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diff --git a/17325.txt b/17325.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9e84d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/17325.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9348 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, +Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 5 (of 12), by G. Maspero + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 5 (of 12) + +Author: G. Maspero + +Editor: A.H. Sayce + +Translator: M.L. McClure + +Release Date: December 16, 2005 [EBook #17325] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF EGYPT, CHALDAEA *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +[Illustration: Spines] + +[Illustration: Cover] + +HISTORY OF EGYPT CHALDEA, SYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA + +By G. MASPERO, Honorable Doctor of Civil Laws, and Fellow of Queen's +College, Oxford; Member of the Institute and Professor at the College of +France + +Edited by A. H. SAYCE, Professor of Assyriology, Oxford + +Translated by M. L. McCLURE, Member of the Committee of the Egypt +Exploration Fund + + +CONTAINING OVER TWELVE HUNDRED COLORED PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS + +Volume V. + + +LONDON + +THE GROLIER SOCIETY + +PUBLISHERS + +[Illustration: Frontispiece] + +[Illustration: Titlepage] + + +THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY--(continued) + +_THUTMOSIS III.: THE ORGANISATION OF THE SYRIAN PROVINCES--AMENOTHES +III.: THE WORSHIPPERS OF ATONU._ + +_Thutmosis III.: the talcing of Qodsha in the 42nd year of his +reign--The tribute of the south--The triumph-song of Amon._ + +_The constitution of the Egyptian empire--The Grown vassals and +their relations with the Pharaoh--The king's messengers--The allied +states--Royal presents and marriages; the status of foreigners in the +royal harem--Commerce with Asia, its resources and its risks; protection +granted to the national industries, and treaties of extradition._ + +_Amenothes II, his campaigns in Syria and Nubia--Thutmosis IV.; his +dream under the shadow of the Sphinx and his marriage--Amenothes III. +and his peaceful reign--The great building works--The temples of +Nubia: Soleb and his sanctuary built by Amenothes III, Gebel Barkal, +Elephantine--The beautifying of Thebes: the temple of Mat, the temples +of Amon at Luxor and at Karnak, the tomb of Amenothes III, the chapel +and the colossi of Memnon._ + +_The increasing importance of Anion and his priests: preference shown +by Amenothes III. for the Heliopolitan gods, his marriage with Tii--The +influence of Tii over Amenothes IV.: the decadence of Amon and of +Thebes, Atonu and Khuitniatonu--Change of physiognomy in Khuniaton, his +character, his government, his relations with Asia: the tombs of Tel +el-Amarna and the art of the period--Tutanlchamon, At: the return of the +Pharaohs to Thebes and the close of the XVIIIth dynasty._ + + + + +CHAPTER I--THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY--(continued) + + +_Thutmosis III.: the organisation of the Syrian provinces--Amenothes +III.: the royal worshippers of Atonu._ + +In the year XXXIV. the Egyptians reappeared in Zahi. The people of +Anaugasa having revolted, two of their towns were taken, a third +surrendered, while the chiefs of the Lotanu hastened to meet their lord +with their usual tribute. Advantage was taken of the encampment being at +the foot of the Lebanon to procure wood for building purposes, such as +beams and planks, masts and yards for vessels, which were all shipped by +the Kefatiu at Byblos for exportation to the Delta. This expedition was, +indeed, little more than a military march through the country. It would +appear that the Syrians soon accustomed themselves to the presence of +the Egyptians in their midst, and their obedience henceforward could be +fairly relied on. We are unable to ascertain what were the circumstances +or the intrigues which, in the year XXXV., led to a sudden outbreak +among the tribes settled on the Euphrates and the Orontes. The King +of Mitanni rallied round him the princes of Naharaim, and awaited the +attack of the Egyptians near Aruna. Thutmosis displayed great personal +courage, and the victory was at once decisive. We find mention of only +ten prisoners, one hundred and eighty mares, and sixty chariots in the +lists of the spoil. Anaugasa again revolted, and was subdued afresh +in the year XXXVIII.; the Shausu rebelled in the year XXXIX., and the +Lotanu or some of the tribes connected with them two years later. The +campaign of the year XLII. proved more serious. Troubles had arisen in +the neighbourhood of Arvad. Thutmosis, instead of following the usual +caravan route, marched along the coast-road by way of Phoenicia. He +destroyed Arka in the Lebanon and the surrounding strongholds, which +were the haunts of robbers who lurked in the mountains; then turning to +the northeast, he took Tunipa and extorted the usual tribute from +the inhabitants of Naharaim. On the other hand, the Prince of Qodshu, +trusting to the strength of his walled city, refused to do homage to the +Pharaoh, and a deadly struggle took place under the ramparts, in which +each side availed themselves of all the artifices which the strategic +warfare of the times allowed. On a day when the assailants and besieged +were about to come to close quarters, the Amorites let loose a mare +among the chariotry of Thutmosis. The Egyptian horses threatened to +become unmanageable, and had begun to break through the ranks, when +Amenemhabi, an officer of the guard, leaped to the ground, and, running +up to the creature, disembowelled it with a thrust of his sword; this +done, he cut off its tail and presented it to the king. The besieged +were eventually obliged to shut themselves within their newly +built walls, hoping by this means to tire out the patience of their +assailants; but a picked body of men, led by the same brave Amenemhabi +who had killed the mare, succeeded in making a breach and forcing an +entrance into the town. Even the numerous successful campaigns we have +mentioned, form but a part, though indeed an important part, of the wars +undertaken by Thutmosis to "fix his frontiers in the ends of the +earth." Scarcely a year elapsed without the viceroy of Ethiopia having a +conflict with one or other of the tribes of the Upper Nile; little merit +as he might gain in triumphing over such foes, the spoil taken from them +formed a considerable adjunct to the treasure collected in Syria, while +the tributes from the people of Kush and the Uauaiu were paid with as +great regularity as the taxes levied on the Egyptians themselves. It +comprised gold both from the mines and from the rivers, feathers, oxen +with curiously trained horns, giraffes, lions, leopards, and slaves of +all ages. The distant regions explored by Hatshopsitu continued to pay +a tribute at intervals. A fleet went to Puanit to fetch large cargoes +of incense, and from time to time some Ilim chief would feel himself +honoured by having one of his daughters accepted as an inmate of the +harem of the great king. After the year XLII. we have no further records +of the reign, but there is no reason to suppose that its closing years +were less eventful or less prosperous than the earlier. Thutmosis III., +when conscious of failing powers, may have delegated the direction of +his armies to his sons or to his generals, but it is also quite possible +that he kept the supreme command in his own hands to the end of his +days. Even when old age approached and threatened to abate his vigour, +he was upheld by the belief that his father Amon was ever at hand to +guide him with his counsel and assist him in battle. "I give to thee, +declared the god, the rebels that they may fall beneath thy sandals, +that thou mayest crush the rebellious, for I grant to thee by decree the +earth in its length and breadth. The tribes of the West and those of the +East are under the place of thy countenance, and when thou goest up +into all the strange lands with a joyous heart, there is none who +will withstand Thy Majesty, for I am thy guide when thou treadest them +underfoot. Thou hast crossed the water of the great curve of Naharaim* +in thy strength and in thy power, and I have commanded thee to let them +hear thy roaring which shall enter their dens, I have deprived their +nostrils of the breath of life, I have granted to thee that thy deeds +shall sink into their hearts, that my uraeus which is upon thy head may +burn them, that it may bring prisoners in long files from the peoples of +Qodi, that it may consume with its flame those who are in the marshes,** +that it may cut off the heads of the Asiatics without one of them being +able to escape from its clutch. I grant to thee that thy conquests may +embrace all lands, that the urseus which shines upon my forehead may be +thy vassal, so that in all the compass of the heaven there may not be +one to rise against thee, but that the people may come bearing their +tribute on their backs and bending before Thy Majesty according to my +behest; I ordain that all aggressors arising in thy time shall fail +before thee, their heart burning within them, their limbs trembling!" + + * The Euphrates, in the great curve described by it across + Naharaim, after issuing from the mountains of Cilicia. + + ** The meaning is doubtful. The word signifies pools, + marshes, the provinces situated beyond Egyptian territory, + and consequently the distant parts of the world--those which + are nearest the ocean which encircles the earth, and which + was considered as fed by the stagnant waters of the + celestial Nile, just as the extremities of Egypt were + watered by those of the terrestrial Nile. + +[Illustration: 006.jpg A PROCESSION OF NEGROES] + +"I.--I am come that I may grant unto thee to crush the great ones of +Zahi, I throw them under thy feet across their mountains,--I grant to +thee that they shall see Thy Majesty as a lord of shining splendour when +thou shinest before them in my likeness! + +"II.--I am come, to grant thee that thou mayest crush those of the +country of Asia, to break the heads of the people of Lotanu,--I grant +thee that they may see Thy Majesty, clothed in thy panoply, when thou +seizest thy arms, in thy war-chariot. + +"III.--I am come, to grant thee that thou mayest crush the land of the +East, and invade those who dwell in the provinces of Tonutir,--I grant +that they may see Thy Majesty as the comet which rains down the heat of +its flame and sheds its dew. + +"IV.--I am come, to grant thee that thou mayest crush the land of the +West, so that Kafiti and Cyprus shall be in fear of thee,--I grant that +they may see Thy Majesty like the young bull, stout of heart, armed with +horns which none may resist. + +"V.--I am come, to grant thee that thou mayest crush those who are in +their marshes, so that the countries of Mitanni may tremble for fear of +thee,--I grant that they may see Thy Majesty like the crocodile, lord of +terrors, in the midst of the water, which none can approach. + +"VI.--I am come, to grant thee that thou mayest crush those who are in +the isles, so that the people who live in the midst of the Very-Green +may be reached by thy roaring,--I grant that they may see Thy Majesty +like an avenger who stands on the back of his victim. + +"VII.--I am come, to grant that thou mayest crush the Tihonu, so that +the isles of the Utanatiu may be in the power of thy souls,--I grant +that they may see Thy Majesty like a spell-weaving lion, and that thou +mayest make corpses of them in the midst of their own valleys.* + +"VIII.--I am come, to grant thee that thou mayest crush the ends of the +earth, so that the circle which surrounds the ocean may be grasped in +thy fist,--I grant that they may see Thy Majesty as the sparrow-hawk, +lord of the wing, who sees at a glance all that he desires. + +"IX.--I am come, to grant thee that thou mayest crush the peoples who +are in their "duars," so that thou mayest bring the Hiru-shaitu into +captivity,--I grant that they may see Thy Majesty like the jackal of the +south, lord of swiftness, the runner who prowls through the two lands. + +"X.--I am come, to grant thee that thou mayest crush the nomads, so that +the Nubians as far as the land of Pidit are in thy grasp,--I grant that +they may see Thy Majesty like unto thy two brothers Horus and Sit, whose +arms I have joined in order to establish thy power." + + * The name of the people associated with the Tihonu was read + at first Tanau, and identified with the Danai of the Greeks. + Chabas was inclined to read Utena, and Brugsch, Uthent, more + correctly Utanatiu, utanati, the people of Uatanit. The + juxtaposition of this name with that of the Libyans compels + us to look towards the west for the site of this people: may + we assign to them the Ionian Islands, or even those in the + western Mediterranean. + +The poem became celebrated. When Seti I., two centuries later, commanded +the Poet Laureates of his court to celebrate his victories in verse, +the latter, despairing of producing anything better, borrowed the finest +strophes from this hymn to Thutmosis IIL, merely changing the name of +the hero. The composition, unlike so many other triumphal inscriptions, +is not a mere piece of official rhetoric, in which the poverty of the +subject is concealed by a multitude of common-places whether historical +or mythological. Egypt indeed ruled the world, either directly or +through her vassals, and from the mountains of Abyssinia to those +of Cilicia her armies held the nations in awe with the threat of the +Pharaoh. + +The conqueror, as a rule, did not retain any part of their territory. He +confined himself to the appropriation of the revenue of certain domains +for the benefit of his gods.* Amon of Karnak thus became possessor of +seven Syrian towns which he owed to the generosity of the victorious +Pharaohs.** + + * The seven towns which Amon possessed in Syria are + mentioned, in the time of Ramses III., in the list of the + domains and revenues of the god. + + ** In the year XXIII., on his return from his first + campaign, Thutmosis III. provided offerings, guaranteed from + the three towns Anaugasa, Inuamu, and Hurnikaru, for his + father Amonra. + +Certain cities, like Tunipa, even begged for statues of Thutmosis +for which they built a temple and instituted a cultus. Amon and his +fellow-gods too were adored there, side by side with the sovereign the +inhabitants had chosen to represent them here below.* These rites were +at once a sign of servitude, and a proof of gratitude for services +rendered, or privileges which had been confirmed. The princes of +neighbouring regions repaired annually to these temples to renew their +oaths of allegiance, and to bring their tributes "before the face of the +king." Taking everything into account, the condition of the Pharaoh's +subjects might have been a pleasant one, had they been able to accept +their lot without any mental reservation. They retained their own laws, +their dynasties, and their frontiers, and paid a tax only in proportion +to their resources, while the hostages given were answerable for their +obedience. These hostages were as a rule taken by Thutmosis from among +the sons or the brothers of the enemy's chief. They were carried to +Thebes, where a suitable establishment was assigned to them,** the +younger members receiving an education which practically made them +Egyptians. + + * The statues of Thutmosis III. and of the gods of Egypt + erected at Tunipa are mentioned in a letter from the + inhabitants of that town to Amenothes III. Later, Ramses + II., speaking of the two towns in the country of the Khati + in which were two statues of His Majesty, mentions Tunipa as + one of them. + + ** The various titles of the lists of Thutmosis III. at + Thebes show us "the children of the Syrian chiefs conducted + as prisoners" into the town of Suhanu, which is elsewhere + mentioned as the depot, the prison of the temple of Anion. + W. Max Mullcr was the first to remark the historical value + of this indication, but without sufficiently insisting on + it; the name indicates, perhaps, as he says, a great prison, + but a prison like those where the princes of the family of + the Ottoman sultans were confined by the reigning monarch-- + a palace usually provided with all the comforts of Oriental + life. + +As soon as a vacancy occurred in the succession either in Syria or in +Ethiopia, the Pharaoh would choose from among the members of the family +whom he held in reserve, that prince on whose loyalty he could best +count, and placed him upon the throne.* The method of procedure was not +always successful, since these princes, whom one would have supposed +from their training to have been the least likely to have asserted +themselves against the man to whom they owed their elevation, often gave +more trouble than others. The sense of the supreme power of Egypt, which +had been inculcated in them during their exile, seemed to be weakened +after their return to their native country, and to give place to a +sense of their own importance. Their hearts misgave them as the time +approached for them to send their own children as pledges to their +suzerain, and also when called upon to transfer a considerable part of +their revenue to his treasury. They found, moreover, among their own +cities and kinsfolk, those who were adverse to the foreign yoke, and +secretly urged their countrymen to revolt, or else competitors for the +throne who took advantage of the popular discontent to pose as champions +of national independence, and it was difficult for the vassal prince to +counteract the intrigues of these adversaries without openly declaring +himself hostile to his foreign master.** + + * Among the Tel el-Amarna tablets there is a letter of a + petty Syrian king, Adadnirari, whose father was enthroned + after a fashion in Nukhassi by Thutmosis III. + + ** Thus, in the Tel el-Amarna correspondence, Zimrida, + governor of Sidon, gives information to Amenothes III. on + the intrigues which the notables of the town were concocting + against Egyptian authority. Ribaddu relates in one of these + despatches that the notables of Byblos and the women of his + harem were urging him to revolt; later, a letter of Amunira + to the King of Egypt informs us that Ribaddu had been driven + from Byblos by his own brother. + +A time quickly came when a vestige of fear alone constrained them to +conceal their wish for liberty; the most trivial incident then sufficed +to give them the necessary encouragement, and decided them to throw +off the mask, a repulse or the report of a repulse suffered by the +Egyptians, the news of a popular rising in some neighbouring state, the +passing visit of a Chaldaean emissary who left behind him the hope +of support and perhaps of subsidies from Babylon, and the unexpected +arrival of a troop of mercenaries whose services might be hired for +the occasion.* A rising of this sort usually brought about the most +disastrous results. The native prince or the town itself could keep back +the tribute and own allegiance to no one during the few months required +to convince Pharaoh of their defection and to allow him to prepare the +necessary means of vengeance; the advent of the Egyptians followed, and +the work of repression was systematically set in hand. They destroyed +the harvests, whether green or ready for the sickle, they cut down the +palms and olive trees, they tore up the vines, seized on the flocks, +dismantled the strongholds, and took the inhabitants prisoners.** + + * Burnaburiash, King of Babylon, speaks of Syrian agents who + had come to ask for support from his father, Kurigalzu, and + adds that the latter had counselled submission. In one of + the letters preserved in the British Museum, Aziru defends + himself for having received an emissary of the King of the + Khati. + + ** Cf. the raiding, for instance, of the regions of Arvad + and of the Zahi by Thutmosis III., described in the Annals, + 11. 