human counterpart. His son was installed in a place of honour and +shared with him the responsibility of government. Another god was his +personal attendant and cupbearer, who offered him fair water and looked +after the ablutions. Two more were his generals, who secured his country +against the attacks of foes. Another was his counsellor, who received +and presented petitions from his subjects and superintended his +journeys. Another was the head of his harîm, a position of great +trust and responsibility, while a keeper of the harîm looked after the +practical details. Another god was the driver of his chariot, and it +is interesting to note that the chariot was drawn by an ass, for horses +were not introduced into Western Asia until a much later period. Other +gods performed the functions of head shepherd, chief musician, chief +singer, head cultivator and inspector of irrigation, inspector of the +fishing, land steward, and architect. His household also included his +wife and his seven virgin daughters. In addition to the account of the +various functions performed by these lesser deities, the texts also +furnish valuable facts with regard to the characters and attributes +of the greater gods and goddesses, such as the attributes of Ningirsu +himself, and the character of Ninâ as the goddess who divined and +interpreted the secrets of the gods. + +But perhaps the most interesting conclusions to be drawn from the texts +relate to the influence exerted by the ancient Sumerians upon Semitic +beliefs and practices. It has, of course, long been recognized that the +later Semitic inhabitants of Babylonia and Assyria drew most of their +culture from the Sumerians, whom they displaced and absorbed. Their +system of writing, the general structure of their temples, the ritual of +their worship, the majority of their religious compositions, and many of +their gods themselves are to be traced to a Sumerian origin, and much of +the information obtained from the cylinders of Gudea merely confirms +or illustrates the conclusions already deduced from other sources. As +instances we may mention the belief in spirits, which is illustrated by +the importance attached to the placating of the Anunnaki, or Spirits of +the Earth, to whom a special place and special offerings were assigned +in E-ninnû. The Sumerian origin of ceremonies of purification is +confirmed by Gudea’s purification of the city before beginning the +building of the temple, and again before the transference of the god +from his old temple to the new one. The consultation of omens, which was +so marked a feature of Babylonian and Assyrian life, is seen in actual +operation under the Sumerians; for, even after Gudea had received direct +instructions from Ningirsu to begin building his temple, he did not +proceed to carry them out until he had consulted the omens and found +that they were favourable. Moreover, the references to mythological +beings, such as the seven heroes, the dragon of the deep, and the god +who slew the dragon, confirm the opinion that the creation legends and +other mythological compositions of the Babylonians were derived by them +from Sumerian sources. But there are two incidents in the narrative +which are on a rather different plane and are more startling in their +novelty. One is the story of Gudea’s dream, and the other the sign +which he sought from his god. The former is distinctly apocalyptic in +character, and both may be parallelled in what is regarded as purely +Semitic literature. That such conceptions existed among the Sumerians is +a most interesting fact, and although the theory of independent origin +is possible, their existence may well have influenced later Semitic +beliefs. + + + + +CHAPTER V--ELAM AND BABYLON, THE COUNTRY OF THE SEA AND THE KASSITES + + +Up to five years ago our knowledge of Elam and of the part she played in +the ancient world was derived, in the main, from a few allusions to the +country to be found in the records of Babylonian and Assyrian kings. It +is true that a few inscriptions of the native rulers had been found in +Persia, but they belonged to the late periods of her history, and the +majority consisted of short dedicatory formulae and did not supply us +with much historical information. But the excavations carried on since +then by M. de Morgan at Susa have revealed an entirely new chapter of +ancient Oriental history, and have thrown a flood of light upon the +position occupied by Elam among the early races of the East. + +Lying to the north of the Persian Gulf and to the east of the Tigris, +and rising from the broad plains nearer the coast to the mountainous +districts within its borders on the east and north, Elam was one of the +nearest neighbours of Chaldæa. A few facts concerning her relations with +Babylonia during certain periods of her history have long been known, +and her struggles with the later kings of Assyria are known in some +detail; but for her history during the earliest periods we have had to +trust mainly to conjecture. That in the earlier as in the later periods +she should have been in constant antagonism with Babylonia might +legitimately be suspected, and it is not surprising that we should find +an echo of her early struggles with Chaldæa in the legends which were +current in the later periods of Babylonian history. In the fourth and +fifth tablets, or sections, of the great Babylonian epic which describes +the exploits of the Babylonian hero Gilgamesh, a story is told of an +expedition undertaken by Gilgamesh and his friend Ba-bani against an +Elamite despot named Khum-baba. It is related in the poem that Khumbaba +was feared by all who dwelt near him, for his roaring was like the +storm, and any man perished who was rash enough to enter the cedar-wood +in which he dwelt. But Gilgamesh, encouraged by a dream sent him by +Sha-mash, the Sun-god, pressed on with his friend, and, having entered +the wood, succeeded in slaying Khumbaba and in cutting off his head. +This legend is doubtless based on episodes in early Babylonian and +Elamite history. Khumbaba may not have been an actual historical ruler, +but at least he represents or personifies the power of Elam, and the +success of Gilgamesh no doubt reflects the aspirations with which many a +Babylonian expedition set out for the Elamite frontier. + +Incidentally it may be noted that the legend possibly had a still closer +historical parallel, for the name of Khumbaba occurs as a component in +a proper name upon one of the Elamite contracts found recently by M. de +Morgan at Mai-Amir. The name in question is written _Khumbaba-arad-ili_, +“Khumbaba, the servant of God,” and it proves that at the date at which +the contract was written (about 1300-1000 B.C.) the name of Khumbaba was +still held in remembrance, possibly as that of an early historical ruler +of the country. + +In her struggles with Chaldæa, Elam was not successful during the +earliest historical period of which we have obtained information; and, +so far as we can tell at present, her princes long continued to own +allegiance to the Semitic rulers whose influence was predominant from +time to time in the plains of Lower Mesopotamia. Tradition relates that +two of the earliest Semitic rulers whose names are known to us, Sargon +and Narâm-Sin, kings of Agade, held sway in Elam, for in the “Omens” + which were current in a later period concerning them, the former is +credited with the conquest of the whole country, while of the latter it +is related that he conquered Apirak, an Elamite district, and captured +its king. Some doubts were formerly cast upon these traditions inasmuch +as they were found in a text containing omens or forecasts, but these +doubts were removed by the discovery of contemporary documents by which +the later traditions were confirmed. Sargon’s conquest of Elam, for +instance, was proved to be historical by a reference to the event in a +date-formula upon tablets belonging to his reign. Moreover, the event +has received further confirmation from an unpublished tablet in the +British Museum, containing a copy of the original chronicle from which +the historical extracts in the “Omens” were derived. The portion of +the composition inscribed upon this tablet does not contain the lines +referring to Sargon’s conquest of Elam, for these occurred in an earlier +section of the composition; but the recovery of the tablet puts beyond +a doubt the historical character of the traditions preserved upon the +omen-tablet as a whole, and the conquest of Elam is thus confirmed +by inference. The new text does recount the expedition undertaken by +Narâm-Sin, the son of Sargon, against Apirak, and so furnishes a direct +confirmation of this event. + +Another early conqueror of Elam, who was probably of Semitic origin, +was Alu-usharshid, king of the city of Kish, for, from a number of his +inscriptions found near those of Sargon at Nippur in Babylonia, we learn +that he subdued Elam and Para’se, the district in which the city of Susa +was probably situated. From a small mace-head preserved in the British +Museum we know of another conquest of Elam by a Semitic ruler of this +early period. The mace-head was made and engraved by the orders of +Mutabil, an early governor of the city of Dûr-ilu, to commemorate his +own valour as the man “who smote the head of the hosts” of Elam. Mutabil +was not himself an independent ruler, and his conquest of Elam must have +been undertaken on behalf of the suzerain to whom he owed allegiance, +and thus his victory cannot be classed in the same category as those of +his predecessors. A similar remark applies to the success against +the city of Anshan in Elam, achieved by Grudea, the Sumerian ruler +of Shirpurla, inasmuch as he was a patesi, or viceroy, and not an +independent king. Of greater duration was the influence exercised over +Elam by the kings of Ur, for bricks and contract-tablets have been found +at Susa proving that Dungi, one of the most powerful kings of Ur, and +Bur-Sin, Ine-Sin, and Oamil-Sin, kings of the second dynasty in that +city, all in turn included Elam within the limits of their empire. + +Such are the main facts which until recently had been ascertained +with regard to the influence of early Babylonian rulers in Elam. The +information is obtained mainly from Babylonian sources, and until +recently we have been unable to fill in any details of the picture +from the Elamite side. But this inability has now been removed by M. +de Morgan’s discoveries. From the inscribed bricks, cones, stelæ, and +statues that have been brought to light in the course of his excavations +at Susa, we have recovered the name of a succession of native Elamite +rulers. All those who are to be assigned to this early period, during +which Elam owed allegiance to the kings of Babylonia, ascribe to +themselves the title of _patesi_, or viceroy, of Susa, in acknowledgment +of their dependence. Their records consist principally of building +inscriptions and foundation memorials, and they commemorate the +construction or repair of temples, the cutting of canals, and the like. +They do not, therefore, throw much light upon the problems connected +with the external history of Elam during this early period, but we +obtain from them a glimpse of the internal administration of the +country. We see a nation without ambition to extend its boundaries, and +content, at any rate for the time, to owe allegiance to foreign rulers, +while the energies of its native princes are devoted exclusively to the +cultivation of the worship of the gods and to the amelioration of the +conditions of the life of the people in their charge. + +A difficult but interesting problem presents itself for solution at the +outset of our inquiry into the history of this people as revealed by +their lately recovered inscriptions,--the problem of their race and +origin. Found at Susa in Elam, and inscribed by princes bearing purely +Elamite names, we should expect these votive and memorial texts to be +written entirely in the Elamite language. But such is not the case, +for many of them are written in good Semitic Babylonian. While some +are entirely composed in the tongue which we term Elamite or Anzanite, +others, so far as their language and style is concerned, might have been +written by any early Semitic king ruling in Babylonia. Why did early +princes of Susa make this use of the Babylonian tongue? + +At first sight it might seem possible to trace a parallel in the use of +the Babylonian language by kings and officials in Egypt and Syria +during the fifteenth century B.C., as revealed in the letters from +Tell el-Amarna. But a moment’s thought will show that the cases are not +similar. The Egyptian or Syrian scribe employed Babylonian as a medium +for his official foreign correspondence because Babylonian at that +period was the _lingua franca_ of the East. But the object of the +early Elamite rulers was totally different. Their inscribed bricks and +memorial stelæ were not intended for the eyes of foreigners, but for +those of their own descendants. Built into the structure of a temple, +or buried beneath the edifice, one of their principal objects was to +preserve the name and deeds of the writer from oblivion. Like similar +documents found on the sites of Assyrian and Babylonian cities, they +sometimes include curses upon any impious man, who, on finding the +inscription after the temple shall have fallen into ruins, should in +any way injure the inscription or deface the writer’s name. It will be +obvious that the writers of these inscriptions intended that they should +be intelligible to those who might come across them in the future. If, +therefore, they employed the Babylonian as well as the Elamite language, +it is clear that they expected that their future readers might be either +Babylonian or Elamite; and this belief can only be explained on the +supposition that their own subjects were of mixed race. + +It is therefore certain that at this early period of Elamite history +Semitic Babylonians and Elamites dwelt side by side in Susa and retained +their separate languages. The problem therefore resolves itself into the +inquiry: which of these two peoples occupied the country first? Were the +Semites at first in sole possession, which was afterwards disputed by +the incursion of Elamite tribes from the north and east? Or were the +Elamites the original inhabitants of the land, into which the Semites +subsequently pressed from Babylonia? + +A similar mixture of races is met with in Babylonia itself in the +early period of the history of that country. There the early Sumerian +inhabitants were gradually dispossessed by the invading Semite, who +adopted the civilization of the conquered race, and took over the system +of cuneiform writing, which he modified to suit his own language. In +Babylonia the Semites eventually predominated and the Sumerians as a +race disappeared, but during the process of absorption the two languages +were employed indiscriminately. The kings of the First Babylonian +Dynasty wrote their votive inscriptions sometimes in Sumerian, sometimes +in Semitic Babylonian; at other times they employed both languages +for the same text, writing the record first in Sumerian and afterwards +appending a Semitic translation by the side; and in the legal and +commercial documents of the period the old Sumerian legal forms and +phrases were retained intact. In Elam we may suppose that the use of the +Sumerian and Semitic languages was the same. + +It may be surmised, however, that the first Semitic incursions into Elam +took place at a much later period than those into Babylonia, and under +very different conditions. When overrunning the plains and cities of the +Sumerians, the Semites were comparatively uncivilized, and, so far as we +know, without a system of writing of their own. The incursions into +Elam must have taken place under the great Semitic conquerors, such as +Sar-gon and Narâm-Sin and Alu-usharshid. At this period they had fully +adopted and modified the Sumerian characters to express their own +Semitic tongue, and on their invasion of Elam they brought their system +of writing with them. The native princes of Elam, whom they conquered, +adopted it in turn for many of their votive texts and inscribed +monuments when they wished to write them in the Babylonian language. + +Such is the most probable explanation of the occurrence in Elam of +inscriptions in the Old Babylonian language, written by native princes +concerning purely domestic matters. But a further question now suggests +itself. Assuming that this was the order in which events took place, +are we to suppose that the first Semitic invaders of Elam found there a +native population in a totally undeveloped stage of civilization? Or did +they find a population enjoying a comparatively high state of culture, +different from their own, which they proceeded to modify and transform! +Luckily, we have not to fall back on conjecture for an answer to these +questions, for a recent discovery at Susa has furnished material from +which it is possible to reconstruct in outline the state of culture of +these early Elamites. + +This interesting discovery consists of a number of clay tablets +inscribed in the proto-Elamite system of writing, a system which was +probably the only one in use in the country during the period before the +Semitic invasion. The documents in question are small, roughly formed +tablets of clay very similar to those employed in the early periods of +Babylonian history, but the signs and characters impressed upon them +offer the greatest contrast to the Sumerian and early Babylonian +characters with which we are familiar. Although they cannot be fully +deciphered at present, it is probable that they are tablets of accounts, +the signs upon them consisting of lists of figures and what are +probably ideographs for things. Some of the ideographs, such as that for +“tablet,” with which many of the texts begin, are very similar to the +Sumerian or Babylonian signs for the same objects; but the majority are +entirely different and have been formed and developed upon a system of +their own. + +[Illustration: 230.jpg CLAY TABLET, FOUND AT SUSA, BEARING AN +INSCRIPTION IN THE EARLY PROTO-ELAMITE CHARACTER.] + + The photograph is taken from M. de Morgan’s _Délégation en + Perse, Mém._, t. vi, pi. 23. + +On these tablets, in fact, we have a new class of cuneiform writing in +an early stage of its development, when the hieroglyphic or pictorial +character of the ideographs was still prominent. + +[Illustration: 231.jpg CLAY TABLET, RECENTLY FOUND AT SUSA, BEARING AN +INSCRIPTION IN THE EARLY PROTO-ELAMITE CHARACTER.] + + The photograph is reproduced from M. de Morgan’s _Délégation + en Perse, Mém._, t. vi, pi. 22. + +Although the meaning of the majority of these ideographs has not yet +been identified, Père Scheil, who has edited the texts, has succeeded +in making out the system of numeration. He has identified the signs for +unity, 10, 100, and 1,000, and for certain fractions, and the signs for +these figures are quite different from those employed by the Sumerians. + +[Illustration: 231a.jpg Fractions] + +The system, too, is different, for it is a decimal, and not a +sexagesimal, system of numeration. + +That in its origin this form of writing had some connection with that +employed and, so far as we know, invented by the ancient Sumerians +is possible.[1] But it shows small trace of Sumerian influence, and the +disparity in the two systems of numeration is a clear indication that, +at any rate, it broke off and was isolated from the latter at a very +early period. Having once been adopted by the early Elamites, it +continued to be used by them for long periods with but small change or +modification. Employed far from the centre of Sumerian civilization, its +development was slow, and it seems to have remained in its ideographic +state, while the system employed by the Sumerians, and adopted by the +Semitic Babylonians, was developed along syllabic lines. + + [1] It is, of course, also possible that the system of writing + had no connection in its origin with that of the Sumerians, + and was invented independently of the system employed in + Babylonia. In that case, the signs which resemble certain of + the Sumerian characters must have been adopted in a later + stage of its development. Though it would be rash to + dogmatize on the subject, the view that connects its origin + with the Sumerians appears on the whole to fit in best with + the evidence at present available. + +It was without doubt this proto-Elamite system of writing which the +Semites from Babylonia found employed in Elam on their first incursions +into that country. They brought with them their own more convenient form +of writing, and, when the country had once been finally subdued, the +subject Elamite princes adopted the foreign system of writing and +language from their conquerors for memorial and monumental inscriptions. +But the ancient native writing was not entirely ousted, and continued +to be employed by the common people of Elam for the ordinary purposes +of daily life. That this was the case at least until the reign of +Karibu-sha-Shu-shinak, one of the early subject native rulers, is clear +from one of his inscriptions engraved upon a block of limestone to +commemorate the dedication of what were probably some temple furnishings +in honour of the god Shu-shinak. + +[Illustration: 233.jpg BLOCK OF LIMESTONE, FOUND AT SUSA, BEARING +INSCRIPTIONS OF KARIBU-SHA-SHUSHINAK.] + + The photograph is taken from M. de Morgan’s _Délégation en + Perse_, Mém., t. vi, pi. 2. + +The main part of the inscription is written in Semitic Babylonian, +and below there is an addition to the text written in proto-Elamite +characters, probably enumerating the offerings which the +Karibu-sha-Shushinak decreed should be made for the future in honour +of the god.[2] In course of time this proto-Elamite system of writing by +means of ideographs seems to have died out, and a modified form of the +Babylonian system was adopted by the Elamites for writing their own +language phonetically. It is in this phonetic character that the +so-called “Anzanite” texts of the later Elamite princes were composed. + + [2] We have assumed that both inscriptions were the work of + Karibu-sha-Shushinak. But it is also possible that the + second one in proto-Elamite characters was added at a later + period. From its position on the stone it is clear that it + was written after and not before Karibu-sha-Shushinak’s + inscription in Semitic Babylonian. See the photographic + reproduction. + +Karibu-sha-Shushinak, whose recently discovered bilingual inscription +has been referred to above, was one of the earlier of the subject +princes of Elam, and he probably reigned at Susa not later than B.C. +3000. He styles himself “patesi of Susa, governor of the land of Elam,” + but we do not know at present to what contemporary king in Babylonia +he owed allegiance. The longest of his inscriptions that have been +recovered is engraved upon a stele of limestone and records the building +of the Gate of Shushinak at Susa and the cutting of a canal; it also +recounts the offerings which Karibu-sha-Shushinak dedicated on the +completion of the work. It may here be quoted as an example of the +class of votive inscriptions from which the names of these early Elamite +rulers have been recovered. The inscription runs as follows: “For +the god Shushinak, his lord, Karibu-sha-Shushinak, the son of +Shimbi-ish-khuk, patesi of Susa, governor of the land of Elam,--when +he set the (door) of his Gate in place,... in the Gate of the god +Shushinak, his lord, and when he had opened the canal of Sidur, he set +up in face thereof his canopy, and he set planks of cedar-wood for its +gate. A sheep in the interior thereof, and sheep without, he appointed +(for sacrifice) to him each day. On days of festival he caused the +people to sing songs in the Gate of the god Shushinak. And twenty +measures of fine oil he dedicated to make his gate beautiful. Four +_magi_ of silver he dedicated; a censer of silver and gold he dedicated +for a sweet odour; a,sword he dedicated; an axe with four blades +he dedicated, and he dedicated silver in addition for the mounting +thereof.... A righteous judgment he judged in the city! As for the man +who shall transgress his judgment or shall remove his gift, may the +gods Shushinak and Shamash, Bel and Ea, Ninni and Sin, Mnkharsag and +Nati--may all the gods uproot his foundation, and his seed may they +destroy!” + +It will be seen that Karibu-sha-Shushinak takes a delight in enumerating +the details of the offerings he has ordained in honour of his city-god +Shushinak, and this religious temper is peculiarly characteristic of the +princes of Elam throughout the whole course of their history. Another +interesting point to notice in the inscription is that, although the +writer invokes Shushinak, his own god, and puts his name at the head +of the list of deities whose vengeance he implores upon the impious, he +also calls upon the gods of the Babylonians. As he wrote the inscription +itself in Babylonian, in the belief that it might be recovered by +some future Semitic inhabitant of his country, so he included in his +imprecations those deities whose names he conceived would be most +reverenced by such a reader. In addition to Karibu-sha-Shushinak the +names of a number of other patesis, or viceroys, have recently +been recovered, such as Khutran-tepti, and Idadu I and his son +Kal-Rukhu-ratir, and his grandson Idadu II. All these probably ruled +after Karibu-sha-Shushinak, and may be set in the early period of +Babylonian supremacy in Elam. + +It has been stated above that the allegiance which these early Elamite +princes owed to their overlords in Babylonia was probably reflected in +the titles which they bear upon their inscriptions recently found at +Susa. These titles are “_patesi_ of Susa, _shakkannak_ of Elam,” which +may be rendered as “viceroy of Susa, governor of Elam.” But inscriptions +have been found on the same site belonging to another series of rulers, +to whom a different title is applied. Instead of referring to themselves +as viceroys of Susa and governors of Elam, they bear the title of +_sukkal_ of Elam, of Siparki, and of Susa. Siparki, or Sipar, was +probably the name of an important section of Elamite territory, and +the title _sukkalu_, “ruler,” probably carries with it an idea of +independence of foreign control which is absent from the title of +_patesi_. It is therefore legitimate to trace this change of title to +a corresponding change in the political condition of Elam; and there is +much to be said for the view that the rulers of Elam who bore the title +of _sukkalu_ reigned at a period when Elam herself was independent, and +may possibly have exercised a suzerainty over the neighbouring districts +of Babylonia. + +The worker of this change in the political condition of Elam and +the author of her independence was a king named Kutir-Nakhkhunte or +Kutir-Na’khunde, whose name and deeds have been preserved in +later Assyrian records, where he is termed Kudur-Nankhundi and +Kudur-Nakhundu.[3] This ruler, according to the Assyrian king +Ashur-bani-pal, was not content with throwing off the yoke under which +his land had laboured for so long, but carried war into the country of +his suzerain and marched through Babylonia devastating and despoiling +the principal cities. This successful Elamite campaign took place, +according to the computation of the later Assyrian scribes, about the +year 2280 B. c, and it is probable that for many years afterwards the +authority of the King of Elam extended over the plains of Babylonia. +It has been suggested that Kutir-Nakh-khunte, after including Babylonia +within his empire, did not remain permanently in Elam, but may have +resided for a part of each year, at least, in Lower Mesopotamia. +His object, no doubt, would have been to superintend in person the +administration of his empire and to check any growing spirit of +independence among his local governors. He may thus have appointed in +Susa itself a local governor who would carry on the business of the +country during his absence, and, under the king himself, would wield +supreme authority. Such governors may have been the sukkali, who, unlike +the patesi, were independent of foreign control, but yet did not enjoy +the full title of “king.” + + [3] For references to the passages where the name occurs, see + King, _Letters of Hammurabi_, vol. i, p. Ivy. + +It is possible that the sukkalu who ruled in Elam during the reign of +Kutir-Nakhkhunte was named Temti-agun, for a short inscription of +this ruler has been recovered, in which he records that he built and +dedicated a certain temple with the object of ensuring the preservation +of the life of Kutir-Na’khundi. If we may identify the Kutir-Va’khundi +of this text with the great Elamite conqueror, Kutir-Nakhkhunte, it +follows that Temti-agun, the sukkal of Susa, was his subordinate. The +inscription mentions other names which are possibly those of rulers of +this period, and reads as follows: “Temti-agun, sukkal of Susa, the son +of the sister of Sirukdu’, hath built a temple of bricks at Ishme-karab +for the preservation of the life of Kutir-Na’khundi, and for the +preservation of the life of Lila-irtash, and for the preservation of his +own life, and for the preservation of the life of Temti-khisha-khanesh +and of Pil-kishamma-khashduk.” As Lila-irtash is mentioned immediately +after Kutir-Na’khundi, he was possibly his son, and he may have +succeeded him as ruler of the empire of Elam and Babylonia, though no +confirmation of this view has yet been discovered. Temti-khisha-khanesh +is mentioned immediately after the reference to the preservation of the +life of Temti-agun himself, and it may be conjectured that the name was +that of Temti-agun’s son, or possibly that of his wife, in which event +the last two personages mentioned in the text may have been the sons of +Temti-agun. + +This short text affords a good example of one class of votive +inscriptions from which it is possible to recover the names of Elamite +rulers of this period, and it illustrates the uncertainty which at +present attaches to the identification of the names themselves and the +order in which they are to be arranged. Such uncertainty necessarily +exists when only a few texts have been recovered, and it will disappear +with the discovery of additional monuments by which the results already +arrived at may be checked. We need not here enumerate all the names of +the later Elamite rulers which have been found in the numerous votive +inscriptions recovered during the recent excavations at Susa. The order +in which they should be arranged is still a matter of considerable +uncertainty, and the facts recorded by them in such inscriptions as we +possess mainly concern the building and restoration of Elamite temples +and the decoration of shrines, and they are thus of no great historical +interest. These votive texts are well illustrated by a remarkable find +of foundation deposits made last year by M. de Morgan in the temple of +Shushinak at Susa, consisting of figures and jewelry of gold and silver, +and objects of lead, bronze, iron, stone, and ivory, cylinder-seals, +mace-heads, vases, etc. This is the richest foundation deposit that has +been recovered on any ancient site, and its archaeological interest in +connection with the development of Elamite art is great. But in no other +way does the find affect our conception of the history of the country, +and we may therefore pass on to a consideration of such recent +discoveries as throw new light upon the course of history in Western +Asia. + +With the advent of the First Dynasty in Babylon Elam found herself +face to face with a power prepared to dispute her claims to exercise a +suzerainty over the plains of Mesopotamia. It is held by many writers +that the First Dynasty of Babylon was of Arab origin, and there is much +to be said for this view. M. Pognon was the first to start the theory +that its kings were not purely Babylonian, but were of either Arab or +Aramaean extraction, and he based his theory on a study of the forms of +the names which some of them bore. The name of Samsu-imna, for instance, +means “the sun is our god,” but the form of the words of which the name +is composed betray foreign influence. Thus in Babylonian the name for +“sun” or the Sun-god would be _Shamash_ or _Shamshu_, not _Samsu_; in +the second half of the name, while _ilu_ (“god”) is good Babylonian, the +ending _na_, which is the pronominal suffix of the first person plural, +is not Babylonian, but Arabic. We need not here enter into a long +philological discussion, and the instance already cited may suffice to +show in what way many of the names met in the Babylonian inscriptions +of this period betray a foreign, and possibly an Arabic, origin. But +whether we assign the forms of these names to Arabic influence or not, +it may be regarded as certain that, the First Dynasty of Babylon had +its origin in the incursion into Babylonia of a new wave of Semitic +immigration. + +[Illustration: 240.jpg BRICK STAMPED WITH AN INSCRIPTION OF KUDUR-MABUG] + +The invading Semites brought with them fresh blood and unexhausted +energy, and, finding many of their own race in scattered cities and +settlements throughout the country, they succeeded in establishing a +purely Semitic dynasty, with its capital at Babylon, and set about the +task of freeing the country from any vestiges of foreign control. Many +centuries earlier Semitic kings had ruled in Babylonian cities, and +Semitic empires had been formed there. Sargon and Narâm-Sin, +having their capital at Agade, had established their control over a +considerable area of Western Asia and had held Elam as a province. But +so far as Elam was concerned Kutir-Nakhkhunte had reversed the balance +and had raised Elam to the position of the predominant power. + +Of the struggles and campaigns of the earlier kings of the First Dynasty +of Babylon we know little, for, although we possess a considerable +number of legal and commercial documents of the period, we have +recovered no strictly historical inscriptions. Our main source of +information is the dates upon these documents, which are not dated by +the years of the reigning king, but on a system adopted by the early +Babylonian kings from their Sumerian predecessors. In the later periods +of Babylonian history tablets were dated in the year of the king who was +reigning at the time the document was drawn up, but this simple system +had not been adopted at this early period. In place of this we find that +each year was cited by the event of greatest importance which occurred +in that year. This event might be the cutting of a canal, when the year +in which this took place might be referred to as “the year in which +the canal named Ai-khegallu was cut;” or it might be the building of a +temple, as in the date-formula, “the year in which the great temple of +the Moon-god was built;” or it might be “the conquest of a city, such +as the year in which the city of Kish was destroyed.” Now it will be +obvious that this system of dating had many disadvantages. An event +might be of great importance for one city, while it might never have +been heard of in another district; thus it sometimes happened that the +same event was not adopted throughout the whole country for designating +a particular year, and the result was that different systems of +dating were employed in different parts of Babylonia. Moreover, when a +particular system had been in use for a considerable time, it required +a very good memory to retain the order and period of the various events +referred to in the date-formulae, so as to fix in a moment the date of a +document by its mention of one of them. In order to assist themselves +in their task of fixing dates in this manner, the scribes of the First +Dynasty of Babylon drew up lists of the titles of the years, arranged +in chronological order under the reigns of the kings to which they +referred. Some of these lists have been recovered, and they are of the +greatest assistance in fixing the chronology, while at the same time +they furnish us with considerable information concerning the history of +the period of which we should otherwise have been in ignorance. + +From these lists of date-formulæ, and from the dates themselves which +are found upon the legal and commercial tablets of the period, we learn +that Kish, Ka-sallu, and Isin all gave trouble to the earlier kings of +the First Dynasty, and had in turn to be subdued. Elam did not watch the +diminution of her influence in Babylonia without a struggle to retain +it. Under Kudur-mabug, who was prince or governor of the districts lying +along the frontier of Elam, the Elamites struggled hard to maintain +their position in Babylonia, making the city of Ur the centre from which +they sought to check the growing power of Babylon. From bricks that have +been recovered from Mukayyer, the site of the city of Ur, we learn that +Kudur-mabug rebuilt the temple in that city dedicated to the Moon-god, +which is an indication of the firm hold he had obtained upon the city. +It was obvious to the new Semitic dynasty in Babylon that, until Ur and +the neighbouring city of Larsam had been captured, they could entertain +no hope of removing the Elamite yoke from Southern Babylonia. It is +probable that the earlier kings of the dynasty made many attempts to +capture them, with varying success. An echo of one of their struggles in +which they claimed the victory may be seen in the date-formula for the +fourteenth year of the reign of Sin-muballit, Hammurabi’s father and +predecessor on the throne of Babylon. This year was referred to in the +documents of the period as “the year in which the people of Ur were +slain with the sword.” It will be noted that the capture of the city +is not commemorated, so that we may infer that the slaughter of the +Elamites which is recorded did not materially reduce their influence, +as they were left in possession of their principal stronghold. In fact, +Elam was not signally defeated in the reign of Kudur-mabug, but in that +of his son Rim-Sin. From the date-formulæ of Hammurabi’s reign we learn +that the struggle between Elam and Babylon was brought to a climax in +the thirtieth year of his reign, when it is recorded in the formulas +that he defeated the Elamite army and overthrew Rim-Sin, while in the +following year we gather that he added the land of E’mutbal, that is, +the western district of Elam, to his dominions. + +An unpublished chronicle in the British Museum gives us further details +of Hammurabi’s victory over the Elamites, and at the same time makes it +clear that the defeat and overthrow of Rim-Sin was not so crushing +as has hitherto been supposed. This chronicle relates that Hammurabi +attacked Rim-Sin, and, after capturing the cities of Ur and Larsam, +carried their spoil to Babylon. Up to the present it has been supposed +that Hammurabi’s victory marked the end of Elamite influence in +Babylonia, and that thenceforward the supremacy of Babylon was +established throughout the whole of the country. But from the +new chronicle we gather that Hammurabi did not succeed in finally +suppressing the attempts of Elam to regain her former position. It is +true that the cities of Ur and Larsam were finally incorporated in the +Babylonian empire, and the letters of Hammurabi to Sin-idinnam, the +governor whom he placed in authority over Larsam, afford abundant +evidence of the stringency of the administrative control which he +established over Southern Babylonia. But Rîm-Sin was only crippled for +the time, and, on being driven from Ur and Larsam, he retired beyond +the Elamite frontier and devoted his energies to the recuperation of his +forces against the time when he should feel himself strong enough again +to make a bid for victory in his struggle against the growing power of +Babylon. It is probable that he made no further attempt to renew the +contest during the life of Hammurabi, but after Samsu-iluna, the son +of Hammurabi, had succeeded to the Babylonian throne, he appeared in +Babylonia at the head of the forces he had collected, and attempted to +regain the cities and territory he had lost. + +[Illustration: 245.jpg SEMITIC BABYLONIAN CONTRACT-TABLET] + + Inscribed in the reign of Hammurabi with a deed recording + the division of property. The actual tablet is on the right; + that which appears to be another and larger tablet on the + left is the hollow clay case in which the tablet on the + right was originally enclosed. Photograph by Messrs. Mansell + & Co. + +The portion of the text of the chronicle relating to the war between +Rîm-Sin and Samsu-iluna is broken so that it is not possible to follow +the campaign in detail, but it appears that Samsu-iluna defeated +Rim-Sin, and possibly captured him or burnt him alive in a palace in +which he had taken refuge. + +With the final defeat of Rîm-Sin by Samsu-iluna it is probable that Elam +ceased to be a thorn in the side of the kings of Babylon and that +she made no further attempts to extend her authority beyond her own +frontiers. But no sooner had Samsu-iluna freed his country from all +danger from this quarter than he found himself faced by a new foe, +before whom the dynasty eventually succumbed. This fact we learn from +the unpublished chronicle to which reference has already been made, and +the name of this new foe, as supplied by the chronicle, will render +it necessary to revise all current schemes of Babylonian chronology. +Samsu-iluna’s new foe was no other than Iluma-ilu, the first king of the +Second Dynasty, and, so far from having been regarded as Samsu-iluna’s +contemporary, hitherto it has been imagined that he ascended the throne +of Babylon one hundred and eighteen years after Samsu-iluna’s death. +The new information supplied by the chronicle thus proves two important +facts: first, that the Second Dynasty, instead of immediately succeeding +the First Dynasty, was partly contemporary with it; second, that during +the period in which the two dynasties were contemporary they were at +war with one another, the Second Dynasty gradually encroaching on +the territory of the First Dynasty, until it eventually succeeded in +capturing Babylon and in getting the whole of the country under its +control. We also learn from the new chronicle that this Second Dynasty +at first established itself in “the Country of the Sea,” that is to say, +the districts in the extreme south of Babylonia bordering on the Persian +Gulf, and afterwards extended its borders northward until it gradually +absorbed the whole of