4, 5. We are still in possession of the threats which + the messenger Khani made against the rebellious chief of a + province of the Zahi--possibly Aziru. + +The rebellious prince had to deliver up his silver and gold, the +contents of his palace, even his children,* and when he had finally +obtained peace by means of endless sacrifices, he found himself a vassal +as before, but with an empty treasury, a wasted country, and a decimated +people. + + * See, in the accounts of the campaigns of Thutmosis, the + record of the spoils, as well as the mention of the children + of the chiefs brought as prisoners into Egypt. + +[Illustration: 015.jpg A SYRIAN TOWN AND ITS OUTSKIRTS AFTER AN EGYPTIAN +ARMY HAD PASSED THROUGH IT] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Gayet. + +In spite of all this, some head-strong native princes never relinquished +the hope of freedom, and no sooner had they made good the breaches in +their walls as far as they were able, than they entered once more +on this unequal contest, though at the risk of bringing irreparable +disaster on their country. The majority of them, after one such +struggle, resigned themselves to the inevitable, and fulfilled their +feudal obligations regularly. They paid their fixed contribution, +furnished rations and stores to the army when passing through their +territory, and informed the ministers at Thebes of any intrigues among +their neighbours.* Years elapsed before they could so far forget the +failure of their first attempt to regain independence, as to venture to +make a second, and expose themselves to fresh reverses. + +The administration of so vast an empire entailed but a small +expenditure on the Egyptians, and required the offices of merely a few +functionaries.** The garrisons which they kept up in foreign provinces +lived on the country, and were composed mainly of light troops, archers, +a certain proportion of heavy infantry, and a few minor detachments of +chariotry dispersed among the principal fortresses.*** + + * We find in the _Annals_, in addition to the enumeration of + the tributes, the mention of the foraging arrangements which + the chiefs were compelled to make for the army on its + passage. We find among the tablets letters from Aziru + denouncing the intrigues of the Khati; letters also of + Ribaddu pointing out the misdeeds of Abdashirti, and other + communications of the same nature, which demonstrate the + supervision exercised by the petty Syrian princes over each + other. + + ** Under Thutmosis III. we have among others "Mir," or "Nasi + situ mihatitu," "governors of the northern countries," the + Thutii who became afterwards a hero of romance. The + individuals who bore this title held a middle rank in the + Egyptian hierarchy. + + *** The archers--_pidatid, pidati, pidate_--and the + chariotry quartered in Syria are often mentioned in the Tel + el-Amarna correspondence. Steindorff has recognised the term + -ddu auitu, meaning infantry, in the word ueu, uiu, of the + Tel el-Amarna tablets. + +The officers in command had orders to interfere as little as possible +in local affairs, and to leave the natives to dispute or even to fight +among themselves unhindered, so long as their quarrels did not threaten +the security of the Pharaoh.* It was never part of the policy of Egypt +to insist on her foreign subjects keeping an unbroken peace among +themselves. If, theoretically, she did not recognise the right of +private warfare, she at all events tolerated its practice. It mattered +little to her whether some particular province passed out of the +possession of a certain Eibaddu into that of a certain Aziru, or _vice +versa_, so long as both Eibaddu and Aziru remained her faithful slaves. +She never sought to repress their incessant quarrelling until such time +as it threatened to take the form of an insurrection against her own +power. Then alone did she throw off her neutrality; taking the side of +one or other of the dissentients, she would grant him, as a pledge of +help, ten, twenty, thirty, or even more archers.** + + * A half at least of the Tel el-Amarna correspondence treats + of provincial wars between the kings of towns and countries + subject to Egypt--wars of Abdashirti and his son Aziru + against the cities of the Phoenician coast, wars of + Abdikhiba, or Abdi-Tabba, King of Jerusalem, against the + chiefs of the neighbouring cities. + + ** Abimilki (Abisharri) demands on one occasion from the + King of Egypt ten men to defend Tyre, on another occasion + twenty; the town of Gula requisitioned thirty or forty to + guard it. Delattre thinks that these are rhetorical + expressions answering to a general word, just as if we + should say "a handful of men"; the difference of value in + the figures is to me a proof of their reality. + +No doubt the discipline and personal courage of these veterans exercised +a certain influence on the turn of events, but they were after all a +mere handful of men, and their individual action in the combat would +scarcely ever have been sufficient to decide the result; the actual +importance of their support, in spite of their numerical inferiority, +lay in the moral weight they brought to the side on which they fought, +since they represented the whole army of the Pharaoh which lay behind +them, and their presence in a camp always ensured final success. The +vanquished party had the right of appeal to the sovereign, through whom +he might obtain a mitigation of the lot which his successful adversary +had prepared for him; it was to the interest of Egypt to keep the +balance of power as evenly as possible between the various states which +looked to her, and when she prevented one or other of the princes from +completely crushing his rivals, she was minimising the danger which +might soon arise from the vassal whom she had allowed to extend his +territory at the expense of others. + +These relations gave rise to a perpetual exchange of letters and +petitions between the court of Thebes and the northern and southern +provinces, in which all the petty kings of Africa and Asia, of whatever +colour or race, set forth, either openly or covertly, their ambitions +and their fears, imploring a favour or begging for a subsidy, revealing +the real or suspected intrigues of their fellow-chiefs, and while loudly +proclaiming their own loyalty, denouncing the perfidy and the secret +projects of their neighbours. As the Ethiopian peoples did not, +apparently, possess an alphabet of their own, half of the correspondence +which concerned them was carried on in Egyptian, and written on papyrus. +In Syria, however, where Babylonian civilization maintained itself +in spite of its conquest by Thutmosis, cuneiform writing was still +employed, and tablets of dried clay.* It had, therefore, been found +necessary to establish in the Pharaoh's palace a department for this +service, in which the scribes should be competent to decipher the +Chaldaean character. Dictionaries and easy mythological texts had been +procured for their instruction, by means of which they had learned the +meaning of words and the construction of sentences. Having once mastered +the mechanism of the syllabary, they set to work to translate the +despatches, marking on the back of each the date and the place from +whence it came, and if necessary making a draft of the reply.** In these +the Pharaoh does not appear, as a rule, to have insisted on the endless +titles which we find so lavishly used in his inscriptions, but the +shortened protocol employed shows that the theory of his divinity was +as fully acknowledged by strangers as it was by his own subjects. They +greet him as their sun, the god before whom they prostrate themselves +seven times seven, while they are his slaves, his dogs, and the dust +beneath his feet.*** + + * A discovery made by the fellahin, in 1887, at Tel el- + Arnarna, in the rums of the palace of Khuniaton, brought to + light a portion of the correspondence between Asiatic + monarchs, whether vassals or independent of Egypt, with the + officers of Amenothes III. and IV., and with these Pharaohs + themselves. + + ** Several of these registrations are still to be read on + the backs of the tablets at Berlin, London, and Gizeh. + + ***The protocols of the letters of Abdashirti may be taken + as an example, or those of Abimilki to Pharaoh, sometimes + there is a development of the protocol which assumes + panegyrical features similar to those met with in Egypt. + +The runners to whom these documents were entrusted, and who delivered +them with their own hand, were not, as a rule, persons of any +consideration; but for missions of grave importance "the king's +messengers" were employed, whose functions in time became extended to +a remarkable degree. Those who were restricted to a limited sphere +of activity were called "the king's messengers for the regions of +the south," or "the king's messengers for the regions of the north," +according to their proficiency in the idiom and customs of Africa or of +Asia. Others were deemed capable of undertaking missions wherever they +might be required, and were, therefore, designated by the bold title of +"the king's messengers for all lands." In this case extended powers were +conferred upon them, and they were permitted to cut short the disputes +between two cities in some province they had to inspect, to excuse from +tribute, to receive presents and hostages, and even princesses destined +for the harem of the Pharaoh, and also to grant the support of troops +to such as could give adequate reason for seeking it.* Their tasks were +always of a delicate and not infrequently of a perilous nature, and +constantly exposed them to the danger of being robbed by highwaymen or +maltreated by some insubordinate vassal, at times even running the risk +of mutilation or assassination by the way.** + + * The Tel el-Amarna correspondence shows the messengers in + the time of Amenothes III. and IV. as receiving tribute, as + bringing an army to the succour of a chief in difficulties, + as threatening with the anger of the Pharaoh the princes oL + doubtful loyalty, as giving to a faithful vassal compliments + and honours from his suzerain, as charged with the + conveyance of a gift of slaves, or of escorting a princess + to the harem of the Pharaoh. + + ** A letter of Ribaddu, in the time of Amenothes III., + represents a royal messenger as blockaded in By bios by the + rebels. + +They were obliged to brave the dangers of the forests of Lebanon and of +the Taurus, the solitudes of Mesopotamia, the marshes of Chaldoa, the +voyages to Puanit and Asia Minor. Some took their way towards Assyria +and Babylon, while others embarked at Tyre or Sidon for the islands of +the AEgean Archipelago.* The endurance of all these officers, whether +governors or messengers, their courage, their tact, the ready wit they +were obliged to summon to help them out of the difficulties into which +their calling frequently brought them, all tended to enlist the public +sympathy in their favour.** + + * We hear from the tablets of several messengers to Babylon, + and the Mitanni, Rasi, Mani, Khamassi. The royal messenger + Thutii, who governed the countries of the north, speaks of + having satisfied the heart of the king in "the isles which + are in the midst of the sea." This was not, as some think, a + case of hyperbole, for the messengers could embark on + Phoenician vessels; they had a less distance to cover in + order to reach the AEgean than the royal messenger of Queen + Hatshopsitu had before arriving at the country of the + Somalis and the "Ladders of Incense." + + ** The hero of the _Anastasi Papyrus_, No. 1, with whom + Chabas made us acquainted in his _Voyage d'un Egyptien_, is + probably a type of the "messenger" or the time of Ramses + II.; in any case, his itinerary and adventures are natural + to a "royal messenger" compelled to traverse Syria alone. + +Many of them achieved a reputation, and were made the heroes of popular +romance. More than three centuries after it was still related how one +of them, by name Thutii, had reduced and humbled Jaffa, whose chief had +refused to come to terms. Thutii set about his task by feigning to throw +off his allegiance to Thutmosis III., and withdrew from the Egyptian +service, having first stolen the great magic wand of his lord; he then +invited the rebellious chief into his camp, under pretence of showing +him this formidable talisman, and killed him after they had drunk +together. The cunning envoy then packed five hundred of his soldiers +into jars, and caused them to be carried on the backs of asses before +the gates of the town, where he made the herald of the murdered prince +proclaim that the Egyptians had been defeated, and that the pack train +which accompanied him contained the spoil, among which was Thutii +himself. The officer in charge of the city gate was deceived by this +harangue, the asses were admitted within the walls, where the soldiers +quitted their jars, massacred the garrison, and made themselves masters +of the town. The tale is, in the main, the story of Ali Baba and the +forty thieves. + +The frontier was continually shifting, and Thutmosis III., like +Thutmosis I., vainly endeavoured to give it a fixed character by +erecting stelas along the banks of the Euphrates, at those points +where he contended it had run formerly. While Kharu and Phoenicia were +completely in the hands of the conqueror, his suzerainty became more +uncertain as it extended northwards in the direction of the Taurus. +Beyond Qodshu, it could only be maintained by means of constant +supervision, and in Naharaim its duration was coextensive with the +sojourn of the conqueror in the locality during his campaign, for it +vanished of itself as soon as he had set out on his return to Africa. +It will be thus seen that, on the continent of Asia, Egypt possessed a +nucleus of territories, so far securely under her rule that they might +be actually reckoned as provinces; beyond this immediate domain there +was a zone of waning influence, whose area varied with each reign, and +even under one king depended largely on the activity which he personally +displayed. + +This was always the case when the rulers of Egypt attempted to carry +their supremacy beyond the isthmus; whether under the Ptolemies or the +native kings, the distance to which her influence extended was always +practically the same, and the teaching of history enables us to note its +limits on the map with relative accuracy.* + + * The development of the Egyptian navy enabled the Ptolemies + to exercise authority over the coasts of Asia Minor and of + Thrace, but this extension of their power beyond the + indicated limits only hastened the exhaustion of their + empire. This instance, like that of Mehemet Ali, thus + confirms the position taken up in the text. + +The coast towns, which were in maritime communication with the ports of +the Delta, submitted to the Egyptian yoke more readily than those of the +interior. But this submission could not be reckoned on beyond Berytus, +on the banks of the Lykos, though occasionally it stretched a little +further north as far as Byblos and Arvad; even then it did not extend +inland, and the curve marking its limits traverses Coele-Syria from +north-west to south-east, terminating at Mount Hermon. Damascus, +securely entrenched behind Anti-Lebanon, almost always lay outside this +limit. The rulers of Egypt generally succeeded without much difficulty +in keeping possession of the countries lying to the south of this line; +it demanded merely a slight effort, and this could be furnished for +several centuries without encroaching seriously on the resources of the +country, or endangering its prosperity. When, however, some province +ventured to break away from the control of Egypt, the whole mechanism +of the government was put into operation to provide soldiers and the +necessary means for an expedition. Each stage of the advance beyond the +frontier demanded a greater expenditure of energy, which, with prolonged +distances, would naturally become exhausted. The expedition would +scarcely have reached the Taurus or the Euphrates, before the force +of circumstances would bring about its recall homewards, leaving but a +slight bond of vassalage between the recently subdued countries and the +conqueror, which would speedily be cast off or give place to relations +dictated by interest or courtesy. Thutmosis III. had to submit to this +sort of necessary law; a further extension of territory had hardly +been gained when his dominion began to shrink within the frontiers that +appeared to have been prescribed by nature for an empire like that +of Egypt. Kharu and Phoenicia proper paid him their tithes with due +regularity; the cities of the Amurru and of Zahi, of Damascus, Qodshu, +Hamath, and even of Tunipa, lying on the outskirts of these two subject +nations, formed an ill-defined borderland, kept in a state of perpetual +disturbance by the secret intrigues or open rebellions of the native +princes. The kings of Alasia, Naharaim, and Mitanni preserved their +independence in spite of repeated reverses, and they treated with the +conqueror on equal terms.* + + * The difference of tone between the letters of these kings + and those of the other princes, as well as the consequences + arising from it, has been clearly defined by Delattre. + +The tone of their letters to the Pharaoh, the polite formulas with which +they addressed him, the special protocol which the Egyptian ministry had +drawn up for their reply, all differ widely from those which we see in +the despatches coming from commanders of garrisons or actual vassals. In +the former it is no longer a slave or a feudatory addressing his master +and awaiting his orders, but equals holding courteous communication +with each other, the brother of Alasia or of Mitanni with his brother of +Egypt. They inform him of their good health, and then, before entering +on business, they express their good wishes for himself, his wives, his +sons, the lords of his court, his brave soldiers, and for his horses. +They were careful never to forget that with a single word their +correspondent could let loose upon them a whirlwind of chariots and +archers without number, but the respect they felt for his formidable +power never degenerated into a fear which would humiliate them before +him with their faces in the dust. + +This interchange of diplomatic compliments was called for by a variety +of exigencies, such as incidents arising on the frontier, secret +intrigues, personal alliances, and questions of general politics. The +kings of Mesopotamia and of Northern Syria, even those of Assyria and +Chaldaea, who were preserved by distance from the dangers of a direct +invasion, were in constant fear of an unexpected war, and heartily +desired the downfall of Egypt; they endeavoured meanwhile to occupy the +Pharaoh so fully at home that he had no leisure to attack them. Even if +they did not venture to give open encouragement to the disposition in +his subjects to revolt, they at least experienced no scruple in hiring +emissaries who secretly fanned the flame of discontent. The Pharaoh, +aroused to indignation by such plotting, reminded them of their +former oaths and treaties. The king in question would thereupon deny +everything, would speak of his tried friendship, and recall the fact +that he had refused to help a rebel against his beloved brother.* These +protestations of innocence were usually accompanied by presents, and +produced a twofold effect. They soothed the anger of the offended party, +and suggested not only a courteous answer, but the sending of still more +valuable gifts. Oriental etiquette, even in those early times, demanded +that the present of a less rich or powerful friend should place the +recipient under the obligation of sending back a gift of still greater +worth. Every one, therefore, whether great or little, was obliged to +regulate his liberality according to the estimation in which he held +himself, or to the opinion which others formed of him, and a personage +of such opulence as the King of Egypt was constrained by the laws of +common civility to display an almost boundless generosity: was he not +free to work the mines of the Divine Land or the diggings of the Upper +Nile; and as for gold, "was it not as the dust of his country"?