Babylonia. Before discussing the other facts +supplied by the new chronicle, with regard to the rise and growth of the +Country of the Sea, whose kings formed the so-called “Second Dynasty,” + it will be well to refer briefly to the sources from which the +information on the period to be found in the current histories is +derived. + +All the schemes of Babylonian chronology that have been suggested during +the last twenty years have been based mainly on the great list of kings +which is preserved in the British Museum. This document was drawn up in +the Neo-Babylonian or Persian period, and when complete it gave a list +of the names of all the Babylonian kings from the First Dynasty of +Babylon down to the time in which it was written. The names of the kings +are arranged in dynasties, and details are given as to the length of +their reigns and the total number of years each dynasty lasted. The +beginning of the list which gave the names of the First Dynasty is +wanting, but the missing portion has been restored from a smaller +document which gives a list of the kings of the First and Second +Dynasties only. In the great list of kings the dynasties are arranged +one after the other, and it was obvious that its compiler imagined that +they succeeded one another in the order in which he arranged them. +But when the total number of years the dynasties lasted is learned, we +obtain dates for the first dynasties in the list which are too early to +agree with other chronological information supplied by the historical +inscriptions. The majority of writers have accepted the figures of the +list of kings and have been content to ignore the discrepancies; others +have sought to reconcile the available data by ingenious emendations of +the figures given by the list and the historical inscriptions, or have +omitted the Second Dynasty entirely from their calculations. The new +chronicle, by showing that the First and Second Dynasties were partly +contemporaneous, explains the discrepancies that have hitherto proved so +puzzling. + +It would be out of place here to enter into a detailed discussion of +Babylonian chronology, and therefore we will confine ourselves to a +brief description of the sequence of events as revealed by the new +chronicle. According to the list of kings, Iluma-ilu’s reign was a long +one, lasting for sixty years, and the new chronicle gives no indication +as to the period of his reign at which active hostilities with Babylon +broke out. If the war occurred in the latter portion of his reign, it +would follow that he had been for many years organizing the forces of +the new state he had founded in the south of Babylonia before making +serious encroachments in the north; and in that case the incessant +campaigns carried on by Babylon against Blam in the reigns of Hammurabi +and Samsu-iluna would have afforded him the opportunity of establishing +a firm foothold in the Country of the Sea without the risk of Babylonian +interference. If, on the other hand, it was in the earlier part of his +reign that hostilities with Babylon broke out, we may suppose that, +while Samsu-iluna was devoting all his energies to crush Bim-Sin, the +Country of the Sea declared her independence of Babylonian control. In +this case we may imagine Samsu-iluna hurrying south, on the conclusion +of his Elamite campaign, to crush the newly formed state before it had +had time to organize its forces for prolonged resistance. + +Whichever of these alternatives eventually may prove to be correct, it +is certain that Samsu-iluna took the initiative in Babylon’s struggle +with the Country of the Sea, and that his action was due either to her +declaration of independence or to some daring act of aggression on the +part of this small state which had hitherto appeared too insignificant +to cause Babylon any serious trouble. The new chronicle tells us that +Samsu-iluna undertook two expeditions against the Country of the Sea, +both of which proved unsuccessful. In the first of these he penetrated +to the very shores of the Persian Gulf, where a battle took place in +which Samsu-iluna was defeated, and the bodies of many of the Babylonian +soldiers were washed away by the sea. In the second campaign Iluma-ilu +did not await Samsu-iluna’s attack, but advanced to meet him, and again +defeated the Babylonian army. In the reign of Abêshu’, Samsu-iluna’s +son and successor, Iluma-ilu appears to have undertaken fresh acts of +aggression against Babylon; and it was probably during one of his raids +in Babylonian territory that Abêshu’ attempted to crush the growing power +of the Country of the Sea by the capture of its daring leader, Iluma-ilu +himself. The new chronicle informs us that, with this object in +view, Abêshu’ dammed the river Tigris, hoping by this means to cut off +Iluma-ilu and his army, but his stratagem did not succeed, and Iluma-ilu +got back to his own territory in safety. + +The new chronicle does not supply us with further details of the +struggle between Babylon and the Country of the Sea, but we may conclude +that all similar attempts on the part of the later kings of the First +Dynasty to crush or restrain the power of the new state were useless. It +is probable that from this time forward the kings of the First Dynasty +accepted the independence of the Country of the Sea upon their southern +border as an evil which they were powerless to prevent. They must have +looked back with regret to the good times the country had enjoyed under +the powerful sway of Hammurabi, whose victorious arms even their ancient +foes, the Blamites, had been unable to withstand. But, although the +chronicle does not recount the further successes achieved by the Country +of the Sea, it records a fact which undoubtedly contributed to hasten +the fall of Babylon and bring the First Dynasty to an end. It tells us +that in the reign of Samsu-ditana, the last king of the First Dynasty, +the men of the land of Khattu (the Hittites from Northern Syria) marched +against him in order to conquer the land of Akkad; in other words, they +marched down the Euphrates and invaded Northern Babylonia. The chronicle +does not state how far the invasion was successful, but the appearance +of a new enemy from the northwest must have divided the Babylonian +forces and thus have reduced their power of resisting pressure from the +Country of the Sea. Samsu-ditana may have succeeded in defeating the +Hittites and in driving them from his country; but the fact that he +was the last king of the First Dynasty proves that in his reign Babylon +itself fell into the hands of the king of the Country of the Sea. + +The question now arises, To what race did the people of the Country +of the Sea belong? Did they represent an advance-guard of the Kassite +tribes, who eventually succeeded in establishing themselves as the Third +Dynasty in Babylon? Or were they the Elamites who, when driven from Ur +and Larsam, retreated southwards and maintained their independence on +the shores of the Persian Gulf? Or did they represent some fresh wave of +Semitic immigration’? That they were not Kassites is proved by the new +chronicle which relates how the Country of the Sea was conquered by the +Kassites, and how the dynasty founded by Iluma-ilu thus came to an end. +There is nothing to show that they were Elamites, and if the Country of +the Sea had been colonized by fresh Semitic tribes, so far from opposing +their kindred in Babylon, most probably they would have proved to them +a source of additional strength and support. In fact, there are +indications that the people of the Country of the Sea are to be referred +to an older stock than the Elamites, the Semites, or the Kassites. In +the dynasty of the Country of the Sea there is no doubt that we may +trace the last successful struggle of the ancient Sumerians to retain +possession of the land which they had held for so many centuries before +the invading Semites had disputed its possession with them. + +Evidence of the Sumerian origin of the kings of the Country of the +Sea may be traced in the names which several of them bear. Ishkibal, +Grulkishar, Peshgal-daramash, A-dara-kalama, Akur-ul-ana, and +Melam-kur-kura, the names of some of them, are all good Sumerian names, +and Shushshi, the brother of Ishkibal, may also be taken as a Sumerian +name. It is true that the first three kings of the dynasty, Iluma-ilu, +Itti-ili-nibi, and Damki-ilishu, and the last king of the dynasty, +Ea-gamil, bear Semitic Babylonian names, but there is evidence that +at least one of these is merely a Semitic rendering of a Sumerian +equivalent. Iluma-ilu, the founder of the dynasty, has left inscriptions +in which his name is written in its correct Sumerian form as +Dingir-a-an, and the fact that he and some of his successors either bore +Semitic names or appear in the late list of kings with their Sumerian +names translated into Babylonian form may be easily explained by +supposing that the population of the Country of the Sea was mixed and +that the Sumerian and Semitic tongues were to a great extent employed +indiscriminately. This supposition is not inconsistent with the +suggestion that the dynasty of the Country of the Sea was Sumerian, and +that under it the Sumerians once more became the predominant race in +Babylonia. + +The new chronicle also relates how the dynasty of the Country of the +Sea succumbed in its turn before the incursions of the Kassites. We know +that already under the First Dynasty the Kassite tribes had begun to +make incursions into Babylonia, for the ninth year of Samsu-iluna was +named in the date-formulae after a Kassite invasion, which, as it +was commemorated in this manner by the Babylonians, was probably +successfully repulsed. Such invasions must have taken place from time to +time during the period of supremacy attained by the Country of the Sea, +and it was undoubtedly with a view to stopping such incursions--for the +future that Ea-gamil--the last king of the Second Dynasty, decided to +invade Elam and conquer the mountainous districts in which the Kassite +tribes had built their strongholds. This Elamite campaign of Ea-gamil +is recorded by the new chronicle, which relates how he was defeated and +driven from the country by Ulam-Buriash, the brother of Bitiliash the +Kassite. Ulam-Buriash did not rest content with repelling Ea-gamil’s +invasion of his land, but pursued him across the border and succeeded +in conquering the Country of the Sea and in establishing there his own +administration. The gradual conquest of the whole of Babylonia by the +Kassites no doubt followed the conquest of the Country of the Sea, +for the chronicle relates how the process of subjugation, begun by +Ulam-Buriash, was continued by his nephew Agum, and we know from the +lists of kings that Ea-gamil was the last king of the dynasty founded by +Iluma-ilu. In this fashion the Second Dynasty was brought to an end, and +the Sumerian element in the mixed population of Babylonia did not again +succeed in gaining control of the government of the country. + +It will be noticed that the account of the earliest Kassite rulers of +Babylonia which is given by the new chronicle does not exactly tally +with the names of the kings of the Third Dynasty as found upon the +list of kings. On this document the first king of the dynasty is named +Gandash, with whom we may probably identify Ulam-Buriash, the Kassite +conqueror of the Country of the Sea; the second king is Agum, and the +third is Bitiliashi. According to the new chronicle Agum was the son +of Bitiliashi, and it would be improbable that he should have ruled in +Babylonia before his father. But this difficulty is removed by supposing +that the two names were transposed by some copyist. The different +names assigned to the founder of the Kassite dynasty may be due to +the existence of variant traditions, or Ulam-Buriash may have assumed +another name on his conquest of Babylonia, a practice which was usual +with the later kings of Assyria when they occupied the Babylonian +throne. + +The information supplied by the new chronicle with regard to the +relations of the first three dynasties to one another is of the greatest +possible interest to the student of early Babylonian history. We see +that the Semitic empire founded at Babylon by Sumu-abu, and consolidated +by Hammurabi, was not established on so firm a basis as has hitherto +been believed. The later kings of the dynasty, after Elam had been +conquered, had to defend their empire from encroachments on the south, +and they eventually succumbed before the onslaught of the Sumerian +element, which still remained in the population of Babylonia and had +rallied in the Country of the Sea. This dynasty in its turn succumbed +before the invasion of the Kassites from the mountains in the western +districts of Elam, and, although the city of Babylon retained her +position as the capital of the country throughout these changes of +government, she was the capital of rulers of different races, who +successively fought for and obtained the control of the fertile plains +of Mesopotamia. + +It is probable that the Kassite kings of the Third Dynasty exercised +authority not only over Babylonia but also over the greater part of +Elam, for a number of inscriptions of Kassite kings of Babylonia have +been found by M. de Morgan at Susa. These inscriptions consist of +grants of land written on roughly shaped stone stelæ, a class which the +Babylonians themselves called _kudurru_, while they have been frequently +referred to by modern writers as “boundary-stones.” This latter term +is not very happily chosen, for it suggests that the actual monuments +themselves were set up on the limits of a field or estate to mark its +boundary. It is true that the inscription on a kudurru enumerates the +exact position and size of the estate with which it is concerned, +but the kudurru was never actually used to mark the boundary. It was +preserved as a title-deed, in the house of the owner of the estate or +possibly in the temple of his god, and formed his charter or title-deed +to which he could appeal in case of any dispute arising as to his right +of ownership. One of the kudurrus found by M. de Morgan records the +grant of a number of estates near Babylon by Nazimaruttash, a king of +the Third or Kassite Dynasty, to the god Marduk, that is to say they +were assigned by the king to the service of E-sagila, the great temple +of Marduk at Babylon. + +[Illustration: 256.jpg A KUDURRU OR “BOUNDARY-STONE.”] + + Inscribed with a text of Nazimaruttash, a king of the Third + or Kassite Dynasty, conferring certain estates near Babylon + on the temple of Marduk and on a certain man named Kashakti- + Shugab. The photograph is reproduced from M. de Morgan’s + Delegation en Perse, Mêm., t. ii, pi, 18. + +All the crops and produce from the land were granted for the supply of +the temple, which was to enjoy the property without the payment of any +tax or tribute. The text also records the gift of considerable tracts of +land in the same district to a private individual named Kashakti-Shugab, +who was to enjoy a similar freedom from taxation so far as the lands +bestowed upon him were concerned. + +This freedom from taxation is specially enacted by the document in +the words: “Whensoever in the days that are to come the ruler of the +country, or one of the governors, or directors, or wardens of these +districts, shall make any claim with regard to these estates, or shall +attempt to impose the payment of a tithe or tax upon them, may all the +great gods whose names are commemorated, or whose arms are portrayed, or +whose dwelling-places are represented, on this stone, curse him with an +evil curse and blot out his name!” + +Incidentally, this curse illustrates one of the most striking +characteristics of the kudurrus, or “boundary-stones,” viz. the carved +figures of gods and representations of their emblems, which all of them +bare in addition to the texts inscribed upon them. At one time it was +thought that these symbols were to be connected with the signs of the +zodiac and various constellations and stars, and it was suggested that +they might have been intended to represent the relative positions of the +heavenly bodies at the time the document was drawn up. But this text +of Nazimaruttash and other similar documents that have recently been +discovered prove that the presence of the figures and emblems of the +gods upon the stones is to be explained on another and far more simple +theory. They were placed there as guardians of the property to which the +kudurru referred, and it was believed that the carving of their figures +or emblems upon the stone would ensure their intervention in case of +any attempted infringement of the rights and privileges which it was +the object of the document to commemorate and preserve. A photographic +reproduction of one side of the kudurru of Nazi-maruttash is shown in +the accompanying illustration. There will be seen a representation of +Gula or Bau, the mother of the gods, who is portrayed as seated on +her throne and wearing the four-horned head-dress and a long robe +that reaches to her feet. In the field are emblems of the Sun-god, the +Moon-god, Ishtar, and other deities, and the representation of divine +emblems and dwelling-places is continued on another face of the stone +round the corner towards which Grula is looking. The other two faces of +the document are taken up with the inscription. + +An interesting note is appended to the text inscribed upon the stone, +beginning under the throne and feet of Marduk and continuing under the +emblems of the gods upon the other side. This note relates the history +of the document in the following words: “In those days Kashakti-Shugab, +the son of Nusku-na’id, inscribed (this document) upon a memorial +of clay, and he set it before his god. But in the reign of +Marduk-aplu-iddina, king of hosts, the son of Melishikhu, King +of Babylon, the wall fell upon this memorial and crushed it. +Shu-khuli-Shugab, the son of Nibishiku, wrote a copy of the ancient +text upon a new stone stele, and he set it (before the god).” It will be +seen, therefore, that this actual stone that has been recovered was not +the document drawn up in the reign of Nazimaruttash, but a copy made +under Marduk-aplu-iddina, a later king of the Third Dynasty. The +original deed was drawn up to preserve the rights of Kashakti-Shugab, +who shared the grant of land with the temple of Marduk. His share was +less than half that of the temple, but, as both were situated in the +same district, he was careful to enumerate and describe the temple’s +share, to prevent any encroachment on his rights by the Babylonian +priests. + +It is probable that such grants of land were made to private individuals +in return for special services which they had rendered to the king. Thus +a broken kudurru among M. de Morgan’s finds records the confirmation of +a man’s claims to certain property by Biti-liash II, the claims being +based on a grant made to the man’s ancestor by Kurigalzu for services +rendered to the king during his war with Assyria. One of the finest +specimens of this class of charters or title-deeds has been found at +Susa, dating from the reign of Melishikhu, a king of the Third Dynasty. +The document in question records a grant of certain property in the +district of Bît-Pir-Shadû-rabû, near the cities Agade and Dûr-Kurigalzu, +made by Melishikhu to Marduk-aplu-iddina, his son, who succeeded him +upon the throne of Babylon. The text first gives details with regard to +the size and situation of the estates included in the grant of land, and +it states the names of the high officials who were entrusted with the +duty of measuring them. The remainder of the text defines and secures +the privileges granted to Marduk-aplu-iddina together with the land, +and, as it throws considerable light upon the system of land tenure at +the period, an extract from it may here be translated: + +“To prevent the encroachment on his land,” the inscription runs, “thus +hath he (i.e. the king) established his (Marduk-aplu-iddina’s) charter. +On his land taxes and tithes shall they not impose; ditches, limits, and +boundaries shall they not displace; there shall be no plots, stratagems, +or claims (with regard to his possession); for forced labour or public +work for the prevention of floods, for the maintenance and repair of +the royal canal under the protection of the towns of Bit-Sikkamidu +and Damik-Adad, among the gangs levied in the towns of the district of +Ninâ-Agade, they shall not call out the people of his estate; they are +not liable to forced labour on the sluices of the royal canal, nor +are they liable for building dams, nor for closing the canal, nor for +digging out the bed thereof.” + +[Illustration: 260.jpg KUOTTRRU, OR “BOUNDARY-STONE.”] + + Inscribed with a text of Melishikhu, one of the kings of the + Third or Kassite Dynasty of Babylon, recording a grant of + certain property to Marduk-aplu-iddina, his son The + photograph is reproduced from M. de Morgan’s Delegation en + Perse, Mem., t. ii, pi. 24. + +“A cultivator of his lands, whether hired or belonging to the estate, +and the men who receive his instructions (i.e. his overseers) shall no +governor of Bît-Pir-Shadû-rabû cause to leave his lands, whether by the +order of the king, or by the order of the governor, or by the order of +whosoever may be at Bît-Pir-Shadû-rabû. On wood, grass, straw, corn, +and every other sort of crop, on his carts and yoke, on his ass and +man-servant, shall they make no levy. During the scarcity of water in +the canal running between the Bati-Anzanim canal and the canal of the +royal district, on the waters of his ditch for irrigation shall they +make no levy; from the ditch of his reservoir shall they not draw water, +neither shall they divert (his water for) irrigation, and other land +shall they not irrigate nor water therewith. The grass of his lands +shall they not mow; the beasts belonging to the king or to a governor, +which may be assigned to the district of Bît-Pir-Shadû-rabû, shall they +not drive within his boundary, nor shall they pasture them on his grass. +He shall not be forced to build a road or a bridge, whether for the +king, or for the governor who may be appointed in the district of +Bît-Pir-Shadû-rabû, neither shall he be liable for any new form of +forced labour, which in the days that are to come a king, or a governor +appointed in the district of Bît-Pir-Shadû-rabû, shall institute and +exact, nor for forced labour long fallen into disuse which may be +revived anew. To prevent encroachment on his land the king hath fixed +the privileges of his domain, and that which appertaineth unto it, and +all that he hath granted unto him; and in the presence of Shamash, and +Marduk, and Anunitu, and the great gods of heaven and earth, he hath +inscribed them upon a stone, and he hath left it as an everlasting +memorial with regard to his estate.” + +The whole of the text is too long to quote, and it will suffice to note +here that Melishikhu proceeds to appeal to future kings to respect the +land and privileges which he has granted to his son, Marduk-aplu-iddina, +even as he himself has respected similar grants made by his predecessors +on the throne; and the text ends with some very vivid curses against +any one, whatever his station, who should make any encroachments on the +privileges granted to Marduk-aplu-iddina, or should alter or do any harm +to the memorial-stone itself. The emblems of the gods whom Melishikhu +invokes to avenge any infringement of his grant are sculptured upon one +side of the stone, for, as has already been remarked, it was believed +that by carving them upon the memorial-stone their help in guarding the +stone itself and its enactments was assured. + +From the portion of the text inscribed upon the stone which has just +been translated it is seen that the owner of land in Babylonia in the +period of the Kassite kings, unless he was granted special exemption, +was liable to furnish forced labour for public works to the state or to +his district, to furnish grazing and pasture for the flocks and herds of +the king or governor, and to pay various taxes and tithes on his land, +his water for irrigation, and his crops. From the numerous documents +of the First Dynasty of Babylon that have been recovered and published +within the last few years we know that similar customs were prevalent at +that period, so that it is clear that the successive conquests to which +the country was subjected, and the establishment of different dynasties +of foreign kings at Babylon, did not to any appreciable extent affect +the life and customs of the inhabitants of the country or even the +general character of its government and administration. Some documents +of a commercial and legal nature, inscribed upon clay tablets during the +reigns of the Kassite kings of Babylon, have been found at Nippur, +but they have not yet been published, and the information we possess +concerning the life of the people in this period is obtained indirectly +from kudurrus or boundary-stones, such as those of Nazimaruttash and +Melishikhu which have been already described. Of documents relating to +the life of the people under the rule of the kings of the Country of the +Sea we have none, and, with the exception of the unpublished chronicle +which has been described earlier in this chapter, our information for +this period is confined to one or two short votive inscriptions. But the +case is very different with regard to the reigns of the Semitic kings of +the First Dynasty of Babylon. Thousands of tablets relating to legal and +commercial transactions during this period have been recovered, and more +recently a most valuable series of royal letters, written by Hammurabi +and other kings of his dynasty, has been brought to light. + +[Illustration: 264.jpg Upper Part of the Stele of Hammurabi, King of +Babylon.] + + The stele is inscribed with his great code of laws. The Sun- + god is represented as seated on a throne in the form of a + temple façade, and his feet are resting upon the mountains. + Photograph by Messrs. Mansell & Co. + +Moreover, the recently discovered code of laws drawn up by Hammurabi +contains information of the greatest interest with regard to the +conditions of life that were prevalent in Babylonia at that period. +From these three sources it is possible to draw up a comparatively full +account of early Babylonian life and customs. + + + + +CHAPTER VI--EARLY BABYLONIAN LIFE AND CUSTOMS + + +In tracing the ancient history of Mesopotamia and the surrounding +countries it is possible to construct a narrative which has the +appearance of being comparatively full and complete. With regard to +Babylonia it may be shown how dynasty succeeded dynasty, and for long +periods together the names of the kings have been recovered and the +order of their succession fixed with certainty. But the number and +importance of the original documents on which this connected narration +is based vary enormously for different periods. Gaps occur in our +knowledge of the sequence of events, which with some ingenuity may be +bridged over by means of the native lists of kings and the genealogies +furnished by the historical inscriptions. On the other hand, as if to +make up for such parsimony, the excavations have yielded a wealth of +material for illustrating the conditions of early Babylonian life which +prevailed in such periods. The most fortunate of these periods, so far +as the recovery of its records is concerned, is undoubtedly the period +of the Semitic kings of the First Dynasty of Babylon, and in particular +the reign of its greatest ruler, Hammurabi. When M. Maspero wrote his +history, thousands of clay tablets, inscribed with legal and commercial +documents and dated in the reigns of these early kings, had already been +recovered, and the information they furnished was duly summarized by +him.[1] But since that time two other sources of information have been +made available which have largely increased our knowledge of +the constitution of the early Babylonian state, its system of +administration, and the conditions of life of the various classes of the +population. + + [1] Most of these tablets are preserved in the British Museum. + The principal?works in which they have been published are + Cuneiform Texts in the British Museum (1896, etc.), + Strassmaier’s Altbabylonischen Vertràge aus Warka, and + Meissner’s Beitràge zum altbabylonischen Privatrecht. A + number of similar tablets of this period, preserved in the + Pennsylvania Museum, will shortly be published by Dr. Ranke. + +One of these new sources of information consists of a remarkable series +of royal letters, written by kings of the First Dynasty, which has been +recovered and is now preserved in the British Museum. The letters were +addressed to the governors and high officials of various great cities in +Babylonia, and they contain the king’s orders with regard to details of +the administration of the country which had been brought to his notice. +The range of subjects with which they deal is enormous, and there is +scarcely one of them which does not add to our knowledge of the period.[2] +The other new source of information is the great code of laws, drawn up +by Hammurabi for the guidance of his people and defining the duties and +privileges of all classes of his subjects, the discovery of which at +Susa has been described in a previous chapter. The laws are engraved on +a great stele of diorite in no less than forty-nine columns of writing, +of which forty-four are preserved,[3] and at the head of the stele is +sculptured a representation of the king receiving them from Shamash, the +Sun-god. + + [2] See King, Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi, 3 vols. + (1898-1900). + + [3] See Scheil, Délégationen perse, Mémoires, tome iv (1902). + +This code shows to what an extent the administration of law and justice +had been developed in Babylonia in the time of the First Dynasty. From +the contracts and letters of the period we already knew that regular +judges and duly appointed courts of law were in existence, and the code +itself was evidently intended by the king to give the royal sanction to +a great body of legal decisions and enactments which already possessed +the authority conferred by custom and tradition. The means by which such +a code could have come into existence are illustrated by the system of +procedure adopted in the courts at this period. After a case had been +heard and judgment had been given, a summary of the case and of the +evidence, together with the judgment, was drawn up and written out on +tablets in due legal form and phraseology. A list of the witnesses was +appended, and, after the tablet had been dated and sealed, it was stored +away among the legal archives of the court, where it was ready for +production in the event of any future appeal or case in which the +recorded decision was involved. This procedure represents an advanced +stage in the system of judicial administration, but the care which +was taken for the preservation of the judgments given was evidently +traditional, and would naturally give rise in course of time to the +existence of a recognized code of laws. + +Moreover, when once a judgment had been given and had been duly recorded +it was irrevocable, and if any judge attempted to alter such a decision +he was severely punished. For not only was he expelled from his +judgment-seat, and debarred from exercising judicial functions in the +future, but, if his judgment had involved the infliction of a penalty, +he was obliged to pay twelve times the amount to the man he had +condemned. Such an enactment must have occasionally given rise to +hardship or injustice, but at least it must have had the effect +of imbuing the judges with a sense of their responsibility and of +instilling a respect for their decisions in the minds of the people. A +further check upon injustice was provided by the custom of the elders of +the city, who sat with the judge and assisted him in the carrying out +of his duties; and it was always open to a man, if he believed that he +could not get justice enforced, to make an appeal to the king. It is not +our present purpose to give a technical discussion of the legal contents +of the code, but rather to examine it with the object of ascertaining +what light it throws upon ancient Babylonian life and customs, and the +conditions under which the people lived. + +The code gives a good deal of information with regard to the family life +of the Babylonians, and, above all, proves the sanctity with which the +marriage-tie was invested. The claims that were involved by marriage +were not lightly undertaken. Any marriage, to be legally binding, had to +be accompanied by a duly executed and attested marriage-contract. If a +man had taken a woman to wife without having carried out this necessary +preliminary, the woman was not regarded as his wife in the legal sense. +On the other hand, when once such a marriage-contract had been drawn up, +its inviolability was stringently secured. A case of proved adultery +on the part of a man’s wife was punished by the drowning of the guilty +parties, though the husband of the woman, if he wished to save his wife, +could do so by an appeal to the king. Similarly, death was the penalty +for a man who ravished another man’s betrothed wife while she was still +living in her father’s house, but in this case the girl’s innocence +and inexperience were taken into account, and no penalty was enforced +against her and she was allowed to go free. Where the adultery of a wife +was not proved, and only depended on the accusation of the husband, the +woman could clear herself by swearing her own innocence; if, however, +the accusation was not brought by the husband himself, but by others, +the woman could clear herself by submitting to the ordeal by water; that +is to say, she would plunge into the Euphrates; if the river carried her +away and she were drowned, it was regarded as proof that the accusation +was well founded; if, on the contrary, she survived and got safely +to the bank, she was considered innocent and was forthwith allowed to +return to her household completely vindicated. + +It will have been seen that the duty of chastity on the part of a +married woman was strictly enforced, but the husband’s responsibility to +properly maintain his wife was also recognized, and in the event of +his desertion she could under certain circumstances become the wife of +another man. Thus, if he left his city and fled from it of his own free +will and deserted his wife, he could not reclaim her on his return, +since he had not been forced to leave the city, but had done so because +he hated it. This rule did not apply to the case of a man who was taken +captive in battle. In such circumstances the wife’s action was to be +guided by the condition of her husband’s affairs. If the captive husband +possessed sufficient property on which his wife could be maintained +during his captivity in a strange land, she had no reason nor excuse +for seeking another marriage. If under these circumstances she became +another man’s wife, she was to be prosecuted at law, and, her action +being the equivalent of adultery, she was to be drowned. But the case +was regarded as altered if the captive husband had not sufficient means +for the maintenance of his wife during his absence. The woman would then +be thrown on her own resources, and if she became the wife of another +man she incurred no blame. On the return of the captive he could reclaim +his wife, but the children of the second marriage would remain with +their own father. These regulations for the conduct of a woman, whose +husband was captured in battle, give an intimate picture of the manner +in which the constant wars of this early period affected the lives of +those who took part in them. + +Under the Babylonians at the period of the First Dynasty divorce was +strictly regulated, though it was far easier for the man to obtain one +than for the woman. If we may regard the copies of Sumerian laws, which +have come down to us from the late Assyrian period, as parts of the code +in use under the early Sumerians, we must conclude that at this earlier +period the law was still more in favour of the husband, who could +divorce his wife whenever he so desired, merely paying her half a mana +as compensation. Under the Sumerians the wife could not obtain a +divorce at all, and the penalty for denying her husband was death. These +regulations were modified in favour of the woman in Hammurabi’s code; +for under its provisions, if a man divorced his wife or his concubine, +he was obliged to make proper provision for her maintenance. Whether +she were barren or had borne him children, he was obliged to return +her marriage portion; and in the latter case she had the custody of the +children, for whose maintenance and education he was obliged to furnish +the necessary supplies. Moreover, at the man’s death she and her +children would inherit a share of his property. When there had been no +marriage portion, a sum was fixed which the husband was obliged to pay +to his divorced wife, according to his status. In cases where the wife +was proved to have wasted her household and to have entirely failed in +her duty, her husband could divorce her without paying any compensation, +or could make her a slave in his house, and the extreme penalty for +this offence was death. On the other hand, a woman could not be divorced +because she had contracted a permanent disease; and, if she desired to +divorce her husband and could prove that her past life had been seemly, +she could do so, returning to her father’s house and taking her marriage +portion with her. + +It is not necessary here to go very minutely into the regulations given +by the code with regard to marriage portions, the rights of widows, +the laws of inheritance, and the laws regulating the adoption and +maintenance of children. The customs that already have been described +with regard to marriage and divorce may serve to indicate the spirit +in which the code is drawn up and the recognized status occupied by the +wife in the Babylonian household. The extremely independent position +enjoyed by women in the early Babylonian days is illustrated by the +existence of a special class of women, to which constant reference is +made in the contracts and letters of the period. When the existence of +this class of women was first recognized from the references to them in +the contract-tablets inscribed at the time of the First Dynasty, they +were regarded as priestesses, but the regulations concerning them which +occur in the code of Hammurabi prove that their duties were not strictly +sacerdotal, but that they occupied the position of votaries. The +majority of those referred to in the inscriptions of this period +were vowed to the service of E-bab-bara, the temple of the Sun-god at +Sippara, and of E-sagila, the great temple of Marduk at Babylon, but +it is probable that all the great temples in the country had classes of +female votaries attached to them. From the evidence at present +available it may be concluded that the functions of these women bore no +resemblance to that of the sacred prostitutes devoted to the service of +the goddess Ishtar in the city of Erech. They seem to have occupied a +position of great influence and independence in the community, and +their duties and privileges were defined and safeguarded by special +legislation. + +Generally they lived together in a special building, or convent, +attached to the temple, but they had considerable freedom and could +leave the convent and also contract marriage. Their vows, however, +while securing them special privileges, entailed corresponding +responsibilities. Even when married a votary was still obliged to remain +a virgin, and, should her husband desire to have children, she could not +bear them herself, but must provide him with a maid or concubine. Also +she had to maintain a high standard of moral conduct, for any breach +of which severe penalties were enforced. Thus, if a votary who was not +living in the convent opened a beer-shop, or should enter one for drink, +she ran the risk of being put to death. But the privileges she enjoyed +were also considerable, for even when unmarried she enjoyed the status +of a married woman, and if any man slandered her he incurred the penalty +of branding on the forehead. Moreover, a married votary, though she +could not bear her husband children, was secured in her position as the +permanent head of his household. The concubine she might give to her +husband was always the wife’s inferior, even after bearing him children, +and should the former attempt to put herself on a level of equality with +the votary, the latter might brand her as a slave and put her with the +female slaves. If the concubine proved barren she could be sold. The +votary could also possess property, and on taking her vows was provided +with a portion by her father exactly as though she were being given +in marriage. Her portion was vested in herself and did not become the +property of the order of votaries, nor of the temple to which she +was attached. The proceeds of her property were devoted to her own +maintenance, and on her father’s death her brothers looked after +her interests, or she might farm the property out. Under certain +circumstances she could inherit property and was not obliged to pay +taxes on it, and such property she could bequeath at her own death; but +upon her death her portion returned to her own family unless her father +had assigned her the privilege of bequeathing it. That the social +position enjoyed by a votary was considerable is proved by the fact that +many women of good family, and even members of the royal house, took +vows. The existence of the order and its high repute indicate a +very advanced conception of the position of women among the early +Babylonians. + +From the code of Hammurabi we also gather considerable information with +regard to the various classes of which the community was composed and +to their relative social positions. For the purposes of legislation +the community was divided into three main classes or sections, which +corresponded to well-defined strata in the social system. The lowest +of these classes consisted of the slaves, who must have formed a +considerable portion of the population. The class next above them +comprised the large body of free men, who were possessed of a certain +amount of property but were poor and humble, as their name, _muslikênu_, +implied. These we may refer to as the middle class. The highest, or +upper class, in the Babylonian community embraced all the officers and +ministers attached to the court, the higher officials and servants +of the state, and the owners of considerable lands and estates. The +differences which divided and marked off from one another the two great +classes of free men in the population of Babylonia is well illustrated +by the scale of payments as compensation for injury which they were +obliged to make or were entitled to receive. Thus, if a member of the +upper class were guilty of stealing an ox, or a sheep, or an ass, or +a pig, or a boat, from a temple or a private house, he had to pay the +owner thirty times its value as compensation, whereas if the thief were +a member of the middle class he only had to pay ten times its price, but +if he had no property and so could not pay compensation he was put to +death. The penalty for manslaughter was less if the assailant was a man +of the middle class, and such a man could also divorce his wife more +cheaply, and was privileged to pay his doctor or surgeon a smaller fee +for a successful operation. + +But the privileges enjoyed by a man of the middle class were +counterbalanced by a corresponding diminution of the value at which +his life and limbs were assessed. Thus, if a doctor by carrying out an +operation unskilfully caused the death of a member of the upper class, +or inflicted a serious injury upon him, such as the loss of an eye, the +punishment was the amputation of both hands, but no such penalty seems +to have been exacted if the patient were a member of the middle class. +If, however, the patient were a slave of a member of the middle class, +in the event of death under the operation, the doctor had to give the +owner another slave, and in the event of the slave losing his eye, he +had to pay the owner half the slave’s value. Penalties for assault were +also regulated in accordance with the social position and standing +of the parties to the quarrel. Thus, if one member of the upper class +knocked out the eye or the tooth of one of his equals, his own eye or +his own tooth was knocked out as a punishment, and if he broke the limb +of one of the members of his own class, he had his corresponding limb +broken; but if he knocked out the eye of a member of the middle class, +or broke his limb, he suffered no punishment in his own person, but was +fined one mana of silver, and for knocking out the tooth of such a man +he was fined one-third of a mana. If two members of the same class were +engaged in a quarrel, and one of them made a peculiarly improper assault +upon the other, the assailant was only fined, the fine being larger +if the quarrel was between members of the upper class. But if such an +assault was made by one man upon another who was of higher rank than +himself, the assailant was punished by being publicly beaten in the +presence of the assembly, when he received sixty stripes from a scourge +of ox-hide. These regulations show the privileges and responsibilities +which pertained to the two classes of free men in the Babylonian +community, and they indicate the relative social positions which they +enjoyed. + +Both classes of free men could own slaves, though it is obvious that +they were more numerous in the households and on the estates of members +of the upper class. The slave was the absolute property of his master +and could be bought and sold and employed as a deposit for a debt, +but, though slaves as a class had few rights of their own, in certain +circumstances they could acquire them. Thus, if the owner of a female +slave had begotten children by her he could not use her as the payment +for a debt, and in the event of his having done so he was obliged to +ransom her by paying the original amount of the debt in money. It was +also possible for a male slave, whether owned by a member of the upper +or of the middle class, to marry a free woman, and if he did so, his +children were free and did not become the property of his master. Also, +if the free woman whom the slave married brought with her a marriage +portion from her father’s house, this remained her own property on the +slave’s death, and supposing the couple had acquired other property +during the time they lived together as man and wife, the owner of the +slave could only claim half of such property, the other half being +retained by the free woman for her own use and for that of her children. + +Generally speaking, the lot of the slave was not a particularly hard +one, for he was a recognized member of his owner’s household, and, as a +valuable piece of property, it was obviously to his owner’s interest to +keep him healthy and in good condition. In fact, the value of the slave +is attested by the severity of the penalty imposed for abducting a male +or female slave from the owner’s house and removing him or her from +the city; for a man guilty of this offence was put to death. The same +penalty was imposed for harbouring and taking possession of a runaway +slave, whereas a fixed reward was paid by the owner to any one by whom +a runaway slave was captured and brought back. Special legislation was +also devised with the object of rendering the theft of slaves difficult +and their detection easy. Thus, if a brander put a mark upon a slave +without the owner’s consent, he was liable to have his hands cut off, +and if he could prove that he did so through being deceived by another +man, that man was put to death. For bad offences slaves were liable to +severe punishments, such as cutting off the ear, which was the penalty +for denying his master, and also for making an aggravated assault on a +member of the upper class of free men. But it is clear that on the whole +the slave was well looked after. He was also not condemned to remain +perpetually a slave, for while still in his master’s service it was +possible for him, under certain conditions, to acquire property of his +own, and if he did so he was able with his master’s consent to purchase +his freedom. If a slave were captured by the enemy and taken to a +foreign land and sold, and were then brought back by his new owner to +his own country, he could claim his liberty without having to pay any +purchase-money to either of his masters. + +The code of Hammurabi also contains detailed regulations concerning the +duties of debtors and creditors, and it throws an interesting light +on the commercial life of the Babylonians at this early period. For +instance, it reveals the method by which a wealthy man, or a merchant, +extended his business and obtained large profits by trading with other +towns. This he did by employing agents who were under certain fixed +obligations to him, but acted independently so far as their trading was +concerned. From the merchant these agents would receive money or grain +or wool or oil or any sort of goods wherewith to trade, and in return +they paid a fixed share of their profits, retaining the remainder as +the recompense for their own services. They were thus the earliest of +commercial travellers. In order to prevent fraud between the merchant +and the agent special regulations were framed for the dealings they had +with one another. Thus, when the agent received from the merchant the +money or goods to trade with, it was enacted that he should at the time +of the transaction give a properly executed receipt for the amount he +had received. Similarly, if the agent gave the merchant money in return +for the goods he had received and in token of his good faith, the +merchant had to give a receipt to the agent, and in reckoning their +accounts after the agent’s return from his journey, only such amounts as +were specified in the receipts were to be regarded as legal obligations. +If the agent forgot to obtain his proper receipt he did so at his own +risk. + +[Illustration: 280.jpg CLAY CONTRACT TABLET AND ITS OUTER CASE] + + Dating from the period of the First Dynasty of Babylon. + +Travelling at this period was attended with some risk, as it is in the +East at the present day, and the caravan with which an agent travelled +was liable to attack from brigands, or it might be captured by enemies +of the country from which it set out. It was right that loss from this +cause should not be borne by the agent, who by trading with the goods +was risking his own life, but should fall upon the merchant who had +merely advanced the goods and was safe in his own city. It is plain, +however, that disputes frequently arose in consequence of the loss of +goods through a caravan being attacked and robbed, for the code states +clearly the responsibility of the merchant in the matter. If in the +course of his journey an enemy had forced the agent to give up some of +the goods he was carrying, on his return the agent had to specify the +amount on oath, and he was then acquitted of all responsibility in the +matter. If he attempted to cheat his employer by misappropriating the +money or goods advanced to him, on being convicted of the offence before +the elders of the city, he was obliged to repay the merchant three times +the amount he had taken. On the other hand, if the merchant attempted +to defraud his agent by denying that the due amount had been returned to +him, he was obliged on conviction to pay the agent six times the amount +as compensation. It will thus be seen that the law sought to protect the +agent from the risk of being robbed by his more powerful employer. + +The merchant sometimes furnished the agent with goods which he was to +dispose of in the best markets he could find in the cities and towns +along his route, and sometimes he would give the agent money with which +to purchase goods in foreign cities for sale on his return. If the +venture proved successful the merchant and his agent shared the profits +between them, but if the agent made bad bargains he had to refund to the +merchant the value of the goods he had received; if the merchant had not +agreed to risk losing any profit, the amount to be refunded to him was +fixed at double the value of the goods advanced. + +[Illustration: 282.jpg A TRACK IN THE DESERT.] + +This last enactment gives an indication of the immense profits which +were obtained by both the merchant and the agent from this system of +foreign trade, for it is clear that what was regarded fair profit for +the merchant was double the value of the goods disposed of. The profits +of a successful journey would also include a fair return to the agent +for the trouble and time involved in his undertaking. Many of the +contract tablets of this early period relate to such commercial +journeys, which show that various bargains were made between the +different parties interested, and sometimes such contracts, or +partnerships, were entered into, not for a single journey only, but for +long periods. We may therefore conclude that at the time of the First +Dynasty of Babylon, and probably for long centuries before that period, +the great trade-routes of the East were crowded with traffic. With the +exception that donkeys and asses were employed for beasts of burden and +were not supplemented by horses and camels until a much later period, a +camping-ground in the desert on one of the great trade-routes must have +presented a scene similar to that of a caravan camping in the desert at +the present day. + +[Illustration: 283.jpg A CAMPING-GROUND IN THE DESERT, BETWEEN BIREJIK +AND URFA.] + +The rough tracks beaten by the feet of men and beasts are the same +to-day as they were in that remote period. We can imagine a body of +these early travellers approaching a walled city at dusk and hastening +their pace to get there before the gates were shut. Such a picture as +that of the approach to the city of Samarra, with its mediaeval walls, +may be taken as having had its counterpart in many a city of the early +Babylonians. The caravan route leads through the desert to the city +gate, and if we substitute two massive temple towers for the domes of +the mosques that rise above the wall, little else in the picture need be +changed. + +[Illustration: 284.jpg APPROACH TO THE CITY OF SAMARRA, SITUATED ON THE +LEFT BANK OF THE TIGRIS.] + + A small caravan is here seen approaching the city at sunset + before the gates are shut. Samarra was only founded in A. D. + 834, by the Khalif el-Motasim, the son of Harûn er-Rashîd, + but customs in the East do not change, and the photograph + may be used to illustrate the approach of an early + Babylonian caravan to a walled city of the period. + +The houses, too, at this period must have resembled the structures of +unburnt brick of the present day, with their flat mud tops, on which +the inmates sleep at night during the hot season, supported on poles +and brushwood. The code furnishes evidence that at that time, also, the +houses were not particularly well built and were liable to fall, and, +in the event of their doing so, it very justly fixes the responsibility +upon the builder. It is clear from the penalties for bad workmanship +enforced upon the builder that considerable abuses had existed in the +trade before the time of Hammurabi, and it is not improbable that the +enforcement of the penalties succeeded in stamping them out. Thus, if +a builder built a house for a man, and his work was not sound and the +house fell and crushed the owner so that he died, it was enacted that +the builder himself should be put to death. If the fall of the house +killed the owner’s son, the builder’s own son was to be put to death. + +[Illustration: 285.jpg A SMALL CARAVAN IN THE MOUNTAINS OF KURDISTAN.] + +If one or more of the owner’s slaves were killed, the builder had to +restore him slave for slave. Any damage which the owner’s goods might +have suffered from the fall of the house was to be made good by the +builder. In addition to these penalties the builder was obliged to +rebuild the house, or any portion of it that had fallen through +not being properly secured, at his own cost. On the other hand, due +provisions were made for the payment of the builder for sound work; and +as the houses of the period rarely, if ever, consisted of more than one +story, the scale of payment was fixed by the area of ground covered by +the building. + +[Illustration: 286.jpg THE CITY OF MOSUL.] + + Situated on the right bank of the Tigris opposite the mounds + which mark the site of the ancient city of Nineveh. The + flat-roof ednouses which may be distinguished in the + photograph are very similar in form and construction to + those employed by the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians. + +From the code of Hammurabi we also gain considerable information with +regard to agricultural pursuits in ancient Babylonia, for elaborate +regulations are given concerning the landowner’s duties and +responsibilities, and his relations to his tenants. The usual practice +in hiring land for cultivation was for the tenant to pay his rent in +kind, by assigning a certain proportion of the crop, generally a third +or a half, to the owner. If a tenant hired certain land for cultivation +he was bound to till it and raise a crop, and should he neglect to do +so he had to pay the owner what was reckoned as the average rent of the +land, and he had also to break up the land and plough it before handing +it back. As the rent of a field was usually reckoned at harvest, and its +amount depended on the size of the crop, it was only fair that damage to +the crop from flood or storm should not be made up by the tenant; thus +it was enacted by the code that any loss from such a cause should be +shared equally by the owner of the field and the farmer, though if the +latter had already paid his rent at the time the damage occurred he +could not make a claim for repayment. + +[Illustration: 287.jpg THE VILLAGE OF NEBI YUNUS.] + + Built on one of the mounds marking the site of the Assyrian + city of Nineveh. The mosque in the photograph is built over + the traditional site of the prophet Jonah’s tomb. The flat- + roofed houses of the modern dwellers on the mound can be + well seen in the picture. + +It is clear from the enactments of the code that disputes were frequent, +not only between farmers and landowners, but also between farmers and +shepherds. It is certain that the latter, in the attempt to find pasture +for the flocks, often allowed their sheep to feed off the farmers’ fields +in the spring. This practice the code set itself to prevent by fixing a +scale of compensation to be paid by any shepherd who caused his sheep to +graze on cultivated land without the owner’s consent. If the offence was +committed in the early spring, when the crop was still small, the farmer +was to harvest the crop and receive a considerable price in kind as +compensation for the shepherd. But if it occurred later on in the +spring, when the sheep had been brought in from the meadows and turned +into the great common field at the city gate, the offence would less +probably be due to accident and the damage to the crop would be greater. +In these circumstances the shepherd had to take over the crop and pay +the farmer very heavily for his loss. + +[Illustration: 288.jpg Portrait-sculpture of Hammurabi, King of Babylon] + + From a stone slab in the British Museum. + +The planting of gardens and orchards was encouraged, and a man was +allowed to use a field for this purpose without paying a yearly rent. He +might plant it and tend it for four years, and in the fifth year of +his tenancy the original owner of the field took half of the garden +in payment, while the other half the planter of the garden kept for +himself. If a bare patch had been left in the garden it was to be +reckoned in the planter’s half. Regulations were framed to ensure the +proper carrying out of the planting, for if the tenant neglected to do +this during the first four years, he was still liable to plant the plot +he had taken without receiving his half, and he had to pay the owner +compensation in addition, which varied in amount according to the +original condition of the land. If a man hired a garden, the rent he +paid to the owner was fixed at two-thirds of its produce. Detailed +regulations are also given in the code concerning the hire of cattle +and asses, and the compensation to be paid to the owner for the loss or +ill-treatment of his beasts. These are framed on the just principle that +the hirer was responsible only for damage or loss which he could have +reasonably prevented. Thus, if a lion killed a hired ox or ass in the +open country, or if an ox was killed by lightning, the loss fell upon +the owner and not on the man who hired the beast. But if the hirer +killed the ox through carelessness or by beating it unmercifully, or if +the beast broke its leg while in his charge, he had to restore another +ox to the owner in place of the one he had hired. For lesser damages to +the beast the hirer had to pay compensation on a fixed scale. Thus, if +the ox had its eye knocked out during the period of its hire, the man +who hired it had to pay to the owner half its value; while for a broken +horn, the loss of the tail, or a torn muzzle, he paid a quarter of the +value of the beast. + +Fines were also levied for carelessness in looking after cattle, though +in cases of damage or injury, where carelessness could not be proved, +the owner of a beast was not held responsible. A bull might go wild at +any time and gore a man, however careful and conscientious the owner +might be, and in these circumstances the injured man could not bring an +action against the owner. But if a bull had already gored a man, and, +although it was known to be vicious, the owner had not blunted its horns +or shut it up, in the event of its goring and killing a free man, he had +to pay half a mana of silver. One-third of a mana was the price paid for +a slave who was killed. A landed proprietor who might hire farmers to +cultivate his fields inflicted severe fines for acts of dishonesty with +regard to the cattle, provender, or seed-corn committed to their charge. +If a man stole the provender for the cattle he had to make it good, and +he was also liable to the punishment of having his hands cut off. In +the event of his being convicted of letting out the oxen for hire, or +stealing the seed-corn so that he did not produce a crop, he had to pay +very heavy compensation, and, if he could not pay, he was liable to be +torn to pieces by the oxen in the field he should have cultivated. + +In a dry land like Babylonia, where little rain falls and that in only +one season of the year, the irrigation of his fields forms one of the +most important duties of the agriculturist. The farmer leads the water +to his fields along small irrigation-canals or channels above the level +of the soil, their sides being formed of banks of earth. It is clear +that similar methods were employed by the early Babylonians. One such +channel might supply the fields of several farmers, and it was the duty +of each man through whose land the channel flowed to keep its banks on +his land in repair. If he omitted to strengthen his bank or dyke, and +the water forced a breach and flooded his neighbour’s field, he had to +pay compensation in kind for any crop that was ruined; while if he could +not pay, he and his goods were sold, and his neighbours, whose fields +had been damaged through his carelessness, shared the money. + +The land of Babylonian farmers was prepared for irrigation before it was +sown by being divided into a number of small square or oblong tracts, +each separated from the others by a low bank of earth, the seed being +afterwards sown within the small squares or patches. Some of the banks +running lengthwise through the field were made into small channels, the +ends of which were carried up to the bank of the nearest main irrigation +canal. No system of gates or sluices was employed, and when the farmer +wished to water one of his fields he simply broke away the bank opposite +one of his small channels and let the water flow into it. He would let +the water run along this small channel until it reached the part of +his land he wished to water. He then blocked the channel with a little +earth, at the same time breaking down its bank so that the water flowed +over one of the small squares and thoroughly soaked it. When this square +was finished he filled up the bank and repeated the process for the +next square, and so on until he had watered the necessary portion of +the field. When this was finished he returned to the main channel and +stopped the flow of the water by blocking up the hole he had made in the +dyke. The whole process was, and to-day still is, extremely simple, +but it needs care and vigilance, especially in the case of extensive +irrigation when water is being carried into several parts of an estate +at once. It will be obvious that any carelessness on the part of the +irrigator in not shutting off the water in time may lead to extensive +damage, not only to his own fields, but to those of his neighbours. In +the early Babylonian period, if a farmer left the water running in his +channel, and it flooded his neighbour’s field and hurt his crop, he had +to pay compensation according to the amount of damage done. + +It was stated above that the irrigation-canals and little channels were +made above the level of the soil so that the water could at any point +be tapped and allowed to flow over the surrounding land; and in a flat +country like Babylonia it will be obvious that some means had to be +employed for raising the water from its natural level to the higher +level of the land. As we should expect, reference is made in the +Babylonian inscriptions to irrigation-machines, and, although their +exact form and construction are not described, they must have been very +similar to those employed at the present day. The modern inhabitants of +Mesopotamia employ four sorts of contrivances for raising the water into +their irrigation-channels; three of these are quite primitive, and are +those most commonly employed. The method which gives the least trouble +and which is used wherever the conditions allow is a primitive form of +water-wheel. This can be used only in a river with a good current. +The wheel is formed of rough boughs and branches nailed together, with +spokes joining the outer rims to a roughly hewn axle. A row of rough +earthenware cups or bottles are tied round the outer rim for picking +up the water, and a few rough paddles are fixed so that they stick out +beyond the rim. The wheel is then fixed in place near the bank of the +river, its axle resting in pillars of rough masonry. + +[Illustration: 293.jpg A MODERN MACHINE FOR IRRIGATION ON THE +EUPHRATES.] + +As the current turns the wheel, the bottles on the rim dip below the +surface and are raised up full. At the top of the wheel is fixed a +trough made by hollowing half the trunk of a date-palm, and into this +the bottles pour their water, which is conducted from the trough by +means of a small aqueduct into the irrigation-channel on the bank. + +The convenience of the water-wheel will be obvious, for the water is +raised without the labour of man or beast, and a constant supply is +secured day and night so long as the current is strong enough to turn +the wheel. The water can be cut off by blocking the wheel or tying it +up. These wheels are most common on the Euphrates, and are usually set +up where there is a slight drop in the river bed and the water runs +swiftly over shallows. As the banks are very high, the wheels are +necessarily huge contrivances in order to reach the level of the fields, +and their very rough construction causes them to creak and groan as they +turn with the current. In a convenient place in the river several of +these are sometimes set up side by side, and the noise of their combined +creakings can be heard from a great distance. Some idea of what one of +these machines looks like can be obtained from the illustration. At Hit +on the Euphrates a line of gigantic water-wheels is built across the +river, and the noise they make is extraordinary. + +Where there is no current to turn one of these wheels, or where the bank +is too high, the water must be raised by the labour of man or beast. The +commonest method, which is the one employed generally on the Tigris, is +to raise it in skins, which are drawn up by horses, donkeys, or cattle. +A recess with perpendicular sides is cut into the bank, and a wooden +spindle on wooden struts is supported horizontally over the recess. A +rope running over the spindle is fastened to the skin, while the funnel +end of the skin is held up by a second rope, running over a lower +spindle, until its mouth is opposite the trough into which the water +is to be poured. The beasts which are employed for raising the skin +are fastened to the ends of the ropes, and they get a good purchase for +their pull by being driven down a short cutting or inclined plane in the +bank. To get a constant flow of water, two skins are usually employed, +and as one is drawn up full the other is let down empty. + +The third primitive method of raising water, which is commoner in Egypt +than in Mesopotamia at the present day, is the _shadduf_, and is worked +by hand. It consists of a beam supported in the centre, at one end of +which is tied a rope with a bucket or vessel for raising the water, and +at the other end is fixed a counterweight.[4] On an Assyrian bas-relief +found at Kuyunjik are representations of the shadduf in operation, +two of them being used, the one above the other, to raise the water to +successive levels. These were probably the contrivances usually employed +by the early Babylonians for raising the water to the level of their +fields, and the fact that they were light and easily removed must have +made them tempting objects to the dishonest farmer. Hammurabi therefore +fixed a scale of compensation to be paid to the owner by a detected +thief, which varied according to the class and value of the machine +he stole. The rivers and larger canals of Babylonia were used by the +ancient inhabitants not only for the irrigation of their fields, but +also as waterways for the transport of heavy materials. The recently +published letters of Hammurabi and Abêshu’ contain directions for the +transportation of corn, dates, sesame seed, and wood, which were ordered +to be brought in ships to Babylon, and the code of Hammurabi refers to +the transportation by water of wool and oil. It is therefore clear that +at this period considerable use was made of vessels of different size +for conveying supplies in bulk by water. The method by which the size of +such ships and barges was reckoned was based on the amount of grain +they were capable of carrying, and this was measured by the _gur_, the +largest measure of capacity. Thus mention is made in the inscriptions of +vessels of five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, and +seventy-five gur capacity. A boat-builder’s fee for building a vessel of +sixty gur was fixed at two shekels of silver, and it was proportionately +less for boats of smaller capacity. To ensure that the boat-builder +should not scamp his work, regulations were drawn up to fix on him the +responsibility for unsound work. Thus if a boat-builder were employed to +build a vessel, and he put faulty work into its construction so that it +developed defects within a year of its being launched, he was obliged to +strengthen and rebuild it at his own expense. + + [4] The fourth class of machine for raising water employed in + Mesopotamia at the present day consists of an endless chain + of iron buckets running over a wheel. This is geared by + means of rough wooden cogs to a horizontal wheel, the + spindle of which has long poles fixed to it, to which horses + or cattle are harnessed. The beasts go round in a circle and + so turn the machine. The contrivance is not so primitive as + the three described above, and the iron buckets are of + European importation. + +The hire of a boatman was fixed at six gur of corn to be paid him +yearly, but it is clear that some of the larger vessels carried crews +commanded by a chief boatman, or captain, whose pay was probably on +a larger scale. If a man let his boat to a boatman, the latter was +responsible for losing or sinking it, and he had to replace it. A +boatman was also responsible for the safety of his vessel and of any +goods, such as corn, wool, oil, or dates, which he had been hired to +transport, and if they were sunk through his carelessness he had to make +good the loss. If he succeeded in refloating the boat after it had been +sunk, he was only under obligation to pay the owner half its value in +compensation for the damage it had sustained. In the case of a collision +between two vessels, if one was at anchor at the time, the owner of the +other vessel had to pay compensation for the boat that was sunk and its +cargo, the owner of the latter estimating on oath the value of what +had been sunk. Boats were also employed as ferries, and they must have +resembled the primitive form of ferry-boat in use at the present day, +which is heavily built of huge timbers, and employed for transporting +beasts as well as men across a river. + +[Illustration: 297.jpg KAIKS, OR NATIVE BOATS ON THE EUPHRATES AT +BIREJIK.] + + Employed for ferrying caravans across the river. + +There is evidence that under the Assyrians rafts floated on inflated +skins were employed for the transport of heavy goods, and these have +survived in the keleks of the present day. They are specially adapted +for the transportation of heavy materials, for they are carried down by +the current, and are kept in the course by means of huge sweeps or oars. +Being formed only of logs of wood and skins, they are not costly, for +wood is plentiful in the upper reaches of the rivers. At the end of +their journey, after the goods are landed, they are broken up. The wood +is sold at a profit, and the skins, after being deflated, are packed on +to donkeys to return by caravan. + +[Illustration: 298.jpg THE MODERN BRIDGE OF BOATS ACROSS THE TIGRIS +OPPOSITE MOSUL.] + +It is not improbable that such rafts were employed on the Tigris and the +Euphrates from the earliest periods of Chaldæan history, though boats +would have been used on the canals and more sluggish waterways. + +In the preceding pages we have given a sketch of the more striking +aspects of early Babylonian life, on which light has been thrown by +recently discovered documents belonging to the period of the First +Dynasty of Babylon. We have seen that, in the code of laws drawn up +by Hammurabi, regulations were framed for settling disputes and fixing +responsibilities under almost every condition and circumstance which +might arise among the inhabitants of the country at that time; and the +question naturally arises as to how far the code of laws was in actual +operation. + +[Illustration: 299.jpg A SMALL KELEK, OK RAFT, UPON THE TIGRIS AT +BAGHDAD.] + +It is conceivable that the king may have held admirable convictions, but +have been possessed of little power to carry them out and to see +that his regulations were enforced. Luckily, we have not to depend on +conjecture for settling the question, for Hammurabi’s own letters which +are now preserved in the British Museum afford abundant evidence of the +active control which the king exercised over every department of his +administration and in every province of his empire. In the earlier +periods of history, when each city lived independently of its neighbours +and had its own system of government, the need for close and frequent +communication between them was not pressing, but this became apparent +as soon as they were welded together and formed parts of an extended +empire. Thus in the time of Sargon of Agade, about 3800 B.C., an +extensive system of royal convoys was established between the principal +cities. At Telloh the late M. de Sarzec came across numbers of lumps of +clay bearing the seal impressions of Sargon and of his son Narâm-Sin, +which had been used as seals and labels upon packages sent from Agade +to Shirpurla. In the time of Dungi, King of Ur, there was a constant +interchange of officials between the various cities of Babylonia and +Elam, and during the more recent diggings at Telloh there have been +found vouchers for the supply of food for their sustenance when stopping +at Shirpurla in the course of their journeys. In the case of Hammurabi +we have recovered some of the actual letters sent by the king himself to +Sin-idinnam, his local governor in the city of Larsam, and from them we +gain considerable insight into the principles which guided him in the +administration of his empire. + +The letters themselves, in their general characteristics, resembled the +contract tablets of the period which have been already described. They +were written on small clay tablets oblong in shape, and as they were +only three or four inches long they could easily be carried about the +person of the messenger into whose charge they were delivered. After the +tablet was written it was enclosed in a thin envelope of clay, having +been first powdered with dry clay to prevent its sticking to the +envelope. The name of the person for whom the letter was intended was +written on the outside of the envelope, and both it and the tablet were +baked hard to ensure that they should not be broken on their travels. +The recipient of the letter, on its being delivered to him, broke the +outer envelope by tapping it sharply, and it then fell away in pieces, +leaving the letter and its message exposed. The envelopes were very +similar to those in which the contract tablets of the period were +enclosed, of which illustrations have already been given, their only +difference being that the text of the tablet was not repeated on the +envelope, as was the case with the former class of documents. + +The royal letters that have been recovered throw little light on +military affairs and the prosecution of campaigns, for, being addressed +to governors of cities and civil officials, most of them deal with +matters affecting the internal administration of the empire. One letter +indeed contains directions concerning the movements of two hundred +and forty soldiers of “the King’s Company” who had been stationed in +Assyria, and another letter mentions certain troops who were quartered +in the city of Ur. A third deals with the supply of clothing and oil +for a section of the Babylonian army, and troops are also mentioned +as having formed the escort for certain goddesses captured from the +Elamites; while directions are sent to others engaged in a campaign upon +the Elamite frontier. The letter which contains directions for the +safe escort of the captured Elamite goddesses, and the one ordering the +return of these same goddesses to their own shrines, show that +foreign deities, even when captured from an enemy, were treated by the +Babylonians with the same respect and reverence that was shown by them +to their own gods and goddesses. Hammurabi gave directions in the first +letter for the conveyance of the goddesses to Babylon with all due pomp +and ceremony, sheep being supplied for sacrifice upon the journey, +and their usual rites being performed by their own temple-women and +priestesses. The king’s voluntary restoration of the goddesses to their +own country may have been due to the fact that, after their transference +to Babylon, the army of the Babylonians suffered defeat in Elam. This +misfortune would naturally have been ascribed by the king and the +priests to the anger of the Elamite goddesses at being detained in a +foreign land, and Hammurabi probably arrived at his decision that they +should be escorted back in the hope of once more securing victory for +the Babylonian arms. + +The care which the king exercised for the due worship of his own gods +and the proper supply of their temples is well illustrated from the +letters that have been recovered, for he superintended the collection +of the temple revenues, and the herdsmen and shepherds attached to the +service of the gods sent their reports directly to him. He also took +care that the observances of religious rites and ceremonies were duly +carried out, and on one occasion he postponed the hearing of a lawsuit +concerning the title to certain property which was in dispute, as it +would have interfered with the proper observance of a festival in +the city of Ur. The plaintiff in the suit was the chief of the temple +bakers, and it was his duty to superintend the preparation of certain +offerings for the occasion. In order that he should not have to leave +his duties, the king put off the hearing of the case until after the +festival had been duly celebrated. The king also exercised a strict +control over the priests themselves, and received reports from the chief +priests concerning their own subordinates, and it is probable that the +royal sanction was obtained for all the principal appointments. The +guild of soothsayers was an important religious class at this time, +and they also were under the king’s direct control. A letter written by +Ammiditana, one of the later kings of the First Dynasty, to three high +officials of the city of Sippar, contains directions with regard to +certain duties to be carried out by the soothsayers attached to the +service of the city, and indicates the nature of their functions. +Ammiditana wrote to the officials in question, stating that there was a +scarcity of corn in the city of Shagga, and he therefore ordered them +to send a supply thither. But before the corn was brought into the city +they were told to consult the soothsayers, who were to divine the future +and ascertain whether the omens were favourable. If they proved to be +so, the corn was to be brought in. We may conjecture that the king took +this precaution, as he feared the scarcity of corn in Shagga was due +to the anger of some local deity or spirit, and that, if this were the +case, the bringing in of the corn would only lead to fresh troubles. +This danger it was the duty of the soothsayers to prevent. + +Another class of the priesthood, which we may infer was under the king’s +direct control, was the astrologers, whose duty it probably was to make +reports to the king of the conjunctions of the heavenly bodies, with a +view to ascertaining whether they portended good or evil to the +state. No astrological reports written in this early period have +been recovered, but at a later period under the Assyrian empire the +astrologers reported regularly to the king on such matters, and it is +probable that the practice was one long established. One of Hammurabi’s +letters proves that the king regulated the calendar, and it is +legitimate to suppose that he sought the advice of his astrologers as +to the times when intercalary months were to be inserted. The letter +dealing with the calendar was written to inform Sin-idinnam, the +governor of Larsam, that an intercalary month was to be inserted. “Since +the year (i.e. the calendar) hath a deficiency,” he writes, “let the +month which is now beginning be registered as a second Elul,” and the +king adds that this insertion of an extra month will not justify any +postponement in the payment of the regular tribute due from the city of +Larsam, which had to be paid a month earlier than usual to make up for +the month that was inserted. The intercalation of additional months +was due to the fact that the Babylonian months were lunar, so that the +calendar had to be corrected at intervals to make it correspond to the +solar year. + +From the description already given of the code of laws drawn up by +Hammurabi it will have been seen that the king attempted to incorporate +and arrange a set of regulations which should settle any dispute likely +to arise with regard to the duties and privileges of all classes of +his subjects. That this code was not a dead letter, but was actively +administered, is abundantly proved by many of the letters of Hammurabi +which have been recovered. From these we learn that the king took a very +active part in the administration of justice in the country, and that he +exercised a strict supervision, not only over the cases decided in the +capital, but also over those which were tried in the other great cities +and towns of Babylonia. Any private citizen was entitled to make a +direct appeal to the king for justice, if he thought he could not obtain +it in his local court, and it is clear from Hammurabi’s letters that he +always listened to such an appeal and gave it adequate consideration. +The king was anxious to stamp out all corruption on the part of those +who were invested with authority, and he had no mercy on any of his +officers who were convicted of taking bribes. On one occasion when he +had been informed of a case of bribery in the city of Dûr-gurgurri, he +at once ordered the governor of the