** + + * See the letter of Amenothes III. to Kallimmasin of + Babylon, where the King of Egypt complains of the inimical + designs which the Babylonian messengers had planned against + him, and of the intrigues they had connected on their return + to their own country; see also the letter from Burnaburiash + to Amenothes IV., in which he defends himself from the + accusation of having plotted against the King of Egypt at + any time, and recalls the circumstance that his father + Kurigalzu had refused to encourage the rebellion of one of + the Syrian tribes, subjects of Amenothes III. + + ** See the letter of Dushratta, King of Mitanni, to the + Pharaoh Amenothes IV. + +He would have desired nothing better than to exhibit such liberality, +had not the repeated calls on his purse at last constrained him to +parsimony; he would have been ruined, and Egypt with him, had he given +all that was expected of him. Except in a few extraordinary cases, +the gifts sent never realised the expectations of the recipients; for +instance, when twenty or thirty pounds of precious metal were looked +for, the amount despatched would be merely two or three. The indignation +of these disappointed beggars and their recriminations were then most +amusing: "From the time when my father and thine entered into friendly +relations, they loaded each other with presents, and never waited to be +asked to exchange amenities;* and now my brother sends me two minas of +gold as a gift! Send me abundance of gold, as much as thy father sent, +and even, for so it must be, more than thy father."** Pretexts +were never wanting to give reasonable weight to such demands: one +correspondent had begun to build a temple or a palace in one of his +capitals,*** another was reserving his fairest daughter for the Pharaoh, +and he gave him to understand that anything he might receive would help +to complete the bride's trousseau.**** + + * Burnaburiash complains that the king's messengers had only + brought him on one occasion two minas of gold, on another + occasion twenty minas; moreover, that the quality of the + metal was so bad that hardly five minas of pure gold could + be extracted from it. + + ** Literally, "and they would never make each other a fair + request." The meaning I propose is doubtful, but it appears + to be required by the context. The letter from which this + passage was taken is from Burnaburiash, King of Babylon, to + Amenothes IV. + + *** This is the pretext advanced by Burnaburiash in the + letter just cited. + + **** This seems to have been the motive in a somewhat + embarrassing letter which Dushratta, King of Mitanni, wrote + to the Pharaoh Amenothes III. on the occasion of his fixing + the dowry of his daughter. + +The princesses thus sent from Babylon or Mitanni to the court of Thebes +enjoyed on their arrival a more honourable welcome, and were assigned +a more exalted rank than those who came from Kharu and Phoenicia. As a +matter of fact, they were not hostages given over to the conqueror to be +disposed of at will, but queens who were united in legal marriage to an +ally.* Once admitted to the Pharaoh's court, they retained their full +rights as his wife, as well as their own fortune and mode of life. Some +would bring to their betrothed chests of jewels, utensils, and stuffs, +the enumeration of which would cover both sides of a large tablet; +others would arrive escorted by several hundred slaves or matrons as +personal attendants.** A few of them preserved their original name,*** +many assumed an Egyptian designation,**** and so far adapted themselves +to the costumes, manners, and language of their adopted country, that +they dropped all intercourse with their native land, and became regular +Egyptians. + + * The daughter of the King of the Khati, wife of Ramses IL, + was treated, as we see from the monuments, with as much + honour as would have been accorded to Egyptian princesses of + pure blood. + + ** Gilukhipa, who was sent to Egypt to become the wife of + Amenothes III., took with her a company of three hundred and + seventy women for her service. She was a daughter of + Sutarna, King of Mitanni, and is mentioned several times in + the Tel el-Amarna correspondence. + + *** For example, Gilukhipa, whose name is transcribed + Kilagipa in Egyptian, and another princess of Mitanni, niece + of Gilukhipa, called Tadu-khipa, daughter of Dushratta and + wife of Amenothes IV. + + **** The prince of the Khati's daughter who married Ramses + II. is an example; we know her only by her Egyptian name + Maitnofiruri. The wife of Ramses III. added to the Egyptian + name of Isis her original name, Humazarati. + +When, after several years, an ambassador arrived with greetings from +their father or brother, he would be puzzled by the changed appearance +of these ladies, and would almost doubt their identity: indeed, those +only who had been about them in childhood were in such cases able +to recognise them.* These princesses all adopted the gods of their +husbands,** though without necessarily renouncing their own. From time +to time their parents would send them, with much pomp, a statue of one +of their national divinities--Ishtar, for example--which, accompanied by +native priests, would remain for some months at the court.*** + + * This was the case with the daughter of Kallimmasin, King + of Babylon, married to Amenothes III.; her father's + ambassador did not recognise her. + + ** The daughter of the King of the Khati, wife of Ramses + II., is represented in an attitude of worship before her + deified husband and two Egyptian gods. + + *** Dushratta of Mitanni, sending a statue of Ishtar to his + daughter, wife of Amenothes III., reminds her that the same + statue had already made the voyage to Egypt in the time of + his father Sutarna. + +The children of these queens ranked next in order to those whose mothers +belonged to the solar race, but nothing prevented them marrying their +brothers or sisters of pure descent, and being eventually raised to +the throne. The members of their families who remained in Asia were +naturally proud of these bonds of close affinity with the Pharaoh, and +they rarely missed an opportunity of reminding him in their letters that +they stood to him in the relationship of brother-in-law, or one of his +fathers-in-law; their vanity stood them in good stead, since it afforded +them another claim on the favours which they were perpetually asking of +him.* + + * Dushratta of Mitanni never loses an opportunity of calling + Aoienothes III., husband of his sister Gilukhipa, and of one + of his daughters, "akhiya," my brother, and "khatani-ya," my + son-in-law. + +These foreign wives had often to interfere in some of the contentions +which were bound to arise between two States whose subjects were in +constant intercourse with one another. Invasions or provincial wars may +have affected or even temporarily suspended the passage to and from of +caravans between the countries of the Tigris and those of the Nile; but +as soon as peace was re-established, even though it were the insecure +peace of those distant ages, the desert traffic was again resumed and +carried on with renewed vigour. The Egyptian traders who penetrated +into regions beyond the Euphrates, carried with them, and almost +unconsciously disseminated along the whole extent of their route, the +numberless products of Egyptian industry, hitherto but little known +outside their own country, and rendered expensive owing to the +difficulty of transmission or the greed of the merchants. The Syrians +now saw for the first time in great quantities, objects which had been +known to them hitherto merely through the few rare specimens which made +their way across the frontier: arms, stuffs, metal implements, household +utensils--in fine, all the objects which ministered to daily needs or to +luxury. These were now offered to them at reasonable prices, either +by the hawkers who accompanied the army or by the soldiers themselves, +always ready, as soldiers are, to part with their possessions in order +to procure a few extra pleasures in the intervals of fighting. + +[Illustration: 031.jpg THE LOTANU AND THE GOLDSMITHS'WORK CONSTITUTING +THEIR TRIBUTE] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Insinger. The scene + here reproduced occurs in most of the Theban tombs of the + XVIIII. dynasty. + +On the other hand, whole convoys of spoil were despatched to Egypt +after every successful campaign, and their contents were distributed in +varying proportions among all classes of society, from the militiaman +belonging to some feudal contingent, who received, as a reward of his +valour, some half-dozen necklaces or bracelets, to the great lord of +ancient family or the Crown Prince, who carried off waggon-loads of +booty in their train. These distributions must have stimulated a passion +for all Syrian goods, and as the spoil was insufficient to satisfy the +increasing demands of the consumer, the waning commerce which had been +carried on from early times was once more revived and extended, till +every route, whether by land or water, between Thebes, Memphis, and the +Asiatic cities, was thronged by those engaged in its pursuit. It would +take too long to enumerate the various objects of merchandise brought +in almost daily to the marts on the Nile by Phoenician vessels or the +owners of caravans. They comprised slaves destined for the workshop or +the harem,* Hittite bulls and stallions, horses from Singar, oxen from +Alasia, rare and curious animals such as elephants from Nii, and +brown bears from the Lebanon,** smoked and salted fish, live birds of +many-coloured plumage, goldsmiths'work*** and precious stones, of which +lapis-lazuli was the chief. + + * Syrian slaves are mentioned along with Ethiopian in the + _Anastasi Papyrus_, No. 1, and there is mention in the Tel + el-Amarna correspondence of Hittite slaves whom Dushratta of + Mitanni brought to Amenothes III., and of other presents of + the same kind made by the King of Alasia as a testimony of + his grateful homage. + + ** The elephant and the bear are represented on the tomb of + liakhmiri among the articles of tribute brought into Egypt. + + *** The _Annals of Thutmosis III_. make a record in each + campaign of the importation of gold and silver vases, + objects in lapis-lazuli and crystal, or of blocks of the + same materials; the Theban tombs of this period afford + examples of the vases and blocks brought by the Syrians. The + Tel el-Amarna letters also mention vessels of gold or blocks + of precious stone sent as presents or as objects of exchange + to the Pharaoh by the King of Babylon, by the King of + Mitanni, by the King of the Hittites, and by other princes. + The lapis-lazuli of Babylon, which probably came from + Persia, was that which was most prized by the Egyptians on + account of the golden sparks in it, which enhanced the blue + colour; this is, perhaps, the Uknu of the cuneiform + inscriptions, which has been read for a long time as + "crystal." + +[Illustration: 032b.jpg PAINTED TABLETS IN THE HALL OF HARPS] + +Wood for building or for ornamental work--pine,cypress, yew, cedar, +and oak,* musical instruments,** helmets, leathern jerkins covered with +metal scales, weapons of bronze and iron,*** chariots,**** dyed and +embroidered stuffs,^ perfumes,^^ dried cakes, oil, wines of Kharu, +liqueurs from Alasia, Khati, Singar, Naharaim, Amurru, and beer from +Qodi.^^^ + + * Building and ornamental woods are often mentioned in the + inscriptions of Thutmosis III. A scene at Karnak represents + Seti I. causing building-wood to be cut in the region of the + Lebanon. A letter of the King of Alasia speaks of + contributions of wood which several of his subjects had to + make to the King of Egypt. + + ** Some stringed instruments of music, and two or three + kinds of flutes and flageolets, are designated in Egyptian + by names borrowed from some Semitic tongue--a fact which + proves that they were imported; the wooden framework of the + harp, decorated with sculptured heads of Astarto, figures + among the objects coming from Syria in the temple of the + Theban Anion. + + *** Several names of arms borrowed from some Semitic dialect + have been noticed in the texts of this period. The objects + as well as the words must have been imported into Egypt, + e.g. the quiver, the sword and javelins used by the + charioteers. Cuirasses and leathern jerkins are mentioned in + the inscriptions of Thutmosis III. + + **** Chariots plated with gold and silver figure frequently + among the spoils of Thutmosis III.: the Anastasi Papyrus, + No. 1, contains a detailed description of Syrian chariots-- + Markabuti--with a reference to the localities whore certain + parts of them were made;--the country of the Amurru, that of + Aupa, the town of Pahira. The Tel el-Amarna correspondence + mentions very frequently chariots sent to the Pharaoh by the + King of Babylon, either as presents or to be sold in Egypt; + others sent by the King of Alasia and by the King of + Mitanni. + + ^ Some linen, cotton, or woollen stuffs are mentioned in the + _Anastasi Papyrus_, No. 4, and elsewhere as coming from + Syria. The Egyptian love of white linen always prevented + their estimating highly the coloured and brocaded stuffs of + Asia; and one sees nowhere, in the representations, any + examples of stuffs of such origin, except on furniture or in + ships equipped with something of the kind in the form of + sails. + + ^^ The perfumed oils of Syria are mentioned in a general way + in the _Anastasi Papyrus_, No. 1; the King of Alasia speaks + of essences which he is sending to Amenothes III.; the King + of Mitanni refers to bottles of oil which he is forwarding + to Gilukhipa and to Tii. + + ^^^ A list of cakes of Syrian origin is found in the + _Anastasi Papyrus_, No. 1; also a reference to balsamic oils + from Naharaim, and to various oils which had arrived in the + ports of the Delta, to the wines of Syria, to palm wine and + various liqueurs manufactured in Alasia, in Singar, among + the Khati, Amorites, and the people of. Tikhisa; finally, to + the beer of Qodi. + +[Illustration: 034.jpg. THE BEAR AND ELEPHANT BROUGHT AS TRIBUTE IN THE +TOMB OF RAKHMIRI] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph of Prisse + d'Avennes' sketch. + +On arriving at the frontier, whether by sea or by land, the majority of +these objects had to pay the custom dues which were rigorously collected +by the officers of the Pharaoh. This, no doubt, was a reprisal tariff, +since independent sovereigns, such as those of Mitanni, Assyria, and +Babylon, were accustomed to impose a similar duty on all the products +of Egypt. The latter, indeed, supplied more than she received, for many +articles which reached her in their raw condition were, by means of +native industry, worked up and exported as ornaments, vases, and highly +decorated weapons, which, in the course of international traffic, were +dispersed to all four corners of the earth. The merchants of Babylon and +Assyria had little to fear as long as they kept within the domains of +their own sovereign or in those of the Pharaoh; but no sooner did they +venture within the borders of those turbulent states which separated +the two great powers, than they were exposed to dangers at every turn. +Safe-conducts were of little use if they had not taken the additional +precaution of providing a strong escort and carefully guarding their +caravan, for the Shausu concealed in the depths of the Lebanon or the +needy sheikhs of Kharu could never resist the temptation to rob the +passing traveller.* + + * The scribe who in the reign of Ramses II. composed the + _Travels of an Egyptian_, speaks in several places of + marauding tribes and robbers, who infested the roads + followed by the hero. The Tel el-Amarna correspondence + contains a letter from the King of Alasia, who exculpates + himself from being implicated in the harsh treatment certain + Egyptians had received in passing through his territory; and + another letter in which the King of Babylon complains that + Chaldoan merchants had been robbed at Khinnatun, in Galilee, + by the Prince of Akku (Acre) and his accomplices: one of + them had his feet cut off, and the other was still a + prisoner in Akku, and Burnaburiash demands from Amenothes + IV. the death of the guilty persons. + +The victims complained to their king, who felt no hesitation in passing +on their woes to the sovereign under whose rule the pillagers were +supposed to live. He demanded their punishment, but his request was not +always granted, owing to the difficulties of finding out and seizing the +offenders. An indemnity, however, could be obtained which would nearly +compensate the merchants for the loss sustained. In many cases justice +had but little to do with the negotiations, in which self-interest was +the chief motive; but repeated refusals would have discouraged traders, +and by lessening the facilities of transit, have diminished the revenue +which the state drew from its foreign commerce. + +The question became a more delicate one when it concerned the rights of +subjects residing out of their native country. Foreigners, as a rule, +were well received in Egypt; the whole country was open to them; +they could marry, they could acquire houses and lands, they enjoyed +permission to follow their own religion unhindered, they were eligible +for public honours, and more than one of the officers of the crown +whose tombs we see at Thebes were themselves Syrians, or born of Syrian +parents on the banks of the Nile.* + + * In a letter from the King of Alasia, there is question of + a merchant who had died in Egypt. Among other monuments + proving the presence of Syrians about the Pharaoh, is the + stele of Ben-Azana, of the town of Zairabizana, surnamed + Ramses-Empiri: he was surrounded with Semites like himself. + +Hence, those who settled in Egypt without any intention of returning to +their own country enjoyed all the advantages possessed by the natives, +whereas those who took up a merely temporary abode there were more +limited in their privileges. They were granted the permission to hold +property in the country, and also the right to buy and sell there, but +they were not allowed to transmit their possessions at will, and if by +chance they died on Egyptian soil, their goods lapsed as a forfeit to +the crown. The heirs remaining in the native country of the dead man, +who were ruined by this confiscation, sometimes petitioned the king to +interfere in their favour with a view of obtaining restitution. If the +Pharaoh consented to waive his right of forfeiture, and made over +the confiscated objects or their equivalent to the relatives of the +deceased, it was solely by an act of mercy, and as an example to foreign +governments to treat Egyptians with a like clemency should they chance +to proffer a similar request.* + + * All this seems to result from a letter in which the King + of Alasia demands from Amenothes III. the restitution of the + goods of one of his subjects who had died in Egypt; the tone + of the letter is that of one asking a favour, and on the + supposition that the King of Egypt had a right to keep the + property of a foreigner dying on his territory. + +It is also not improbable that the sovereigns themselves had a personal +interest in more than one commercial undertaking, and that they were +the partners, or, at any rate, interested in the enterprises, of many +of their subjects, so that any loss sustained by one of the latter +would eventually fall upon themselves. They had, in fact, reserved to +themselves the privilege of carrying on several lucrative industries, +and of disposing of the products to foreign buyers, either to those who +purchased them out and out, or else through the medium of agents, to +whom they intrusted certain quantities of the goods for warehousing. +The King of Babylon, taking advantage of the fashion which prompted +the Egyptians to acquire objects of Chaldaean goldsmiths' and +cabinet-makers' art, caused ingots of gold to be sent to him by the +Pharaoh, which he returned worked up into vases, ornaments, household +utensils, and plated chariots. He further fixed the value of all +such objects, and took a considerable commission for having acted as +intermediary in the transaction.* In Alasia, which was the land of +metals, the king appears to have held a monopoly of the bronze. Whether +he smelted it in the country, or received it from more distant regions +ready prepared, we cannot say, but he claimed and retained for himself +the payment for all that the Pharaoh deigned to order of him.** + + * Letter of Burnaburiash to Amenothes IV. + + ** Letter from the King of Alasia to Amenothes III., where, + whilst pretending to have nothing else in view than making a + present to his royal brother, he proposes to make an + exchange of some bronze for the products of Egypt, + especially for gold. + +From such instances we can well understand the jealous, watch which +these sovereigns exercised, lest any individual connected with +corporations of workmen should leave the kingdom and establish himself +in another country without special permission. Any emigrant who opened +a workshop and initiated his new compatriots in the technique or +professional secrets of his craft, was regarded by the authorities as +the most dangerous of all evil-doers. By thus introducing his trade into +a rival state, he deprived his own people of a good customer, and thus +rendered himself liable to the penalties inflicted on those who were +guilty of treason. His savings were confiscated, his house razed to the +ground, and his whole family--parents, wives, and children--treated +as partakers in his crime. As for himself, if justice succeeded in +overtaking him, he was punished with death, or at least with mutilation, +such as the loss of eyes and ears, or amputation of the feet. This +severity did not prevent the frequent occurrence of such cases, and +it was found necessary to deal with them by the insertion of a special +extradition clause in treaties of peace and other alliances. The two +contracting parties decided against conceding the right of habitation +to skilled workmen who should take refuge with either party on the +territory of the other, and they agreed to seize such workmen forthwith, +and mutually restore them, but under the express condition that neither +they nor any of their belongings should incur any penalty for the +desertion of their country. It would be curious to know if all the +arrangements agreed to by the kings of those times were sanctioned, +as in the above instance, by properly drawn up agreements. Certain +expressions occur in their correspondence which seem to prove that this +was the case, and that the relations between them, of which we can catch +traces, resulted not merely from a state of things which, according +to their ideas, did not necessitate any diplomatic sanction, but from +conventions agreed to after some war, or entered on without any previous +struggle, when there was no question at issue between the two states.* + + * The treaty of Ramses II. with the King of the Khati, the + only one which has come down to us, was a renewal of other + treaties effected one after the other between the fathers + and grandfathers of the two contracting sovereigns. Some of + the Tel el-Amarna letters probably refer to treaties of this + kind; e.g. that of Burnaburiash of Babylon, who says that + since the time of Karaindash there had been an exchange of + ambassadors and friendship between the sovereigns of Chaldoa + and of Egypt, and also that of Dushratta of Mitanni, who + reminds Queen Tii of the secret negotiations which had taken + place between him and Amenothes III. + +When once the Syrian conquest had been effected, Egypt gave permanency +to its results by means of a series of international decrees, which +officially established the constitution of her empire, and brought about +her concerted action with the Asiatic powers. + +[Illustration: 040.jpg THE MUMMY OF THUTMOSIS III.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken by Emil + Brugsch-Bey. + +She already occupied an important position among them, when Thutmosis +III. died, on the last day of Phamenoth, in the IVth year of his reign.* +He was buried, probably, at Deir el-Bahari, in the family tomb wherein +the most illustrious members of his house had been laid to rest since +the time of Thutmosis I. His mummy was not securely hidden away, for +towards the close of the XXth dynasty it was torn out of the coffin by +robbers, who stripped it and rifled it of the jewels with which it was +covered, injuring it in their haste to carry away the spoil. It was +subsequently re-interred, and has remained undisturbed until the +present day; but before re-burial some renovation of the wrappings was +necessary, and as portions of the body had become loose, the restorers, +in order to give the mummy the necessary firmness, compressed it between +four oar-shaped slips of wood, painted white, and placed, three inside +the wrappings and one outside, under the bands which confined the +winding-sheet. + + * Dr. Mahler has, with great precision, fixed the date of + the accession of Thutmosis III, as the 20th of March, 1503, + and that of his death as the 14th of February, 1449 b.c. I + do not think that the data furnished to Dr. Mahler by + Brugsch will admit of such exact conclusions being drawn + from them, and I should fix the fifty-four years of the + reign of Thutmosis III. in a less decided manner, between + 1550 and 1490 b.c., allowing, as I have said before, for an + error of half a century more or less in the dates which go + back to the time of the second Theban empire. + +[Illustration: 041.jpg HEAD OF THE MUMMY OF THUTMOSIS III.] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph lent by M. Grebaut, + taken by Emil Brugsch-Bey. + +Happily the face, which had been plastered over with pitch at the time +of embalming, did not suffer at all from this rough treatment, and +appeared intact when the protecting mask was removed. Its appearance +does not answer to our ideal of the conqueror. His statues, though +not representing him as a type of manly beauty, yet give him refined, +intelligent features, but a comparison with the mummy shows that the +artists have idealised their model. The forehead is abnormally low, the +eyes deeply sunk, the jaw heavy, the lips thick, and the cheek-bones +extremely prominent; the whole recalling the physiognomy of Thutmosis +II., though with a greater show of energy. Thutmosis III. is a fellah of +the old stock, squat, thickset, vulgar in character and expression, but +not lacking in firmness and vigour.* Amenothes II., who succeeded him, +must have closely resembled him, if we may trust his official portraits. +He was the son of a princess of the blood, Hatshopsitu II., daughter of +the great Hatshopsitu,** and consequently he came into his inheritance +with stronger claims to it than any other Pharaoh since the time of +Amenothes I. Possibly his father may have associated him with himself on +the throne as soon as the young prince attained his majority;*** at any +rate, his accession aroused no appreciable opposition in the country, +and if any difficulties were made, they must have come from outside. + + * The restored remains allow us to estimate the height at + about 5 ft. 3 in. + + ** His parentage is proved by the pictures preserved in the + tomb of his foster-father, where he is represented in + company with the _royal mother_, Maritri. Hatshopsitu. + + *** It is thus that Wiedemann explains his presence by the + side of Thutmosis III. on certain bas-reliefs in the temple + of Amada. + +It is always a dangerous moment in the existence of a newly formed +empire when its founder having passed away, and the conquered people +not having yet become accustomed to a subject condition, they are called +upon to submit to a successor of whom they know little or nothing. It +is always problematical whether the new sovereign will display as great +activity and be as successful as the old one; whether he will be capable +of turning to good account the armies which his predecessor commanded +with such skill, and led so bravely against the enemy; whether, again, +he will have sufficient tact to estimate correctly the burden of +taxation which each province is capable of bearing, and to lighten it +when there is a risk of its becoming too heavy. If he does not show from +the first that it is his purpose to maintain his patrimony intact at all +costs, or if his officers, no longer controlled by a strong hand, betray +any indecision in command, his subjects will become unruly, and the +change of monarch will soon furnish a pretext for widespread rebellion. +The beginning of the reign of Amenothes II. was marked by a revolt of +the Libyans inhabiting the Theban Oasis, but this rising was soon +put down by that Amenemhabi who had so distinguished himself under +Thutmosis.* Soon after, fresh troubles broke out in different parts of +Syria, in Galilee, in the country of the Amurru, and among the peoples +of Naharaim. The king's prompt action, however, prevented their +resulting in a general war.** He marched in person against the +malcontents, reduced the town of Shamshiaduma, fell upon the Lamnaniu, +and attacked their chief, slaying him with his own hand, and carrying +off numbers of captives. + + * Brugsch and Wiedemann place this expedition at the time + when Amenothes IL was either hereditary prince or associated + with his father the inscription of Amenemhabi places it + explicitly after the death of Thutmosis III., and this + evidence outweighs every other consideration until further + discoveries are made. + + ** The campaigns of Amenothes II. were related on a granite + stele, which was placed against the second of the southern + pylons at Karnak. The date of this monument is almost + certainly the year II.; there is strong evidence in favour + of this, if it is compared with the inscription of Amada, + where Amenothes II. relates that in the year III. he + sacrificed the prisoners whom he had taken in the country of + Tikhisa. + +[Illustration: 044.jpg AMENOTHES II., FROM THE STATUE AT TURIN] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin. + +He crossed the Orontes on the 26th of Pachons, in the year II., and +seeing some mounted troops in the distance, rushed upon them and +overthrew them; they proved to be the advanced guard of the enemy's +force, which he encountered shortly afterwards and routed, collecting +in the pursuit considerable booty. He finally reached Naharaim, where he +experienced in the main but a feeble resistance. Nii surrendered without +resistance on the 10th of Epiphi, and its inhabitants, both men +and women, with censers in their hands, assembled on the walls and +prostrated themselves before the conqueror. At Akaiti, where the +partisans of the Egyptian government had suffered persecution from a +considerable section of the natives, order was at once reestablished as +soon as the king's approach was made known. No doubt the rapidity of +his marches and the vigour of his attacks, while putting an end to +the hostile attitude of the smaller vassal states, were effectual in +inducing the sovereigns of Alasia, of Mitanni,* and of the Hittites to +renew with Amenothes the friendly relations which they had established +with his father.** + + * Amenothes II. mentions tribute from Mitanni on one of the + columns which he decorated at Karnak, in the Hall of the + Caryatides, close to the pillars finished by his + predecessors. + + ** The cartouches on the pedestal of the throne of Amenothes + IL, in the tomb of one of his officers at Sheikh-Abd-el- + Qurneh, represent--together with the inhabitants of the + Oasis, Libya, and Kush--the Kefatiu, the people of Naharaim, + and the Upper Lotanu, that is to say, the entire dominion of + Thutmosis III., besides the people of Manus, probably + Mallos, in the Cilician plain. + +This one campaign, which lasted three or four months, secured a lasting +peace in the north, but in the south a disturbance again broke out among +the Barbarians of the Upper Nile. Amenothes suppressed it, and, in order +to prevent a repetition of it, was guilty of an act of cruel severity +quite in accordance with the manners of the time. He had taken prisoner +seven chiefs in the country of Tikhisa, and had brought them, chained, +in triumph to Thebes, on the forecastle of his ship. He sacrificed six +of them himself before Amon, and exposed their heads and hands on the +facade of the temple of Karnak; the seventh was subjected to a similar +fate at Napata at the beginning of his third year, and thenceforth +the sheikhs of Kush thought twice before defying the authority of the +Pharaoh.* + + * In an inscription in the temple of Amada, it is there said + that the king offered this sacrifice on his return from his + first expedition into Asia, and for this reason I have + connected the facts thus related with those known to us + through the stele of Karnak. + +Amenothes'reign was a short one, lasting ten years at most, and the end +of it seems to have been darkened by the open or secret rivalries which +the question of the succession usually stirred up among the kings' sons. +The king had daughters only by his marriage with one of his full +sisters, who like himself possessed all the rights of sovereignty; those +of his sons who did not die young were the children of princesses of +inferior rank or of concubines, and it was a subject of anxiety among +these princes which of them would be chosen to inherit the crown and be +united in marriage with the king's heiresses, Khuit and Mutemuau. + +[Illustration: 046.jpg THE GREAT SPHINX AND THE CHAPEL OF THUTMOSIS IV.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the photograph taken in 1887 by + Emil Brugsch-Bey + +[Illustration: 047.jpg THE SIMOOM. SPHINX AND PYRAMIDS AT GIZEH] + +One of his sons, named Thutmosis, who resided at the "White Wall," was +in the habit of betaking himself frequently to the Libyan desert to +practise with the javelin, or to pursue the hunt of lions and gazelles +in his chariot. On these occasions it was his pleasure to preserve the +strictest incognito, and he was accompanied by two discreet servants +only. One day, when chance had brought him into the neighbourhood of the +Great Pyramid, he lay down for his accustomed siesta in the shade cast +by the Sphinx, the miraculous image of Khopri the most powerful, the +god to whom all men in Memphis and the neighbouring towns raised adoring +hands filled with offerings. The gigantic statue was at that time more +than half buried, and its head alone was seen above the sand. As soon +as the prince was asleep it spoke gently to him, as a father to his +son: "Behold me, gaze on me, O my son Thutmosis, for I, thy father +Harmakhis-Khopri-Tumu, grant thee sovereignty over the two countries, in +both the South and the North, and thou shalt wear both the white and the +red crown on the throne of Sibu, the sovereign, possessing the earth in +its length and breadth; the flashing eye of the lord of all shall cause +to rain on thee the possessions of Egypt, vast tribute from all foreign +countries, and a long life for, many years as one chosen by the Sun, +for my countenance is thine, my heart is thine, no other than thyself is +mine! Nor am I covered by the sand of the mountain on which I rest, +and have given thee this prize that thou mayest do for me what my heart +desires, for I know that thou art my son, my defender; draw nigh, I am +with thee, I am thy well-beloved father." The prince understood that the +god promised him the kingdom on condition of his swearing to clear the +sand from the statue. He was, in fact, chosen to be the husband of the +queens, and immediately after his accession he fulfilled his oath; he +removed the sand, built a chapel between the paws, and erected against +the breast of the statue a stele of red granite, on which he related +his adventure. His reign was as short as that of Amenothes, and his +campaigns both in Asia and Ethiopia were unimportant.* + + * The latest date of his reign at present known is that of + the year VII., on the rocks of Konosso, and on a stele of + Sarbut el-Khadim. There is an allusion to his wars against + the Ethiopians in an inscription of Amada, and to his + campaigns against the peoples of the North and South on the + stele of Nofirhait. + +[Illustration: 050.jpg THE STELE OF THE SPHINX OF GIZER] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey. + +He had succeeded to an empire so firmly established from Naharaim to +Kari,* that, apparently, no rebellion could disturb its peace. One of +the two heiress-princesses, Kuit, the daughter, sister, and wife of a +king, had no living male offspring, but her companion Mutemuau had at +least one son, named Amenothes. In his case, again, the noble birth +of the mother atoned for the defects of the paternal origin. Moreover, +according to tradition, Amon-Ka himself had intervened to renew the +blood of his descendants: he appeared in the person of Thutmosis IV., +and under this guise became the father of the heir of the Pharaohs.** + + * The peoples of Naharaim and of Northern Syria are + represented bringing him tribute, in a tomb at Sheikh-Abd- + el-Qurneh. The inscription published by Mariette, speaks of + the first expedition of Thutmosis IV. to the land of + [Naharai]na, and of the gifts which he lavished on this + occasion on the temple of Anion. + + ** It was at first thought that Mutemuau was an Ethiopian, + afterwards that she was a Syrian, who had changed her name + on arriving at the court of her husband. The manner in which + she is represented at Luxor, and in all the texts where she + figures, proves not only that she was of Egyptian race, but + that she was the daughter of Amenothes II., and born of the + marriage of that prince with one of his sisters, who was + herself an hereditary princess. + +Like Queen Ahmasis in the bas-reliefs of Deir el-Bahari, Mutemuau +is shown on those of Luxor in the arms of her divine lover, and +subsequently greeted by him with the title of mother; in another +bas-relief we see the queen led to her couch by the goddesses who +preside over the birth of children; her son Amenothes, on coming into +the world with his double, is placed in the hands of the two Niles, to +receive the nourishment and the education meet for the children of the +gods. He profited fully by them, for he remained in power forty years, +and his reign was one of the most prosperous ever witnessed by Egypt +during the Theban dynasties. + +[Illustration: 052.jpg QUEEN MUTEMUAU.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Daniel Heron. + +Amenothes III. had spent but little of his time in war. He had +undertaken the usual raids in the South against the negroes and the +tribes of the Upper Nile. In his fifth year, a general defection of the +sheikhs obliged him to invade the province of Abhait, near Semneh, which +he devastated at the head of the troops collected by Mari-ifi mosu, the +Prince of Kush; the punishment was salutary, the booty considerable, and +a lengthy peace was re-established. The object of his rare expeditions +into Naharaim was not so much to add new provinces to his empire, as to +prevent disturbances in the old ones. The kings of Alasia, of the Khati, +of Mitanni, of Singar,* of Assyria, and of Babylon did not dare to +provoke so powerful a neighbour.** + + * Amenothes entitles himself on a scarabaeus "he who takes + prisoner the country of Singar;" no other document has yet + been discovered to show whether this is hyperbole, or + whether he really reached this distant region. + + ** The lists of the time of Amenothes III. contain the names + of Phoenicia, Naharaim, Singar, Qodshu, Tunipa, Patina, + Carchomish, and Assur; that is to say, of all the subject or + allied nations mentioned in the correspondence of Tel el- + Amarna. Certain episodes of these expeditions had been + engraved on the exterior face of the pylon constructed by + the king for the temple of Amon at Karnak; at the present + time they are concealed by the wall at the lower end of the + Hypostyle Hall. The tribute of the Lotanu was represented on + the tomb of Hui, at Sheikh-Abd-el-Qurneh. + +[Illustration: 052b.jpg Amenothes III. Colossal Head in the British +Museum] + +[Illustration: 052b-text.jpg] + +The remembrance of the victories of Thutmosis III. was still fresh in +their memories, and, even had their hands been free, would have +made them cautious in dealing with his great-grandson; but they were +incessantly engaged in internecine quarrels, and had recourse to +Pharaoh merely to enlist his support, or at any rate make sure of his +neutrality, and prevent him from joining their adversaries. + +[Illustration: 053.jpg AMENOTHES III. FROM THE TOMB OF KHAMHAIT] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Daniel Heron. + +Whatever might have been the nature of their private sentiments, they +professed to be anxious to maintain, for their mutual interests, the +relations with Egypt entered on half a century before, and as the surest +method of attaining their object was by a good marriage, they would each +seek an Egyptian wife for himself, or would offer Amenothes a princess +of one of their own royal families. The Egyptian king was, however, firm +in refusing to bestow a princess of the solar blood even on the most +powerful of the foreign kings; his pride rebelled at the thought that +she might one day be consigned to a place among the inferior wives +or concubines, but he gladly accepted, and even sought for wives for +himself, from among the Syrian and Chaldaean princesses. Kallimmasin of +Babylon gave Amenothes first his sister, and when age had deprived this +princess of her beauty, then his daughter Irtabi in marriage.