district in which Dûr-gurgurri lay +to investigate the charge and send to Babylon those who were proved to +be guilty, that they might be punished. He also ordered that the bribe +should be confiscated and despatched to Babylon under seal, a wise +provision which must have tended to discourage those who were inclined +to tamper with the course of justice, while at the same time it enriched +the state. It is probable that the king tried all cases of appeal in +person when it was possible to do so. But if the litigants lived at +a considerable distance from Babylon, he gave directions to his local +officials on the spot to try the case. When he was convinced of +the justice of any claim, he would decide the case himself and send +instructions to the local authorities to see that his decision was duly +carried out. It is certain that many disputes arose at this period in +consequence of the extortions of money-lenders. These men frequently +laid claim in a fraudulent manner to fields and estates which they had +received in pledge as security for seed-corn advanced by them. In +cases where fraud was proved Hammurabi had no mercy, and summoned the +money-lender to Babylon to receive punishment, however wealthy and +powerful he might be. + +A subject frequently referred to in Hammurabi’s letters is the +collection of revenues, and it is clear that an elaborate system was in +force throughout the country for the levying and payment of tribute +to the state by the principal cities of Babylonia, as well as for the +collection of rent and revenue from the royal estates and from the lands +which were set apart for the supply of the great temples. Collectors of +both secular and religious tribute sent reports directly to the king, +and if there was any deficit in the supply which was expected from a +collector he had to make it up himself; but the king was always ready +to listen to and investigate a complaint and to enforce the payment of +tribute or taxes so that the loss should not fall upon the collector. +Thus, in one of his letters Hammurabi informs the governor of +Larsam that a collector named Sheb-Sin had reported to him, saying +“Enubi-Marduk hath laid hands upon the money for the temple of +Bît-il-kittim (i.e. the great temple of the Sun-god at Larsam) which is +due from the city of Dûr-gurgurri and from the (region round about the) +Tigris, and he hath not rendered the full sum; and Gimil-Marduk hath +laid hands upon the money for the temple of Bît-il-kittim which is due +from the city.of Rakhabu and from the region round about that city, and +he hath not (paid) the full amount. But the palace hath exacted the full +sum from me.” It is probable that both Enubi-Marduk and Gimil-Marduk +were money-lenders, for we know from another letter that the former had +laid claim to certain property on which he had held a mortgage, although +the mortgage had been redeemed. In the present case they had probably +lent money or seed-corn to certain cultivators of land near Dûr-gurgurri +and Rakhabu and along the Tigris, and in settlement of their claims they +had seized the crops and had, moreover, refused to pay to the king’s +officer the proportion of the crops that was due to the state as +taxes upon the land. The governor of Larsam, the principal city in the +district, had rightly, as the representative of the palace (i.e. +the king), caused the tax-collector to make up the deficiency, but +Hammurabi, on receiving the subordinate officer’s complaint, referred +the matter back to the governor. The end of the letter is wanting, but +we may infer that Hammurabi condemned the defaulting money-lenders to +pay the taxes due, and fined them in addition, or ordered them to be +sent to the capital for punishment. + +On another occasion Sheb-Sin himself and a second tax-collector named +Sin-mushtal appear to have been in fault and to have evaded coming to +Babylon when summoned thither by the king. It had been their duty to +collect large quantities of sesame seed as well as taxes paid in money. +When first summoned, they had made the excuse that it was the time of +harvest and they would come after the harvest was over. But as they +did not then make their appearance, Hammurabi wrote an urgent letter +insisting that they should be despatched with the full amount of the +taxes due, in the company of a trustworthy officer who would see that +they duly arrived at the capital. + +Tribute on flocks and herds was also levied by the king, and collectors +or assessors of the revenue were stationed in each district, whose duty +it was to report any deficit in the revenue accounts. The owners of +flocks and herds were bound to bring the young cattle and lambs that +were due as tribute to the central city of the district in which they +dwelt, and they were then collected into large bodies and added to the +royal flocks and herds; but, if the owners attempted to hold back any +that were due as tribute, they were afterwards forced to incur the extra +expense and trouble of driving the beasts to Babylon. The flocks and +herds owned by the king and the great temples were probably enormous, +and yielded a considerable revenue in themselves apart from the tribute +and taxes due from private owners. Shepherds and herdsmen were placed in +charge of them, and they were divided into groups under chief shepherds, +who arranged the districts in which the herds and flocks were to be +grazed, distributing them when possible along the banks and in the +neighbourhood of rivers and canals which would afford good pasturage and +a plentiful supply of water. The king received reports from the chief +shepherds and herdsmen, and it was the duty of the governors of the +chief cities and districts of Babylonia to make tours of inspection +and see that due care was taken of the royal flocks and sheep. The +sheep-shearing for all the flocks that were pastured near the capital +took place in Babylon, and the king used to send out summonses to his +chief shepherds to inform them of the day when the shearing would take +place; and it is probable that the governors of the other great cities +sent out similar orders to the shepherds of flocks under their charge. +Royal and priestly flocks were often under the same chief officer, a +fact which shows the very strict control the king exercised over the +temple revenues. + +The interests of the agricultural population were strictly looked +after by the king, who secured a proper supply of water for purposes of +irrigation by seeing that the canals and waterways were kept in a proper +state of repair and cleaned out at regular intervals. There is also +evidence that nearly every king of the First Dynasty of Babylon cut new +canals, and extended the system of irrigation and transportation which +had been handed down to him from his fathers. The draining of the +marshes and the proper repair of the canals could only be carried out +by careful and continuous supervision, and it was the duty of the local +governors to see that the inhabitants of villages and owners of land +situated on the banks of a canal should keep it in proper order. When +this duty had been neglected complaints were often sent to the king, +who gave orders to the local governor to remedy the defect. Thus on one +occasion it had been ordered that a canal at Erech which had silted +up should be deepened, but the dredging had not been carried out +thoroughly, so that the bed of the canal soon silted up again and boats +were prevented from entering the city. In these circumstances Hammurabi +gave pressing orders that the obstruction was to be removed and the +canal made navigable within three days. + +Damage was often done to the banks of canals by floods which followed +the winter rains, and a letter of Abêshu’ gives an interesting account of +a sudden rise of the water in the Irnina canal so that it overflowed its +banks. The king was building a palace at the city of Kâr-Irnina, which +was supplied by the Irnina canal, and every year it was possible to put +so much work into the building. But one year, when little more than a +third of the year’s work was done, the building operations were stopped +by flood, the canal having overflowed its banks so that the water rose +right up to the wall of the town. In return for the duty of keeping +the canals in order, the villagers along the banks had the privilege of +fishing in its waters in the portion which was in their charge, and +any poaching by other villagers in this part of the stream was strictly +forbidden. On one occasion, in the reign of Samsu-iluna, Hammurabi’s son +and successor, the fishermen of the district of Rabim went down in their +boats to the district of Shakanim and caught fish there contrary to the +law. So the inhabitants of Shakanim complained of this poaching to the +king, who sent a palace official to the authorities of Sippar, near +which city the districts in question lay, with orders to inquire into +the matter and take steps to prevent all such poaching for the future. + +The regulation of transportation on the canals was also under the royal +jurisdiction. The method of reckoning the size of ships has already +been described, and there is evidence that the king possessed numerous +vessels of all sizes for the carrying of grain, wool, and dates, as well +as for the wood and stone employed in his building operations. Each ship +seems to have had its own crew, under the command of a captain, and it +is probable that officials who regulated the transportation from the +centres where they were stationed were placed in charge of separate +sections of the rivers and of the canals. + +It is obvious, from the account that has been given of the numerous +operations directly controlled and superintended by the king, that +he had need of a very large body of officials, by whose means he was +enabled to carry out successfully the administration of the country. +In the course of the account we have made mention of the judges and +judicial officers, the assessors and collectors of revenue, and the +officials of the palace who were under the king’s direct orders. It is +also obvious that different classes of officers were in charge of all +the departments of the administration. Two classes of officials, +who were placed in charge of the public works and looked after and +controlled the public slaves, and probably also had a good deal to do +with the collection of the revenue, had special privileges assigned +to them, and special legislation was drawn up to protect them in the +enjoyment of the same. As payment for their duties they were each +granted land with a house and garden, they were assigned the use of +certain sheep and cattle with which to stock their land, and in addition +they received a regular salary. They were in a sense personal retainers +of the king and were liable to be sent at any moment on a special +mission to carry out the king’s commands. Disobedience was severely +punished; for, if such an officer, when detailed for a special mission, +did not go but hired a substitute, he was liable to be put to death and +the substitute he had hired could take his office. Sometimes an officer +was sent for long periods some distance from his home to take charge +of a garrison, and when this was done his home duties were performed by +another man, who temporarily occupied his house and land, but gave it +back to the officer on his return. If such an officer had a son old +enough to perform his duty in his father’s absence, he was allowed to +do so and to till his father’s lands; but if the son was too young, +the substitute who took the officer’s place had to pay one-third of +the produce of the land to the child’s mother for his education. Before +departing on his journey to the garrison it was the officer’s duty to +arrange for the proper cultivation of his land and the discharge of his +local duties during his absence. If he omitted to do so and left +his land and duties neglected for more than a year, and another had +meanwhile taken his place, on his return he could not reclaim his land +and office. It will be obvious, therefore, that his position was a +specially favoured one and much sought after, and these regulations +ensured that the duties attaching to the office were not neglected. + +In the course of his garrison duty or when on special service, these +officers ran some risk of being captured by the enemy, and in that event +regulations were drawn up for their ransom. If the captured officer was +wealthy and could pay for his own ransom, he was bound to do so, but +if he had not the necessary means his ransom was to be paid out of the +local temple treasury, and, when the funds in the temple treasury +did not suffice, he was to be ransomed by the state. It was specially +enacted that his land and garden and house were in no case to be sold +in order to pay for his ransom. These were inalienably attached to the +office which he held, and he was not allowed to sell them or the sheep +and cattle with which they were stocked. Moreover, he was not allowed +to bequeath any of this property to his wife or daughter, so that his +office would appear to have been hereditary and the property attached to +it to have been entailed on his son if he succeeded him. Such succession +would not, of course, have taken place if the officer by his own neglect +or disobedience had forfeited his office and its privileges during his +lifetime. + +It has been suggested with considerable probability that these officials +were originally personal retainers and follows of Sumu-abu, the founder +of the First Dynasty of Babylon. They were probably assigned lands +throughout the country in return for their services to the king, and +their special duties were to preserve order and uphold the authority of +their master. In the course of time their duties were no doubt modified, +but they retained their privileges and they must have continued to be a +very valuable body of officers, on whose personal loyalty the king could +always rely. In the preceding chapter we have already seen how grants of +considerable estates were made by the Kassite kings of the Third Dynasty +to followers who had rendered conspicuous services, and at the same time +they received the privilege of holding such lands free of all liability +to forced labour and the payment of tithes and taxes. We may conclude +that the class of royal officers under the kings of the First Dynasty +had a similar origin. + +In the present chapter, from information recently made available, we +have given some account of the system of administration adopted by the +early kings of Babylon, and we have described in some detail the +various classes of the Babylonian population, their occupations, and the +conditions under which they lived. In the two preceding chapters we have +dealt with the political history of Western Asia from the very earliest +period of the Sumerian city-states down to the time of the Kassite +kings. In the course of this account we have seen how Mesopotamia in the +dawn of history was in the sole possession of the Sumerian race and how +afterwards it fell in turn under the dominion of the Semites and the +kings of Elam. The immigration of fresh Semitic tribes at the end of the +third millennium before Christ resulted in the establishment in Babylon +of the Semitic kings who are known as First Dynasty kings; and under the +sway of Hammurabi, the greatest of this group of kings, the empire thus +established in Western Asia had every appearance of permanence. Although +Elam no longer troubled Babylon, a great danger arose from a new and +unexpected quarter. In the Country of the Sea--which comprised the +districts in the extreme south of Babylonia on the shores of the Persian +Gulf--the Sumerians had rallied their forces, and they now declared +themselves independent of Babylonian control. A period of conflict +followed between the kings of the First Dynasty and the kings of the +Country of the Sea, in which the latter more than held their own; and, +when the Hittite tribes of Syria invaded Northern Babylonia in the reign +of Samsu-ditana, Babylon’s power of resistance was so far weakened that +she fell an easy prey to the rulers of the Country of the Sea. But the +reappearance of the Sumerians in the rôle of leading race in Western +Asia was destined not to last long, and was little more than the last +flicker of vitality exhibited by this ancient and exhausted race. Thus +the Second Dynasty fell in its turn before the onslaught of the Kassite +tribes who descended from the mountainous districts in the west of Elam, +and, having overrun the whole of Mesopotamia, established a new dynasty +at Babylon, and adopted Babylonian civilization. + +With the advent of the Kassite kings a new chapter opens in the history +of Western Asia. Up to that time Egypt and Babylon, the two chief +centres of ancient civilization, had no doubt indirectly influenced one +another, but they had not come into actual contact. During the period of +the Kassite kings both Babylon and Assyria established direct relations +with Egypt, and from that time forward the influence they exerted upon +one another was continuous and unbroken. We have already traced the +history of Babylon up to this point in the light of recent discoveries, +and a similar task awaits us with regard to Assyria. Before we enter +into a discussion of Assyria’s origin and early history in the light of +recent excavation and research, it is necessary that we should return +once more to Egypt, and describe the course of her history from the +period when Thebes succeeded in displacing Memphis as the capital city. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +TEMPLES AND TOMBS OF THEBES + +We have seen that it was in the Theban period that Egypt emerged from +her isolation, and for the first time came into contact with Western +Asia. This grand turning-point in Egyptian history seemed to be the +appropriate place at which to pause in the description of our latest +knowledge of Egyptian history, in order to make known the results of +archaeological discovery in Mesopotamia and Western Asia generally. The +description has been carried down past the point of convergence of the +two originally isolated paths of Egyptian and Babylonian civilization, +and what new information the latest discoveries have communicated to us +on this subject has been told in the preceding chapters. We now have to +retrace our steps to the point where we left Egyptian history and resume +the thread of our Egyptian narrative. + +The Hyksos conquest and the rise of Thebes are practically +contemporaneous. The conquest took place perhaps three or four hundred +years after the first advancement of Thebes to the position of capital +of Egypt, but it must be remembered that this position was not retained +during the time of the XIIth Dynasty. The kings of that dynasty, though +they were Thebans, did not reign at Thebes. Their royal city was in the +North, in the neighbourhood of Lisht and Mêdûm, where their pyramids +were erected, and their chief care was for the lake province of the +Fayyûm, which was largely the creation of Amenemhat III, the Moeris +of the Greeks. It was not till Thebes became the focus of the +national resistance to the Hyksos that its period of greatness began. +Henceforward it was the undisputed capital of Egypt, enlarged and +embellished by the care and munificence of a hundred kings, enriched by +the tribute of a hundred conquered nations. + +But were we to confine ourselves to the consideration only of the latest +discoveries of Theban greatness after the expulsion of the Hyksos, we +should be omitting much that is of interest and importance. For the +Egyptians the first grand climacteric in their history (after the +foundation of the monarchy) was the transference of the royal power from +Memphis and Herakleopolis to a Theban house. The second, which followed +soon after, was the Hyksos invasion. The two are closely connected in +Theban history; it is Thebes that defeated Herakleopolis and conquered +Memphis; it is Theban power that was overthrown by the Hyksos; it is +Thebes that expelled them and initiated the second great period of +Egyptian history. We therefore resume our narrative at a point before +the great increase of Theban power at the time of the expulsion of the +Hyksos, and will trace this power from its rise, which followed +the defeat of Herakleopolis and Memphis. It is upon this epoch--the +beginning of Theban power--that the latest discoveries at Thebes have +thrown some new light. + +More than anywhere else in Egypt excavations have been carried on at +Thebes, on the site of the ancient capital of the country. And here, if +anywhere, it might have been supposed that there was nothing more to be +found, no new thing to be exhumed from the soil, no new fact to be added +to our knowledge of Egyptian history. Yet here, no less than at Abydos, +has the archaeological exploration of the last few years been especially +successful, and we have seen that the ancient city of Thebes has a great +deal more to tell us than we had expected. + +The most ancient remains at Thebes were discovered by Mr. Newberry in +the shape of two tombs of the VIth Dynasty, cut upon the face of the +well-known hill of Shêkh Abd el-Kûrna, on the west bank of the Nile +opposite Luxor. Every winter traveller to Egypt knows, well the ride +from the sandy shore opposite the Luxor temple, along the narrow pathway +between the gardens and the canal, across the bridges and over the +cultivated land to the Ramesseum, behind which rises Shêkh Abd el-Kûrna, +with its countless tombs, ranged in serried rows along the scarred and +scarped face of the hill. This hill, which is geologically a fragment of +the plateau behind which some gigantic landslip was sent sliding in the +direction of the river, leaving the picturesque gorge and cliffs of Dêr +el-Bahari to mark the place from which it was riven, was evidently the +seat of the oldest Theban necropolis. Here were the tombs of the Theban +chiefs in the period of the Old Kingdom, two of which have been found +by Mr. Newberry. In later times, it would seem, these tombs were largely +occupied and remodelled by the great nobles of the XVIIIth Dynasty, so +that now nearly all the tombs extant on Shêkh Abd el-Kûrna belong to +that dynasty. + +Of the Thebes of the IXth and Xth Dynasties, when the Herakleopolites +ruled, we have in the British Museum two very remarkable statues--one of +which is here illustrated--of the steward of the palace, Mera. The tomb +from which they came is not known. Both are very beautiful examples +of the Egyptian sculptor’s art, and are executed in a style eminently +characteristic of the transition period between the work of the Old and +Middle Kingdoms. As specimens of the art of the Hierakonpolite period, +of which we have hardly any examples, they are of the greatest interest. +Mera is represented wearing a different head-dress in each figure; in +one he has a short wig, in the other a skullcap. + +[Illustration: 320.jpg STATUE OF MERA] + +When the Herakleopolite dominion was finally overthrown, in spite of the +valiant resistance of the princes of Asyût, and the Thebans assumed the +Pharaonic dignity, thus founding the XIth Dynasty, the Theban necropolis +was situated in the great bay in the cliffs, immediately north of Shêkh +Abd el-Kûrna, which is known as Dêr el-Bahari. In this picturesque part +of Western Thebes, in many respects perhaps the most picturesque +place in Egypt, the greatest king of the XIth Dynasty, Neb-hapet-Râ +Mentuhetep, excavated his tomb and built for the worship of his ghost +a funerary temple, which he called _Akh-aset_, “Glorious-is-its- +Situation,” a name fully justified by its surroundings. This temple is +an entirely new discovery, made by Prof. Naville and Mr. Hall in 1903. +The results obtained up to date have been of very great importance, +especially with regard to the history of Egyptian art and architecture, +for our sources of information were few and we were previously not very +well informed as to the condition of art in the time of the XIth +Dynasty. + +The new temple lies immediately to the south of the great XVIIIth +Dynasty temple at Dêr el-Bahari, which has always been known, and which +was excavated first by Mariette and later by Prof. Naville, for the +Egypt Exploration Fund. To the results of the later excavations we shall +return. When they were finally completed, in the year 1898, the great +XVIIIth Dynasty temple, which was built by Queen Hatshepsu, had been +entirely cleared of débris, and the colonnades had been partially +restored (under the care of Mr. Somers Clarke) in order to make a roof +under which to protect the sculptures on the walls. The whole mass of +débris, consisting largely of fallen _talus_ from the cliffs above, +which had almost hidden the temple, was removed; but a large tract lying +to the south of the temple, which was also covered with similar mounds +of débris, was not touched, but remained to await further investigation. +It was here, beneath these heaps of débris, that the new temple was +found when work was resumed by the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1903. The +actual tomb of the king has not yet been revealed, although that of +Neb-hetep Mentuhetep, who may have been his immediate predecessor, +was discovered by Mr. Carter in 1899. It was known, however, and still +uninjured in the reign of Ramses IX of the XXth Dynasty. Then, as we +learn from the report of the inspectors sent to examine the royal tombs, +which is preserved in the Abbott Papyrus, they found the _pyramid-tomb_ +of King Xeb-hapet-Râ which is in Tjesret (the ancient Egyptian name for +Dêr el-Bahari); it was intact. We know, therefore, that it was intact +about 1000 B.C. The description of it as a pyramid-tomb is interesting, +for in the inscription of Tetu, the priest of Akh-aset, who was buried +at Abydos, Akh-aset is said to have been a pyramid. That the newly +discovered temple was called Akh-aset we know from several inscriptions +found in it. And the most remarkable thing about this temple is that in +its centre there was a pyramid. This must be the pyramid-tomb which was +found intact by the inspectors, so that the tomb itself must be close +by. But it does not seem to have been beneath the pyramid, below which +is only solid rock. It is perhaps a gallery cut in the cliffs at the +back of the temple. + +The pyramid was then a dummy, made of rubble within a revetment of heavy +flint nodules, which was faced with fine limestone. It was erected on a +pyloni-form base with heavy cornice of the usual Egyptian pattern. This +central pyramid was surrounded by a roofed hall or ambulatory of small +octagonal pillars, the outside wall of which was decorated with coloured +reliefs, depicting various scenes connected with the _sed-heb_ or +jubilee-festival of the king, processions of the warriors and magnates +of the realm, scenes of husbandry, boat-building, and so forth, all of +which were considered appropriate to the chapel of a royal tomb at that +period. Outside this wall was an open colonnade of square pillars. +The whole of this was built upon an artificially squared rectangular +platform of natural rock, about fifteen feet high. To north and south of +this were open courts. The southern is bounded by the hill; the northern +is now bounded by the Great Temple of Hat-shepsu, but, before this was +built, there was evidently a very large open court here. The face of the +rock platform is masked by a wall of large rectangular blocks of fine +white limestone, some of which measure six feet by three feet six +inches. They are beautifully squared and laid in bonded courses of +alternate sizes, and the walls generally may be said to be among the +finest yet found in Egypt. We have already remarked that the architects +of the Middle Kingdom appear to have been specially fond of fine masonry +in white stone. The contrast between these splendid XIth Dynasty walls, +with their great base-stones of sandstone, and the bad rough masonry of +the XVIIIth Dynasty temple close by, is striking. The XVIIIth Dynasty +architects and masons had degenerated considerably from the standard of +the Middle Kingdom. + +This rock platform was approached from the east in the centre by an +inclined plane or ramp, of which part of the original pavement of wooden +beams remains _in situ_. + +[Illustration: 324.jpg XIth DYNASTY WALL: DÊR EL-BAHARI.] + + Excavated by Mr. Hall, 1904, for the Egypt Exploration Fund. + +To right and left of this ramp are colonnades, each of twenty-two square +pillars, all inscribed with the name and titles of Mentuhetep. The walls +masking the platform in these colonnades were sculptured with various +scenes, chiefly representing boat processions and campaigns against the +Aamu or nomads of the Sinaitic peninsula. The design of the colonnades +is the same as that of the Great Temple, and the whole plan of this +part, with its platform approached by a ramp flanked by colonnades, +is so like that of the Great Temple that we cannot but assume that the +peculiar design of the latter, with its tiers of platforms approached by +ramps flanked by colonnades, is not an original idea, but was directly +copied by the XVIIIth Dynasty architects from the older XIth Dynasty +temple which they found at Dêr el-Bahari when they began their work. + +[Illustration: 325.jpg XVIIIth DYNASTY WALL, DÊR EL-BAHARI.] + + Excavated by M. Naville, 1896; repaired by Mr. Howard + Carter, 1904. + +The supposed originality of Hatshepsu’s temple is then non-existent; +it was a copy of the older design, in fact, a magnificent piece of +archaism. But Hatshepsu’s architects copied this feature only; the +actual arrangements _on_ the platforms in the two temples are as +different as they can possibly be. In the older we have a central +pyramid with a colonnade round it, in the newer may be found an open +court in front of rock-cave shrines. + +[Illustration: 326.jpg EXCAVATION OF THE NORTH LOWER COLONNADE OF THE +XIth DYNASTY TEMPLE, DÊR EL-BAHARI, 1904.] + +Before the XIth Dynasty temple was set up a series of statues of King +Mentuhetep and of a later king, Amenhetep I, in the form of Osiris, like +those of Usertsen (Senusret) I at Lisht already mentioned. One of these +statues is in the British Museum. In the south court were discovered +six statues of King Usertsen (Senusret) III, depicting him at different +periods of his life. Pour of the heads are preserved, and, as the +expression of each differs from that of the other, it is quite evident +that some show him as a young, others as an old, man. + +[Illustration: 327.jpg GRANITE THRESHOLD AND OCTAGONAL SANDSTONE +PILLARS] + + Of The XIth Dynasty Temple At Dêr El-Bahari. About 2500 B.C. + +The face is of the well-known hard and lined type which is seen also in +the portraits of Amenemhat III, and was formerly considered to be that +of the Hyksos. Messrs. Newberry and Garstang, as we have seen, consider +it to be so, indirectly, as they regard the type as having been +introduced into the XIIth Dynasty by Queen Nefret, the mother of +Usertsen (Sen-usret) III. This queen, they think, _was_ a Hittite +princess, and the Hittites were practically the same thing as the +Hyksos. We have seen, however, that there is very little foundation for +this view, and it is more than probable that this peculiar physiognomy +is of a type purely Egyptian in character. + +[Illustration: 328.jpg EXCAVATION OF THE TOMB OF A PRIESTESS,] + + On The Platform Of The XIth Dynasty Temple, Dêr El-Bahari, + 1904. + +On the platform, around the central pyramid, were buried in small +chamber-tombs a number of priestesses of the goddess Hathor, the +mistress of the desert and special deity of Dêr el-Bahari. They were +all members of the king’s harîm, and they bore the title of “King’s +Favourite.” As told in a previous chapter, all were buried at one +time, before the final completion of the temple, and it is by no means +impossible that they were strangled at the king’s death and buried round +him in order that their ghosts might accompany him in the next world, +just as the slaves were buried around the graves (or secondary graves) +of the 1st Dynasty kings at Aby-dos. They themselves, as also already +related, took with them to the next world little waxen figures which +when called upon could by magic be turned into ghostly slaves. These +images were _ushabtiu,_ “answerers,” the predecessors of the little +figures of wood, stone, and pottery which are found buried with the +dead in later times. The priestesses themselves were, so to speak, human +_ushabtiu,_ for royal use only, and accompanied the kings to their final +resting-place. + +With the priestesses was buried the usual funerary furniture +characteristic of the period. This consisted of little models of +granaries with the peasants bringing in the corn, models of bakers and +brewers at work, boats with their crews, etc., just as we find them +in the XIth and XIIth Dynasty tombs at el-Bersha and Beni Hasan. These +models, too, were supposed to be transformed by magic into actual +workmen who would work for the deceased, heap up grain for her, brew +beer for her, ferry her over the ghostly Nile into the tomb-world, or +perform any other services required. + +Some of the stone sarcophagi of the priestesses are very elaborately +decorated with carved and painted reliefs depicting each deceased +receiving offerings from priests, one of whom milks the holy cows of +Hathor to give her milk. The sarcophagi were let down into the tomb in +pieces and there joined together, and they have been removed in the same +way. The finest is a unique example of XIth Dynasty art, and it is now +preserved in the Museum of Cairo. + +[Illustration: 330.jpg CASES OF ANTIQUITIES LEAVING DÊR EL-BAHARI FOR +TRANSPORT TO CAIRO.] + +In memory of the priestesses there were erected on the platform behind +the pyramid a number of small shrines, which were decorated with the +most delicately coloured carvings in high relief, representing chiefly +the same subjects as those on the sarcophagi. The peculiar style of +these reliefs was previously unknown. In connection with them a most +interesting possibility presents itself. + +[Illustration: 331.jpg SHIPPING CASES OF ANTIQUITIES ON BOARD THE NILE +STEAMER AT LUXOR, FOR THE EGYPT EXPLORATION FUND.] + +We know the name of the chief artist of Mentuhetep’s reign. He was +called Mertisen, and he thus describes himself on his tombstone from +Abydos, now in the Louvre: “I was an artist skilled in my art. I knew +my art, how to represent the forms of going forth and returning, so that +each limb may be in its proper place. I knew how the figure of a man +should walk and the carriage of a woman, the poising of the arm to +bring the hippopotamus low, the going of the runner. I knew how to make +amulets, which enable us to go without fire burning us and without the +flood washing us away. No man could do this but I, and the eldest son +of my body. Him has the god decreed to excel in art, and I have seen +the perfections of the work of his hands in every kind of rare stone, +in gold and silver, in ivory and ebony.” Now since Mertisen and his son +were the chief artists of their day, it is more than probable that they +were employed to decorate their king’s funerary chapel. So that in all +probability the XIth Dynasty reliefs from Dêr el-Bahari are the work +of Mertisen and his son, and in them we see the actual “forms of going +forth and returning, the poising of the arm to bring the hippopotamus +low, the going of the runner,” to which he refers on his tombstone. This +adds a note of personal interest to the reliefs, an interest which is +often sadly wanting in Egypt, where we rarely know the names of the +great artists whose works we admire so much. We have recovered the names +of the sculptor and painter of Seti I’s temple at Abydos and that of the +sculptor of some of the tombs at Tell el-Amarna, but otherwise very few +names of the artists are directly associated with the temples and tombs +which they decorated, and of the architects we know little more. The +great temple of Dêr el-Bahari was, however, we know, designed by Senmut, +the chief architect to Queen Hatshepsu. + +It is noticeable that Mertisen’s art, if it is Mertisen’s, is of a +peculiar character. It is not quite so fully developed as that of the +succeeding XIIth Dynasty. The drawing of the figures is often peculiar, +strange lanky forms taking the place of the perfect proportions of the +IVth-VIth and the XIIth Dynasty styles. Great elaboration is bestowed +upon decoration, which is again of a type rather archaic in character +when compared with that of the XIIth Dynasty. We are often reminded of +the rude sculptures which used to be regarded as typical of the art of +the XIth Dynasty, while at the same time we find work which could not +be surpassed by the best XIIth Dynasty masters. In fact, the art of +Neb-hapet-Râ’s reign was the art of a transitional period. Under the +decadent Memphites of the VIIth and VIIIth Dynasties, Egyptian art +rapidly fell from the high estate which it had attained under the Vth +Dynasty, and, though good work was done under the Hierakonpolites, the +chief characteristic of Egyptian art at the time of the Xth and early +XIth Dynasties is its curious roughness and almost barbaric appearance. +When, however, the kings of the XIth Dynasty reunited the whole land +under one sceptre, and the long reign of Neb-hapet-Râ Mentuhetep enabled +the reconsolidation of the realm to be carried out by one hand, art +began to revive, and, just as to Neb-hapet-Râ must be attributed the +renascence of the Egyptian state under the hegemony of Thebes, so must +the revival of art in his reign be attributed to his great artists, +Mertisen and his son. They carried out in the realm of art what their +king had carried out in the political realm, and to them must be +attributed the origin of the art of the Middle Kingdom which under the +XIIth Dynasty attained so high a pitch of excellence. The sculptures +of the king’s temple at Dêr el-Bahari, then, are monuments of the +renascence of Egyptian art, after the state of decadence into which it +had fallen during the long civil wars between South and North; it is +a reviving art, struggling out of barbarism to regain perfection, and +therefore has much about it that seems archaic, stiff, and curious when +compared with later work. To the XVIIIth Dynasty Egyptian it would no +doubt have seemed hopelessly old-fashioned and even semi-barbarous, and +he had no qualms about sweeping it aside whenever it appeared in the +way of the work of his own time; but to us this very strangeness +gives additional charm and interest, and we can only be thankful that +Mertisen’s work has lasted (in fragments only, it is true) to our own +day, to tell us the story of a little known chapter in the history of +ancient Egyptian art. + +From this description it will have been seen that the temple is an +important monument of the Egyptian art and architecture of the Middle +Kingdom. It is the only temple of that period of which considerable +traces have been found, and on that account the study of it will be of +the greatest interest. It is the best preserved of the older temples of +Egypt, and at Thebes it is by far the most ancient building recovered. +Historically it has given us a new king of the XIth Dynasty, +Sekhâhe-tep-Râ Mentuhetep, and the name of the queen of Neb-hapet-Râ +Mentuhetep, Aasheit, who seems to have been an Ethiopian, to judge from +her portrait, which has been discovered. It is interesting to note that +one of the priestesses was a negress. + +The name Neb-hapet-Râ may be unfamiliar to those readers who are +acquainted with the lists of the Egyptian kings. It is a correction +of the former reading, “Neb-kheru-Râ,” which is now known from these +excavations to be erroneous. Neb-hapet-Râ (or, as he used to be called, +Neb-kheru-Râ) is Mentuhetep III of Prof. Petrie’s arrangement. Before +him there seem to have come the kings Mentuhetep Neb-hetep (who is also +commemorated in this temple) and Neb-taui-Râ; after him, Sekhâhetep-Râ +Mentuhetep IV and Seânkhkarâ Mentuhetep V, who were followed by an +Antef, bearing the banner or hawk-name Uah-ânkh. This king was followed +by Amenemhat I, the first king of the XIIth Dynasty. Antef Uah-ânkh may +be numbered Antef I, as the prince Antefa, who founded the XIth Dynasty, +did not assume the title of king. + +Other kings of the name of Antef also ruled over Egypt, and they used to +be regarded as belonging to the XIth Dynasty; but Prof. Steindorff +has now proved that they really reigned after the XIIIth Dynasty, and +immediately before the Sekenenrâs, who were the fighters of the Hyksos +and predecessors of the XVIIIth Dynasty. The second names of Antef III +(Seshes-Râ-up-maat) and Antef IV (Seshes-Râ-her-her-maat) are exactly +similar to those of the XIIIth Dynasty kings and quite unlike those of +the Mentuheteps; also at Koptos a decree of Antef II (Nub-kheper-Râ) has +been found inscribed on a doorway of Usertsen (Senusret) I; so that +he cannot have preceded him. Prof. Petrie does not yet accept these +conclusions, and classes all the Antefs together with the Mentuheteps in +the XIth Dynasty. He considers that he has evidence from Herakleopolis +that Antef Xub-kheper-Râ (whom he numbers Antef V) preceded the XIIth +Dynasty, and he supposes that the decree of Nub-kheper-Râ at Koptos is +a later copy of the original and was inscribed during the XIIth Dynasty. +But this is a difficult saying. The probabilities are that Prof. +Steindorff is right. Antef Uah-ânkh must, however, have preceded the +XIIth Dynasty, since an official of that period refers to his father’s +father as having lived in Uah-ânkh ‘s time. + +The necropolis of Dêr el-Bahari was no doubt used all through the period +of the XIth and XIIth Dynasties, and many tombs of that period have been +found there. A large number of these were obliterated by the building +of the great temple of Queen Hatshepsu, in the northern part of the +cliff-bay. We know of one queen’s tomb of that period which runs right +underneath this temple from the north, and there is another that is +entered at the south side which also runs down underneath it. Several +tombs were likewise found in the court between it and the XIth Dynasty +temple. We know that the XVIIIth Dynasty temple was largely built over +this court, and we can see now the XIth Dynasty mask-wall on the west of +the court running northwards underneath the mass of the XVIIIth Dynasty +temple. In all probability, then, when the temple of Hatshepsu +was built, the larger portion of the Middle Kingdom necropolis (of +chamber-tombs reached by pits), which had