* + + * Letter from Amenothes III. to Kallimmasin, concerning a + sister of the latter, who was married to the King of Egypt, + but of whom there are no further records remaining at + Babylon, and also one of his daughters whom Amenothes had + demanded in marriage; and letters from Kallimmasin, + consenting to bestow his daughter Irtabi on the Pharaoh, and + proposing to give to Amenothes whichever one he might choose + of the daughters of his house. + +Sutarna of Mitanni had in the same way given the Pharaoh his daughter +Gilukhipa; indeed, most of the kings of that period had one or two +relations in the harem at Thebes. This connexion usually proved a +support to Asiatic sovereigns, such alliances being a safeguard against +the rivalries of their brothers or cousins. At times, however, they were +the means of exposing them to serious dangers. When Sutarna died he was +succeeded by his son Dushratta, but a numerous party put forward another +prince, named Artassumara, who was probably Gilukhipa's brother, on the +mother's side;* a Hittite king of the name of Pirkhi espoused the cause +of the pretender, and a civil war broke out. + + * Her exact relationship is not explicitly expressed, but is + implied in the facts, for there seems no reason why + Gilukhipa should have taken the part of one brother rather + than another, unless Artassumara had been nearer to her than + Dushratta; that is to say, her brother on the mother's side + as well as on the father's. + +Dushratta was victorious, and caused his brother to be strangled, but +was not without anxiety as to the consequences which might follow this +execution should Gilukhipa desire to avenge the victim, and to this end +stir up the anger of the suzerain against him. Dushratta, therefore, +wrote a humble epistle, showing that he had received provocation, and +that he had found it necessary to strike a decisive blow to save his own +life; the tablet was accompanied by various presents to the royal pair, +comprising horses, slaves, jewels, and perfumes. Gilukhipa, however, +bore Dushratta no ill-will, and the latter's anxieties were allayed. +The so-called expeditions of Amenothes to the Syrian provinces +must constantly have been merely visits of inspection, during which +amusements, and especially the chase, occupied nearly as important +a place as war and politics. Amenothes III. took to heart that +pre-eminently royal duty of ridding the country of wild beasts, and +fulfilled it more conscientiously than any of his predecessors. He had +killed 112 lions during the first ten years of his reign, and as it was +an exploit of which he was remarkably proud, he perpetuated the memory +of it in a special inscription, which he caused to be engraved on +numbers of large scarabs of fine green enamel. Egypt prospered under his +peaceful government, and if the king made no great efforts to extend +her frontiers, he spared no pains to enrich the country by developing +industry and agriculture, and also endeavoured to perfect the military +organisation which had rendered the conquest of the East so easy a +matter. + +A census, undertaken by his minister Amenothes, the son of Hapi, +ensured a more correct assessment of the taxes, and a regular scheme of +recruiting for the army. + +[Illustration: 056.jpg SCARAB OF THE HUNT] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the photograph published in + Mariette. + +Whole tribes of slaves were brought into the country by means of the +border raids which were always taking place, and their opportune arrival +helped to fill up the vacancies which repeated wars had caused among +the rural and urban population; such a strong impetus to agriculture +was also given by this importation, that when, towards the middle of the +reign, the minister Khamhaifc presented the tax-gathers at court, he +was able to boast that he had stored in the State granaries a larger +quantity of corn than had been gathered in for thirty years. The traffic +carried on between Asia and the Delta by means of both Egyptian and +foreign ships was controlled by customhouses erected at the mouths of +the Nile, the coast being protected by cruising vessels against the +attacks of pirates. The fortresses of the isthmus and of the Libyan +border, having been restored or rebuilt, constituted a check on the +turbulence of the nomad tribes, while garrisons posted at intervals +at the entrance to the Wadys leading to the desert restrained the +plunderers scattered between the Nile and the Red Sea, and between the +chain of Oases and the unexplored regions of the Sahara.* Egypt was at +once the most powerful as well as the most prosperous kingdom in the +world, being able to command more labour and more precious metals for +the embellishment of her towns and the construction of her monuments +than any other. + + All this information is gathered from the inscription on the + statue of Amenothes, the son of Hapi. + +Public works had been carried on briskly under Thutmosis III. and his +successors. The taste for building, thwarted at first by the necessity +of financial reforms, and then by that of defraying the heavy expenses +incurred through the expulsion of the Hyksos and the earlier foreign +wars, had free scope as soon as spoil from the Syrian victories began to +pour in year by year. While the treasure seized from the enemy provided +the money, the majority of the prisoners were used as workmen, so that +temples, palaces, and citadels began to rise as if by magic from one end +of the valley to the other.* + + * For this use of prisoners of war, cf. the picture from the + tomb of Rakhmiri on p. 58 of the present work, in which most + of the earlier Egyptologists believed they recognised the + Hebrews, condemned by Pharaoh to build the cities of Ramses + and Pithom in the Delta. + +Nubia, divided into provinces, formed merely an extension of the +ancient feudal Egypt--at any rate as far as the neighbourhood of the +Tacazzeh--though the Egyptian religion had here assumed a peculiar +character. + +[Illustration: 058.jpg A GANG Of SYRIAN PRISONERS MAKING BRICK FOR THE +TEMPLE OF AMON] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the chromolithograph in Lepsius. + +The conquest of Nubia having been almost entirely the work of the Theban +dynasties, the Theban triad, Amon, Maut, and Montu, and their immediate +followers were paramount in this region, while in the north, in witness +of the ancient Elephantinite colonisation, we find Khnumu of the +cataract being worshipped, in connexion with Didun, father of +the indigenous Nubians. The worship of Amon had been the means of +introducing that of Ea and of Horus, and Osiris as lord of the dead, +while Phtah, Sokhit, Atumu, and the Memphite and Heliopolitan gods were +worshipped only in isolated parts of the province. A being, however, +of less exalted rank shared with the lords of heaven the favour of the +people. This was the Pharaoh, who as the son of Amon was foreordained to +receive divine honours, sometimes figuring, as at Bohani, as the third +member of a triad, at other times as head of the Ennead. Usirtasen +III. had had his chapels at Semneh and at Kummeh, they were restored by +Thutmosis III., who claimed a share of the worship offered in them, +and whose son, Amenothes II., also assumed the symbols and functions of +divinity. + +[Illustration: 059.jpg ONE OF THE RAMS OF AMENOTHES III] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Mons. de Mertens. + +Amenothes I. was venerated in the province of Kari, and Amenothes III., +when founding the fortress Hait-Khammait* in the neighbourhood of a +Nubian village, on a spot now known as Soleb, built a temple there, of +which he himself was the protecting genius.** + + * The name signifies literally "the Citadel of Khammait," + and it is formed, as Lepsius recognised from the first, from + the name of the Sparrow-hawk Khammait, "Mait rising as + Goddess," which Amenothes had assumed on his accession. + + ** Lepsius recognised the nature of the divinity worshipped + in this temple; the deified statue of the king, "his living + statue on earth," which represented the god of the temple, + is there named "Nibmauri, lord of Nubia." Thutmosis III. had + already worked at Soleb. + +The edifice was of considerable size, and the columns and walls +remaining reveal an art as perfect as that shown in the best monuments +at Thebes. It was approached by an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, while +colossal statues of lions and hawks, the sacred animals of the district, +adorned the building. The sovereign condescended to preside in person +at its dedication on one of his journeys to the southern part of his +empire, and the mutilated pictures still visible on the facade show the +order and detail of the ceremony observed on this occasion. The king, +with the crown upon his head, stood before the centre gate, accompanied +by the queen and his minister Amenothes, the son of Hapi, who was better +acquainted than any other man of his time with the mysteries of the +ritual.* + + * On Amenothes, the son of Hapi, see p. 56 of the present + volume; it will be seen in the following chapter, in + connection with the Egyptian accounts of the Exodus, what + tradition made of him. + +The king then struck the door twelve times with his mace of white stone, +and when the approach to the first hall was opened, he repeated the +operation at the threshold of the sanctuary previous to entering and +placing his statue there. He deposited it on the painted and gilded +wooden platform on which the gods were exhibited on feast-days, +and enthroned beside it the other images which were thenceforth to +constitute the local Ennead, after which he kindled the sacred fire +before them. The queen, with the priests and nobles, all bearing +torches, then passed through the halls, stopping from time to time +to perform acts of purification, or to recite formulas to dispel evil +spirits and pernicious influences; finally, a triumphal procession was +formed, and the whole _cortege_ returned to the palace, where a banquet +brought the day's festivities to a close.* It was Amenothes III. +himself, or rather one of his statues animated by his double, who +occupied the chief place in the new building. Indeed, wherever we come +across a temple in Nubia dedicated to a king, we find the homage of the +inhabitants always offered to the image of the founder, which spoke to +them in oracles. All the southern part of the country beyond the +second cataract is full of traces of Amenothes, and the evidence of +the veneration shown to him would lead us to conclude that he played an +important part in the organisation of the country. Sedeinga possessed +a small temple under the patronage of his wife Tii. The ruins of a +sanctuary which he dedicated to Anion, the Sun-god, have been discovered +at Gebel-Barkal; Amenothes seems to have been the first to perceive the +advantages offered by the site, and to have endeavoured to transform +the barbarian village of Napata into a large Egyptian city. Some of the +monuments with which he adorned Soleb were transported, in later times, +to Gebel-Barkal, among them some rams and lions of rare beauty. They lie +at rest with their paws crossed, the head erect, and their expression +suggesting both power and repose.** As we descend the Nile, traces of +the work of this king are less frequent, and their place is taken by +those of his predecessors, as at Sai, at Semneh, at Wady Haifa, at +Amada, at Ibrim, and at Dakkeh. Distant traces of Amenothes again +appear in the neighbourhood of the first cataract, and in the island of +Elephantine, which he endeavoured to restore to its ancient splendour. + + * Thus the small temple of Sarrah, to the north of Wady + Haifa, is dedicated to "the living statue of Ramses II. in + the land of Nubia," a statue to which his Majesty gave the + name of "Usirmari Zosir-Shafi." + + ** One of the rams was removed from Gebel-Barkal by Lepsius, + and is now in the Berlin Museum, as well as the pedestal of + one of the hawks. Prisse has shown that these two monuments + originally adorned the temple of Soleb, and that they were + afterwards transported to Napata by an Ethiopian king, who + engraved his name on the pedestal of one of them. + +[Illustration: 062.jpg ONE OF THE LIONS OF GEBEL-BARKAL] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of the two lions of Gebel- + Barkal in the British Museum + +Two of the small buildings which he there dedicated to Khnumu, the local +god, were still in existence at the beginning of the present century. +That least damaged, on the south side of the island, consisted of +a single chamber nearly forty feet in length. The sandstone walls, +terminating in a curved cornice, rested on a hollow substructure +raised rather more than six feet above the ground, and surrounded by +a breast-high parapet. A portico ran round the building, having seven +square pillars on each of its two sides, while at each end stood two +columns having lotus-shaped capitals; a flight of ten or twelve steps +between two walls of the same height as the basement, projected in +front, and afforded access to the cella. The two columns of the facade +were further apart than those at the opposite end of the building, and +showed a glimpse of a richly decorated door, while a second door opened +under the peristyle at the further extremity. The walls were covered +with the half-brutish profile of the good Khnumu, and those of his +two companions, Anukit and Satit, the spirits of stormy waters. The +treatment of these figures was broad and simple, the style free, light, +and graceful, the colouring soft; and the harmonious beauty of the whole +is unsurpassed by anything at Thebes itself. It was, in fact, a kind of +oratory, built on a scale to suit the capacities of a decaying town, but +the design was so delicately conceived in its miniature proportions that +nothing more graceful can be imagined.* + + * Amenothes II. erected some small obelisks at Elephantine, + one of which is at present in England. The two buildings of + Amenothes III. at Elephantine were still in existence at the + beginning of the present century. They have been described + and drawn by French scholars; between 1822 and 1825 they + were destroyed, and the materials used for building barracks + and magazines at Syene. + +Ancient Egypt and its feudal cities, Ombos, Edfu,* Nekhabit, Esneh,** +Medamot,*** Coptos,**** Denderah, Abydos, Memphis,^ and Heliopolis, +profited largely by the generosity of the Pharaohs. + + * The works undertaken by Thutmosis III. in the temple of + Edfu are mentioned in an inscription of the Ptolemaic + period; some portions are still to be seen among the ruins + of the town. + + ** An inscription of the Roman period attributes the + rebuilding of the great temple of Esneh to Thutmosis III. + Grebaut discovered some fragments of it in the quay of the + modern town. + + *** Amenothes II. appears to have built the existing temple. + + **** The temple of Hathor was built by Thutmosis III. Some + fragments found in the Ptolemaic masonry bear the cartouche + of Thutmosis IV. + + ^ Amenothes II. certainly carried on works at Memphis, for + he opened a new quarry at Turah, in the year IV. Amenothes + III. also worked limestone quarries, and built at Saqqarah + the earliest chapels of the Serapeum which are at present + known to us. + +Since the close of the XIIth dynasty these cities had depended entirely +on their own resources, and their public buildings were either in ruins, +or quite inadequate to the needs of the population, but now gold from +Syria and Kush furnished them with the means of restoration. The Delta +itself shared in this architectural revival, but it had suffered too +severely under the struggle between the Theban kings and the Shepherds +to recover itself as quickly as the remainder of the country. All +effort was concentrated on those of its nomes which lay on the Eastern +frontier, or which were crossed by the Pharaohs in their journeys into +Asia, such as the Bubastite and Athribite nomes; the rest remained sunk +in their ancient torpor.* + +* Mariette and E. de Rouge, attribute this torpor, at least as far as +Tanis is concerned, to the aversion felt by the Pharaohs of Egyptian +blood for the Hyksos capital, and for the provinces where the invaders +had formerly established themselves in large numbers. + +Beyond the Red Sea the mines were actively worked, and even the oases of +the Libyan desert took part in the national revival, and buildings rose +in their midst of a size proportionate to their slender revenues. Thebes +naturally came in for the largest share of the spoils of war. Although +her kings had become the rulers of the world, they had not, like the +Pharaohs of the XIIth and XIIIth dynasties, forsaken her for some more +illustrious city: here they had their ordinary residence as well as +their seat of government, hither they returned after each campaign to +celebrate their victory, and hither they sent the prisoners and the +spoil which they had reserved for their own royal use. In the course +of one or two generations Thebes had spread in every direction, and had +enclosed within her circuit the neighbouring villages of Ashiru, the +fief of Maiit, and Apit-risifc, the southern Thebes, which lay at the +confluence of the Nile with one of the largest of the canals which +watered the plain. The monuments in these two new quarters of the town +were unworthy of the city of which they now formed part, and Amenothes +III. consequently bestowed much pains on improving them. He entirely +rebuilt the sanctuary of Maut, enlarged the sacred lake, and collected +within one of the courts of the temple several hundred statues in black +granite of the Memphite divinity, the lioness-headed Sokhit, whom he +identified with his Theban goddess. The statues were crowded together so +closely that they were in actual contact with each other in places, and +must have presented something of the appearance of a regiment drawn up +in battle array. The succeeding Pharaohs soon came to look upon this +temple as a kind of storehouse, whence they might provide themselves +with ready-made figures to decorate their buildings either at Thebes or +in other royal cities. About a hundred of them, however, still remain, +most of them without feet, arms, or head; some over-turned on the +ground, others considerably out of the perpendicular, from the earth +having given way beneath them, and a small number only still perfect and +in situ. + +[Illustration: 065.jpg THE TEMPLE AT ELEPHANTINE, AS IT WAS IN 1799] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the _Description de l'Egypte, + Ant_., vol. i p. 35. A good restoration of it, made from + the statements in the _Description_, is to be found in + Pekrot-Cuipiez, _Histoire de l'Art dans l'Antiquite_, vol. + i. pp. 402, 403. + +[Illustration: 066.jpg THE GREAT COURT OF THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR DURING THE +INUNDATION] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato. + +[Illustration: 067.jpg PART OF THE AVENUE OF RAMS, BETWEEN THE TEMPLES +OF AMON AND MAUT] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +At Luxor Amenothes demolished the small temple with which the sovereigns +of the XIIth and XIIIth dynasties had been satisfied, and replaced it by +a structure which is still one of the finest yet remaining of the times +of the Pharaohs. The naos rose sheer above the waters of the Nile, +indeed its cornices projected over the river, and a staircase at the +south side allowed the priests and devotees to embark directly from +the rear of the building. The sanctuary was a single chamber, with an +opening on its side, but so completely shut out from the daylight by the +long dark hall at whose extremity it was placed as to be in perpetual +obscurity. It was flanked by narrow, dimly lightly chambers, and was +approached through a pronaos with four rows of columns, a vast court +surrounded with porticoes occupying the foreground. At the present time +the thick walls which enclosed the entire building are nearly level +with the ground, half the ceilings have crumbled away, air and light +penetrate into every nook, and during the inundation the water flowing +into the courts, transformed them until recently into lakes, whither the +flocks and herds of the village resorted in the heat of the day to bathe +or quench their thirst. Pictures of mysterious events never meant for +the public gaze now display their secrets in the light of the sun, and +reveal to the eyes of the profane the supernatural events which preceded +the birth of the king. On the northern side an avenue of sphinxes and +crio-sphinxes led to the gates of old Thebes. At present most of these +creatures are buried under the ruins of the modern town, or covered by +the earth which overlies the ancient road; but a few are still visible, +broken and shapeless from barbarous usage, and hardly retaining any +traces of the inscriptions in which Amenothes claimed them boastingly as +his work. + +[Illustration: 069.jpg THE PYLONS OF THUTMOSIS III. AND HARMHABI AT +KAKNAK] + +Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato. + +Triumphal processions passing along this route from Luxor to Karnak +would at length reach the great court before the temple of Amon, or, by +turning a little to the right after passing the temple of Maut, would +arrive in front of the southern facade, near the two gilded obelisks +whose splendour once rejoiced the heart of the famous Hatshopsitu. +Thutmosis III. was also determined on his part to spare no expense to +make the temple of his god of proportions suitable to the patron of +so vast an empire. Not only did he complete those portions which his +predecessors had merely sketched out, but on the south side towards +Ashiru he also built a long row of pylons, now half ruined, on which he +engraved, according to custom, the list of nations and cities which he +had subdued in Asia and Africa. To the east of the temple he rebuilt +some ancient structures, the largest of which served as a halting-place +for processions, and he enclosed the whole with a stone rampart. The +outline of the sacred lake, on which the mystic boats were launched on +the nights of festivals, was also made more symmetrical, and its margin +edged with masonry. + +[Illustration: 070.jpg SACRED LAKE AKD THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE TEMPLE +OF KARNAK.] + + Drawn by Boucher, from a photograph by Boato: the building + near the centre of the picture is the covered walk + constructed by Thutmosis III. + +By these alterations the harmonious proportion between the main +buildings and the facade had been destroyed, and the exterior wall was +now too wide for the pylon at the entrance. Amenothes III. remedied this +defect by erecting in front a fourth pylon, which was loftier, larger, +and in all respects more worthy to stand before the enlarged temple. +Its walls were partially covered with battle-scenes, which informed all +beholders of the glory of the conqueror.* + + * Portions of the military bas-reliefs which covered the + exterior face of the pylon are still to be seen through the + gaps in the wall at the end of the great Hall of Pillars + built by Seti I. and Ramses II. + +Progress had been no less marked on the left bank of the river. As long +as Thebes had been merely a small provincial town, its cemeteries had +covered but a moderate area, including the sandy plain and low mounds +opposite Karnak and the valley of Deir el-Bahari beyond; but now that +the city had more than doubled its extent, the space required for the +dead was proportionately greater. The tombs of private persons began to +spread towards the south, and soon reached the slopes of the Assassif, +the hill of Sheikh-Abd-el-Qurnah and the district of Qurnet-Murrai--in +fact, all that part which the people of the country called the "Brow" +of Thebes. On the borders of the cultivated land a row of chapels and +mastabas with pyramidal roofs sheltered the remains of the princes and +princesses of the royal family. The Pharaohs themselves were buried +either separately under their respective brick pyramids or in groups in +a temple, as was the case with the first three Thutmosis and Hatshopsitu +at Deir el-Bahari. Amenothes II. and Thutmosis IV. could doubtless have +found room in this crowded necropolis,* although the space was becoming +limited, but the pride of the Pharaohs began to rebel against this +promiscuous burial side by side with their subjects. Amenothes III. +sought for a site, therefore, where he would have ample room to display +his magnificence, far from the vulgar crowd, and found what he desired +at the farther end of the valley which opens out behind the village of +Qurnah. Here, an hour's journey from the bank of the Nile, he cut for +himself a magnificent rock-tomb with galleries, halls, and deep pits, +the walls being decorated with representations of the Voyage of the Sun +through the regions which he traverses during the twelve hours of his +nocturnal course. + + * The generally received opinion is that these sovereigns of + the XVIIIth dynasty were buried in the Biban el-Moluk, but I + have made several examinations of this valley, and cannot + think that this was the case. On the contrary, the scattered + notices in the fragments of papyrus preserved at Turin seem + to me to indicate that Amenothes II. and Thutmosis IV. must + have been buried in the neighbourhood of the Assassif or of + Deir el-Bahari. + +A sarcophagus of red granite received his mummy, and _Ushabti's_ of +extraordinary dimensions and admirable workmanship mounted guard around +him, so as to release him from the corvee in the fields of Ialu. +The chapel usually attached to such tombs is not to be found in the +neighbourhood. As the road to the funeral valley was a difficult one, +and as it would be unreasonable to condemn an entire priesthood to live +in solitude, the king decided to separate the component parts which had +hitherto been united in every tomb since the Memphite period, and +to place the vault for the mummy and the passages leading to it some +distance away in the mountains, while the necessary buildings for +the cultus of the statue and the accommodation of the priests were +transferred to the plain, and were built at the southern extremity of +the lands which were at that time held by private persons. The divine +character of Amenothes, ascribed to him on account of his solar origin +and the co-operation of Amon-Ra at his birth, was, owing to this +separation of the funerary constituents, brought into further +prominence. When once the body which he had animated while on earth +was removed and hidden from sight, the people soon became accustomed +to think only of his Double enthroned in the recesses of the sanctuary: +seeing him receive there the same honours as the gods themselves, they +came naturally to regard him as a deity himself. + +[Illustration: 073.jpg THE TWO COLOSSI OF MEMNON IN THE PLAIN OF THEBES] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. The + "Vocal Statue of Memon" is that on the right-hand side of + the illustration. + +The arrangement of his temple differed in no way from those in which +Amon, Maut, and Montu were worshipped, while it surpassed in size and +splendour most of the sanctuaries dedicated to the patron gods of the +chief towns of the nomes. It contained, moreover, colossal statues, +objects which are never found associated with the heavenly gods. Several +of these figures have been broken to pieces, and only a few scattered +fragments of them remain, but two of them still maintain their positions +on each side of the entrance, with their faces towards the east. They +are each formed of a single block of red breccia from Syene,* and are +fifty-three feet high, but the more northerly one was shattered in the +earthquake which completed the ruin of Thebes in the year 27 B.C. The +upper part toppled over with the shock, and was dashed to pieces on the +floor of the court, while the lower half remained in its place. Soon +after the disaster it began to be rumoured that sounds like those +produced by the breaking of a harp-string proceeded from the pedestal at +sunrise, whereupon travellers flocked to witness the miracle, and legend +soon began to take possession of the giant who spoke in this marvellous +way. In vain did the Egyptians of the neighbourhood declare that the +statue represented the Pharaoh Amenothes; the Greeks refused to believe +them, and forthwith recognised in the colossus an image of Memnon the +Ethiopian, son of Tithonus and Aurora, slain by their own Achilles +beneath the walls of Troy--maintaining that the music heard every +morning was the clear and harmonious voice of the hero saluting his +mother. + + * It is often asserted that they are made of rose granite, + but Jollois and Devilliers describe them as being of "a + species of sandstone breccia, composed of a mass of agate + flint, conglomerated together by a remarkably hard cement. + This material, being very dense and of a heterogeneous + composition, presents to the sculptor perhaps greater + difficulties than even granite." + +Towards the middle of the second century of our era, Hadrian undertook a +journey to Upper Egypt, and heard the wonderful song; sixty years later, +Septimus Severus restored the statue by the employment of courses of +stones, which were so arranged as to form a rough representation of a +human head and shoulders. His piety, however, was not rewarded as he +expected, for Memnon became silent, and his oracle fell into oblivion. +The temple no longer exists, and a few ridges alone mark the spot where +it rose; but the two colossi remain at their post, in the same condition +in which they were left by the Roman Caesar: the features are quite +obliterated, and the legs and the supporting female figures on either +side are scored all over with Greek and Latin inscriptions expressing +the appreciation of ancient tourists. Although the statues tower high +above the fields of corn and _bersim_ which surround them, our first +view of them, owing to the scale of proportion observed in their +construction, so different from that to which we are accustomed, gives +us the impression that they are smaller than they really are, and it +is only when we stand close to one of them and notice the insignificant +appearance of the crowd of sightseers clustered on its pedestal that we +realize the immensity of the colossi. + +The descendants of Ahmosis had by their energy won for Thebes not only +the supremacy over the peoples of Egypt and of the known world, but had +also secured for the Theban deities pre-eminence over all their rivals. +The booty collected both in Syria and Ethiopia went to enrich the god +Amon as much as it did the kings themselves; every victory brought him +the tenth part of the spoil gathered on the field of battle, of the +tribute levied on vassals, and of the prisoners taken as slaves. When +Thutmosis IIL, after having reduced Megiddo, organised a systematic +plundering of the surrounding country, it was for the benefit of Amon-Ea +that he reaped the fields and sent their harvest into Egypt; if during +his journeys he collected useful plants or rare animals, it was that he +might dispose of them in the groves or gardens of Amon as well as in his +own, and he never retained for his personal use the whole of what he won +by arms, but always reserved some portion for the sacred treasury. + +[Illustration: 076.jpg A PARTY OF TOURISTS AT THE FOOT OF THE VOCAL +STATUE OF MEMNOK] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Insinger. + +His successors acted in a similar manner, and in the reigns of Amenothes +II., Thut-mosis IV., and Amenothes III., the patrimony of the Theban +priesthood continued to increase. The Pharaohs, perpetually called upon +as they were to recompense one or other of their servants, were never +able to retain for long their share of the spoils of war. Gold and +silver, lands, jewels, and slaves passed as quickly out of their hands +as they had fallen into them, and although then fortune was continually +having additions made to it in every fresh campaign, yet the increase +was rarely in proportion to the trouble expended. The god, on the +contrary, received what he got for all time, and gave back nothing in +return: fresh accumulations of precious metals were continually being +added to his store, his meadows were enriched by the addition of +vineyards, and with his palm forests he combined fish-ponds full of +fish; he added farms and villages to those he already possessed, and +each reign saw the list of his possessions increase. He had his own +labourers, his own tradespeople, his own fishermen, soldiers, and +scribes, and, presiding over all these, a learned hierarchy of divines, +priests, and prophets, who administered everything. This immense domain, +which was a kind of State within the State, was ruled over by a single +high priest, chosen by the sovereign from among the prophets. He was the +irresponsible head of it, and his spiritual ambition had increased +step by step with the extension of his material resources. As the human +Pharaoh showed himself entitled to homage from the lords of the earth, +the priests came at length to the conclusion that Amon had a right +to the allegiance of the lords of heaven, and that he was the Supreme +Being, in respect of whom the others were of little or no account, and +as he was the only god who was everywhere victorious, he came at length +to be regarded by them as the only god in existence. It was impossible +that the kings could see this rapid development of sacerdotal power +without anxiety, and with all their devotion to the patron of their +city, solicitude for their own authority compelled them to seek +elsewhere for another divinity, whose influence might in some degree +counterbalance that of Amon. The only one who could vie with him at +Thebes, either for the antiquity of his worship or for the rank which he +occupied in the public esteem, was the Sun-lord of Heliopolis, head of +the first Ennead. Thutmosis IV. owed his crown to him, and 'displayed +his gratitude in clearing away the sand from the Sphinx, in which +the spirit of Harmakhis was considered to dwell; and Amenothes +III., although claiming to be the son of Amon himself, inherited the +disposition shown by Thutmosis in favour of the Heliopolitan religions, +but instead of attaching himself to the forms most venerated by +theologians, he bestowed his affection on a more popular deity--Atonu, +the fiery disk. He may have been influenced in his choice by private +reasons. Like his predecessors, he had taken, while still very young, +wives from among his own family, but neither these reasonable ties, nor +his numerous diplomatic alliances with foreign princesses, were enough +for him. From the very beginning of his reign he had loved a maiden who +was not of the blood of the Pharaohs, Tii, the daughter of Iuia and his +wife Tuia.* + +* For the last thirty years Queen Tii has been the subject of many +hypotheses and of much confusion. The scarabasi engraved under Amenothes +III. say explicitly that she was the daughter of two personages, Iuia +and Tuia, but these names are not accompanied by any of the signs which +are characteristic of foreign names, and were considered Egyptian by +contemporaries. Hincks was the first who seems to have believed her +to be a Syrian; he compares her father's name with that of Levi, and +attributes the religious revolution which followed to the influence of +her foreign education. This theory has continued to predominate; some +prefer a Libyan origin to the Asiatic one, and latterly there has +been an attempt to recognise in Tii one of the princesses of Mitanni +mentioned in the correspondence of Tel el-Amarna. As long ago as 1877, I +showed that Tii was an Egyptian of middle rank, probably of Heliopolitan +origin. + +Connexions of this kind had been frequently formed by his ancestors, +but the Egyptian women of inferior rank whom they had brought into their +harems had always remained in the background, and if the sons of these +concubines were ever fortunate enough to come to the throne, it was in +default of heirs of pure blood. Amenothes III. married Tii, gave her +for her dowry the town of Zalu in Lower Egypt, and raised her to the +position of queen, in spite of her low extraction. She busied herself +in the affairs of State, took precedence of the princesses of the solar +family, and appeared at her husband's side in public ceremonies, and was +so figured on the monuments. If, as there is reason to believe, she was +born near Heliopolis, it is easy to understand how her influence may +have led Amenothes to pay special honour to a Heliopolitan divinity. +He had built, at an early period of his reign, a sanctuary to Atonu at +Memphis, and in the Xth year he constructed for him a chapel at Thebes +itself,* to the south of the last pylon of ihutmosis III., and endowed +this deity with property at the expense of Anion. + + * This temple seems to have been raised on the site of the + building which is usually attributed to Amenothes II. and + Amenothes III. The blocks bearing the name of Amenothes II. + had been used previously, like most of those which bear the + cartouches of Amenothes III. The temple of Atonu, which was + demolished by Harmhabi or one of the Ramses, was + subsequently rebuilt with the remains of earlier edifices, + and dedicated to Amon. + +[Illustration: 079.jpg MARRIAGE SCARABAEUS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph of the scarabaeus + preserved at Gizeh. + +He had several sons;* but the one who succeeded him, and who, like +him, was named Amenothes, was the most paradoxical of all the Egyptian +sovereigns of ancient times.** + + * One of them, Thutmosis, was high priest of Phtah, and we + possess several monuments erected by him in the temple of + Memphis; another, Tutonkhamon, subsequently became king. He + also had several daughters by Tii--Sitamon. + + ** The absence of any cartouches of Amenothes IV. or his + successors in the table of Abydos prevented Champollion and + Rosellini from classifying these sovereigns with any + precision. Nestor L'hote tried to recognise in the first of + them, whom he called _Bakhen-Balchnan_, a king belonging to + the very ancient dynasties, perhaps the Hyksos Apakhnan, but + Lepsius and Hincks showed that he must be placed between + Amenothes III. and Harmhabi, that he was first called + Amenothes like his father, but that he afterwards took the + name of Baknaten, which is now read Khunaten or Khuniaton. + His singular aspect made it difficult to decide at first + whether a man or a woman was represented. Mariette, while + pronouncing him to be a man, thought that he had perhaps + been taken prisoner in the Sudan and mutilated, which would + have explained his effeminate appearance, almost like that + of an eunuch. Recent attempts have been made to prove that + Amenothes IV. and Khuniaton were two distinct persons, or + that Khuniaton was a queen; but they have hitherto been + rejected by Egyptologists. + +He made up for the inferiority of his birth on account of the plebeian +origin of his mother Tii,* by his marriage with Nofrititi, a princess +of the pure solar race.** Tii, long accustomed to the management of +affairs, exerted her influence over him even more than she had done over +her husband. Without officially assuming the rank, she certainly for +several years possessed the power, of regent, and gave a definite +Oriental impress to her son's religious policy. No outward changes were +made at first; Amenothes, although showing his preference for Heliopolis +by inscribing in his protocol the title of prophet of Harmakhis, +which he may, however, have borne before his accession, maintained his +residence at Thebes, as his father had done before him, continued to +sacrifice to the Theban divinities, and to follow the ancient paths and +the conventional practices.