filled up the bay to the north +of the Mentuhetep temple, was covered up and obliterated, just as +the older VIth Dynasty gallery tombs of Shêkh Abd el-Kûrna had been +appropriated and altered at the same period. + +The kings of the XIIth and XIIIth Dynasties were not buried at Thebes, +as we have seen, but in the North, at Dashûr, Lisht, and near the +Fayymn, with which their royal city at Itht-taui had brought them into +contact. But at the end of the XIIIth Dynasty the great invasion of the +Hyksos probably occurred, and all Northern Egypt fell under the Arab +sway. The native kings were driven south from the Fayymn to Abydos, +Koptos, and Thebes, and at Thebes they were buried, in a new necropolis +to the north of Dêr el-Bahari (probably then full), on the flank of a +long spur of hill which is now called Dra’ Abu-’l-Negga, “Abu-’l-Negga’s +Arm.” Here the Theban kings of the period between the XIIIth and XVIIth +Dynasties, Upuantemsaf, Antef Nub-kheper-Râ, and his descendants, Antefs +III and IV, were buried. In their time the pressure of foreign invasion +seems to have been felt, for, to judge from their coffins, which show +progressive degeneration of style and workmanship, poverty now afflicted +Upper Egypt and art had fallen sadly from the high standard which it had +reached in the days of the XIth and XIIth Dynasties. Probably the later +Antefs and Sebekemsafs were vassals of the Hyksos. Their descendants +of the XVIIth Dynasty were buried in the same necropolis of Dra’ +Abu-’l-Negga, and so were the first two kings of the XVIIIth Dynasty, +Aahmes and Amenhetep I. The tombs of the last two have not yet been +found, but we know from the Abbott Papyrus that Amenhetep’s was +here, for, like that of Menttihetep III, it was found intact by the +inspectors. It was a gallery-tomb of very great length, and will be a +most interesting find when it is discovered, as it no doubt eventually +will be. Aahmes had a tomb at Abydos, which was discovered by Mr. +Currelly, working for the Egypt Exploration Fund. This, however, like +the Abydene tomb of Usert-sen (Senusret) III, was in all likelihood a +sham or secondary tomb, the king having most probably been buried at +Thebes, in the Dra’ Abu-’l-Negga. The Abydos tomb is of interesting +construction. The entrance is by a simple pit, from which a gallery +runs round in a curving direction to a great hall supported by eighteen +square pillars, beyond which is a further gallery which was never +finished. Nothing was found in the tomb. On the slope of the mountain, +due west of and in a line with the tomb, Mr. Currelly found a +terrace-temple analogous to those of Dêr el-Bahari, approached not +by means of a ramp but by stairways at the side. It was evidently the +funerary temple of the tomb. + +[Illustration: Statue of Queen Teta-shera] + + Grandmother of Aahmes, the conqueror of the Hyksos and + founder of the XVIIIth Dynasty. About 1700 B. C. British + Museum. From the photograph by Messrs. Mansell & Co. + +The secondary tomb of Usertsen (Senusret) III at Abydos, which has +already been mentioned, was discovered in the preceding year by Mr. A. +E. P. Weigall, and excavated by Mr. Currelly in 1903. It lies north of +the Aahmes temple, between it and the main cemetery of Abydos. It is a +great _bâb_ or gallery-tomb, like those of the later kings at Thebes, +with the usual apparatus of granite plugs, barriers, pits, etc., to +defy plunderers. The tomb had been plundered, nevertheless, though it is +probable that the robbers were vastly disappointed with what they +found in it. Mr. Currelly ascribes the absence of all remains to the +plunderers, but the fact is that there probably never was anything in +it but an empty sarcophagus. Near the tomb Mr. Weigall discovered +some dummy mastabas, a find of great interest. Just as the king had a +secondary tomb, so secondary mastabas, mere dummies of rubble like the +XIth Dynasty pyramid at Dêr el-Bahari, were erected beside it to look +like the tombs of his courtiers. Some curious sinuous brick walls which +appear to act as dividing lines form a remarkable feature of this sham +cemetery. In a line with the tomb, on the edge of the cultivation, +is the funerary temple belonging to it, which was found by Mr. +Randall-Maclver in 1900. Nothing remains but the bases of the fluted +limestone columns and some brick walls. A headless statue of Usertsen +was found. + +We have an interesting example of the custom of building a secondary +tomb for royalties in these two nécropoles of Dra’ Abu-’l-Negga and +Abydos. Queen Teta-shera, the grandmother of Aahmes, a beautiful +statuette of whom may be seen in the British Museum, had a small pyramid +at Abydos, eastward of and in a line with the temple and secondary tomb +of Aahmes. In 1901 Mr. Mace attempted to find the chamber, but could +not. In the next year Mr. Currelly found between it and the Aahmes +tomb a small chapel, containing a splendid stele, on which Aahmes +commemorates his grandmother, who, he says, was buried at Thebes and had +a _mer-âhât_ at Abydos, and he records his determination to build her +also a pyramid at Abydos, out of his love and veneration for her memory. +It thus appeared that the pyramid to the east was simply a dummy, +like Usertsen’s mastabas, or the Mentuhetep pyramid at Dêr el-Bahari. +Teta-shera was actually buried at Dra’ Abu-’l-Negga. Her secondary +pyramid, like that of Aahmes himself, was in the “holy ground” at +Abydos, though it was not an imitation _bâb_, but a dummy pyramid of +rubble. This well illustrates the whole custom of the royal primary and +secondary tombs, which, as we have seen, had obtained in the case of +royal personages from the time of the 1st Dynasty, when Aha had two +tombs, one at Nakâda and the other at Abydos. It is probable that all +the 1st Dynasty tombs at Abydos are secondary, the kings being really +buried elsewhere. After their time we know for certain that Tjeser and +Snefru had duplicate tombs, possibly also Unas, and certainly Usertsen +(Senusret) III, Amenemhat III, and Aahmes; while Mentuhetep III and +Queen Teta-shera had dummy pyramids as well as their tombs. Ramses III +also had two tombs, both at Thebes. The reasons for this custom were +two: first, the desire to elude plunderers, and second, the wish to give +the ghost a _pied-à-terre_ on the sacred soil of Abydos or Sakkâra. + +As the inscription of Aahmes which records the building of the dummy +pyramid of Teta-shera is of considerable interest, it may here be +translated. The text reads: “It came to pass that when his Majesty the +king, even the king of South and North, Neb-pehti-Râ, Son of the Sun, +Aahmes, Giver of Life, was taking his pleasure in the _tjadu_-hall, +the hereditary princess greatly favoured and greatly prized, the king’s +daughter, the king’s sister, the god’s wife and great wife of the king, +Nefret-ari-Aahmes, the living, was in the presence of his Majesty. And +the one spake unto the other, seeking to do honour to These There,[1] +which consisteth in the pouring of water, the offering upon the altar, +the painting of the stele at the beginning of each season, at the +Festival of the New Moon, at the feast of the month, the feast of the +going-forth of the _Sem_-priest, the Ceremonies of the Night, the Feasts +of the Fifth Day of the Month and of the Sixth, the _Hak_-festival, the +_Uag_-festival, the feast of Thoth, the beginning of every season of +heaven and earth. And his sister spake, answering him: ‘Why hath one +remembered these matters, and wherefore hath this word been said? +Prithee, what hath come into thy heart?’ The king spake, saying: ‘As for +me, I have remembered the mother of my mother, the mother of my father, +the king’s great wife and king’s mother Teta-shera, deceased, whose +tomb-chamber and _mer-ahât_ are at this moment upon the soil of Thebes +and Abydos. I have spoken thus unto thee because my Majesty desireth to +cause a pyramid and chapel to be made for her in the Sacred Land, as a +gift of a monument from my Majesty, and that its lake should be dug, its +trees planted, and its offerings prescribed; that it should be provided +with slaves, furnished with lands, and endowed with cattle, with +_hen-ka_ priests and _kher-heb_ priests performing their duties, each +man knowing what he hath to do.’ Behold! when his Majesty had thus +spoken, these things were immediately carried out. His Majesty did these +things on account of the greatness of the love which he bore her, which +was greater than anything. Never had ancestral kings done the like for +their mothers. Behold! his Majesty extended his arm and bent his hand, +and made for her the king’s offering to Geb, to the Ennead of Gods, to +the lesser Ennead of Gods... [to Anubis] in the God’s Shrine, thousands +of offerings of bread, beer, oxen, geese, cattle... to [the Queen +Teta-shera].” This is one of the most interesting inscriptions +discovered in Egypt in recent years, for the picturesqueness of its +diction is unusual. + + [1] A polite periphrasis for the dead. + +As has already been said, the king Amenhetep I was also buried in the +Dra’ Abu-’l-Negga, but the tomb has not yet been found. Amenhetep I and +his mother, Queen Nefret-ari-Aahmes, who is mentioned in the inscription +translated above, were both venerated as tutelary demons of the Western +Necropolis of Thebes after their deaths, as also was Mentuhetep III. At +Dêr el-Bahari both kings seem to have been worshipped with Hathor, the +Mistress of the Waste. The worship of Amen-Râ in the XVIIIth Dynasty +temple of Dêr el-Bahari was a novelty introduced by the priests of Amen +at that time. But the worship of Hathor went on side by side with that +of Amen in a chapel with a rock-cut shrine at the side of the Great +Temple. Very possibly this was the original cave-shrine of Hathor, long +before Mentuhetep’s time, and was incorporated with the Great Temple and +beautified with the addition of a pillared hall before it, built +over part of the XIth Dynasty north court and wall, by Hatshepsu’s +architects. + +The Great Temple, the excavation of which for the Egypt Exploration Fund +was successfully brought to an end by Prof. Naville in 1898, was erected +by Queen Hatshepsu in honour of Amen-Râ, her father Thothmes I, and her +brother-husband Thothmes II, and received a few additions from Thothmes +III, her successor. He, however, did not complete it, and it fell into +disrepair, besides suffering from the iconoclastic zeal of the heretic +Akhunaten, who hammered out some of the beautifully painted scenes upon +its walls. These were badly restored by Ramses II, whose painting is +easily distinguished from the original work by the dulness and badness +of its colour. + +The peculiar plan and other remarkable characteristics of this temple +are well known. Its great terraces, with the ramps leading up to them, +flanked by colonnades, which, as we have seen, were imitated from the +design of the old XIth Dynasty temple at its side, are familiar from a +hundred illustrations, and the marvellously preserved colouring of its +delicate reliefs is known to every winter visitor to Egypt, and can be +realized by those who have never been there through the medium of Mr. +Howard Carter’s wonderful coloured reproductions, published in Prof. +Naville’s edition of the temple by the Egypt Exploration Fund. The Great +Temple stands to-day clear of all the débris which used to cover it, a +lasting monument to the work of the greatest of the societies which busy +themselves with the unearthing of the relics of the ancient world. + +[Illustration: 334.jpg THE TWO TEMPLES OF DÊR EL-BAHARI.] Excavated by +Prof. Nayille, 1893-8 and 1903-6, for the Egypt Exploration Fund + +The two temples of Dêr el-Bahari will soon stand side by side, as they +originally stood, and will always be associated with the name of the +society which rescued them from oblivion, and gave us the treasures +of the royal tombs at Abydos. The names of the two men whom the Egypt +Exploration Fund commissioned to excavate Dêr el-Bahari and Abydos, and +for whose work it exclusively supplied the funds, Profs. Naville and +Petrie, will live chiefly in connection with their work at Dêr el-Bahari +and Abydos. + +The Egyptians called the two temples _Tjeserti_, “the two holy places,” + the new building receiving the name of _Tjeser-tjesru_, “Holy of +Holies,” and the whole tract of Dêr el-Bahari the appellation _Tjesret_, +“the Holy.” The extraordinary beauty of the situation in which they are +placed, with its huge cliffs and rugged hillsides, may be appreciated +from the photograph which is taken from a steep path half-way up the +cliff above the Great Temple. In it we see the Great Temple in the +foreground with the modern roofs of two of its colonnades, devised in +order to protect the sculptures beneath them, the great trilithon gate +leading to the upper court, and the entrance to the cave-shrine of +Amen-Râ, with the niches of the kings on either side, immediately at the +foot of the cliff. In the middle distance is the duller form of the XIth +Dynasty temple, with its rectangular platform, the ramp leading up +to it, and the pyramid in the centre of it, surrounded by pillars, +half-emerging from the great heaps of sand and débris all around. The +background of cliffs and hills, as seen in the photograph, will serve to +give some idea of the beauty of the surroundings,--an arid beauty, it is +true, for all is desert. There is not a blade of vegetation near; all +is salmon-red in colour beneath a sky of ineffable blue, and against the +red cliffs the white temple stands out in vivid contrast. + +The second illustration gives a nearer view of the great trilithon +gate in the upper court, at the head of the ramp. The long hill of Dra’ +Abu-’l-Negga is seen bending away northward behind the gate. + +[Illustration: 346.jpg THE UPPER COURT AND TRILITHON GATE] + + Of The Xviiith Dynasty Temple At Dêr El-Bahari. About 1500 + B.C. + +This is the famous gate on which the jealous Thothmes III chiselled out +Hatshepsu’s name in the royal cartouches and inserted his own in +its place; but he forgot to alter the gender of the pronouns in the +accompanying inscription, which therefore reads “King Thothmes III, she +made this monument to her father Amen.” + +Among Prof. Naville’s discoveries here one of the most important is that +of the altar in a small court to the north, which, as the inscription +says, was made in honour of the god Râ-Harmachis “of beautiful white +stone of Anu.” It is of the finest white limestone known. Here also were +found the carved ebony doors of a shrine, now in the Cairo Museum. One +of the most beautiful parts of the temple is the Shrine of Anubis, with +its splendidly preserved paintings and perfect columns and roof of +white limestone. The effect of the pure white stone and simplicity of +architecture is almost Hellenic. + +The Shrine of Hathor has been known since the time of Mariette, but in +connection with it some interesting discoveries have been made during +the excavation of the XIth Dynasty temple. In the court between the two +temples were found a large number of small votive offerings, consisting +of scarabs, beads, little figures of cows and women, etc., of blue +glazed _faïence_ and rough pottery, bronze and wood, and blue glazed +ware ears, eyes, and plaques with figures of the sacred cow, and other +small objects of the same nature. These are evidently the ex-votos of +the XVIIIth Dynasty fellahîn to the goddess Hathor in the rock-shrine +above the court. When the shrine was full or the little ex-votos broken, +the sacristans threw them over the wall into the court below, which thus +became a kind of dust-heap. Over this heap the sand and débris gradually +collected, and thus they were preserved. The objects found are of +considerable interest to anthropological science. + +The Great Temple was built, as we have said, in honour of Thothmes I +and II, and the deities Amen-Râ and Hathor. More especially it was the +funerary chapel of Thothmes I. His tomb was excavated, not in the Dra’ +Abu-l-Negga, which was doubtless now too near the capital city and not +in a sufficiently dignified position of aloofness from the common herd, +but at the end of the long valley of the Wadiyên, behind the cliff-hill +above Dêr el-Bahari. Hence the new temple was oriented in the direction +of his tomb. Immediately behind the temple, on the other side of the +hill, is the tomb which was discovered by Lepsius and cleared in 1904 +for Mr. Theodore N. Davis by Mr. Howard Carter, then chief inspector of +antiquities at Thebes. Its gallery is of very small dimensions, and it +winds about in the hill in corkscrew fashion like the tomb of Aahmes at +Aby-dos. Owing to its extraordinary length, the heat and foul air in the +depths of the tomb were almost insupportable and caused great difficulty +to the excavators. When the sarcophagus-chamber was at length reached, +it was found to contain the empty sarcophagi of Thothmes I and of +Hatshepsu. The bodies had been removed for safe-keeping in the time of +the XXIst Dynasty, that of Thothmes I having been found with those +of Set! I and Ramses II in the famous pit at Dêr el-Bahari, which was +discovered by M. Maspero in 1881. Thothmes I seems to have had another +and more elaborate tomb (No. 38) in the Valley of the Tombs of the +Kings, which was discovered by M. Loret in 1898. Its frescoes had been +destroyed by the infiltration of water. + +The fashion of royal burial in the great valley behind Dêr el-Bahari +was followed during the XVIIIth, XIXth, and XXth Dynasties. Here in the +eastern branch of the Wadiyên, now called the _Bibân el-Mulûk_, “the +Tombs of the Kings,” the greater number of the mightiest Theban Pharaohs +were buried. In the western valley rested two of the kings of the +XVIIIth Dynasty, who desired even more remote burial-places, Amenhetep +III and Ai. The former chose for his last home a most kingly site. +Ancient kings had raised great pyramids of artificial stone over their +graves. Amenhetep, perhaps the greatest and most powerful Pharaoh of +them all, chose to have a natural pyramid for his grave, a mountain for +his tumulus. The illustration shows us the tomb of this monarch, opening +out of the side of one of the most imposing hills in the Western Valley. +No other king but Amenhetep rested beneath this hill, which thus marks +his grave and his only. + +It is in the Eastern Valley, the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings +properly speaking, that the tombs of Thothmes I and Hatshepsu lie, and +here the most recent discoveries have been made. It is a desolate spot. +As we come over the hill from Dêr el-Bahari we see below us in the +glaring sunshine a rocky canon, with sides sometimes sheer cliff, +sometimes sloped by great falls of rock in past ages. At the bottom +of these slopes the square openings of the many royal tombs can be +descried. [See illustration.] Far below we see the forms of tourists +and the tomb-guards accompanying them, moving in and out of the openings +like ants going in and out of an ants’ nest. Nothing is heard but the +occasional cry of a kite and the ceaseless rhythmical throbbing of the +exhaust-pipe of the electric light engine in the unfinished tomb of +Ramses XI. Above and around are the red desert hills. The Egyptians +called it “The Place of Eternity.” + +[Illustration: 350.jpg THE TOMB-MOUNTAIN OF AMENHETEP III, IN THE +WESTERN VALLEY, THEBES.] + +In this valley some remarkable discoveries have been made during the +last few years. In 1898 M. Grébaut discovered the tomb of Amenhetep +II, in which was found the mummy of the king, intact, lying in its +sarcophagus in the depths of the tomb. The royal body now lies there +for all to see. The tomb is lighted with electricity, as are all the +principal tombs of the kings. At the head of the sarcophagus is a single +lamp, and, when the party of visitors is collected in silence around the +place of death, all the lights are turned out, and then the single +light is switched on, showing the royal head illuminated against the +surrounding blackness. The effect is indescribably weird and impressive. +The body has only twice been removed from the tomb since its burial, the +second time when it was for a brief space taken up into the sunlight to +be photographed by Mr.. Carter, in January, 1902. The temporary removal +was carefully carried out, the body of his Majesty being borne up +through the passages of the tomb on the shoulders of the Italian +electric light workmen, preceded and followed by impassive Arab +candle-bearers. The workmen were most reverent in their handling of the +body of “_ il gran ré_,” as they called him. + +In the tomb were found some very interesting objects, including a model +boat (afterwards stolen), across which lay the body of a woman. This +body now lies, with others found close by, in a side chamber of the +tomb. One may be that of Hatshepsu. The walls of the tomb-chamber are +painted to resemble papyrus, and on them are written chapters of the +“Book of What Is in the Underworld,” for the guidance of the royal +ghost. + +In 1902-3 Mr. Theodore Davis excavated the tomb of Thothmes IV. It +yielded a rich harvest of antiquities belonging to the funeral state of +the king, including a chariot with sides of embossed and gilded leather, +decorated with representations of the king’s warlike deeds, and much +fine blue pottery, all of which are now in the Cairo Museum. The +tomb-gallery returns upon itself, describing a curve. An interesting +point with regard to it is that it had evidently been violated even in +the short time between the reigns of its owner and Horem-heb, probably +in the period of anarchy which prevailed at Thebes during the reign +of the heretic Akhunaten; for in one of the chambers is a hieratic +inscription recording the repair of the tomb in the eighth year of +Horemheb by Maya, superintendent of works in the Tombs of the Kings. It +reads as follows: “In the eighth year, the third month of summer, under +the Majesty of King Tjeser-khepru-Râ Sotp-n-Râ, Son of the Sun, Horemheb +Meriamen, his Majesty (Life, health, and wealth unto him!) commanded +that orders should be sent unto the Fanbearer on the King’s Left Hand, +the King’s Scribe and Overseer of the Treasury, the Overseer of the +Works in the Place of Eternity, the Leader of the Festivals of Amen +in Karnak, Maya, son of the judge Aui, born of the Lady Ueret, that he +should renew the burial of King Men-khepru-Râ, deceased, in the August +Habitation in Western Thebes.” Men-khepru-Râ was the prenomen or +throne-name of Thothmes IV. Tied round a pillar in the tomb is still a +length of the actual rope used by the thieves for crossing the chasm, +which, as in many of the tombs here, was left open in the gallery to bar +the way to plunderers. The mummy of the king was found in the tomb of +Amenhetep II, and is now at Cairo. + +The discovery of the tomb of Thothmes I and Hat-shepsu has already been +described. In 1905 Mr. Davis made his latest find, the tomb of Iuaa +and Tuaa, the father and mother of Queen Tii, the famous consort of +Amenhetep III and mother of Akhunaten the heretic. Readers of Prof. +Maspero’s history will remember that Iuaa and Tuaa are mentioned on one +of the large memorial scarabs of Amenhetep III, which commemorates his +marriage. The tomb has yielded an almost incredible treasure of funerary +furniture, besides the actual mummies of Tii’s parents, including a +chariot overlaid with gold. Gold overlay of great thickness is found on +everything, boxes, chairs, etc. It was no wonder that Egypt seemed the +land of gold to the Asiatics, and that even the King of Babylon begs +this very Pharaoh Amenhetep to send him gold, in one of the letters +found at Tell el-Amarna, “for gold is as water in thy land.” It is +probable that Egypt really attained the height of her material wealth +and prosperity in the reign of Amenhetep III. Certainly her dominion +reached its farthest limits in his time, and his influence was felt from +the Tigris to the Sudan. He hunted lions for his pleasure in Northern +Mesopotamia, and he built temples at Jebel Barkal beyond Dongola. We see +the evidence of lavish wealth in the furniture of the tomb of Iuaa and +Tuaa. Yet, fine as are many of these gold-overlaid and overladen objects +of the XVIIIth Dynasty, they have neither the good taste nor the charm +of the beautiful jewels from the XIIth Dynasty tombs at Dashûr. It is +mere vulgar wealth. There is too much gold thrown about. “For gold is as +water in thy land.” In three hundred years’ time Egypt was to know what +poverty meant, when the poor priest-kings of the XXIst Dynasty could +hardly keep body and soul together and make a comparatively decent show +as Pharaohs of Egypt. Then no doubt the latter-day Thebans sighed for +the good old times of the XVIIIth Dynasty, when their city ruled a +considerable part of Africa and Western Asia and garnered their riches +into her coffers. But the days of the XIIth Dynasty had really been +better still. Then there was not so much wealth, but what there was (and +there was as much gold then, too) was used sparingly, tastefully, and +simply. The XIIth Dynasty, not the XVIIIth, was the real Golden Age of +Egypt. + +From the funeral panoply of a tomb like that of Iuaa and Tuaa we can +obtain some idea of the pomp and state of Amenhetep III. But the remains +of his Theban palace, which have been discovered and excavated by Mr. C. +Tytus and Mr. P. E. Newberry, do not bear out this idea of magnificence. +It is quite possible that the palace was merely a pleasure house, +erected very hastily and destined to fall to pieces when its owner tired +of it or died, like the many palaces of the late Khedive Ismail. It +stood on the border of an artificial lake, whereon the Pharaoh and his +consort Tii sailed to take their pleasure in golden barks. This is now +the cultivated rectangular space of land known as the Birket Habû, which +is still surrounded by the remains of the embankment built to retain its +waters, and becomes a lake during the inundation. On the western shore +of this lake Amenhetep erected the “stately pleasure dome,” the +remains of which still cover the sandy tract known as el-Malkata, “the +Salt-pans,” south of the great temple of Medînet Habû. These remains +consist merely of the foundations and lowest wall-courses of a +complicated and rambling building of many chambers, constructed of +common unburnt brick and plastered with white stucco on walls and +floors, on which were painted beautiful frescoes of fighting bulls, +birds of the air, water-fowl, fish-ponds, etc., in much the same style +as the frescoes of Tell el-Amarna executed in the next reign. There +were small pillared halls, the columns of which were of wood, mounted +on bases of white limestone. The majority still remain in position. In +several chambers there are small daïses, and in one the remains of a +throne, built of brick and mud covered with plaster and stucco, upon +which the Pharaoh Amenhetep sat. This is the palace of him whom the +Greeks called Memnon, who ruled Egypt when Israel was in bondage and +when the dynasty of Minos reigned in Crete. Here by the side of his +pleasure-lake the most powerful of Egyptian Pharaohs whiled away his +time during the summer heats. Evidently the building was intended to be +of the lightest construction, and never meant to last; but to our ideas +it seems odd that an Egyptian Pharaoh should live in a mud palace. Such +a building is, however, quite suited to the climate of Egypt, as are the +modern crude brick dwellings of the fellahîn. In the ruins of the +palace were found several small objects of interest, and close by was +an ancient glass manufactory of Amenhetep III’s time, where much of the +characteristic beautifully coloured and variegated opaque glass of the +period was made. + +[Illustration: 356.jpg THE TOMB-HILL OF SHÊKH ’ABD EL-KÛRNA, THEBES.] + +The tombs of the magnates of Amenhetep III’s reign and of the reigns +of his immediate predecessors were excavated, as has been said, on the +eastern slope of the hill of Shêkh ‘Abd el-Kûrna, where was the earliest +Theban necropolis. No doubt many of the early tombs of the time of the +VIth Dynasty were appropriated and remodelled by the XVIIIth Dynasty +magnates. We have an instance of time’s revenge in this matter, in the +case of the tomb of Imadua, a great priestly official of the time of +the XXth Dynasty. This tomb previously belonged to an XVIIIth Dynasty +worthy, but Imadua appropriated it three hundred years later and covered +up all its frescoes with the much begilt decoration fashionable in his +period. Perhaps the XVIIIth Dynasty owner had stolen it from an original +owner of the time of the VIth Dynasty. The tomb has lately been cleared +out by Mr. Newberry. + +Much work of the same kind has been done here of late years by Messrs. +Newberry and R. L. Mond, in succession. To both we are indebted for the +excavation of many known tombs, as well as for the discovery of many +others previously unknown. Among the former was that of Sebekhetep, +cleared by Mr. Newberry. Se-bekhetep was an official of the time of +Thothmes III. From his tomb, and from others in the same hill, came many +years ago the fine frescoes shown in the illustration, which are among +the most valued treasures of the Egyptian department of the British +Museum. They are typical specimens of the wall-decoration of an XVIIIth +Dynasty tomb. On one may be seen a bald-headed peasant, with staff in +hand, pulling an ear of corn from the standing crop in order to see if +it is ripe. He is the “Chief Reaper,” and above him is a prayer that the +“great god in heaven” may increase the crop. To the right of him is a +charioteer standing beside a car and reining back a pair of horses, one +black, the other bay. Below is another charioteer with two white +horses. He sits on the floor of the car with his back to them, eating +or resting, while they nibble the branches of a tree close by. Another +scene is that of a scribe keeping tally of offerings brought to the +tomb, while fellahm are bringing flocks of geese and other fowl, some in +crates. The inscription above is apparently addressed by the goose-herd +to the man with the crates. It reads: “Hasten thy feet because of the +geese! Hearken! thou knowest not the next minute what has been said +to thee!” Above, a reïs with a stick bids other peasants squat on the +ground before addressing the scribe, and he is saying to them: “Sit ye +down to talk.” The third scene is in another style; on it may be seen +Semites bringing offerings of vases of gold, silver, and copper to the +royal presence, bowing themselves to the ground and kissing the dust +before the throne. The fidelity and accuracy with which the racial type +of the tribute-bearers is given is most extraordinary; every face +seems a portrait, and each one might be seen any day now in the Jewish +quarters of Whitechapel. + +[Illustration: 358.jpg Wall-Painting from a Tomb] + +The first two paintings are representative of a very common style of +fresco-pictures in these tombs. The care with which the animals +are depicted is remarkable. Possibly one of the finest Egyptian +representations of an animal is the fresco of a goat in the tomb of +Gen-Amen, discovered by Mr. Mond. There is even an attempt here at +chiaroscuro, which is unknown to Egyptian art generally, except at Tell +el-Amarna. Evidently the Egyptian painters reached the apogee of +their art towards the end of the XVIIIth Dynasty. The third, the +representation of tribute-bearers, is of a type also well known at +this period. In all the chief tombs we have processions of Egyptians, +Westerners, Northerners, Easterners, and Southerners, bringing tribute +to the Pharaoh. The North is represented by the Semites, the East by the +Punites (when they occur), the South by negroes, the West by the Keftiu +or people of Crete and Cyprus. The representations of the last-named +people have become of the very highest interest during the last few +years, on account of the discoveries in Crete, which have revealed to +us the state and civilization of these very Keftiu. Messrs. Evans +and Halbherr have discovered at Knossos and Phaistos the cities and +palace-temples of the king who sent forth their ambassadors to far-away +Egypt with gifts for the mighty Pharaoh; these ambassadors were painted +in the tombs of their hosts as representative of the quarter of the +world from which they came. + +The two chief Egyptian representations of these people, who since they +lived in Greece may be called Greeks, though their more proper title +would be “Pe-lasgians,” are to be found in the tombs of Rekhmarâ and +Senmut, the former a vizier under Thothmes III, the latter the +architect of Hatshepsu’s temple at Dêr el-Bahari. Senmut’s tomb is a +new rediscovery. It was known, as Rekhmarâ’s was, in the early days of +Egyptological science, and Prisse d’Avennes copied its paintings. It was +afterwards lost sight of until rediscovered by Mr. Newberry and Prof. +Steindorff. + +[Illustration: 360.jpg FRESCO IN THE TOMB OF SENMUT AT THEBES.] About +1500 B.C. + +The tomb of Rekhmarâ (No. 35) is well known to every visitor to Thebes, +but it is difficult to get at that of Senmut (No. 110); it lies at the +top of the hill round to the left and overlooking Dêr el-Bahari, +an appropriate place for it, by the way. In some ways Senmut’s +representations are more interesting than Rekhmarâ’s. They are more +easily seen, since they are now in the open air, the fore hall of the +tomb having been ruined; and they are better preserved, since they have +not been subjected to a century of inspection with naked candles and +pawing with greasy hands, as have Rekhmarâ’s frescoes. Further, there +is no possibility of mistaking what they represent. From right to +left, walking in procession, we see the Minoan gift-bearers from Crete, +carrying in their hands and on their shoulders great cups of gold and +silver, in shape like the famous gold cups found at Vaphio in Lakonia, +but much larger, also a ewer of gold and silver exactly like one of +bronze discovered by Mr. Evans two years ago at Knossos, and a huge +copper jug with four ring-handles round the sides. All these vases are +specifically and definitely Mycenaean, or rather, following the new +terminology, Minoan. They are of Greek manufacture and are carried on +the shoulders of Pelasgian Greeks. The bearers wear the usual Mycenaean +costume, high boots and a gaily ornamented kilt, and little else, just +as we see it depicted in the fresco of the Cupbearer at Knossos and +in other Greek representations. The coiffure, possibly the most +characteristic thing about the Mycenaean Greeks, is faithfully +represented by the Egyptians both here and in Rekhmarâ’s tomb. The +Mycenaean men allowed their hair to grow to its full natural length, +like women, and wore it partly hanging down the back, partly tied up +in a knot or plait (the _kepas_ of the dandy Paris in the Iliad) on the +crown of the head. This was the universal fashion, and the Keftiu are +consistently depicted by the XVIIIth Dynasty Egyptians as following it. +The faces in the Senmut fresco are not so well portrayed as those in the +Rekhmarâ fresco. There it is evident that the first three ambassadors +are faithfully depicted, as the portraits are marked. The procession +advances from left to right. The first man, “the Great Chief of the +Kefti and the Isles of the Green Sea,” is young, and has a remarkably +small mouth with an amiable expression. His complexion is fair rather +than dark, but his hair is dark brown. His lieutenant, the next in +order, is of a different type,--elderly, with a most forbidding visage, +Roman nose, and nutcracker jaws. Most of the others are very much +alike,--young, dark in complexion, and with long black hair hanging +below their waists and twisted up into fantastic knots and curls on the +tops of their heads. One, carrying on his shoulder a great silver vase +with curving handles and in one hand a dagger of early European Bronze +Age type, is looking back to hear some remark of his next companion. +Any one of these gift-bearers might have sat for the portrait of +the Knossian Cupbearer, the fresco discovered by Mr. Evans in the +palace-temple of Minos; he has the same ruddy brown complexion, the same +long black hair dressed in the same fashion, the same parti-coloured +kilt, and he bears his vase in much the same way. We have only to allow +for the difference of Egyptian and Mycenaean ways of drawing. There is +no doubt whatever that these Keftiu of the Egyptians were Cretans of the +Minoan Age. They used to be considered Phoenicians, but this view was +long ago exploded. They are not Semites, and that is quite enough. +Neither are they Asiatics of any kind. They are purely and simply +Mycenaean, or rather Minoan, Greeks of the pre-Hellenic period--Pelasgi, +that is to say. + +Probably no discovery of more far-reaching importance to our knowledge +of the history of the world generally and of our own culture especially +has ever been made than the finding of Mycenæ by Schliemann, and +the further finds that have resulted therefrom, culminating in the +discoveries of Mr. Arthur Evans at Knossos. Naturally, these discoveries +are of extraordinary interest to us, for they have revealed the +beginnings and first bloom of the European civilization of to-day. For +our culture-ancestors are neither the Egyptians, nor the Assyrians, nor +the Hebrews, but the Hellenes, and they, the Aryan-Greeks, derived most +of their civilization from the pre-Hellenic people whom they found in +the land before them, the Pelasgi or “Mycenæan” Greeks, “Minoans,” as we +now call them, the Keftiu of the Egyptians. These are the ancient Greeks +of the Heroic Age, to which the legends of the Hellenes refer; in their +day were fought the wars of Troy and of the Seven against Thebes, in +their day the tragedy of the Atridse was played out to its end, in their +day the wise Minos ruled Knossos and the _Ægean_. And of all the events +which are at the back of these legends we know nothing. The hiéroglyphed +tablets of the pre-Hellenic Greeks lie before us, but we cannot read +them; we can only see that the Minoan writing in many ways resembled +the Egyptian, thus again confirming our impression of the original early +connection of the two cultures. + +In view of this connection, and the known close relations between Crete +and Egypt, from the end of the XIIth Dynasty to the end of the XVIIIth, +we might have hoped to recover at Knossos a bilingual inscription in +Cretan and Egyptian hieroglyphs which would give us the key to the +Minoan script and tell us what we so dearly wish to know. But this hope +has not yet been realized. Two Egyptian inscriptions have been found at +Knossos, but no bilingual one. A list of Keftian names is preserved in +the British Museum upon an Egyptian writing-board from Thebes with what +is perhaps a copy of a single Cretan hieroglyph, a vase; but again, +nothing bilingual. A list of “Keftian words” occurs at the head of a +papyrus, also in the British Museum, but they appear to be nonsense, +a mere imitation of the sounds of a strange tongue. Still we need +not despair of finding the much desired Cretan-Egyptian bilingual +inscription yet. Perhaps the double text of a treaty between Crete and +Egypt, like that of Ramses II with the Hittites, may come to light. +Meanwhile we can only do our best with the means at our hand to trace +out the history of the relations of the oldest European culture with +the ancient civilization of Egypt. The tomb-paintings at Thebes are very +important material. Eor it is due to them that the voice of the doubter +has finally ceased to be heard, and that now no archaeologist questions +that the Egyptians were in direct communication with the Cretan +Mycenæans in the time of the XVIIIth Dynasty, some fifteen hundred years +before Christ, for no one doubts that the pictures of the Keftiu are +pictures of Mycenaeans. + +As we have seen, we know that this connection was far older than the +time of the XVIIIth Dynasty, but it is during that time and the Hyksos +period that we have the clearest documentary proof of its existence, +from the statuette of Abnub and the alabastron lid of King Khian, +found at Knossos, down to the Mycenaean pottery fragments found at Tell +el-Amarna, a site which has been utterly abandoned since the time of +the heretic Akhunaten (B.C. 1430), so that there is no possibility of +anything found there being later than his time. That the connection +existed as late as the time of the XXth Dynasty we know from the +representations of golden _Bügelkannen_ or false-necked vases of +Mycenaean form in the tomb of Ramses III in the Bibân el-Mulûk, and of +golden cups of Vaphio type in the tomb of Imadua, already mentioned. +This brings the connection down to about 1050 B.C. + +After that date we cannot hope to find any certain evidence of +connection, for by that time the Mycenaean civilization had probably +come to an end. In the days of the XIIth and XVIIIth Dynasties a great +and splendid power evidently existed in Crete, and sent its peaceful +ambassadors, the Keftiu who are represented in the Theban tombs, to +Egypt. But with the XIXth Dynasty the name of the Keftiu disappears from +Egyptian records, and their place is taken by a congeries of warring +seafaring tribes, whose names as given by the Egyptians seem to be forms +of tribal and place names well known to us in the Greece of later days. +We find the Akaivasha (_Axaifol_, Achaians), Shakalsha (Sagalassians of +Pisidia), Tursha (Tylissians of Crete?), and Shardana (Sardians) allied +with the Libyans and Mashauash (Maxyes) in a land attack upon Egypt in +the days of Meneptah, the successor of Ramses II--just as in the later +days of the XXVIth Dynasty the Northern pirates visited the African +shore of the Mediterranean, and in alliance with the predatory Libyans +attacked Egypt. + +Prof. Petrie has lately [History of Egypt, iii, pp. Ill, I12.] proffered +an alternative view, which would make all these tribes Tunisians and +Algerians, thus disposing of the identification of the Akaivasha with +the Achaians, and making them the ancient representatives of the town +of el-Aghwat (Roman Agbia) in Tunis. But several difficulties might be +pointed out which are in the way of an acceptance of this view, and it +is probable that the older identifications with Greek tribes must still +be retained, so that Meneptah’s Akaivasha are evidently the ancient +representatives of the Achai(v)ans, the Achivi of the Roman poets. The +terminations _sha_ and _na_, which appear in these names, are merely +ethnic and locative affixes belonging to the Asianic language system +spoken