*** + + * The filiation of Amenothes IV. and Tii has given rise to + more than one controversy. The Egyptian texts do not define + it explicitly, and the title borne by Tii has been + considered by some to prove that Amenothes IV. was her son, + and by others that she was the mother of Queen Nofrititi. + The Tel el-Amarna correspondence solves the question, + however, as it gives a letter from Dushratta to Khuniaton, + in which Tii is called "thy mother." + + ** Nofrititi, the wife of Amenothes IV., like all the + princesses of that time, has been supposed to be of Syrian + origin, and to have changed her name on her arrival in + Egypt. The place which she holds beside her husband is the + same as that which belongs to legitimate queens, like + Nofritari, Ahmosis, and Hatshopsitu, and the example of + these princesses is enough to show us what was her real + position; she was most probably a daughter of one of the + princesses of the solar blood, perhaps of one of the sisters + of Amenothes III., and Amenothes IV. married her so as to + obtain through her the rights which were wanting to him + through his mother Tii. + + *** The tomb of Ramses, governor of Thebes and priest of + Mait, shows us in one part of it the king, still faithful to + his name of Amenothes, paying homage to the god Amon, lord + of Karnak, while everywhere else the worship of Atonu + predominates. The cartouches on the tomb of Pari, read by + Bouriant Akhopiruri, and by Scheil more correctly + Nofirkhopiruri, seem to me to represent a transitional form + of the protocol of Amenothes IV., and not the name of a new + Pharaoh; the inscription in which they are to be found bears + the date of his third year. + +He either built a temple to the Theban god, or enlarged the one which +his father had constructed at Karnak, and even opened new quarries at +Syene and Silsileh for providing granite and sandstone for the adornment +of this monument. His devotion to the invincible Disk, however, soon +began to assert itself, and rendered more and more irksome to him the +religious observances which he had constrained himself to follow. There +was nothing and no one to hinder him from giving free course to his +inclinations, and the nobles and priests were too well trained in +obedience to venture to censure anything he might do, even were it to +result in putting the whole population into motion, from Elephantine to +the sea-coast, to prepare for the intruded deity a dwelling which should +eclipse in magnificence the splendour of the great temple. A few +of those around him had become converted of their own accord to his +favourite worship, but these formed a very small minority. Thebes had +belonged to Amon so long that the king could never hope to bring it +to regard Atonu as anything but a being of inferior rank. Each +city belonged to some god, to whom was attributed its origin, its +development, and its prosperity, and whom it could not forsake without +renouncing its very existence. If Thebes became separated from Amon it +would be Thebes no longer, and of this Amenothes was so well aware that +he never attempted to induce it to renounce its patron. His residence +among surroundings which he detested at length became so intolerable, +that he resolved to leave the place and create a new capital elsewhere. +The choice of a new abode would have presented no difficulty to him had +he been able to make up his mind to relegate Atonu to the second rank of +divinities; Memphis, Heracleopolis, Siut, Khmunu, and, in fact, all the +towns of the valley would have deemed themselves fortunate in securing +the inheritance of their rival, but not one of them would be false to +its convictions or accept the degradation of its own divine founder, +whether Phtah, Harshafitu, Anubis, or Thot. A newly promoted god +demanded a new city; Amenothes, therefore, made selection of a broad +plain extending on the right bank of the Nile, in the eastern part of +the Hermopolitan nome, to which he removed with all his court about the +fourth or fifth year of his reign.* + + * The last date with the name of Amenothes is that of the + year V., on a papyrus from the Payilm; elsewhere we find + from the year VI. the name of Khuniaton, by the side of + monuments with the cartouche of Amenothes; we may conclude + from this that the foundation of the town dates from the + year IV. or V. at the latest, when the prince, having + renounced the worship of Amon, left Thebes that he might be + able to celebrate freely that of Atonu. + +He found here several obscure villages without any historical or +religious traditions, and but thinly populated; Amenothes chose one +of them, the Et-Tel of the present day, and built there a palace +for himself and a temple for his god. The temple, like that of Ea at +Heliopolis, was named _Hait-Banbonu_, the Mansion of the Obelisk. It +covered an immense area, of which the sanctuary, however, occupied an +inconsiderable part; it was flanked by brick storehouses, and the whole +was surrounded by a thick wall. The remains show that the temple was +built of white limestone, of fine quality, but that it was almost +devoid of ornament, for there was no time to cover it with the usual +decorations.* + + * The opinion of Brugsch, that the arrangement of the + various parts differed from that of other temples, and was + the effect of foreign influence, has not been borne out by + the excavations of Prof. Petrie, the little which he has + brought to light being entirely of Egyptian character. The + temple is represented on the tomb of the high priest Mariri. + +[Illustration: 084.jpg Map] + +The palace was built of brick; it was approached by a colossal gateway, +and contained vast halls, interspersed with small apartments for the +accommodation of the household, and storehouses for the necessary +provisions, besides gardens which had been hastily planted with rare +shrubs and sycamores. Fragments of furniture and of the roughest of the +utensils contained in the different chambers are still unearthed from +among the heaps of rubbish, and the cellars especially are full of +potsherds and cracked jars, on which we can still see written an +indication of the reign and the year when the wine they once contained +was made. Altars of massive masonry rose in the midst of the courts, +on which the king or one of his ministers heaped offerings and burnt +incense morning, noon, and evening, in honour of the three decisive +moments in the life of Atonu.* + + * Naville discovered at Deir el-Bahari a similar altar, + nearly intact. No other example was before known in any of + the ruined towns or temples, and no one had any idea of the + dimensions to which these altars, attained. + +A few painted and gilded columns supported the roofs of the principal +apartments in which the Pharaoh held his audiences, but elsewhere the +walls and pillars were coated with cream-coloured stucco or whitewash, +on which scenes of private life were depicted in colours. The pavement, +like the walls, was also decorated. In one of the halls which seems to +have belonged to the harem, there is still to be seen distinctly +the picture of a rectangular piece of water containing fish and +lotus-flowers in full bloom; the edge is adorned with water-plants and +flowering shrubs, among which birds fly and calves graze and gambol; on +the right and left were depicted rows of stands laden with fruit, while +at each end of the room were seen the grinning faces of a gang of negro +and Syrian prisoners, separated from each other by gigantic arches. The +tone of colouring is bright and cheerful, and the animals are treated +with great freedom and facility. The Pharaoh, had collected about him +several of the best artists then to be found at Thebes, placing +them under the direction of Bauki, the chief of the corporation +of sculptors,* and probably others subsequently joined these from +provincial studios. + + * Bauki belonged to a family of artists, and his father Mani + had filled before him the post of chief of the sculptors. + The part played by these personages was first defined by + Brugsch, with perhaps some exaggeration of their artistic + merit and originality of talent. + +Work for them was not lacking, for houses had to be built for all the +courtiers and government officials who had been obliged to follow the +king, and in a few years a large town had sprung up, which was called +Khuitatonu, or the "Horizon of the Disk." It was built on a regular +plan, with straight streets and open spaces, and divided into two +separate quarters, interspersed with orchards and shady trellises. +Workmen soon began to flock to the new city--metal-founders, +glass-founders, weavers; in fine, all who followed any trade +indispensable to the luxury of a capital. The king appropriated a +territory for it from the ancient nome of the Hare, thus compelling the +god Thot to contribute to the fortune of Atonu; he fixed its limits by +means of stelae placed in the mountains, from Gebel-Tunah to Deshluit on +the west, and from Sheikh-Said to El-Hauata on the eastern bank;* it was +a new nome improvised for the divine _parvenu_. + + * We know at present of fourteen of these stelae. A certain + number must still remain to be discovered on both banks of + the Nile. + +[Illustration: 082.jpg THE DECORATED PAVEMENT OF THE PALACE] + +Atonu was one of the forms of the Sun, and perhaps the most material one +of all those devised by the Egyptians. He was defined as "the good god +who rejoices in truth, the lord of the solar course, the lord of the +disk, the lord of heaven, the lord of earth, the living disk which +lights up the two worlds, the living Harmakhis who rises on the horizon +bearing his name of Shu, which is disk, the eternal infuser of life." +His priests exercised the same functions as those of Heliopolis, and his +high priest was called "Oirimau," like the high priest of Ra in Aunu. +This functionary was a certain Marirl, upon whom the king showered his +favours, and he was for some time the chief authority in the State after +the Pharaoh himself. Atonu was represented sometimes by the ordinary +figure of Horus,* sometimes by the solar disk, but a disk whose rays +were prolonged towards the earth, like so many arms ready to lay +hold with their little hands of the offerings of the faithful, or to +distribute to mortals the _crux ansata_, the symbol of life. The other +gods, except Amon, were sharers with humanity in his benefits. Atonu +proscribed him, and tolerated him only at Thebes; he required, moreover, +that the name of Amon should be effaced wherever it occurred, but he +respected Ra and Horus and Harmakhis--all, in fact, but Amon: he was +content with being regarded as their king, and he strove rather to +become their chief than their destroyer.** + + * It was probably this form of Horus which had, in the + temple at Thebes, the statue called "the red image of Atonu + in Paatoml." + + ** Prisse d'Avennes has found at Karnak, on fragments of the + temple, the names of other divinities than Atonu worshipped + by Khuniatonu. + +His nature, moreover, had nothing in it of the mysterious or ambiguous; +he was the glorious torch which gave light to humanity, and which +was seen every day to flame in the heavens without ever losing its +brilliance or becoming weaker. When he hides himself "the world rests in +darkness, like those dead who lie in their rock-tombs, with their heads +swathed, their nostrils stuffed up, their eyes sightless, and whose +whole property might be stolen from them, even that which they have +under their head, without their knowing it; the lion issues from his +lair, the serpent roams ready to bite, it is as obscure as in a dark +room, the earth is silent whilst he who creates everything dwells in his +horizon." He has hardly arisen when "Egypt becomes festal, one awakens, +one rises on one's feet; when thou hast caused men to clothe themselves, +they adore thee with outstretched hands, and the whole earth attends +to its work, the animals betake themselves to their herbage, trees +and green crops abound, birds fly to their marshy thickets with wings +outstretched in adoration of thy double, the cattle skip, all the birds +which were in their nests shake themselves when thou risest for them; +the boats come and go, for every way is open at thy appearance, the +fish of the river leap before thee as soon as thy rays descend upon the +ocean." It is not without reason that all living things thus rejoice at +his advent; all of them owe their existence to him, for "he creates the +female germ, he gives virility to men, and furnishes life to the infant +in its mother's womb; he calms and stills its weeping, he nourishes it +in the maternal womb, giving forth the breathings which animate all that +he creates, and when the infant escapes from the womb on the day of +its birth, thou openest his mouth for speech, and thou satisfiest his +necessities. When the chick is in the egg, a cackle in a stone, thou +givest to it air while within to keep it alive; when thou hast caused +it to be developed in the egg to the point of being able to break it, it +goes forth proclaiming its existence by its cackling, and walks on its +feet from the moment of its leaving the egg." Atonu presides over the +universe and arranges within it the lot of human beings, both Egyptians +and foreigners. The celestial Nile springs up in Hades far away in the +north; he makes its current run down to earth, and spreads its waters +over the fields during the inundation in order to nourish his creatures. +He rules the seasons, winter and summer; he constructed the far-off sky +in order to display himself therein, and to look down upon his works +below. From the moment that he reveals himself there, "cities, towns, +tribes, routes, rivers--all eyes are lifted to him, for he is the +disk of the day upon the earth."* The sanctuary in which he is invoked +contains only his divine shadow;** for he himself never leaves the +firmament. + + * These extracts are taken from the hymns of Tel el-Amarna. + + ** In one of the tombs at Tel el-Amarna the king is depicted + leading his mother Tii to the temple of Atonu in order to + see "the Shadow of Ra," and it was thought with some reason + that "the Shadow of Ra" was one of the names of the temple. + I think that this designation applied also to the statue or + symbol of the god; the _shadow_ of a god was attached to the + statue in the same manner as the "double," and transformed + it into an animated body. + +His worship assumes none of the severe and gloomy forms of the Theban +cults: songs resound therein, and hymns accompanied by the harp or +flute; bread, cakes, vegetables, fruits, and flowers are associated +with his rites, and only on very rare occasions one of those bloody +sacrifices in which the other gods delight. The king made himself +supreme pontiff of Atonu, and took precedence of the high priest. He +himself celebrated the rites at the altar of the god, and we see him +there standing erect, his hands outstretched, offering incense and +invoking blessings from on high.* Like the Caliph Hakim of a later age, +he formed a school to propagate his new doctrines, and preached them +before his courtiers: if they wished to please him, they had to accept +his teaching, and show that they had profited by it. The renunciation of +the traditional religious observances of the solar house involved also +the rejection of such personal names as implied an ardent devotion to +the banished god; in place of Amenothes, "he to whom Amon is united," +the king assumed after a time the name of Khuniatonu, "the Glory of the +Disk," and all the members of his family, as well as his adherents +at court, whose appellations involved the name of the same god, soon +followed his example. The proscription of Amon extended to inscriptions, +so that while his name or figure, wherever either could be got at, was +chiselled out, the vulture, the emblem of Mut, which expressed the idea +of mother, was also avoided.** + + * The altar on which the king stands upright is one of those + cubes of masonry of which Naville discovered such a fine + example in the temple of Hatshopsitu at Deir el-Bahari. + + ** We find, however, some instances where the draughtsman, + either from custom or design, had used the vulture to + express the word mailt, "the mother," without troubling + himself to think whether it answered to the name of the + goddess. + +The king would have nothing about him to suggest to eye or ear the +remembrance of the gods or doctrines of Thebes. It would consequently +have been fatal to them and their pretensions to the primacy of Egypt +if the reign of the young king had continued as long as might naturally +have been expected. After having been for nearly two centuries almost +the national head of Africa, Amon was degraded by a single blow to the +secondary rank and languishing existence in which he had lived before +the expulsion of the Hyksos. He had surrendered his sceptre as king of +heaven and earth, not to any of his rivals who in old times had enjoyed +the highest rank, but to an individual of a lower order, a sort of +demigod, while he himself had thus become merely a local deity, confined +to the corner of the Said in which he had had his origin. There was not +even left to him the peaceful possession of this restricted domain, +for he was obliged to act as host to the enemy who had deposed him: +the temple of Atonu was erected at the door of his own sanctuary, and +without leaving their courts the priests of Amon could hear at the hours +of worship the chants intoned by hundreds of heretics in the temple of +the Disk. Amon's priests saw, moreover, the royal gifts flowing into +other treasuries, and the gold of Syria and Ethiopia no longer came +into their hands. Should they stifle their complaints, and bow to this +insulting oppression, or should they raise a protest against the action +which had condemned them to obscurity and a restricted existence? If +they had given indications of resistance, they would have been obliged +to submit to prompt repression, but we see no sign of this. The bulk +of the people--clerical as well as lay--accepted the deposition with +complacency, and the nobles hastened to offer their adherence to that +which afterwards became the official confession of faith of the Lord +King.* The lord of Thebes itself, a certain Ramses, bowed his head to +the new cult, and the bas-reliefs of his tomb display to our eyes the +proofs of his apostasy: on the right-hand side Amon is the only subject +of his devotion, while on the left he declares himself an adherent of +Atonu. Religious formularies, divine appellations, the representations +of the costume, expression, and demeanour of the figures are at issue +with each other in the scenes on the two sides of the door, and if we +were to trust to appearances only, one would think that the two pictures +belonged to two separate reigns, and were concerned with two individuals +strangers to each other.** + + * The political character of this reaction against the + growing power of the high priests and the town of Amon was + pointed out for the first time by Masporo in 1878. Ed. Meyer + and Tiele blond with the political idea a monotheistic + conception which does not seem to me to be fully justified, + at least at present, by anything in the materials we + possess. + + ** His tomb was discovered in 1878 by Villiers-Stuart. + +The rupture between the past and the present was so complete, in +fact, that the sovereign was obliged to change, if not his face and +expression, at least the mode in which they were represented. + +[Illustration: 095.jpg THE MASK OF KIHUNIATONU] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Petrie. Petrie + thinks that the monument discovered by him, which is of fine + plaster, is a cast of the dead king, executed possibly to + enable the sculptors to make _Ushabtu_, "Respondents," for + him. + +The name and personality of an Egyptian were so closely allied that +interference with one implied interference with the other. Khuniatonu +could not continue to be such as he was when Amenothes, and, in fact, +their respective portraits differ from each other to that degree that +there is some doubt at moments as to their identity. Amenothes is +hardly to be distinguished from his father: he has the same regular and +somewhat heavy features, the same idealised body and conventional shape +as those which we find in the orthodox Pharaohs. Khuniatonu affects a +long and narrow head, conical at the top, with a retreating forehead, +a large aquiline and pointed nose, a small mouth, an enormous chin +projecting in front, the whole being supported by a long, thin neck. + +His shoulders are narrow, with little display of muscle, but his breasts +are so full, his abdomen so prominent, and his hips so large, that one +would think they belonged to a woman. Etiquette required the attendants +upon the king, and those who aspired to his favour, to be portrayed in +the bas-reliefs of temples or tombs in all points, both as regards face +and demeanour, like the king himself. Hence it is that the majority of +his contemporaries, after having borne the likeness of Amenothes, +came to adopt, without a break, that of Khuniatonu. The scenes at Tel +el-Amarna contain, therefore, nothing but angular profiles, pointed +skulls, ample breasts, flowing figures, and swelling stomachs. The +outline of these is one that lends itself readily to caricature, and the +artists have exaggerated the various details with the intention, it +may be, of rendering the representations grotesque. There was nothing +ridiculous, however, in the king, their model, and several of his +statues attribute to him a languid, almost valetudinarian grace, which +is by no means lacking in dignity. + +[Illustration: 096.jpg AMENOTHES IV., FROM THE STATUETTE IN THE LOUVRE.