by these tribes at that time, to which the language of the Minoan +Cretans (which is written in the Knossian hieroglyphs) belonged. They +existed in ancient Lycian in the forms _azzi_ and _nna_, and we find +them enshrined in the Asia Minor place-names terminating in _assos_ +and _nda_, as Halikarnassos, Sagalassos (Shakalasha in Meneptah’s +inscription), Oroanda, and Labraunda (which, as we have seen, is the +same as the [Greek word], a word of pre-Hellenic origin, both meaning +“Place of the Double Axe”) The identification of these _sha_ and _nal_ +terminations in the Egyptian transliterations of the foreign names, with +the Lycian affixes referred to, was made some five years ago,[2] and is +now generally accepted. We have, then, to find the equivalents of +these names, to strike off the final termination, as in the case of +Akaiva-sha, where Akaiva only is the real name, and this seems to be +the Egyptian equivalent of _Axaifol_, Achivi. It is strange to meet with +this great name on an Egyptian monument of the thirteenth century B.C. +But yet not so strange, when we recollect that it is precisely to that +period that Greek legend refers the war of Troy, which was an attack +by Greek tribes from all parts of the Ægean upon the Asianic city +at Hissarlik in the Troad, exactly parallel to the attacks of the +Northerners on Egypt. And Homer preserves many a reminiscence of early +Greek visits, peaceful and the reverse, to the coast of Egypt at this +period. The reader will have noticed that one no longer treats the siege +of Troy as a myth. To do so would be to exhibit a most uncritical mind; +even the legends of King Arthur have a historic foundation, and those of +the Nibelungen are still more probable. + + [2] See Hall, _Oldest Civilization of Greece_, p. 178 _f_. + +[Illustration: 368.jpg Page Image to display Greek words] + +[Illustration: 369.jpg Page Image to display Greek words] + +In the eighth year of Ramses III the second Northern attack was made, +by the Pulesta (_Pelishtim_, Philistines), Tjakaray, Shakalasha +(Sagalassians), Vashasha, and Danauna or Daanau, in alliance with North +Syrian tribes. The Danauna are evidently the ancient representatives of +the _Aavaoî_, the Danaans who formed the bulk of the Greek army against +Troy under the leadership of the long-haired Achaians, [Greek words] +(like the Keftiu). The Vashasha have been identified by the writer with +the Axians, the [Greek word] of Crete. Prof. Petrie compares the name +of the Tjakaray with that of the (modern) place Zakro in Crete. +Identifications with modern place-names are of doubtful value; +for instance, we cannot but hold that Prof. Petrie errs greatly in +identifying the name of the Pidasa (another tribe mentioned in Ramses +II’s time) with that of the river Pidias in Cyprus. “Pidias” is a purely +modern corruption of the ancient Pediseus, which means the “plain-river” + (because it flows through the central plain of the island), from the +Greek [Greek word]. If, then, we make the Pidasa Cypriotes we assume +that pure Greek was spoken in Cyprus as early as 1100 b. c, which is +highly improbable. The Pidasa were probably Le-leges (Pedasians); the +name of Pisidia may be the same, by metathesis. Pedasos is a name always +connected with the much wandering tribe of the Leleges, where-ever they +are found in Lakonia or in Asia Minor. We believe them to have been +known to the Egyptians as Pidasa. The identification of the Tjakaray +with Zakro is very tempting. The name was formerly identified with +that of the Teukrians, but the v in the word Tewpot lias always been a +stumbling-block in the way. Perhaps Zakro is neither more nor less than +the Tetkpoc-name, since the legendary Teucer, the archer, was connected +with the eastern or Eteokretan end of Crete, where Zakro lies. In +Mycenæan times Zakro was an important place, so that the Tjakaray may +be the Teukroi, after all, and Zakro may preserve the name. At any rate, +this identification is most alluring and, taken in conjunction with +the other cumulative identifications, is very probable; but the +identification of the Pidæa with the river Pediæus in Cyprus is +neither alluring nor probable. + +In the time of Ramses II some of these Asia Minor tribes had marched +against Egypt as allies of the Hittites. We find among them the Luka or +Lycians, the Dardenui (Dardanians, who may possibly have been at that +time in the Troad, or elsewhere, for all these tribes were certainly +migratory), and the Masa (perhaps the Mysians). With the Cretans of +Ramses Ill’s time must be reckoned the Pulesta, who are certainly the +Philistines, then most probably in course of their traditional migration +from Crete to Palestine. In Philistia recent excavations by Mr. Welch +have disclosed the unmistakable presence of a late Mycenæan culture, +and we can only ascribe this to the Philistines, who were of Cretan +origin. + +Thus we see that all these Northern tribal names hold together with +remarkable persistence, and in fact refuse to be identified with any +tribes but those of Asia Minor and the Ægean. In them we see the broken +remnants of the old Minoan (Keftian) power, driven hither and thither +across the seas by intestinal feuds, and “winding the skein of grievous +wars till every man of them perished,” as Homer says of the heroes after +the siege of Troy. These were in fact the wanderings of the heroes, the +period of _Sturm und Drang_ which succeeded the great civilized epoch of +Minos and his thalassocracy, of Knossos, Phaistos, and the Keftius. +On the walls of the temple of Medînet Habû, Ramses III depicted the +portraits of the conquered heroes who had fallen before the Egyptian +onslaught, and he called them heroes, _tuher_ in Egyptian, fully +recognizing their Berserker gallantry. Above all in interest are the +portraits of the Philistines, those Greeks who at this very time seized +part of Palestine (which takes its name from them), and continued to +exist there as a separate people (like the Normans in France) for at +least two centuries. Goliath the giant was, then, a Greek; certainly he +was of Cretan descent, and so a Pelasgian. + +Such are the conclusions to which modern discovery in Crete has impelled +us with regard to the pictures of the Keftiu at Shêkh ‘Abd el-Kûrna. It +is indeed a new chapter in the history of the relations of ancient Egypt +with the outside world that Dr. Arthur Evans has opened for us. And in +this connection some American work must not be overlooked. An expedition +sent out by the University of Pennsylvania, under Miss Harriet Boyd, +has discovered much of importance to Mycenæan study in the ruins of an +ancient town at Gournia in Crete, east of Knossos. Here, however, little +has been found that will bear directly on the question of relations +between Mycenaean Greece and Egypt. + +The Theban nécropoles of the New Empire are by no means exhausted by a +description of the Tombs of the Kings and Shêkh ‘Abd el-Kûrna; but few +new discoveries have been made anywhere except in the picturesque valley +of the Tombs of the Queens, south of Shêkh ‘Abd el-Kûrna. Here the +Italian Egyptologist, Prof. Schiaparelli, has lately discovered and +excavated some very fine tombs of the XIXth and XXth Dynasties. The best +is that of Queen Nefertari, one of the wives of Ramses II. The colouring +of the reliefs upon these walls is extraordinarily bright, and the +portraits of the queen, who has a very beautiful face, with aquiline +nose, are wonderfully preserved. She was of the dark type, while another +queen, Titi by name, who was buried close by, was fair, and had a +retroussé nose. Prof. Schiaparelli also discovered here the tombs of +some princes of the XXth Dynasty, who died young. All the tombs are +much alike, with a single short gallery, on the walls of which are +mythological scenes, figures of the prince and of his father, the king, +etc., painted in a crude style, which shows a great degeneration from +that of the XVIIIth Dynasty tombs. + +We now leave the great necropolis and turn to the later temples of the +Western Bank at Thebes. These were of a funerary character, like those +of Dêr el-Bahari, already described. The most imposing of all in some +respects is the Ramesseum, where lies the huge granite colossus of +Ramses II, prostrate and broken, which Diodorus knew as the statue of +Osymandyas. This name is a late corruption of Ramses II’s throne-name, +User-maat-Rà, pronounced Ûsimare. The temple has been cleared by +Mr. Howard Carter for the Egyptian government, and the small town of +priests’ houses, magazines, and cellars, to the west of it, has been +excavated by him. This is quite a little Pompeii, with its small +streets, its houses with the stucco still clinging to the walls, its +public altar, its market colonnade, and its gallery of statues. The +statues are only of brick like the walls, and roughly shaped and +plastered, but they were portraits, undoubtedly, of celebrities of +the time, though we do not know of whom. On either side are the long +magazines in which were kept the possessions of the priests of the +Ramesseum, the grain from the lands with which they were endowed, and +everything meet to be offered to the ghost of the king whom they served. +The plan of the place had evidently been altered after the time of +Ramses II, as remains of overbuilding were found here and there. The +magazines were first investigated in 1896 by Prof. Petrie, who also +found in the neighbourhood the remains of a number of small royal +funerary temples of the XVIIIth Dynasty, all looking in the direction of +the hill, beyond which lay the tombs of the kings. + +[Illustration: 372.jpg THE VALLEY OF THE TOMBS OF THE QUEENS AT THEBES.] + + In which Prof. Schiaparelli discovered the tomb of Ramses + II’s wife (1904). + +We may now turn to Luxor, where immediately above the landing-place of +the steamers and dahabiyas rise the stately coloured colonnades of the +Temple of Luxor. Unfortunately, modern excavations have not been +allowed to pursue their course to completion here, as in the first great +colonnaded court, which was added by Ramses II to the original building +of Amenhetep III, Tutankhamen, and Horemheb, there still remains +the Mohammedan Mosque of Abu-’l-Haggâg, which may not be removed. +Abu-’l-Haggâg, “the Father of Pilgrims” (so called on account of the +number of pilgrims to his shrine), was a very holy shêkh, and his memory +is held in the greatest reverence by the Luksuris. It is unlucky that +this mosque was built within the court of the Great Temple, and it +cannot be removed till Moslem religious prejudices become at least +partially ameliorated, and then the work of completely excavating the +Temple of Luxor may be carried out. + +Between Luxor and Karnak lay the temple of the goddess Mut, consort of +Amen and protectress of Thebes. It stood in the part of the city known +as Asheru. This building was cleared in 1895 at the expense and under +the supervision of two English ladies, Miss Benson and Miss Gourlay. + +[Illustration: 374.jpg THE NILE-BANK AT LUXOR] + + With A Dahabîya And A Steamer Of The Anglo-American Nile + Company. + +The temple had always been remarkable on account of the prodigious +number of seated figures of the lioness-headed goddess Sekhemet, or +Pakhet, which it contains, dedicated by Amenhetep III and Sheshenk I; +most of those in the British Museum were brought from this temple. +The excavators found many more of them, and also some very interesting +portrait-statues of the late period which had been dedicated there. +The most important of these was the head and shoulders of a statue of +Mentuemhat, governor of Thebes at the time of the sack of the city by +Ashur-bani-pal of Assyria in 668 B.C. In Miss Benson’s interesting book, +_The Temple of Mut in Asher_, it is suggested, on the authority of Prof. +Petrie, that his facial type is Cypriote, but this speculation is a +dangerous one, as is also the similar speculation that the wonderful +portrait-head of an old man found by Miss Benson [* Plate vii of her +book.] is of Philistine type. We have only to look at the faces of +elderly Egyptians to-day to see that the types presented by Mentuemhat +and Miss Benson’s “Philistine” need be nothing but pure Egyptian. The +whole work of the clearing was most efficiently carried out, and the +Cairo Museum obtained from it some valuable specimens of Egyptian +sculpture. + +The Great Temple of Karnak is one of the chief cares of the Egyptian +Department of Antiquities. Its paramount importance, so to speak, as the +cathedral temple of Egypt, renders its preservation and exploration a +work of constant necessity, and its great extent makes this work one +which is always going on and which probably will be going on for many +years to come. The Temple of Karnak has cost the Egyptian government +much money, yet not a piastre of this can be grudged. For several years +past the works have been under the charge of M. Georges Legrain, the +well-known engineer and draughtsman who was associated with M. de +Morgan in the work at Dashûr. His task is to clear out the whole temple +thoroughly, to discover in it what previous investigators have left +undiscovered, and to restore to its original position what has fallen. + +[Illustration: 376.jpg THE GREAT TEMPLE OP KARNAK.] + + The left-hand obelisk is the highest in Egypt, and was + erected by Hatshepsu; the right-hand obelisk was put up by + Thothmes III. + + +No general work of restoration is contemplated, nor would this be in +the slightest degree desirable. Up to the present M. Legrain has +certainly carried out all three branches of his task with great +success. An unforeseen event has, however, considerably complicated and +retarded the work. In October, 1899, one of the columns of the side +aisles of the great Hypostyle Hall fell, bringing down with it several +others. The whole place was a chaotic ruin, and for a moment it seemed +as though the whole of the Great Hall, one of the wonders of the world, +would collapse. The disaster was due to the gradual infiltration of +water from the Nile beneath the structure, whose foundations, as is +usual in Egypt, were of the flimsiest description. Even the most +imposing Egyptian temples have jerry-built foundations; usually they +are built on the top of the wall-stumps of earlier buildings of +different plan, filled in with a confused mass of earlier slabs and +weak rubbish of all kinds. Had the Egyptian buildings been built on +sure foundations, they would have been preserved to a much greater +extent even than they are. In such a climate as that of Egypt a stone +building well built should last for ever. + +M. Legrain has for the last five years been busy repairing the damage. +All the fallen columns are now restored to the perpendicular, and the +capitals and architraves are in process of being hoisted into their +original positions. The process by which M. Legrain carries out this +work has been already described. He works in the old Egyptian fashion, +building great inclines or ramps of earth up which the pillar-drums, +the capitals, and the architrave-blocks are hauled by manual labour, and +then swung into position. This is the way in which the Egyptians built +Karnak, and in this way, too, M. Le-grain is rebuilding it. It is a slow +process, but a sure one, and now it will not be long before we shall +see the hall, except its roof, in much the same condition as it was when +Seti built it. Lovers of the picturesque will, however, miss the famous +leaning column, hanging poised across the hall, which has been a main +feature in so many pictures and photographs of Karnak. This fell in the +catastrophe of 1899, and naturally it has not been possible to restore +it to its picturesque, but dangerous, position. + +The work at Karnak has been distinguished during the last two years by +two remarkable discoveries. Outside the main temple, to the north of +the Hypostyle Hall, M. Legrain found a series of private sanctuaries or +shrines, built of brick by personages of the XVIIIth Dynasty and later, +in order to testify their devotion to Amen. In these small cells were +found some remarkable statues, one of which is illustrated. It is one of +the most perfect of its kind. A great dignitary of the XVIIIth Dynasty +is seen seated with his wife, their daughter standing between them. +Round his neck are four chains of golden rings, with which he had been +decorated by the Pharaoh for his services. It is a remarkable group, +interesting for its style and workmanship as well as for its subject. As +an example of the formal hieratic type of portraiture it is very fine. + +The other and more important discovery of the two was made by M. Legrain +on the south side of the Hypo-style Hall. + +[Illustration: 379.jpg THE GREAT TEMPLE OP KARNAK.] + +The left-hand obelisk is the highest in Egypt, and was erected by +Hatshepsu; the right-hand obelisk was put up by Thothmes III. + +M. de Morgan in the work at Dashûr. His task is to clear out the whole +temple thoroughly, to discover in it what previous investigators have +left undiscovered, and to restore to its original position what has +fallen. Tentative excavations, begun in an unoccupied tract under the +wall of the hall, resulted in the discovery of parts of statues; the +place was then regularly excavated, and the result has been amazing. +The ground was full of statues, large and small, at some unknown period +buried pell-mell, one on the top of another. Some are broken, but the +majority are perfect, which is in itself unusual, and is due very much +to the soft, muddy soil in which they have lain. Statues found on dry +desert land are often terribly cracked, especially when they are of +black granite, the crystals of which seem to have a greater tendency to +disintegration than have those of the red syenite. The Karnak statues +are figures of pious persons, who had dedicated portraits of themselves +in the temple of Amen, together with those of great men whom the king +had honoured by ordering their statues placed in the temple during their +lives. + +Of this number was the great sage Amenhetep, son of Hapi, the founder of +the little desert temple of Dêr el-Medîna, near Dêr el-Bahari, who was +a sort of prime minister under Amenhetep III, and was venerated in later +days as a demigod. His statue was found with the others by M. Legrain. +Among them is a figure made entirely of green felspar, an unusual +material for so large a statuette. A fine portrait of Thothmes III was +also found. The illustration shows this wonderfully fruitful excavation +in progress, with the diggers at work in the black mud soil, in the +foreground the basket-boys carrying away the rubbish on their shoulders, +and the massive granite walls of the Great Hypostyle Hall of Seti in the +background. The huge size of the roof-blocks is noticeable. These are +not the actual uppermost roof-blocks, but only the architraves from +pillar to pillar; the original roof consisted of similar blocks laid +across in the transverse direction from architrave to architrave. An +Egyptian granite temple was in fact built upon the plan of a child’s box +of bricks; it was but a modified and beautified Stonehenge. + +[Illustration: 381.jpg PORTRAIT-GROUP OF A GREAT NOBLE AND HIS WIFE] + + Of The Time Of The Xviiith Dynasty. Discovered by M. Legrain + at Karnak. + +Other important discoveries have been made by M. Legrain in the course +of his work. + +[Illustration: 382.jpg A TOMB PITTED UP AS AN EXPLORER’S RESIDENCE.] + + The Tomb of Pentu (No. 5) at Tell el-Amarna, inhabited by + Mr. de G. Davies during his work for the Archaeological + Survey of Egypt (Egypt Exploration Fund). About 1400 B.C. + +Among them are statues of the late Middle Kingdom, including one of King +Usertsen (Senusret) IV of the XIIIth Dynasty. There are also reliefs of +the reign of Amenhetep I, which are remarkable for the delicacy of their +workmanship and the sureness of their technique. + +We know that the temple was built as early as the time of TJsertsen, +for in it have been found one or two of his blocks; and no doubt the +original shrine, which was rebuilt in the time of Philip Arrhidseus, was +of the same period, but hitherto no remains of the centuries between his +time and that of Hatshepsu had been found. With M. Legrain’s work in the +greatest temple of Thebes we finish our account of the new discoveries +in the chief city of ancient Egypt, as we began it with the work of M. +Naville in the oldest temple there. + +One of the most interesting questions connected with the archaeology +of Thebes is that which asks whether the heretical disk-worshipper +Akhunaten (Amenhetep IV) erected buildings there, and whether any +trace of them has ever been discovered. To those who are interested in +Egyptian history and religion the transitory episode of the disk-worship +heresy is already familiar. The precise character of the heretical +dogma, which Amenhetep IV proclaimed and desired his subjects to. +accept, has lately been well explained by Mr. de Garis Davies in his +volumes, published by the “Archaeological Survey of Egypt” branch of +the Egypt Exploration Fund, on the tombs of el-Amarna. He shows that the +heretical doctrine was a monotheism of a very high order. Amenhetep IV +(or as he preferred to call himself, Akhunaten, “Glory of the Disk”) did +not, as has usually been supposed, merely worship the Sun-disk itself +as the giver of life, and nothing more. He venerated the glowing disk +merely as the visible emanation of the deity behind it, who dispensed +heat and life to all living things through its medium. The disk was, so +to speak, the window in heaven through which the unknown God, the “Lord +of the Disk,” shed a portion of his radiance on the world. Now, given +an ignorance of the true astronomical character of the sun, we see how +eminently rational a religion this was. In effect, the sun is the source +of all life upon this earth, and so Akhunaten caused its rays to be +depicted each with a hand holding out the sign of life to the earth. The +monotheistic worship of the sun alone is certainly the highest form of +pagan religion, but Akhunaten saw further than this. His doctrine was +that there was a deity behind the sun, whose glory shone through it and +gave us life. This deity was unnamed and unnamable; he was “the Lord +of the Disk.” We see in his heresy, therefore, the highest attitude +to which religious ideas had attained before the days of the Hebrew +prophets. + +This religion seems to have been developed out of the philosophical +speculations of the priests of the Sun at Heliopolis. Akhunaten with +unwise iconoclastic zeal endeavoured to root out the worship of the +ancient gods of Egypt, and especially that of Amen-Bà, the ruler of the +Egyptian pantheon, whose primacy in the hearts of the people made him +the most redoubtable rival of the new doctrine. But the name of the +old Sun-god Bà-Harmaehis was spared, and it is evident that Akhunaten +regarded him as more or less identical with his god. + +It has been supposed by Prof. Petrie that Queen Tii, the mother of +Akhunaten, was of Mitannian (Armenian) origin, and that she brought the +Aten religion to Egypt from her native land, and taught it to her son. +Certainly it seems as though the new doctrine had made some headway +before the death of Amenhetep III, but we have no reason to attribute it +to Tii, or to suppose that she brought it with her from abroad. There is +no proof whatever that she was not a native Egyptian, and the mummies of +her parents, Iuaa and Tuaa, are purely Egyptian in facial type. It +seems undoubted that the Aten cult was a development of pure Egyptian +religious thought. + +At first Akhunaten tried to establish his religion at Thebes alongside +that of Amen and his attendant pantheon. He seems to have built a temple +to the Aten there, and we see that his courtiers began to make tombs for +themselves in the new realistic style of sculptural art, which the king, +heretical in art as in religion, had introduced. The tomb of Barnes at +Shêkh ‘Abd el-Kûrna has on one side of the door a representation of +the king in the old regular style, and on the other side one in the new +realistic style, which depicts him in all the native ugliness in which +this strange truth-loving man seems to have positively gloried. We +find, too, that he caused a temple to the Aten to be erected in far-away +Napata, the capital of Nubia, by Jebel Barkal in the Sudan. The facts +as to the Theban and Napata temples have been pointed out by Prof. +Breasted, of Chicago. + +But the opposition of the Theban priesthood was too strong. Akhunaten +shook the dust of the capital off his feet and retired to the isolated +city of Akhet-aten, “the Glory of the Disk,” at the modern Tell +el-Amarna, where he could philosophize in peace, while his kingdom was +left to take care of itself. He and his wife Nefret-iti, who seems to +have been a faithful sharer of his views, reigned over a select court +of Aten-worship-ping nobles, priests, and artists. The artists had under +Akhunaten an unrivalled opportunity for development, of which they had +already begun to take considerable advantage before the end of his reign +and the restoration of the old order of ideas. Their style takes on +itself an almost bizarre freedom, which reminds us strongly of the +similar characteristic in Mycenaean art. There is a strange little +relief in the Berlin Museum of the king standing cross-legged, leaning +on a staff, and languidly smelling a flower, while the queen stands +by with her garments blown about by the wind. The artistic monarch’s +graceful attitude is probably a faithful transcript of a characteristic +pose. + +We see from this what an Egyptian artist could do when his shackles were +removed, but unluckily Egypt never produced another king who was at the +same time an original genius, an artist, and a thinker. When Akhunaten +died, the Egyptian artists’ shackles were riveted tighter than ever. +The reaction was strong. The kingdom had fallen into anarchy, and the +foreign empire which his predecessors had built up had practically +been thrown to the winds by Akhunaten. The whole is an example of the +confusion and disorganization which ensue when a philosopher rules. Not +long after the heretic’s death the old religion was fully restored, the +cult of the disk was blotted out, and the Egyptians returned joyfully +to the worship of their myriad deities. Akhunaten’s ideals were too high +for them. The débris of the foreign empire was, as usual in such +cases, put together again, and customary law and order restored by +the conservative reactionaries who succeeded him. Henceforth Egyptian +civilization runs an uninspired and undeveloping course till the days +of the Saïtes and the Ptolemies. This point in the history of Egypt, +therefore, forms a convenient stopping-place at which to pause, while +we turn once more to Western Asia, and ascertain to what extent recent +excavations and research have thrown new light upon the problems +connected with the rise and history of the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian +Empires. + +[Illustration: 387.jpg] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII--THE ASSYRIAN AND NEO-BABYLONIAN EMPIRES IN THE LIGHT OF +RECENT RESEARCH + + +The early history of Assyria has long been a subject on which historians +were obliged to trust largely to conjecture, in their attempts to +reconstruct the stages by which its early rulers obtained their +independence and laid the foundations of the mighty empire over which +their successors ruled. That the land was colonized from Babylonia and +was at first ruled as a dependency of the southern kingdom have long +been regarded as established facts, but until recently little was known +of its early rulers and governors, and still less of the condition of +the country and its capital during the early periods of their existence. +Since the excavations carried out by the British Museum at Kala +Sherghat, on the western bank of the Tigris, it has been known that +the mounds at that spot mark the site of the city of Ashur, the first +capital of the Assyrians, and the monuments and records recovered +during those excavations have hitherto formed our principal source of +information for the early history of the country.[1] Some of the oldest +records found in the course of these excavations were short votive texts +inscribed by rulers who bore the title of _ishshakku_, corresponding to +the Sumerian and early Babylonian title of patesi, and with some such +meaning as “viceroy.” It was rightly conjectured from the title which +they bore that these early rulers owed allegiance to the kings of +Babylon and were their nominees, or at any rate their tributaries. The +names of a few of these early viceroys were recovered from their votive +inscriptions and from notices in later historical texts, but it was +obvious that our knowledge of early Assyrian history would remain very +fragmentary until systematic excavations in Assyria were resumed. Three +years ago (1902) the British Museum resumed excavations at Kuyunjik, the +site of Nineveh. The work was begun and carried out under the direction +of Mr. L. W. King, but since last summer has been continued by Mr. R. C. +Thompson. Last year, too, excavations were reopened at Sherghat by +the Deutsch-Orient Ge-sellschaft, at first under the direction of Dr. +Koldewey, and afterwards under that of Dr. Andrae, by whom they are +at present being carried on. This renewed activity on the sites of the +ancient cities of Assyria is already producing results of considerable +interest, and the veil which has so long concealed the earlier periods +in the history of that country is being lifted. + + [1] For the texts and translations of these documents, see + Budge and King, Annals of the Kings of Assyria, pp. iff. + +Shortly before these excavations in Assyria were set on foot an +indication was obtained from an early Babylonian text that the history +of Assyria as a dependent state or province of Babylon must be pushed +back to a far more remote period than had hitherto been supposed. In one +of Hammurabi’s letters to Sin-idinnam, governor of the city of Larsam, +to which reference has already been made, directions are given for +the despatch to the king of “two hundred and forty men of ‘the King’s +Company’ under the command of Nannar-iddina... who have left the country +of Ashur and the district of Shitullum.” From this most interesting +reference it followed that the country to the north of Babylonia was +known as Assyria at the time of the kings of the First Dynasty of +Babylon, and the fact that Babylonian troops were stationed there +by Hammurabi proved that the country formed an integral part of the +Babylonian empire. + +These conclusions were soon after strikingly confirmed by two passages +in the introductory sections of Hammurabi’s code of laws which was +discovered at Susa. Here Hammurabi records that he “restored his (i.e. +the god Ashur’s) protecting image unto the city of Ashur,” and a few +lines farther on he describes himself as the king “who hath made +the names of Ishtar glorious in the city of Nineveh in the temple of +E-mish-mish.” That Ashur should be referred to at this period is what we +might expect, inasmuch as it was known to have been the earliest capital +of Assyria; more striking is the reference to Nineveh, proving as it +does that it was a flourishing city in Hammurabi’s time and that the +temple of Ishtar there had already been long established. It is true +that Gudea, the Sumerian patesi of Shirpurla, records that he rebuilt +the temple of the goddess Ninni (Ishtar) at a place called Nina. Now +Nina may very probably be identified with Nineveh, but many writers have +taken it to be a place in Southern Babylonia and possibly a district of +Shirpurla itself. No such uncertainty attaches to Hammurabi’s reference +to Nineveh, which is undoubtedly the Assyrian city of that name. +Although no account has yet been published of the recent excavations +carried out at Nineveh by the British Museum, they fully corroborate the +inference drawn with regard to the great age of the city. The series of +trenches which were cut deep into the lower strata of Kuyunjik revealed +numerous traces of very early habitations on the mound. + +Neither in Hammurabi’s letters, nor upon the stele inscribed with his +code of laws, is any reference made to the contemporary governor or +ruler of Assyria, but on a contract tablet preserved in the Pennsylvania +Museum a name has been recovered which will probably be identified +with that of the ruler of Assyria in Hammurabi’s reign. In legal and +commercial documents of the period of the First Dynasty of Babylon the +contracting parties frequently swore by the names of two gods (usually +Shamash and Marduk) and also that of the reigning king. Now it has been +found by Dr. Banke that on this document in the Pennsylvania Museum the +contracting parties swear by the name of Hammurabi and also by that of +Shamshi-Adad. As only gods and kings are mentioned in the oath formulas +of this period, it follows that Shamshi-Adad was a king, or at any rate +a patesi or ishshakku. Now from its form the name Shamshi-Adad must +be that of an Assyrian, not that of a Babylonian, and, since he is +associated in the oath formula with Hammurabi, it is legitimate to +conclude that he governed Assyria in the time of Hammurabi as a +dependency of Babylon. An early Assyrian ishshakku of this name, who was +the son of Ishme-Dagan, is mentioned by Tiglath-Pileser I, but he cannot +be identified with the ruler of the time of Hammurabi, since, +according to Tiglath-Pileser, he ruled too late, about 1800 B.C. +A brick-inscription of another Shamshi-Adad, however, the son of +Igur-kapkapu, is preserved in the British Museum, and it is probable +that we may identify him with Hammurabi’s Assyrian viceroy. Erishum and +his son Ikunum, whose inscriptions are also preserved in the British +Museum, should certainly be assigned to an early period of Assyrian +history. + +The recent excavations at Sherghat are already yielding the names +of other early Assyrian viceroys, and, although the texts of the +inscriptions in which their names occur have not yet been published, we +may briefly enumerate the more important of the discoveries that have +been made. Last year a small cone or cylinder was found which, though +it bears only a few lines of inscription, restores the names of no less +than seven early Assyrian viceroys whose existence was not previously +known. The cone was inscribed by Ashir-rîm-nishêshu, who gives his own +genealogy and records the restoration of the wall of the city of Ashur, +which he states had been rebuilt by certain of his predecessors on +the throne. The principal portion of the inscription reads as +follows: “Ashir-rîm-nishêshu, the viceroy of the god Ashir, the son of +Ashir-nirari, the viceroy of the god Ashir, the son of Ashir-rabi, the +viceroy. The city wall which Kikia, Ikunum, Shar-kenkate-Ashir, and +Ashir-nirari, the son of Ishme-Dagan, my forefathers, had built, was +fallen, and for the preservation of my life... I rebuilt it.” Perhaps no +inscription has yet been recovered in either Assyria or Babylonia which +contained so much new information packed into so small a space. Of the +names of the early viceroys mentioned in it only one was previously +known, i.e. the name of Ikunum, the son of Erishum, is found in a late +copy of a votive text preserved in the British Museum. Thus from these +few lines the names of three rulers in direct succession have been +recovered, viz., Ashir-rabi, Ashir-nirari, and Ashur-rîm-nishêshu, and +also those of four earlier rulers, viz., Kikia, Shar-kenkate-Ashir, +Ishme-Dagan, and his son Ashir-nirari. Another interesting point about +the inscription is the spelling of the name of the national god of the +Assyrians. In the later periods it is always written _Ashur_, but at +this early time we see that the second vowel is changed and that at +first the name was written _Ashir_, a form that was already known +from the Cappadocian cuneiform inscriptions. The form Ashir is a good +participial construction and signifies “the Beneficent,” “the Merciful +One.” + +Another interesting find, which was also made last year, consists of +four stone tablets, each engraved with the same building-inscription +of Shalmaneser I, a king who reigned over Assyria about 1300 B.C. In +recording his rebuilding of E-kharsag-kurkura, the temple of the god +Ashur in the city of Ashur, he gives a brief summary of the temple’s +history with details as to the length of time which elapsed between +the different periods during which it had been previously restored. The +temple was burned in Shalmaneser’s time, and, when recording this fact +and the putting out of the fire, he summarizes the temple’s history in a +long parenthesis, as will be seen from the following translation of the +extract: “When E-kharsag-kurkura, the temple of Ashur, my lord, which +Ushpia (variant _Aushpia_), the priest of Ashur, my forefather, had +built aforetime,--and it fell into decay and Erishu, my forefather, +the priest of Ashur, rebuilt it; 159 years passed by after the reign of +Erishu, and that temple fell into decay, and Shamshi-Adad, the priest +of Ashur, rebuilt it; (during) 580 years that temple which Shamshi-Adad, +the priest of Ashur, had built, grew hoary and old--(when) fire broke +out in the midst thereof..., at that time I drenched that temple (with +water) in (all) its circuit.” + +From this extract it will be seen that Shalmaneser gives us, in Ushpia +or Aushpia, the name of a very early Assyrian viceroy, who in his belief +was the founder of the great temple of the god Ashur. He also tells us +that 159 years separated Erishu from a viceroy named Shamshi-Adad, and +that 580 years separated Shamshi-Adad from his own time. When these +inscriptions were first found they were hailed with considerable +satisfaction by historians, as they gave what seemed to be valuable +information for settling the chronology of the early patesis. But +confidence in the accuracy of Shalmaneser’s reckoning was somewhat +shaken a few months afterwards by the discovery of a prism of +Esarhaddon, who gave in it a history of the same temple, but ascribed +totally different figures for the periods separating the reigns +of Erishu and Shamshi-Adad, and the temple’s destruction by fire. +Esarhaddon agrees with Shalmaneser in ascribing the founding of the +temple to Ushpia, but he states that only 126 years (instead of 159 +years) separated Erishu (whom he spells Irishu), the son of Ilu-shumma, +from Shamshi-Adad, the son of Bêl-kabi; and he adds that 434 years +(instead of 580 years) elapsed between Shamshi-Adad’s restoration of the +temple and the time when it was burned down. As Shalmaneser I lived over +six hundred years earlier than Esarhaddon, he was obviously in a better +position to ascertain the periods at which the events recorded took +place, but the discrepancy between the figures he gives and those of +Esarhaddon is disconcerting. It shows that Assyrian scribes could make +bad mistakes in their reckoning, and it serves to cast discredit on the +absolute accuracy of the chronological notices contained in other +late Assyrian inscriptions. So far from helping to settle the unsolved +problems of Assyrian chronology, these two recent finds at Sherghat +have introduced fresh confusion, and Assyrian chronology for the earlier +periods is once more cast into the melting pot. + +In addition to the recovery of the names of hitherto unknown early +rulers of Assyria, the recent excavations at Sherghat have enabled us to +ascertain the true reading of the name of Shalmaneser I’s grandfather, +who reigned a considerable time after Assyria had gained her +independence. The name of this king has hitherto been read as Pudi-ilu, +but it is now shown that the signs composing the first part of the name +are not to be taken phonetically, but as ideographs, the true reading of +the name being Arik-dên-ilu, the signification of which is “Long +(i.e. far-reaching) is the judgment of God.” Arik-dên-ilu was a great +conqueror, as were his immediate descendants, all of whom extended the +territory of Assyria. By strengthening the country and increasing her +resources they enabled Arik-dên-ilu ‘s great-grandson, Tukulti-Ninib I, +to achieve the conquest of Babylon itself. Concerning Tukulti-Ninib’s +reign and achievements an interesting inscription has recently been +discovered. This is now preserved in the British Museum, and before +describing it we may briefly refer to another phase of the excavations +at Sherghat. + +[Illustration: 396.jpg Stone Object Bearing a Votive Inscription of +Arik-dên-ilu.] + + An early independent King of Assyria, who reigned about B.C. + 1350. Photograph by Messrs. Mansell & Co. + +The mounds of Sherghat rise a considerable height above the level of +the plain, and are to a great extent of natural and not of artificial +formation. In fact, the existence of a group of high natural mounds at +this point on the bank of the Tigris must have led to its selection +by the early Assyrians as the site on which to build their first +stronghold. The mounds were already so high, from their natural +formation, that there was no need for the later Assyrian kings +to increase their height artificially (as they raised the chief +palace-mound at Nineveh), and the remains of the Assyrian buildings of +the early period are thus only covered by a few feet of débris and not +by masses of unburnt brick and artificially piled up soil. This fact +has considerably facilitated the systematic uncovering of the principal +mound that is now being carried out by Dr. Andrae. + +[Illustration: 397.jpg ENTRANCE INTO ONE OF THE GALLERIES OR TUNNELS CUT +INTO THE PRINCIPAL MOUND AT SHERGHAT.] + +Work has hitherto been confined to the northwest corner of the mound +around the ziggurat, or temple tower, and already considerable traces of +Assyrian buildings have been laid bare in this portion of the site. The +city wall on the northern side has been uncovered, as well as quays with +steps leading down to the water along the river front. Part of the +great temple of the god Ashur has been excavated, though a considerable +portion of it must be still covered by the modern Turkish fort at the +extreme northern point of the mounds; also part of a palace erected +by Ashur-nasir-pal has been identified. In fact, the work at Sherghat +promises to add considerably to our knowledge of ancient Assyrian +architecture. + +The inscription of Tukulti-Ninib I, which was referred to above as +having been recently acquired by the trustees of the British Museum, +affords valuable information for the reconstruction of the history of +Assyria during the first half of the thirteenth century B.C.[2] It is seen +from the facts summarized that for our knowledge of the earlier +history of the country we have to depend to a large extent on short +brick-inscriptions and votive texts supplemented by historical +references in inscriptions of the later period. The only historical +inscription of any length belonging to the early Assyrian period, +which had been published up to a year ago, was the famous memorial slab +containing an inscription of Adad-nirari I, which was acquired by the +late Mr. George Smith some thirty years ago. Although purchased in +Mosul, the slab had been found by the natives in the mounds at Sherghat, +for the text engraved upon it in archaic Assyrian characters records the +restoration of a part of the temple of the god Ashur in the ancient city +of Ashur, the first capital of the Assyrians, now marked by the +mounds of Sherghat, which have already been described. The object of +Adad-nirari in causing the memorial slab to be inscribed was to record +the restoration of the portion of the temple which he had rebuilt, +but the most important part of the inscription was contained in the +introductory phrases with which the text opens. They recorded +the conquests achieved not only by Adad-nirari but by his father +Arik-dên-ilu, his grandfather Bél-nirari, and his great-grandfather +Ashur-uballit. They thus enabled the historian to trace the gradual +extension and consolidation of the Assyrian empire during a critical +period in its early history. + + [2] For the text and translation of the inscription, see King, + Studies it Eastern History, i (1904). + +The recently recovered memorial slab of Tukulti-Ninib I is similar to +that of his grandfather Adad-nirari I, and ranks in importance with it +for the light it throws on the early struggles of Assyria. Tukulti-Ninib +‘s slab, like that of Adad-nirari, was a foundation memorial intended to +record certain building operations carried out by order of the king. +The building so commemorated was not the restoration of a portion of +a temple, but the founding of a new city, in which the king erected +no less than eight temples dedicated to various deities, while he also +records that he built a palace therein for his own habitation, that he +protected the city by a strongly fortified wall, and that he cut a canal +from the Tigris by which he ensured a continuous supply of fresh water. +These were the facts which the memorial was primarily intended to +record, but, like the text of Adad-nirari I, the most interesting events +for the historian are those referred to in the introductory portions of +the inscription. Before giving details concerning the founding of the +new city, named Kar-Tukulti-Mnib, “the Fortress of Tukulti-Mnib,” + the king supplies an account of the military expeditions which he +had conducted during the course of his reign up to the time when the +foundation memorial was inscribed. These introductory paragraphs record +how the king gradually conquered the peoples to the north and northeast +of Assyria, and how he finally undertook a successful campaign against +Babylon, during which he captured the city and completely subjugated +both Northern and Southern Babylonia. Tukulti-Mnib’s reign thus marks an +epoch in the history of his country. + +We have already seen how, during the early ages of her history, Assyria +had been merely a subject province of the Babylonian empire. Her rulers +had been viceroys owing allegiance to their overlords in Babylon, +under whose orders they administered the country, while garrisons of +Babylonian soldiers, and troops commanded by Babylonian officers, served +to keep the country in a state of subjection. Gradually, however, the +country began to feel her feet and long for independence. The conquest +of Babylon by the kings of the Country of the Sea afforded her the +opportunity of throwing off the Babylonian yoke. In the fifteenth +century the Assyrian kings were powerful enough to have independent +relations with the kings of Egypt, and, during the two centuries which +preceded Tukulti-Mnib’s reign. + +Assyria’s relations with Babylon were the cause of constant friction due +to the northern kingdom’s growth in power and influence. The frontier +between the two countries was constantly in dispute, and, though +sometimes rectified by treaty, the claims of Assyria often led to war +between the two countries. The general result of these conflicts was +that Assyria gradually extended her authority farther southwards, and +encroached upon territory which had previously been Babylonian. The +successes gained by Ashur-uballit, Bêl-nirari, and Adad-nirari I against +the contemporary Babylonian kings had all resulted in the cession of +fresh territory to Assyria and in an increase of her international +importance. Up to the time of Tukulti-Mnib no Assyrian king had actually +seated himself upon the Babylonian throne. This feat was achieved by +Tukulti-Mnib, and his reign thus marks an important step in the gradual +advance of Assyria to the position which she later occupied as the +predominant power in Western Asia. + +Before undertaking his campaign against Babylon, Tukulti-Mnib secured +himself against attack from other quarters, and his newly discovered +memorial inscription supplies considerable information concerning the +steps he took to achieve this object. In his inscription the king does +not number his military expeditions, and, with the exception of the +first one, he does not state the period of his reign in which they +were undertaken. The results of his campaigns are summarized in four +paragraphs of the text, and it is probable that they are not described +in chronological order, but are arranged rather according to the +geographical position of the districts which he invaded and subdued. +Tukulti-Ninib records that his first campaign took place at the +beginning of his sovereignty, in the first year of his reign, and it was +directed against the tribes and peoples inhabiting the territory on the +east of Assyria. Of the tribes which he overran and conquered on this +occasion the most important was the Kuti, who probably dwelt in the +districts to the east of the Lower Zâb. They were a turbulent race and +they had already been conquered by Arik-dên-ilu and Adad-nirari I, but +on neither occasion had they been completely subdued, and they had soon +regained their independence. Their subjugation by Tukulti-Ninib was +a necessary preliminary to any conquest in the south, and we can well +understand why it was undertaken by the king at the beginning of his +reign. Other conquests which were also made in the same region were the +Ukumanî and the lands of Elkhu-nia, Sharnida, and Mekhri, mountainous +districts which probably lay to the north of the Lower Zâb. The country +of Mekhri took its name from the mekhru-tree, a kind of pine or fir, +which grew there in abundance upon the mountainsides, and was highly +esteemed by the Assyrian kings as affording excellent wood for building +purposes. At a later period Ashur-nasir-pal invaded the country in the +course of his campaigns and brought back beams of mekhru-wood, which he +used in the construction of the temple dedicated to the goddess Ishtar +in Nineveh. + +The second group of tribes and districts enumerated by Tukulti-Ninib as +having been subdued in his early years, before his conquest of Babylon, +all lay probably to the northwest of Assyria. The most powerful among +these peoples were the Shubari, who, like the Kutî on the eastern +border of Assyria, had already been conquered by Adad-nirari I, but had +regained their independence and were once more threatening the border on +this side. The third group of his conquests consisted of the districts +ruled over by forty kings of the lands of Na’iri, which was a general +term for the mountainous districts to the north of Assyria, including +territory to the west of Lake Van and extending eastwards to the +districts around Lake Urmi. The forty kings in this region whom +Tukulti-Ninib boasts of having subdued were little more than chieftains +of the mountain tribes, each one possessing authority over a few +villages scattered among the hills and valleys. But the men of Na’iri +were a warlike and hardy race, and, if left long in undisturbed +possession of their native fastnesses, they were tempted to make raids +into the fertile plains of Assyria. It was therefore only politic for +Tukulti-Ninib to traverse their country with fire and sword, and, by +exacting heavy tribute, to keep the fear of Assyrian power before their +eyes. From the king’s records we thus learn that he subdued and crippled +the semi-independent races living on his borders to the north, to the +northwest, and to the east. On the west was the desert, from which +region he need fear no organized attack when he concentrated his army +elsewhere, for his permanent garrisons were strong enough to repel and +punish any incursion of nomadic tribes. He was thus in a position to try +conclusions with his hereditary foe in the south, without any fear of +leaving his land open to invasion in his absence. + +The campaign against Babylon was the most important one undertaken by +Tukulti-Ninib, and its successful issue was the crowning point of his +military career. The king relates that the great gods Ashur, Bel, and +Shamash, and the goddess Ishtar, the queen of heaven and earth, marched +at the head of his warriors when he set out upon the expedition. After +crossing the border and penetrating into Babylonian territory he seems +to have had some difficulty in forcing Bitiliashu, the Kassite king who +then occupied the throne of Babylon, to a decisive engagement. But by +a skilful disposition of his forces he succeeded in hemming him in, so +that the Babylonian army was compelled to engage in a pitched battle. +The result of the fighting was a complete victory for the Assyrian arms. +Many of the Babylonian warriors fell fighting, and Bitiliashu himself +was captured by the Assyrian soldiers in the midst of the battle. +Tukulti-Ninib boasts that he trampled his lordly neck beneath his feet, +and on his return to Assyria he carried his captive back in fetters to +present him with the spoils of the campaign before Ashur, the national +god of the Assyrians. + +Before returning to Assyria, however, Tukulti-Ninib marched with his +army throughout the length and breadth of Babylonia, and achieved +the subjugation of the whole of the Sumer and Akkad. He destroyed the +fortifications of Babylon to ensure that they should not again be used +against himself, and all the inhabitants who did not at once submit to +his decrees he put co the sword. He then appointed his own officers +to rule the country and established his own system of administration, +adding to his previous title of “King of Assyria,” those of “King of +Karduniash (i. e. Babylonia)” and “King of Sumer and Akkad.” It was +probably from this period that he also adopted the title of “King of the +Poor Quarters of the World.” As a mark of the complete subjugation of +their ancient foe, Tukulti-Ninib and his army carried back with them +to Assyria not only the captive Babylonian king, but also the statue of +Marduk, the national god of Babylon. This they removed from B-sagila, +his sumptuous temple in Babylon, and they looted the sacred treasures +from the treasure-chambers, and carried them off together with the spoil +of the city. + +Tukulti-Ninib no doubt left a sufficient proportion of his army in +Babylon to garrison the city and support the governors and officials +into whose charge he committed the administration of the land, but he +himself returned to Assyria with the rich spoil of the campaign, and +it was probably as a use for this large increase of wealth and material +that he decided to found another city which should bear his own name and +perpetuate it for future ages. The king records that he undertook this +task at the bidding of Bel (i.e. the god Ashur), who commanded that he +should found a new city and build a dwelling-place for him therein. +In accordance with the desire of Ashur and the gods, which was thus +conveyed to him, the king founded the city of Kar-Tukulti-Ninib, and +he erected therein temples dedicated not only to Ashur, but also to the +gods Adad, and Sha-mash, and Ninib, and Nusku, and Nergal, and Imina-bi, +and the goddess Ishtar. The spoils from Babylon and the temple treasures +from E-sagila were doubtless used for the decoration of these temples +and the adornment of their shrines, and the king endowed the temples and +appointed regular offerings, which he ordained should be their property +for ever. He also built a sumptuous palace for his own abode when he +stayed in the city, which he constructed on a mound or terrace of earth, +faced with brick, and piled high above the level of the city. Finally, +he completed its fortification by the erection of a massive wall around +it, and the completion of this wall was the occasion on which his +memorial tablet was inscribed. + +The memorial tablet was buried and bricked up within the actual +structure of the wall, in order that in future ages it might be read by +those who found it, and so it might preserve his name and fame. After +finishing the account of his building operations in the new city and +recording the completion of the city wall from its foundation to its +coping stone, the king makes an appeal to any future ruler who should +find it, in the following words: “In the days that are to come, when +this wall shall have grown old and shall have fallen into ruins, may +a future prince repair the damaged parts thereof, and may he anoint my +memorial tablet with oil, and may he offer sacrifices and restore +it unto its place, and then Ashur will hearken unto his prayers. But +whosoever shall destroy this wall, or shall remove my memorial tablet or +my name that is inscribed thereon, or shall leave Kar-Tukulti-Ninib, the +city of my dominion, desolate, or shall destroy it, may the lord Ashur +overthrow his kingdom, and may he break his weapons, and may he cause +his warriors to be defeated, and may he diminish his boundaries, and may +he ordain that his rule shall be cut off, and on his days may he bring +sorrow, and his years may he make evil, and may he blot out his name and +his seed from the land!” + +By such blessings and curses Tukulti-Ninib hoped to ensure the +preservation of his name and the rebuilding of his city, should it at +any time be neglected and fall into decay. Curiously enough, it was in +this very city that Tukulti-Ninib met his own fate less than seven years +after he had founded it. At that time one of his own sons, who bore the +name of Ashur-nasir-pal, conspired against his father and stirred up the +nobles to revolt. The insurrection was arranged when Tukulti-Ninib was +absent from his capital and staying in Kar-Tukulti-Ninib, where he was +probably protected by only a small bodyguard, the bulk of his veteran +warriors remaining behind in garrison at Ashur. The insurgent nobles, +headed by Ashur-nasir-pal, fell upon the king without warning when +he was passing through the city without any suspicion of risk from a +treacherous attack. The king defended himself and sought refuge in a +neighbouring house, but the conspirators surrounded the building and, +having forced an entrance, slew him with the sword. Thus Tukulti-Ninib +perished in the city he had built and beautified with the spoils of his +campaigns, where he had looked forward to passing a peaceful and secure +old age. Of the fate of the city itself we know little except that its +site is marked to-day by a few mounds which rise slightly above the +level of the surrounding desert. The king’s memorial tablet only has +survived. For some 3,200 years it rested undisturbed in the foundations +of the wall of unburnt brick, where it was buried by Tukulti-Ninib on +the completion of the city wall. + +[Illustration: 408.jpg Stone Tablet. Bearing an inscription of +Tukulti-Ninib I] + + King of Assyria, about B. C. 1275. + +Thence it was removed by the hands of modern Arabs, and it is now +preserved in the British Museum, where the characters of the inscription +may be seen to be as sharp and uninjured as on the day when the Assyrian +graver inscribed them by order of the king. + +In the account of his first campaign, which is preserved upon +the memorial tablet, it is stated that the peoples conquered by +Tukulti-Ninib brought their yearly tribute to the city of Ashur. This +fact is of considerable interest, for it proves that Tukulti-Ninib +restored the capital of Assyria to the city of Ashur, removing it from +Calah, whither it had been transferred by his father Shalmaneser I. The +city of Calah had been founded and built by Shalmaneser I in the same +way that his son Tukulti-Ninib built the city of Kar-Tukulti-Ninib, and +the building of both cities is striking evidence of the rapid growth +of Assyria and her need of expansion around fresh centres prepared for +administration and defence. The shifting of the Assyrian capital to +Calah by Shalmaneser I was also due to the extension of Assyrian power +in the north, in consequence of which there was need of having the +capital nearer the centre of the country so enlarged. Ashur’s recovery +of her old position under Tukulti-Ninib I was only a temporary check to +this movement northwards, and, so long as Babylon remained a conquered +province of the Assyrian empire, obviously the need for a capital +farther north than Ashur would not have been pressing. + +[Illustration 409.jpg THE ZIGGURAT, OR TEMPLE TOWER, OF THE ASSYRIAN +CITY OF CALAH.] + +But with Tukulti-Ninib’s death Babylon regained her independence and +freed herself from Assyrian control, and the centre of the northern +kingdom was once more subject to the influences which eventually +resulted in the permanent transference of her capital to Nineveh. To the +comparative neglect into which Ashur and Calah consequently fell, we +may probably trace the extensive remains of buildings belonging to the +earlier periods of Assyrian history which have been recovered and still +remain to be found, in the mounds that mark their sites. + +We have given some account of the results already achieved from the +excavations carried out during the last two years at Sherghat, the site +of the city of Ashur. That much remains to be done on the site of Calah, +the other early capital of Assyria, is evident from even a cursory +examination of the present condition of the mounds that mark the +location of the city. These mounds are now known by the name of Nimrûd +and are situated on the left or eastern bank of the Tigris, a short +distance above the point at which it is joined by the stream of the +Upper Zâb, and the great mound which still covers the remains of the +ziggurat, or temple tower, can be seen from a considerable distance +across the plain. During the excavations formerly carried out here for +the British Museum, remains of palaces were recovered which had been +built or restored by Shal-maneser I, Ashur-nasir-pal, Shalmaneser II, +Tiglath-pileser III, Sargon, Esarhaddon, and Ashur-etil-ilâni. After the +conclusion of the diggings and the removal of many of the sculptures to +England, the site was covered again with earth, in order to protect the +remains of Assyrian buildings which were left in place. Since that time +the soil has sunk and been washed away by the rains so that many of the +larger sculptures are now protruding above the soil, an example of which +is seen in the two winged bulls in the palace of Ashur-nasir-pal. It +is improbable that the mounds of Nimrûd will yield such rich results +as Sherghat, but the site would probably well repay prolonged and +systematic excavation. + +We have hitherto summarized and described the principal facts, +with regard to the early history of Babylonia and Assyria and the +neighbouring countries, which have been obtained from the excavations +conducted recently on the sites of ancient cities. From the actual +remains of the buildings that have been unearthed we have secured +information with regard to the temples and palaces of ancient rulers and +the plans on which they were designed. Erom the objects of daily life +and of religious use which have been recovered, such as weapons of +bronze and iron, and vessels of metal, stone, and clay, it is possible +for the archaeologist to draw conclusions with regard to the customs of +these early peoples; while from a study of their style and workmanship +and of such examples of their sculpture as have been brought to light, +he may determine the stage of artistic development at which they had +arrived. The clay tablets and stone monuments that have been recovered +reveal the family life of the people, their commercial undertakings, +their system of legislation and land tenure, their epistolary +correspondence, and the administration under which they lived, while the +royal inscriptions and foundation-memorials throw light on the religious +and historical events of the period in which they were inscribed. +Information on all these points has been acquired as the result of +excavation, and is based on the discoveries in the ruins of early cities +which have remained buried beneath the soil for some thousands of years. +But for the history of Assyria and of the other nations in the north +there is still another source of information to which reference must now +be made. + +The kings of Assyria were not content with recording their achievements +on the walls of their buildings, on stelae set up in their palaces and +temples, on their tablets of annals preserved in their archive-chambers, +and on their cylinders and foundation-memorials concealed within the +actual structure of the buildings themselves. They have also left +records graven in the living rock, and these have never been buried, +but have been exposed to wind and weather from the moment they +were engraved. Records of irrigation works and military operations +successfully undertaken by Assyrian kings remain to this day on the +face of the mountains to the north and east of Assyria. The kings of +one great mountain race that had its capital at Van borrowed from the +Assyrians this method of recording their achievements, and, adopting the +Assyrian character, have left numerous rock-inscriptions in their own +language in the mountains of Armenia and Kurdistan. In some instances +the action of rain and frost has nearly if not quite obliterated the +record, and a few have been defaced by the hand of man. But as the +majority are engraved in panels cut on the sheer face of the rock, and +are inaccessible except by means of ropes and tackle, they have escaped +mutilation. The photograph reproduced will serve to show the means that +must be adopted for reaching such rock-inscriptions in order to examine +or copy them. + +[Illustration: 413.jpg WORK IN PROGRESS ON ONE OF THE ROCK-INSCRIPTIONS +OF SENNACHERIB] + + In The Gorge Of The River Gomel, Near Bavian. + +The inscription shown in the photograph is one of those cut by +Sennacherib in the gorge near Bavian, through which the river Gomel +flows, and can be reached only by climbing down ropes fixed to the top +of the cliff. The choice of such positions by the kings who caused the +inscriptions to be engraved was dictated by the desire to render it +difficult to destroy them, but it has also had the effect of delaying to +some extent their copying and decipherment by modern workers. + +[Illustration: 414.jpg THE PRINCIPAL ROCK SCULPTURES IN THE GORGE OF THE +GOMEL] + + Near Bavian In Assyria. + +Considerable progress, however, has recently been made in identifying +and copying these texts, and we may here give a short account of what +has been done and of the information furnished by the inscriptions that +have been examined. + +Recently considerable additions have been made to our knowledge of the +ancient empire of Van and of its relation to the later kings of Assyria +by the labours of Prof Lehmann and Dr. Belck on the inscriptions which +the kings of that period caused to be engraved upon the rocks among the +mountains of Armenia. + +[Illustration: 415.jpg THE ROCK AND CITADEL OF VAN.] + +The flat roofs of the houses of the city of Van may be seen to the left +of the photograph nestling below the rock. + +The centre and capital of this empire was the ancient city which stood +on the site of the modern town of Van at the southwest corner of the +lake which bears the same name. The city was built at the foot of a +natural rock which rises precipitously from the plain, and must have +formed an impregnable stronghold against the attack of the foe. + +In this citadel at the present day remain the ancient galleries and +staircases and chambers which were cut in the living rock by the kings +who made it their fortress, and their inscriptions, engraved upon the +face of the rock on specially prepared and polished surfaces, enable us +to reconstruct in some degree the history of that ancient empire. From +time to time there have been found and copied other similar texts, which +are cut on the mountainsides or on the massive stones which formed part +of the construction of their buildings and fortifications. A complete +collection of these texts, together with translations, will shortly be +published by Prof. Lehmann. Meanwhile, this scholar has discussed and +summarized the results to be obtained from much of his material, and +we are thus already enabled to sketch the principal achievements of the +rulers of this mountain race, who were constantly at war with the later +kings of Assyria, and for two centuries at least disputed her claim to +supremacy in this portion of Western Asia. + +The country occupied by this ancient people of Van was the great +table-land which now forms Armenia. The people themselves cannot +be connected with the Armenians, for their language presents no +characteristics of those of the Indo-European family, and it is equally +certain that they are not to be traced to a Semitic origin. It is true +that they employed the Assyrian method of writing their inscriptions, +and their art differs only in minor points from that of the Assyrians, +but in both instances this similarity of culture was directly borrowed +at a time when the less civilized race, having its centre at Van, came +into direct contact with the Assyrians. + +[Illustration: 417.jpg ANCIENT FLIGHT OF STEPS AND GALLERY ON THE FACE +OF THE ROCK-CITADEL OF VAN. + +The exact date at which this influence began to be exerted is not +certain, but we have records of immediate relations with Assyria in the +second half of the ninth century before Christ. The district inhabited +by the Vannic people was known to the Assyrians by the name of Urartu, +and although the inscriptions of the earlier Assyrian kings do not +record expeditions against that country, they frequently make mention of +campaigns against princes and petty rulers of the land of Na’iri. They +must therefore for long have exercised an indirect, if not a direct, +influence on the peoples and tribes which lay more to the north. + +The earliest evidence of direct contact between the Assyrians and the +land of Urartu which we at present possess dates from the reign of +Ashur-nasir-pal, and in the reign of his son Shalmaneser II three +expeditions were undertaken against the people of Van. The name of the +king of Urartu at this time was Arame, and his capital city, Arzasku, +probably lay to the north of Lake Van. On all three occasions the +Assyrians were victorious, forcing Arame to abandon his capital +and capturing his cities as far as the sources of the Euphrates. +Subsequently, in the year 833 B.C., Shalmaneser II made another attack +upon the country, which at that time was under the sway of Sarduris I. +Under this monarch the citadel of Van became the great stronghold of the +people of Urartu, for he added to the natural strength of the position +by the construction of walls built between the rock of Van and the +harbour. The massive blocks of stone of which his fortifications +were composed are standing at the present day, and they bear eloquent +testimony to the energy with which this monarch devoted himself to the +task of rendering his new citadel impregnable. The fortification and +strengthening of Van and its citadel was carried on during the reigns of +his direct successors and descendants, Ispui-nis, Menuas, and Argistis +I, so that when Tiglath-pile-ser III brought fire and sword into the +country and laid siege to Van in the reign of Sarduris II, he could not +capture the citadel. + +[Illustration: 419.jpg PART OF THE ANCIENT FORTIFICATIONS OF THE CITY OF +VAN, BETWEEN THE CITADEL AND THE LAKE.] + +It was not difficult for the Assyrian king to assault and capture the +city itself, which lay at the foot of the citadel as it does at the +present day, but the latter, within the fortifications of which Sarduris +and his garrison withdrew, proved itself able to withstand the Assyrian +attack. The expedition of Tiglath-pileser III did not succeed in +crushing the Vannic empire, for Rusas I, the son and successor of +Sarduris II, allied himself to the neighbouring mountain races and gave +considerable trouble to Sargon, the Assyrian king, who was obliged to +undertake an expedition to check their aggressions. + +It was probably Rusas I who erected the buildings on Toprak Kala, the +hill to the east of Van, traces of which remain to the present day. He +built a palace and a temple, and around them he constructed a new city +with a reservoir to supply it with water, possibly because the slopes +of Toprak Kala rendered it easier of defence than the city in the +plain (beneath the rock and citadel) which had fallen an easy prey to +Tiglath-pileser III. The site of the temple on Toprak Kala has been +excavated by the trustees of the British Museum, and our knowledge of +Vannic art is derived from the shields and helmets of bronze and small +bronze figures and fittings which were recovered from this building. One +of the shields brought to the British Museum from the Toprak Kala, where +it originally hung with others on the temple walls, bears the name of +Argistis II, who was the son and successor of Rusas I, and who attempted +to give trouble to the Assyrians by stirring the inhabitants of the land +of Kummukh (Kommagene) to revolt against Sargon. His son, Rusas II, +was the contemporary of Esarhaddon, and from some recently discovered +rock-inscriptions we learn that he extended the limits of his kingdom on +the west and secured victories against Mushki (Meshech) to the southeast +of the Halys and against the Hittites in Northern Syria. Rusas III +rebuilt the temple on Toprak Kala, as we know from an inscription of his +on one of the shields from that place in the British Museum. Both he and +Sarduris III were on friendly terms with the Assyrians, for we know that +they both sent embassies to Ashur-bani-pal. + +By far the larger number of rock-inscriptions that have yet been found +and copied in the mountainous districts bordering on Assyria were +engraved by this ancient Vannic people, and Drs. Lehmann and Belck have +done good service by making careful copies and collations of all those +which are at present known. Work on other classes of rock-inscriptions +has also been carried on by other travellers. A new edition of the +inscriptions of Sennacherib in the gorge of the Gomel, near the village +of Bavian, has been made by Mr. King, who has also been fortunate enough +to find a number of hitherto unknown inscriptions in Kurdistan on the +Judi Dagh and at the sources of the Tigris. The inscriptions at +the mouth of the Nahr el-Kelb, “the Dog River,” in Syria, have +been reexamined by Dr. Knudtzon, and the long inscription which +Nebuchadnezzar II cut on the rocks at Wadi Brissa in the Lebanon, +formerly published by M. Pognon, has been recopied by Dr. Weissbach. +Finally, the great trilingual inscription of Darius Hystaspes on the +rock at Bisutun in Persia, which was formerly copied by the late Sir +Henry Raw-linson and used by him for the successful decipherment of the +cuneiform inscriptions, was completely copied last year by Messrs. King +and Thompson.[3] + + [3] Messrs. King and Thompson are preparing a new edition of + this inscription. + +The main facts of the history of Assyria under her later kings and of +Babylonia during the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods were many years +ago correctly ascertained, and recent excavation and research have done +little to add to our knowledge of the history of these periods. It was +hoped that the excavations conducted by Dr. Koldewey at Babylon would +result in the recovery of a wealth of inscriptions and records referring +to the later history of the country, but unfortunately comparatively +few tablets or inscriptions have been found, and those that have been +recovered consist mainly of building-inscriptions and votive texts. One +such building-inscription contains an interesting historical reference. +It occurs on a barrel-cylinder of clay inscribed with a text of +Nabopolassar, and it was found in the temple of Ninib and records the +completion and restoration of the temple by the king. In addition to +recording the building operations he had carried out in the temple, +Nabopolassar boasts of his opposition to the Assyrians. He says: “As for +the Assyrians who had ruled all peoples from distant days and had set +the people of the land under a heavy yoke, I, the weak and humble man +who worshippeth the Lord of Lords (i.e. the god Marduk), through the +mighty power of Nabû and Marduk, my lords, held back their feet from the +land of Akkad and cast off their yoke.” + +It is not yet certain whether the Babylonians under Nabopolassar +actively assisted Cyaxares and the Medes in the siege and in the +subsequent capture of Nineveh in 606 B.C. but this newly discovered +reference to the Assyrians by Nabopolassar may possibly be taken +to imply that the Babylonians were passive and not active allies of +Cyaxares. If the cylinder were inscribed after the fall of Nineveh we +should have expected Nabopolassar, had he taken an active part in the +capture of the city, to have boasted in more definite terms of his +achievement. On his stele which is preserved at Constantinople, +Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian empire, who himself +suffered defeat at the hands of Cyrus, King of Persia, ascribed the fall +of Nineveh to the anger of Marduk and the other gods of Babylon because +of the destruction of their city and the spoliation of their temples by +Sennacherib in 689 B.C. We see the irony of fate in the fact that Cyrus +also ascribed the defeat and deposition of Nabonidus and the fall of +Babylon to Marduk’s intervention, whose anger he alleges was aroused +by the attempt of Nabonidus to concentrate the worship of the local +city-gods in Babylon. + +Thus it will be seen that recent excavation and research have not +yet supplied the data for filling in such gaps as still remain in our +knowledge of the later history of Assyria and Babylon. The closing +years of the Assyrian empire and the military achievements of the great +Neo-Babylonian rulers, Nabopolassar, Nerig-lissar, and Nebuchadnezzar +II, have not yet been found recorded in any published Assyrian or +Babylonian inscription, but it may be expected that at any moment +some text will be discovered that will throw light upon the problems +connected with the history of those periods which still await solution. +Meanwhile, the excavations at Babylon, although they have not added +much to our knowledge of the later history of the country, have been +of immense service in revealing the topography of the city during the +Neo-Babylonian period, as well as the positions, plans, and characters +of the principal buildings erected by the later Babylonian kings. The +discovery of the palaces of Nebuchadnezzar II on the mound of the Kasr, +of the small but complete temple E-makh, of the temple of the goddess +Nin-makh to the northeast of the palaces, and of the sacred road +dividing them and passing through the Great Gate of Ishtar (adorned with +representations of lions, bulls, and dragons in raised brick upon its +walls) has enabled us to form some conception of the splendour and +magnificence of the city as it appeared when rebuilt by its last native +rulers. Moreover, the great temple E-sagila, the famous shrine of the +god Marduk, has been identified and partly excavated beneath the huge +mound of Tell Amran ibn-Ali, while a smaller and less famous temple of +Ninib has been discovered in the lower mounds which lie to the eastward. +Finally, the sacred way from E-sagila to the palace mound has been +traced and uncovered. We are thus enabled to reconstitute the scene of +the most solemn rite of the Babylonian festival of the New Year, when +the statue of the god Marduk was carried in solemn procession along this +road from the temple to the palace, and the Babylonian king made his +yearly obeisance to the national god, placing his own hands within those +of Marduk, in token of his submission to and dependence on the divine +will. + +[Illustration: 425.jpg WITHIN THE SHRINE OP E-MAKH, THE TEMPLE OP THE +GODDESS NIN-MAKH.] + +Though recent excavations have not led to any startling discoveries +with regard to the history of Western Asia during the last years of +the Babylonian empire, research among the tablets dating from the +Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods has lately added considerably to our +knowledge of Babylonian literature. These periods were marked by great +literary activity on the part of the priests at Babylon, Sippar, and +elsewhere, who, under the royal orders, scoured the country for all +remains of the early literature which was preserved in the ancient +temples and archives of the country, and made careful copies and +collections of all they found. Many of these tablets containing +Neo-Babylonian copies of earlier literary texts are preserved in the +British Museum, and have been recently published, and we have thus +recovered some of the principal grammatical, religious, and magical +compositions of the earlier Babylonian period. + +[Illustration: 426.jpg TRENCH IN THE BABYLONIAN PLAIN] + + Between The Mound Of The Kasr And Tell Amran Ibn-Ali, + Showing A Section Of The Paved Sacred Way. + +Among the most interesting of such recent finds is a series of tablets +inscribed with the Babylonian legends concerning the creation of the +world and man, which present many new and striking parallels to the +beliefs on these subjects embodied in Hebrew literature. We have not +space to treat this subject at greater length in the present work, but +we may here note that discovery and research in its relation to the +later empires that ruled at Babylon have produced results of literary +rather than of historical importance. But we should exceed the space +at our disposal if we attempted even to skim this fascinating field of +study in which so much has recently been achieved. For it is time we +turned once more to Egypt and directed our inquiry towards ascertaining +what recent research has to tell us with regard to her inhabitants +during the later periods of her existence as a nation of the ancient +world. + + + + +CHAPTER IX--THE LAST DAYS OF ANCIENT EGYPT + + +Before we turned from Egypt to summarize the information, afforded by +recent discoveries, upon the history of Western Asia under the kings +of the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, we noted that the Asiatic +empire of Egypt was regained by the reactionary kings of the XIXth +Dynasty, after its temporary loss owing to the vagaries of Akhunaten. +Palestine remained Egyptian throughout the period of the judges until +the foundation of the kingdom of Judah. With the decline of military +spirit in Egypt and the increasing power of the priesthood, authority +over Asia became less and less a reality. Tribute was no longer paid, +and the tribes wrangled without a restraining hand, during the reigns of +the successors of Ramses III. By the time of the priest-kings of Thebes +(the XXIst Dynasty) the authority of the Pharaohs had ceased to be +exercised in Syria. Egypt was itself divided into two kingdoms, the one +ruled by Northern descendants of the Ramessids at Tanis, the other by +the priestly monarchs at Thebes, who reigned by right of inheritance as +a result of the marriage of the daughter of Ramses with the high +priest Amenhetep, father of Herhor, the first priest-king. The Thebans +fortified Gebelên in the South and el-Hêbi in the North against attack, +and evidently their relations with the Tanites were not always friendly. + +In Syria nothing of the imperial power remained. The prestige of the god +Amen of Thebes, however, was still very great. We see this clearly from +a very interesting papyrus of the reign of Herhor, published in 1899 by +Mr. Golenischeff, which describes the adventures of Uenuamen, an envoy +sent (about 1050 B.C.) to Phoenicia to bring wood from the mountains of +Lebanon for the construction of a great festival bark of the god Amen +at Thebes. In the course of his mission he was very badly treated +(We cannot well imagine Thothmes III or Amenhetep III tolerating +ill-treatment of their envoy!) and eventually shipwrecked on the coast +of the land of Alashiya or Cyprus. He tells us in the papyrus, which +seems to be the official report of his mission, that, having been given +letters of credence to the Prince of Byblos from the King of Tanis, +“to whom Amen had given charge of his North-land,” he at length reached +Phoenicia, and after much discussion and argument was able to prevail +upon the prince to have the wood which he wanted brought down from +Lebanon to the seashore. + +Here, however, a difficulty presented itself,--the harbour was filled +with the piratical ships of the Cretan Tjakaray, who refused to allow +Uenuamen to return to Egypt. They said, ‘Seize him; let no ship of his +go unto the land of Egypt!’ “Then,” says Uenuamen in the papyrus, “I sat +down and wept. The scribe of the prince came out unto me; he said unto +me, ‘What ail-eth thee?’ I replied, ‘Seest thou not the birds which fly, +which fly back unto Egypt? Look at them, they go unto the cool canal, +and how long do I remain abandoned here? Seest thou not those who would +prevent my return?’ He went away and spoke unto the prince, who began +to weep at the words which were told unto him and which were so sad. He +sent his scribe out unto me, who brought me two measures of wine and a +deer. He sent me Tentnuet, an Egyptian singing-girl who was with him, +saying unto her, ‘Sing unto him, that he may not grieve!’ He sent word +unto me, ‘Eat, drink, and grieve not! To-morrow shalt thou hear all that +I shall say.’ On the morrow he had the people of his harbour summoned, +and he stood in the midst of them, and he said unto the Tjakaray, ‘What +aileth you?’ They answered him, ‘We will pursue the piratical ships +which thou sendest unto Egypt with our unhappy companions.’ He said unto +them, ‘I cannot seize the ambassador of Amen in my land. Let me send him +away and then do ye pursue after him to seize him!’ He sent me on board, +and he sent me away... to the haven of the sea. The wind drove me upon +the land of Alashiya. The people of the city came out in order to slay +me. I was dragged by them to the place where Hatiba, the queen of the +city, was. I met her as she was going out of one of her houses into +the other. I greeted her and said unto the people who stood by her, ‘Is +there not one among you who understandeth the speech of Egypt?’ One +of them replied, ‘I understand it.’ I said unto him, ‘Say unto thy +mistress: even as far as the city in which Amen dwelleth (i. e. Thebes) +have I heard the proverb, “In all cities is injustice done; only in +Alashiya is justice to be found,” and now is injustice done here every +day!’ She said, ‘What is it that thou sayest?’ I said unto her, ‘Since +the sea raged and the wind drove me upon the land in which thou livest, +therefore thou wilt not allow them to seize my body and to kill me, for +verily I am an ambassador of Amen. Remember that I am one who will be +sought for always. And if these men of the Prince of Byblos whom they +seek to kill (are killed), verily if their chief finds ten men of thine, +will he not kill them also?’ She summoned the men, and they were brought +before her. She said unto me, ‘Lie down and sleep...’” + +At this point the papyrus breaks off, and we do not know how Uenuamen +returned to Egypt with his wood. The description of his casting-away and +landing on Alashiya is quite Homeric, and gives a vivid picture of the +manners of the time. The natural impulse of the islanders is to kill +the strange castaway, and only the fear of revenge and of the wrath of a +distant foreign deity restrains them. Alashiya is probably Cyprus, which +also bore the name Yantinay from the time of Thothmes III until the +seventh century, when it is called Yatnan by the Assyrians. A king +of Alashiya corresponded with Amenhetep III in cuneiform on terms of +perfect equality, three hundred years before: “Brother,” he writes, +“should the small amount of the copper which I have sent thee be +displeasing unto thy heart, it is because in my land the hand of Nergal +my lord slew all the men of my land (i.e. they died of the plague), and +there was no working of copper; and this was, my brother, not pleasing +unto thy heart. Thy messenger with my messenger swiftly will I send, and +whatsoever amount of copper thou hast asked for, O my brother, I, +even I, will send it unto thee.” The mention by Herhor’s envoy of +Nesibinebdad (Smendes), the King of Tanis, a powerful ruler who in +reality constantly threatened the existence of the priestly monarchy +at Thebes, as “him to whom Amen has committed the wardship of his +North-land,” is distinctly amusing. The hard fact of the independence of +Lower Egypt had to be glozed somehow. + +The days of Theban power were coming to an end and only the prestige +of the god Amen remained strong for two hundred years more. But the +alliance of Amen and his priests with a band of predatory and destroying +foreign conquerors, the Ethiopians (whose rulers were the descendants +of the priest-kings, who retired to Napata on the succession of the +powerful Bubastite dynasty of Shishak to that of Tanis, abandoning +Thebes to the Northerners), did much to destroy the prestige of Amen +and of everything connected with him. An Ethiopian victory meant only +an Assyrian reconquest, and between them Ethiopians and Assyrians had +well-nigh ruined Egypt. In the Saïte period Thebes had declined greatly +in power as well as in influence, and all its traditions were anathema +to the leading people of the time, although not of course in Akhunaten’s +sense. + +With the Saïte period we seem almost to have retraced our steps and to +have reentered the age of the Pyramid Builders. All the pomp and glory +of Thothmes, Amenhetep, and Ramses were gone. The days of imperial Egypt +were over, and the minds of men, sickened of foreign war, turned for +peace and quietness to the simpler ideals of the IVth and Vth Dynasties. +We have already seen that an archaistic revival of the styles of the +early dynasties is characteristic of this late period, and that men +were buried at Sakkâra and at Thebes in tombs which recall in form and +decoration those of the courtiers of the Pyramid Builders. Everywhere +we see this fashion of archaism. A Theban noble of this period named +Aba was buried at Thebes. Long ago, nearly three thousand years before, +under the VIth Dynasty, there had lived a great noble of the same name, +who was buried in a rock-tomb at Dêr el-Gebrâwî, in Middle Egypt. This +tomb was open and known in the days of the second Aba, who caused to be +copied and reproduced in his tomb in the Asasîf at Thebes most of the +scenes from the bas-relief with which it had been decorated. The tomb +of the VIth Dynasty Aba has lately been copied for the Archaeological +Survey of Egypt (Egypt Exploration Fund) by Mr. de Garis Davies, who has +found the reliefs of the XXVIth Dynasty Aba of considerable use to him +in reconstituting destroyed portions of their ancient originals. + +During late years important discoveries of objects of this era have been +few. One of the most noteworthy is that of a contemporary inscription +describing the battle of Momemphis, which is mentioned by Herodotus (ii, +163, 169). We now have the official account of this battle, and know +that it took place in the third year of the reign of Amasis--not before +he became king. This was the fight in which the unpatriotic king, +Apries, who had paid for his partiality for the Greeks of Nau-kratis +with the loss of his throne, was finally defeated. As we see from this +inscription, he was probably murdered by the country people during his +flight. + +The following are the most important passages of the inscription: “His +Majesty (Amasis) was in the Festival-Hall, discussing plans for his +whole land, when one came to say unto him, ‘Hââ-ab-Râ (Apries) is rowing +up; he hath gone on board the ships which have crossed over. Haunebu +(Greeks), one knows not their number, are traversing the North-land, +which is as if it had no master to rule it; he (Apries) hath summoned +them, they are coming round him. It is he who hath arranged their +settlement in the Peh-ân (the An-dropolite name); they infest the whole +breadth of Egypt, those who are on thy waters fly before them!’... His +Majesty mounted his chariot, having taken lance and bow in his hand... +(the enemy) reached Andropolis; the soldiers sang with joy on the +roads... they did their duty in destroying the enemy. His Majesty fought +like a lion; he made victims among them, one knows not how many. The +ships and their warriors were overturned, they saw the depths as do the +fishes. Like a flame he extended, making a feast of fighting. His heart +rejoiced.... The third year, the 8th Athyr, one came to tell Majesty: +‘Let their vile-ness be ended! They throng the roads, there are +thousands there ravaging the land; they fill every road. Those who are +in ships bear thy terror in their hearts. But it is not yet finished.’ +Said his Majesty unto his soldiers: ‘...Young men and old men, do this +in the cities and nomes!’... Going upon every road, let not a day pass +without fighting their galleys!’... The land was traversed as by the +blast of a tempest, destroying their ships, which were abandoned by the +crews. The people accomplished their fate, killing the prince (Apries) +on his couch, when he had gone to repose in his cabin. When he saw his +friend overthrown... his Majesty himself buried him (Apries), in order +to establish him as a king possessing virtue, for his Majesty decreed +that the hatred of the gods should be removed from him.” + +This is the event to which we have already referred in a preceding +chapter, as proving the great amelioration of Egyptian ideas with regard +to the treatment of a conquered enemy, as compared with those of other +ancient nations. Amasis refers to the deposed monarch as his “friend,” + and buries him in a manner befitting a king at the charges of Amasis +himself. This act warded off from the spirit of Apries the just anger +of the gods at his partiality for the “foreign devils,” and ensured his +reception by Osiris as a king neb menkh, “possessing virtues.” + +The town of Naukratis, where Apries established himself, had been +granted to the Greek traders by Psametik I a century or more before. Mr. +D. G. Hogarth’s recent exploration of the site has led to a considerable +modification of our first ideas of the place, which were obtained +from Prof. Petrie ‘s excavations. Prof. Petrie was the discoverer of +Naukratis, and his diggings told us what Naukratis was like in the first +instance, but Mr. Hogarth has shown that several of his identifications +were erroneous and that the map of the place must be redrawn. The chief +error was in the placing of the Hellenion (the great meeting-place of +the Greeks), which is now known to be in quite a different position from +that assigned to it by Prof. Petrie. The “Great Temenos” of Prof. Petrie +has now been shown to be non-existent. Mr. Hogarth has also pointed out +that an old Egyptian town existed at Nau-kratis long before the Greeks +came there. This town is mentioned on a very interesting stele of black +basalt (discovered at Tell Gaif, the site of Naukratis, and now in the +Cairo Museum), under the name of “Permerti, which is called Nukrate.” + The first is the old Egyptian name, the second the Greek name adapted +to Egyptian hieroglyphs. The stele was erected by Tekhtnebf, the last +native king of Egypt, to commemorate his gifts to the temples of Neïth +on the occasion of his accession at Sais. It is beautifully cut, and the +inscription is written in a curious manner, with alphabetic spellings +instead of ideographs, and ideographs instead of alphabetic spellings, +which savours fully of the affectation of the learned pedant who drafted +it; for now, of course, in the fourth century before Christ, nobody but +a priestly antiquarian could read hieroglyphics. Demotic was the only +writing for practical purposes. + +We see this fact well illustrated in the inscriptions of the Ptolemaïc +temples. The accession of the Ptolemies marked a great increase in the +material wealth of Egypt, and foreign conquest again came in fashion. +Ptolemy Euergetes marched into Asia in the grand style of a Ramses and +brought back the images of gods which had been carried off by Esarhaddon +or Nebuchadnezzar II centuries before. He was received on his return +to Egypt with acclamations as a true successor of the Pharaohs. The +imperial spirit was again in vogue, and the archaistic simplicity and +independence of the Saïtes gave place to an archaistic imperialism, the +first-fruits of which were the repair and building of temples in the +great Pharaonic style. On these we see the Ptolemies masquerading as +Pharaohs, and the climax of absurdity is reached when Ptolemy Auletes +(the Piper) is seen striking down Asiatic enemies in the manner of +Amen-hetep or Ramses! This scene is directly copied from a Ramesside +temple, and we find imitations of reliefs of Ramses II so slavish that +the name of the earlier king is actually copied, as well as the relief, +and appears above the figure of a Ptolemy. The names of the nations who +were conquered by Thothmes III are repeated on Ptolemaic sculptures to +do duty for the conquered of Euergetes, with all sorts of mistakes +in spelling, naturally, and also with later interpolations. Such an +inscription is that in the temple of Kom Ombo, which Prof. Say ce has +held to contain the names of “Caphtor and Casluhim” and to prove the +knowledge of the latter name in the fourteenth century before Christ. +The name of Caphtor is the old Egyptian Keftiu (Crete); that of Casluhim +is unknown in real Old Egyptian inscriptions, and in this Ptolemaic list +at Kom Ombo it may be quite a late interpolation in the lists, perhaps +no older than the Persian period, since we find the names of Parsa +(Persia) and Susa, which were certainly unknown to Thothmes III, +included in it. We see generally from the Ptolemaic inscriptions that +nobody could read them but a few priests, who often made mistakes. One +of the most serious was the identification of Keftiu with Phoenicia in +the Stele of Canopus. This misled modern archaeologists down to the +time of Dr. Evans’s discoveries at Knossos, though how these utterly +un-Semitic looking Keftiu could have been Phoenicians was a puzzle to +everybody. We now know, of course, that they were Mycenaean or +Minoan Cretans, and that the Ptolemaic antiquaries made a mistake in +identifying the land of Keftiu with Phoenicia. + +We must not, however, say too much in dispraise of the Ptolemaic +Egyptians and their works. We have to be grateful to them indeed for the +building of the temples of Edfu and Dendera, which, owing to their later +date, are still in good preservation, while the best preserved of the +old Pharaonic fanes, such as Medinet Habû, have suffered considerably +from the ravages of time. Eor these temples show us to-day what an +old Egyptian temple, when perfect, really looked like. They are, so to +speak, perfect mummies of temples, while of the old buildings we have +nothing but the disjointed and damaged skeletons. + +A good deal of repairing has been done to these buildings, especially +to that at Edfu, of late years. But the main archaeological interest of +Ptolemaic and Roman times has been found in the field of epigraphy and +the study of papyri, with which the names of Messrs. Kenyon, Grenfell, +and Hunt are chiefly connected. The treasures which have lately been +obtained by the British Museum in the shape of the manuscripts of +Aristotle’s “Constitution of Athens,” the lost poems of Bacchylides, and +the Mimes of Herondas, all of which have been published for the trustees +of that institution by Mr. Kenyon, are known to those who are interested +in these subjects. The long series of publications of Messrs. +Grenfell and Hunt, issued at the expense of the Egypt Exploration Fund +(Graeco-Roman branch), with the exception of the volume of discoveries +at Teb-tunis, which was issued by the University of California, is also +well known. + +The two places with which Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt’s work has been +chiefly connected are the Fayyûm and Behnesâ, the site of the ancient +Permje or Oxyr-rhynchus. The lake-province of the Fayyûm, which attained +such prominence in the days of the XIIth Dynasty, seems to have had +little or no history during the whole period of the New Empire, but in +Ptolemaic times it revived and again became one of the richest and +most important provinces of Egypt. The town of Arsinoë was founded at +Crocodilopolis, where are now the mounds of Kom el-Fâris (The Mound of +the Horseman), near Medinet el-Payyum, and became the capital of the +province. At Illahûn, just outside the entrance to the Fayyûm, was the +great Nile harbour and entrepôt of the lake-district, called Ptolemaïs +Hormos. + +The explorations of Messrs. Hogarth, Grenfell, and Hunt in the years +of 1895-6 and 1898-9 resulted in the identification of the sites of the +ancient cities of Karanis (Kom Ushîm), Bacchias (Omm el-’Atl), Euhemeria +(Kasr el-Banât), Theadelphia (Harît), and Philoteris (Wadfa). The work +for the University of California in 18991900 at Umm el-Baragat showed +that this place was Tebtunis. Dime, on the northern coast of the Birket +Karûn, the modern representative of the ancient Lake Moeris, is now +known to be the ancient Sokno-paiou Nesos (the Isle of Soknopaios), a +local form of Sebek, the crocodile-god of the Fayyûm. At Karanis this +god was worshipped under the name of Petesuchos (“He whom Sebek +has given”), in conjunction with Osiris Pnepherôs (P-nefer-ho, +“the beautiful of face”); at Tebtunis he became Seknebtunis., i.e. +Sebek-neb-Teb-tunis (Sebek, lord of Tebtunis). This is a typical example +of the portmanteau pronunciations of the latter-day Egyptians. + +Many very interesting discoveries were made during the course of the +excavations of these places (besides Mr. Hogarth’s find of the temple +of Petesuchos and Pnepherôs at Karanis), consisting of Roman pottery +of varied form and Roman agricultural implements, including a perfect +plough.[1] The main interest of all, however, lies, both here and at +Behnesâ, in the papyri. They consist of Greek and Latin documents of +all ages from the early Ptolemaic to the Christian. In fact, Messrs. +Grenfell and Hunt have been unearthing and sifting the contents of the +waste-paper baskets of the ancient Ptolemaic and Roman Egyptians, which +had been thrown out on to dust-heaps near the towns. Nothing perishes +in,, the dry climate and soil of Egypt, so the contents of the ancient +dust-heaps have been preserved intact until our own day, and have been +found by Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt, just as the contents of the houses +of the ancient Indian rulers of Chinese Turkestan, at Niya and Khotan, +with their store of Kha-roshthi documents, have been preserved intact in +the dry Tibetan desert climate and have been found by Dr. Stein.[2] There +is much analogy between the discoveries of Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt in +Egypt and those of Dr. Stein in Turkestan. + + [1] Illustrated on Plate IX of Fayûm Towns and Their Papyri. + + [2] See Dr. Stein’s Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan, London, + 1903. + +The Græco-Egyptian documents are of all kinds, consisting of letters, +lists, deeds, notices, tax-assessments, receipts, accounts, and business +records of every sort and kind, besides new fragments of classical +authors and the important “Sayings of Jesus,” discovered at Behnesâ, +which have been published in a special popular form by the Egypt +Exploration Fund.* + + * Aoyla ‘Itjffov, 1897, and _New Sayings of Jesus_, 1904. + +These last fragments of the oldest Christian literature, which are +of such great importance and interest to all Christians, cannot be +described or discussed here. The other documents are no less +important to the student of ancient literature, the historian, and the +sociologist. The classical fragments include many texts of lost authors, +including Menander. We will give a few specimens of the private +letters and documents, which will show how extremely modern the ancient +Egyptians were, and how little difference there actually is between our +civilization and theirs, except in the-matter of mechanical invention. +They had no locomotives and telephones; otherwise they were the same. We +resemble them much more than we resemble our mediaeval ancestors or even +the Elizabethans. + +This is a boy’s letter to his father, who would not take him up to town +with him to see the sights: “Theon to his father Theon, greeting. It was +a fine thing of you not to take me with you to the city! If you won’t +take me with you to Alexandria, I won’t write you a letter, or speak to +you, or say good-bye to you; and if you go to Alexandria I won’t take +your hand or ever greet you again. That is what will happen if you +won’t take me. Mother said to Archelaus, ‘It quite upsets him to be left +behind.’ It was good of you to send me presents on the 12th, the day +you sailed. Send me a lyre, I implore you. If you don’t, I won’t eat, I +won’t drink: there now!’” Is not this more like the letter of a spoiled +child of to-day than are the solemnly dutiful epistles of even our +grandfathers and grandmothers when young? The touch about “Mother said +to Archelaus, ‘It quite upsets him to be left behind’” is delightfully +like the modern small boy, and the final request and threat are also +eminently characteristic. + +Here is a letter asking somebody to redeem the writer’s property from +the pawnshop: “Now please redeem my property from Sarapion. It is +pledged for two minas. I have paid the interest up to the month Epeiph, +at the rate of a stater per mina. There is a casket of incense-wood, +and another of onyx, a tunic, a white veil with a real purple border, a +handkerchief, a tunic with a Laconian stripe, a garment of purple linen, +two armlets, a necklace, a coverlet, a figure of Aphrodite, a cup, a big +tin flask, and a wine-jar. From Onetor get the two bracelets. They have +been pledged since the month Tybi of last year for eight... at the +rate of a stater per mina. If the cash is insufficient owing to the +carelessness of Theagenis, if, I say, it is insufficient, sell the +bracelets and make up the money.” Here is an affectionate letter of +invitation: “Greeting, my dear Serenia, from Petosiris. Be sure, dear, +to come up on the 20th for the birthday festival of the god, and let me +know whether you are coming by boat or by donkey, that we may send for +you accordingly. Take care not to forget.” + +Here is an advertisement of a gymnastic display: + +“The assault-at-arms by the youths will take place to-morrow, the 24th. +Tradition, no less than the distinguished character of the festival, +requires that they should do their utmost in the gymnastic display. Two +performances.” Signed by Dioskourides, magistrate of Oxyrrhynchus. + +Here is a report from a public physician to a magistrate: “To +Claudianus, the mayor, from Dionysos, public physician. I was to-day +instructed by you, through Herakleides your assistant, to inspect the +body of a man who had been found hanged, named Hierax, and to report to +you my opinion of it. I therefore inspected the body in the presence +of the aforesaid Herakleides at the house of Epagathus in the Broadway +ward, and found it hanged by a noose, which fact I accordingly report.” + Dated in the twelfth year of Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 173). + +The above translations are taken, slightly modified, from those in The +Oxyrrhynchus Papyri, vol. i. The next specimen, a quaint letter, is +translated from the text in Mr. Grenfell’s Greek Papyri (Oxford, 1896), +p. 69: “To Noumen, police captain and mayor, from Pokas son of Onôs, +unpaid policeman. I have been maltreated by Peadius the priest of the +temple of Sebek in Crocodilopolis. On the first epagomenal day of the +eleventh year, after having abused me about... in the aforesaid temple, +the person complained against sprang upon me and in the presence of +witnesses struck me many blows with a stick which he had. And as part of +my body was not covered, he tore my shirt, and this fact I called upon +the bystanders to bear witness to. Wherefore I request that if it seems +proper you will write to Klearchos the headman to send him to you, in +order that, if what I have written is true, I may obtain justice at your +hands.” + +A will of Hadrian’s reign, taken from the Oxyrrhynchus Papyri (i, p. +173), may also be of interest: “This is the last will and testament, +made in the street (i.e. at a street notary’s stand), of Pekysis, son of +Hermes and Didyme, an inhabitant of Oxyrrhynchus, being sane and in his +right mind. So long as I live, I am to have powers over my property, +to alter my will as I please. But if I die with this will unchanged, I +devise my daughter Ammonous whose mother is Ptolema, if she survive me, +but if not then her children, heir to my shares in the common house, +court, and rooms situate in the Cretan ward. All the furniture, +movables, and household stock and other property whatever that I shall +leave, I bequeath to the mother of my children and my wife Ptolema, the +freedwoman of Demetrius, son of Hermippus, with the condition that +she shall have for her lifetime the right of using, dwelling in, and +building in the said house, court, and rooms. If Ammonous should die +without children and intestate, the share of the fixtures shall belong +to her half-brother on the mother’s side, Anatas, if he survive, but if +not, to... No one shall violate the terms of this my will under pain of +paying to my daughter and heir Ammonous a fine of 1,000 drachmae and to +the treasury an equal sum.” Here follow the signatures of testator and +witnesses, who are described, as in a passport, one of them as follows: +“I, Dionysios, son of Dionysios of the same city, witness the will of +Pekysis. I am forty-six years of age, have a curl over my right temple, +and this is my seal of Dionysoplaton.” + +During the Roman period, which we have now reached in our survey, the +temple building of the Ptolemies was carried on with like energy. One of +the best-known temples of the Roman period is that at Philse, which +is known as the “Kiosk,” or “Pharaoh’s Bed.” Owing to the great +picturesqueness of its situation, this small temple, which was built in +the reign of Trajan, has been a favourite subject for the painters of +the last fifty years, and next to the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and Karnak, +it is probably the most widely known of all Egyptian buildings. Recently +it has come very much to the front for an additional reason. Like all +the other temples of Philse, it had been archæologically surveyed and +cleared by Col. H. Gr. Lyons and Dr. Borchardt, but further work of a +far-reaching character was rendered necessary by the building of the +great Aswân dam, below the island of Philse, one of the results of +which has been the partial submergence of the island and its temples, +including the picturesque Kiosk. The following account, taken from the +new edition (1906) of Murray’s _Guide to Egypt and the Sudan_, will +suffice better than any other description to explain what the dam is, +how it has affected Philse, and what work has been done to obviate the +possibility of serious damage to the Kiosk and other buildings. + +“In 1898 the Egyptian government signed a contract with Messrs. John +Aird & Co. for the construction of the great reservoir and dam at +Shellâl, which serves for the storage of water at the time of the flood +Nile. The river is ‘held up’ here sixty-five feet above its old normal +level. A great masonry dyke, 150 feet high in places, has been carried +across the Bab el-Kebir of the First Cataract, and a canal and four +locks, two hundred feet long and thirty feet wide, allow for the passage +of traffic up and down the river. + +[Illustration: 447.jpg The Great Dam Of Aswân] + + Showing Water Rushing Through The Sluices + +The dam is 2,185 yards long and over ninety feet thick at the base; in +places it rises one hundred feet above the bed of the river. It is built +of the local red granite, and at each end the granite dam is built into +the granite hillside. Seven hundred and eight thousand cubic yards of +masonry were used. The sluices are 180 in number, and are arranged at +four different levels. The sight of the great volume of water pouring +through them is a very fine one. The Nile begins to rise in July, and at +the end of November it is necessary to begin closing the sluice-gates +to hold up the water. By the end of February the reservoir is usually +filled and Philæ partially submerged, so that boats can sail in and out +of the colonnades and Pharaoh’s Bed. By the beginning of July the water +has been distributed, and it then falls to its normal level. + +“It is of course regrettable that the engineers were unable to find +another site for the dam, as it seemed inevitable that some damage would +result to the temples of Philæ from their partial submergence. Korosko +was proposed as a site, but was rejected for cogent reasons, and +apparently Shellâl was the only possible place. Further, no serious +person, who places the greatest good of the greatest number above +considerations of the picturesque and the ‘interesting,’ will deny +that if it is necessary to sacrifice Philæ to the good of the people of +Egypt, Philæ must go. ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’ The concern of the +rulers of Egypt must be with the living people of Egypt rather than with +the dead bones of the past; and they would not be doing their duty did +they for a moment allow artistic and archaeological considerations to +outweigh in their minds the practical necessities of the country. This +does not in the least imply that they do not owe a lesser duty to the +monuments of Egypt, which are among the most precious relics of the past +history of mankind. They do owe this lesser duty, and with regard to +Philæ it has been conscientiously fulfilled. The whole temple, in order +that its stability may be preserved under the stress of submersion, has +been braced up and underpinned, under the superintendence of Mr. Ball, +of the Survey Department, who has most efficiently carried out this +important work, at a cost of £22,000. + +[Illustration: 449.jpg THE KIOSK AT PHILÆ IN PROCESS OF UNDERPINNING +AND RESTORATION, JANUARY, 1902.] + +Steel girders have been fixed across the island from quay to quay, +and these have been surrounded by cement masonry, made water-tight +by forcing in cement grout. Pharaoh’s Bed and the colonnade have been +firmly underpinned in cement masonry, and there is little doubt that the +actual stability of Philæ is now more certain than that of any other +temple in Egypt. The only possible damage that can accrue to it is +the partial discolouration of the lower courses of the stonework of +Pharaoh’s Bed, etc., which already bear a distinct high-water mark. Some +surface disintegration from the formation of salt crystals is perhaps +inevitable here, but the effects of this can always be neutralized +by careful washing, which it should be an important charge of the +Antiquities Department to regularly carry out.” + +[Illustration: 450.jpg THE ANCIENT QUAY OP PHILÆ, NOVEMBER, 1904.] + + This is entirely covered when the reservoir is full, and the + palm-trees are farther submerged. + +The photographs accompanying the present chapter show the dam, the Kiosk +in process of conservation and underpinning (1902), and the shores of +the island as they now appear in the month of November, with the water +nearly up to the level of the quays. A view is also given of the island +of Konosso, with its inscriptions, as it is now. The island is simply a +huge granite boulder of the kind characteristic of the neighbourhood of +Shellâl (Phila?) and Aswân. + +On the island of Elephantine, opposite Aswân, an interesting discovery +has lately been made by Mr. Howard Carter. This is a remarkable well, +which was supposed by the ancients to lie immediately on the tropic. It +formed the basis of Eratosthenes’ calculations of the measurement of the +earth. Important finds of documents written in Aramaic have also been +made here; they show that there was on the island in Ptolemaic times a +regular colony of Syrian merchants. + +South of Aswân and Philse begins Nubia. The Nubian language, which is +quite different from Arabic, is spoken by everybody on the island of +Elephantine, and its various dialects are used as far south as Dongola, +where Arabic again is generally spoken till we reach the land of the +negroes, south of Khartum. In Ptolemaic and Roman days the Nubians were +a powerful people, and the whole of Nubia and the modern North Sudan +formed an independent kingdom, ruled by queens who bore the title or +name of Candace. It was the eunuch of a Candace who was converted to +Christianity as he was returning from a mission to Jerusalem to salute +Jehovah. “Go and join thyself unto his chariot” was the command to +Philip, and when the Ethiopian had heard the gospel from his lips he +went on his way rejoicing. The capital of this Candace was at Meroë, the +modern Bagarawiya, near Shendi. Here, and at Naga not far off, are +the remains of the temples of the Can-daces, great buildings of +semi-barbaric Egyptian style. For the civilization of the Nubians, such +as it was, was of Egyptian origin. Ever since Egyptian rule had been +extended southwards to Jebel Barkal, beyond Dongola, in the time of +Amenhetep II, Egyptian culture had influenced the Nubians. Amenhetep III +built a temple to Amen at Napatà, the capital of Nubia, which lay +under the shadow of Mount Barkal; Akhunaten erected a sanctuary of the +Sun-Disk there; and Ramses II also built there. + +[Illustration: 452.jpg THE ROCK OF KONOSSO IN JANUARY, 1902, BEFORE THE +BUILDING OF THE DAM AND FORMATION OF THE RESERVOIR.] + +The place in fact was a sort of appanage of the priests of Amen at +Thebes, and when the last priest-king evacuated Thebes, leaving it to +the Bubastites of the XXIId Dynasty, it was to distant Napata that he +retired. Here a priestly dynasty continued to reign until, two centuries +later, the troubles and misfortunes of Egypt seemed to afford an +opportunity for the reassertion of the exiled Theban power. Piankhi +Mera-men returned to Egypt in triumph as its rightful sovereign, but his +successors, Shabak, Shabatak, and Tirha-kah, had to contend constantly +with the Assyrians. Finally ITrdamaneh, Tirhakah’s successor, returned +to Nubia, leaving Egypt, in the decadence of the Assyrian might, free to +lead a quiet existence under Psametik I and the succeeding monarchs of +the XXVIth Dynasty. When Cambyses conquered Egypt he aspired to conquer +Nubia also, but his army was routed and destroyed by the Napatan king, +who tells us in an inscription how he defeated “the man Kambasauden,” + who had attacked him. At Napata the Nubian monarchs, one of the greatest +of whom in Ptolemaic times was Ergam-enes, a contemporary of Ptolemy +Philopator, continued to reign. But the first Roman governor of Egypt, +Ælius Gallus, destroyed Napata, and the Nubians removed their capital +to Meroë, where the Candaces reigned. + +The monuments of this Nubian kingdom, the temples of Jebel Barkal, the +pyramids of Nure close by, the pyramids of Bagarawiya, the temples of +Wadi Ben Naga, Mesawwarat en-Naga, and Mesawwarat es-Sufra (“Mesawwarat” + proper), were originally investigated by Cailliaud and afterwards by +Lepsius. During the last few years they and the pyramids excavated by +Dr. E. A. Wallis-Budge, of the British Museum, for the Sudan government, +have been again explored. As the results of his work are not yet +fully published, it is possible at present only to quote the following +description from Cook’s _Handbook for Egypt and the Sudan_ (by Dr. +Budge), p. 6, of work on the pyramids of Jebel Barkal: “the writer +excavated the shafts of one of the pyramids here in 1897, and at the +depth of about twenty-five cubits found a group of three chambers, in +one of which were a number of bones of the sheep which was sacrificed +there about two thousand years ago, and also portions of a broken +amphora which had held Rho-dian wine. A second shaft, which led to the +mummy-chamber, was partly emptied, but at a further depth of twenty +cubits water was found. The high-water mark of the reservoir when full +is ------ and, as there were no visible means for pumping it out, the +mummy-chamber could not be entered.” With regard to the Bagarawîya +pyramids, Dr. Budge writes, on p. 700 of the same work, à propos of the +story of the Italian Ferlini that he found Roman jewelry in one of these +pyramids: “In 1903 the writer excavated a number of the pyramids of +Meroë for the Governor-General of the Sudan, Sir F. R. Wingate, and +he is convinced that the statements made by Ferlini are the result of +misapprehension on his part. The pyramids are solid throughout, and the +bodies are buried under them. When the details are complete the proofs +for this will be published.” Dr. Budge has also written upon the subject +of the orientation of the Jebel Barkal and Nure pyramids. + +[Illustration: 454.jpg THE ISLE OF KONOSSO, WITH ITS INSCRIPTIONS] + +It is very curious to find the pyramids reappearing in Egyptian +tomb-architecture in the very latest period of Egyptian history. We +find them when Egyptian civilization was just entering upon its vigorous +manhood, then they gradually disappear, only to revive in its decadent +and exiled old age. The Ethiopian pyramids are all of much more +elongated form than the old Egyptian ones. It is possible that they may +be a survival of the archaistic movement of the XXVIth Dynasty, to which +we have already referred. + +These are not the latest Egyptian monuments in the Sudan, nor are the +temples of Naga and Mesawwarat the most ancient, though they belong +to the Roman period and are decidedly barbarian as to their style and, +especially, as to their decoration. The southernmost as well as latest +relic of Egypt in the Sudan is the Christian church of Soba, on the Blue +Mie, a few miles above Khartum. In it was found a stone ram, an emblem +of Amen-Râ, which had formerly stood in the temple of Naga and had been +brought to Soba perhaps under the impression that it was the Christian +Lamb. It was removed to the garden of the governor-general’s palace at +Khartum, where it now stands. + +The church at Soba is a relic of the Christian kingdom of Alua, which +succeeded the realm of the Candaces. One of its chief seats was at +Dongola, and all Nubia is covered with the ruins of its churches. It +was, of course, an offshoot of the Christianity of Egypt, but a late +one, since Isis was still worshipped at Philse in the sixth century, +long after the Edict of Theodosius had officially abolished paganism +throughout the Roman world, and the Nubians were at first zealous +votaries of the goddess of Philo. So also when Egypt fell beneath the +sway of the Moslem in the seventh century, Nubia remained an independent +Christian state, and continued so down to the twelfth century, when the +soldiers of Islam conquered the country. + +Of late pagan and early Christian Egypt very much that is new has been +discovered during the last few years. The period of the Lower Empire +has yielded much to the explorers of Oxyrrhynchus, and many papyri of +interest belonging to this period have been published by Mr. Kenyon in +his _Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the British Museum_, especially +the letters of Flavius Abinæus, a military officer of the fourth +century. The papyri of this period are full of the high-flown titles +and affected phraseology which was so beloved of Byzantine scribes. +“Glorious Dukes of the Thebaïd,” “most magnificent counts and +lieutenants,” “all-praiseworthy secretaries,” and the like strut across +the pages of the letters and documents which begin “In the name of Our +Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, the God and Saviour of us all, in +the year x of the reign of the most divine and praised, great, and +beneficent Lord Flavius Heraclius (or other) the eternal Augustus and +Auto-krator, month x, year x of the In diction.” It is an extraordinary +period, this of the sixth and seventh centuries, which we have now +entered, with its bizarre combination of the official titulary of +the divine and eternal Cæsars Imperatores Augusti with the initial +invocation of Christ and the Trinity. It is the transition from the +ancient to the modern world, and as such has an interest all its own. + +In Egypt the struggle between the adherents of Chalcedon, the “Melkites” + or Imperialists of the orthodox Greek rite, and the Eutychians or +Mono-physites, the followers of the patriarch Dioskoros, who rejected +Chalcedon, was going on with unabated fury, and was hardly stopped even +by the invasion of the pagan Persians. The last effort of the party of +Constantinople to stamp out the Monophysite heresy was made when Cyril +was patriarch and governor of Egypt. According to an ingenious theory +put forward by Mr. Butler, in his _Arab Conquest of Egypt_, it is Cyril +the patriarch who was the mysterious Mukaukas, the [Greek word], or +“Great and Magnificent One,” who played so doubtful a part in the +epoch-making events of the Arab conquest by Amr in A.D. 639-41. Usually +this Mukaukas has been regarded as a “noble Copt,” and the Copts have +generally been credited with having assisted the Islamites against +the power of Constantinople. This was a very natural and probable +conclusion, but Mr. Butler will have it that the Copts resisted the +Arabs valiantly, and that the treacherous Mukaukas was none other than +the Constantinopolitan patriarch himself. + +In the papyri it is interesting to note the gradual increase of Arab +names after the conquest, more especially in those of the Archduke +Rainer ‘s collection from the Fayyûm, which was so near the new capital +city, Fustât. In Upper Egypt the change was not noticeable for a long +time, and in the great collection of Coptic _ostraka_ (inscriptions on +slips of limestone and sherds of pottery, used as a substitute for paper +or parchment), found in the ruins of the Coptic monastery established, +on the temple site of Dêr el-Bahari, we find no Arab names. These +documents, part of which have been published by Mr. W. E. Crum for the +Egypt Exploration Fund, while another part will shortly be issued for +the trustees of the British Museum by Mr. Hall, date to the seventh and +eighth centuries. Their contents resemble those of the earlier papyri +from Oxyrrhynchus, though they are not of so varied a nature and are +generally written by persons of less intelligence, i.e. the monks and +peasants of the monasteries and villages of Tjême, or Western Thebes. +During the late excavation of the XIth Dynasty temple of Dêr el-Bahari, +more of these _ostraka_ were found, which will be published for the +Egypt Exploration Fund by Messrs. Naville and Hall. Of actual buildings +of the Coptic period the most important excavations have been those of +the French School of Cairo at Bâwît, north of Asyût. This work, which +was carried on by M. Jean Clédat, has resulted in the discovery of very +important frescoes and funerary inscriptions, belonging to the monastery +of a famous martyr, St. Apollo. With these new discoveries of Christian +Egypt our work reaches its fitting close. The frontier which divides the +ancient from the modern world has almost been crossed. We look back from +the monastery of Bâwît down a long vista of new discoveries until, four +thousand years before, we see again the Great Heads coming to the Tomb +of Den, Narmer inspecting the bodies of the dead Northerners, and, +far away in Babylonia, Narâm-Sin crossing the mountains of the East to +conquer Elam, or leading his allies against the prince of Sinai. + +THE END. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF EGYPT *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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