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a drawing by Petrie. + +[Illustration: 097.jpg Page Image] + +He was a good and affectionate man, and was passionately fond of his +wife, Nofrititi, associating her with himself in his sovereign acts. If +he set out to visit the temple, she followed him in a chariot; if he was +about to reward one of his faithful subjects, she stood beside him and +helped to distribute the golden necklaces. She joined him in his prayers +to the Solar Disk; she ministered to him in domestic life, when, having +broken away from the worries of his public duties, he sought relaxation +in his harem; and their union was so tender, that we find her on one +occasion, at least, seated in a coaxing attitude on her husband's +knees--a unique instance of such affection among all the representations +on the monuments of Egypt. + +[Illustration: 098.jpg KHUNIATONU AND HIS WIFE REWARDING ONE OF THE +GREAT OFFICERS OF THE COURT] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. + +They had six daughters, whom they brought up to live with them on +terms of the closest intimacy: they accompanied their father and mother +everywhere, and are exhibited as playing around the throne while their +parents are engaged in performing the duties of their office. The +gentleness and gaiety of the king were reflected in the life of his +subjects: all the scenes which they have left us consist entirely of +processions, cavalcades, banquets, and entertainments. Khuniatonu was +prodigal in the gifts of gold and the eulogies which he bestowed on +Mariri, the chief priest: the people dance around him while he is +receiving from the king the just recompense of his activity. When Huia, +who came back from Syria in the XIIth year of the king's reign, brought +solemnly before him the tribute he had collected, the king, borne in +his jolting palanquin on the shoulders of his officers, proceeded to the +temple to return thanks to his god, to the accompaniment of chants and +the waving of the great fans. When the divine father Ai had married the +governess of one of the king's daughters, the whole city gave itself +up to enjoyment, and wine flowed freely during the wedding feast. +Notwithstanding the frequent festivals, the king found time to watch +jealously over the ordinary progress of government and foreign affairs. +The architects, too, were not allowed to stand idle, and without taking +into account the repairs of existing buildings, had plenty to do in +constructing edifices in honour of Atonu in the principal towns of the +Nile valley, at Memphis, Heliopolis, Hermopolis, Hermonthis, and in +the Fayum. The provinces in Ethiopia remained practically in the +same condition as in the time of Amenothes III.;* Kush was pacified, +notwithstanding the raids which the tribes of the desert were accustomed +to make from time to time, only to receive on each occasion rigorous +chastisement from the king's viceroy. + + * The name and the figure of Khuniatonu are met with on the + gate of the temple of Soleb, and he received in his + XIIth year the tributes of Kush, as well as those of Syria. + +The sudden degradation of Amon had not brought about any coldness +between the Pharaoh and his princely allies in Asia. The aged Amenothes +had, towards the end of his reign, asked the hand of Dushratta's +daughter in marriage, and the Mitannian king, highly flattered by the +request, saw his opportunity and took advantage of it in the interest +of his treasury. He discussed the amount of the dowry, demanded a +considerable sum of gold, and when the affair had been finally arranged +to his satisfaction, he despatched the princess to the banks of the +Nile. On her arrival she found her affianced husband was dead, or, at +all events, dying. Amenothes IV., however, stepped into his father's +place, and inherited his bride with his crown. + +[Illustration: 100.jpg THE DOOR OF A TOMB AT TEL EL-AMARNA] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. + +The new king's relations with other foreign princes were no less +friendly; the chief of the Khati (Hittites) complimented him on his +accession, the King of Alasia wrote to him to express his earnest desire +for a continuance of peace between the two states. Burnaburiash of +Babylon had, it is true, hoped to obtain an Egyptian princess in +marriage for his son, and being disappointed, had endeavoured to pick a +quarrel over the value of the presents which had been sent him, together +with the notice of the accession of the new sovereign. But his kingdom +lay too far away to make his ill-will of much consequence, and his +complaints passed unheeded. In Coele-Syria and Phoenicia the situation +remained unchanged. The vassal cities were in a perpetual state +of disturbance, though not more so than in the past. Aziru, son of +Abdashirti, chief of the country of the Amorites, had always, even +during the lifetime of Amenothes III., been the most turbulent of +vassals. The smaller states of the Orontes and of the coast about Arvad +had been laid waste by his repeated incursions and troubled by his +intrigues. He had taken and pillaged twenty towns, among which were +Simyra, Sini, Irqata, and Qodshu, and he was already threatening Byblos, +Berytus, and Sidon. It was useless to complain of him, for he always +managed to exculpate himself to the royal messengers. Khai, Dudu, +Amenemaupit had in turn all pronounced him innocent. Pharaoh himself, +after citing him to appear in Egypt to give an explanation of his +conduct, had allowed himself to be won over by his fair speaking, and +had dismissed him uncondemned. Other princes, who lacked his cleverness +and power, tried to imitate him, and from north to south the whole of +Syria could only be compared to some great arena, in which fighting +was continually carried on between one tribe or town and another--Tyre +against Sidon, Sidon against Byblos, Jerusalem against Lachish. All +of them appealed to Khuniatonu, and endeavoured to enlist him on their +side. Their despatches arrived by scores, and the perusal of them at +the present day would lead us to imagine that Egypt had all but lost +her supremacy. The Egyptian ministers, however, were entirely unmoved +by them, and continued to refuse material support to any of the numerous +rivals, except in a few rare cases, where a too prolonged indifference +would have provoked an open revolt in some part of the country. + +Khuniatonu died young, about the XVIIIth year of his reign.* He was +buried in the depths of a ravine in the mountain-side to the east of +the town, and his tomb remained unknown till within the last few years. +Although one of his daughters who died before her father had been +interred there, the place seems to have been entirely unprepared for the +reception of the king's body. The funeral chamber and the passages +are scarcely even rough-hewn, and the reception halls show a mere +commencement of decoration.** The other tombs of the locality are +divided into two groups, separated by the ravine reserved for the +burying-place of the royal house. The noble families possessed each +their own tomb on the slopes of the hillside; the common people were +laid to rest in pits lower down, almost on the level of the plain. +The cutting and decoration of all these tombs had been entrusted to a +company of contractors, who had executed them according to two or three +stereotyped plans, without any variation, except in size. Nearly all the +walls are bare, or present but few inscriptions; those tombs only are +completed whose occupants died before the Pharaoh. + + * The length of Khuniatonu's reign was fixed by Griffith + with almost absolute certainty by means of the dates written + in ink on the jars of wine and preserves found in the ruins + of the palace. + + ** The tomb has been found, as I anticipated, in the ravine + which separates the northern after the southern group of + burying-places. The Arabs opened it in 1891, and Grebaut has + since completely excavated it. The scenes depicted in it are + connected with the death and funeral of the Princess + Maqitatonu. + +[Illustration: 103.jpg INTERIOR OF A TOMB AT TEL EL-AMARNA] + + Drawn by Boudier, after a photograph by Insinger. + +The facades of the tombs are cut in the rock, and contain, for the most +part, but one door, the jambs of which are covered on both sides by +several lines of hieroglyphs; and it is just possible to distinguish +traces of the adoration of the radiant Disk on the lintels, together +with the cartouches containing the names of the king and god. The chapel +is a large rectangular chamber, from one end of which opens the inclined +passage leading to the coffin. The roof is sometimes supported by +columns, having capitals decorated with designs of flowers or of geese +hung from the abacus by their feet with their heads turned upwards. + +The religious teaching at Tel el-Amarna presents no difference in the +main from that which prevailed in other parts of Egypt.* The Double +of Osiris was supposed to reside in the tomb, or else to take wing to +heaven and embark with Atonu, as elsewhere he would embark with Ea. The +same funerary furniture is needed for the deceased as in other local +cults--ornaments of vitreous paste, amulets, and _Ushabtiu_, or +"Respondents," to labour for the dead man in the fields of Ialu. Those +of Khuniatonu were, like those of Amenothes III., actual statuettes in +granite of admirable workmanship. The dead who reached the divine abode, +retained the same rank in life that they had possessed here below, and +in order to ensure the enjoyment of it, they related, or caused to be +depicted in their tombs, the events of their earthly career. + + * The peculiar treatment of the two extremities of the sign + for the sky, which surmounts the great scene on the tomb of + Ahmosis, shows that there had been no change in the ideas + concerning the two horizons or the divine tree found in + them: the aspirations for the soul of Mariri, the high + priest of Atonu, or for that of the sculptor Bauku, are the + same as those usually found, and the formula on the funerary + stelae differs only in the name of the god from that on the + ordinary stelae of the same kind. + +A citizen of Khuitatonu would naturally represent the manners and +customs of his native town, and this would account for the local +colouring of the scenes in which we see him taking part. + +They bear no resemblance to the traditional pictures of the buildings +and gardens of Thebes with which we are familiar; we have instead the +palaces, colonnades, and pylons of the rising city, its courts planted +with sycomores, its treasuries, and its storehouses. The sun's disk +hovers above and darts its prehensile rays over every object; its hands +present the _crux ansata_ to the nostrils of the various members of the +family, they touch caressingly the queen and her daughters, they handle +the offerings of bread and cakes, they extend even into the government +warehouses to pilfer or to bless. Throughout all these scenes Khuniatonu +and the ladies of his harem seem to be ubiquitous: here he visits one of +the officers, there he repairs to the temple for the dedication of its +sanctuary. His chariot, followed at a little distance by that of the +princesses, makes its way peaceably through the streets. The police of +the city and the soldiers of the guard, whether Egyptians or foreigners, +run before him and clear a path among the crowd, the high priest Mariri +stands at the gate to receive him, and the ceremony is brought to a +close by a distribution of gold necklaces or rings, while the populace +dance with delight before the sovereign. Meantime the slaves have +cooked the repast, the dancers and musicians within their chambers have +rehearsed for the evening's festival, and the inmates of the house carry +on animated dialogues during their meal. The style and the technique of +these wall-paintings differ in no way from those in the necropolis of +the preceding period, and there can be no doubt that the artists who +decorated these monuments were trained in the schools of Thebes. Their +drawing is often very refined, and there is great freedom in their +composition; the perspective of some of the bas-reliefs almost comes +up to our own, and the movement of animated crowds is indicated with +perfect accuracy. It is, however, not safe to conclude from these +examples that the artists who executed them would have developed +Egyptian art in a new direction, had not subsequent events caused a +reaction against the worship of Atonu and his followers. + +[Illustration: 104.jpg PROFILE OF HEAD OF MUMMY (THEBES TOMBS.)] + +[Illustration: 106.jpg TWO OF THE DAUGHTERS OF KHUHI ATONU] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Petrie. + +Although the tombs in which they worked differ from the generality +of Egyptian burying-places, their originality does not arise from any +effort, either conscious or otherwise, to break through the ordinary +routine of the art of the time; it is rather the result of the +extraordinary appearance of the sovereign whose features they were +called on to portray, and the novelty of several of the subjects which +they had to treat. That artist among them who first gave concrete form +to the ideas circulated by the priests of Atonu, and drew the model +cartoons, evidently possessed a master-hand, and was endowed with +undeniable originality and power. No other Egyptian draughtsman ever +expressed a child's grace as he did, and the portraits which he sketched +of the daughters of Khuniatonu playing undressed at their mother's side, +are examples of a reserved and delicate grace. But these models, when +once composed and finished even to the smallest details, were entrusted +for execution to workmen of mediocre powers, who were recruited not only +from Thebes, but from the neighbouring cities of Hermopolis and Siut. +These estimable people, with a praiseworthy patience, traced bit by bit +the cartoons confided to them, omitting or adding individuals or groups +according to the extent of the wall-space they had to cover, or to the +number of relatives and servants whom the proprietor of the tomb desired +should share in his future happiness. The style of these draughtsmen +betrays the influence of the second-rate schools in which they had +learned their craft, and the clumsiness of their work would often repel +us, were it not that the interest of the episodes portrayed redeems it +in the eyes of the Egyptologist. + +Khuniatonu left no son to succeed him; two of his sons-in-law +successively occupied the throne--Saakeri, who had married his eldest +daughter Maritatonu, and Tutankhamon, the husband of Ankhnasaton. The +first had been associated in the sovereignty by his father-in-law;* he +showed himself a zealous partisan of the "Disk," and he continued to +reside in the new capital during the few years of his sole reign.** The +second son-in-law was a son of Amenothes III., probably by a concubine. +He returned to the religion of Amon, and his wife, abjuring the creed +of her father, changed her name from Ankhnasaton to that of Ankhnasamon. +Her husband abandoned Khuitatonu*** at the end of two or three years, +and after his departure the town fell into decadence as quickly as it +had arisen. The streets were unfrequented, the palaces and temples stood +empty, the tombs remained unfinished and unoccupied, and its patron god +returned to his former state, and was relegated to the third or fourth +rank in the Egyptian Pantheon. + + * He and his wife are represented by the side of Khuniatonu, + with the protocol and the attributes of royalty. Petrie + assigns to this double reign those minor objects on which + the king's prenomen Ankhkhopiruri is followed by the epithet + beloved of Uanira, which formed part of the name of + Khuniatonu. + + ** Petrie thinks, on the testimony of the lists of Manetho, + which give twelve years to Akenkheres, daughter of Horos, + that Saakeri reigned twelve years, and only two or three + years as sole monarch without his father-in-law. I think + these two or three years a probable maximum length of his + reign, whatever may be the value we should here assign to + the lists of Manetho. + + *** Petrie, judging from the number of minor objects which + he has found in his excavations at Tel el-Amarna, believes + that he can fix the length of Tutankhamon's sojourn at + Khuitatonu at six years, and that of his whole reign at nine + years. + +The town struggled for a short time against its adverse fate, which +was no doubt retarded owing to the various industries founded in it by +Khuniatonu, the manufactories of enamel and coloured glass requiring the +presence of many workmen; but the latter emigrated ere long to Thebes +or the neighbouring city of Hermopolis, and the "Horizon of Atonu" +disappeared from the list of nomes, leaving of what might have been the +capital of the Egyptian empire, merely a mound of crumbling bricks with +two or three fellahin villages scattered on the eastern bank of the +Nile.* + + * Petrie thinks that the temples and palaces were + systematically destroyed by Harmhabi, and the ruins used by + him in the buildings which he erected at different places in + Egypt. But there is no need for this theory: the beauty of + the limestone which Khuniatonu had used sufficiently + accounts for the rapid disappearance of the deserted + edifices. + +Thebes, whose influence and population had meanwhile never lessened, +resumed her supremacy undisturbed. If, out of respect for the past, +Tutankhamon continued the decoration of the temple of Atonu at Karnak, +he placed in every other locality the name and figure of Amon; a little +stucco spread over the parts which had been mutilated, enabled the +outlines to be restored to their original purity, and the alteration was +rendered invisible by a few coats of colour. Tutankhamon was succeeded +by the divine father Ai, whom Khuniatonu had assigned as husband to one +of his relatives named Tii, so called after the widow of Amenothes +III. Ai laboured no less diligently than his predecessor to keep up +the traditions which had been temporarily interrupted. He had been +a faithful worshipper of the Disk, and had given orders for the +construction of two funerary chapels for himself in the mountain-side +above Tel el-Amarna, the paintings in which indicate a complete +adherence to the faith of the reigning king. But on becoming Pharaoh, +he was proportionally zealous in his submission to the gods of Thebes, +and in order to mark more fully his return to the ancient belief, he +chose for his royal burying-place a site close to that in which rested +the body of Amenothes III.* + + * The first tomb seems to have been dug before his marriage, + at the time when he had no definite ambitions; the second + was prepared for him and his wife Tii. + +His sarcophagus, a large oblong of carved rose granite, still lies open +and broken on the spot. + +[Illustration: 111.jpg SARCOPHAGUS OF THE PHARAOH AI] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after the drawing of Prisse d'Avenues. + +Figures of goddesses stand at the four angles and extend their winged +arms along its sides, as if to embrace the mummy of the sovereign. +Tutankhamon and Ai were obeyed from one end of Egypt to the other, from +Napata to the shores of the Mediterranean. The peoples of Syria raised +no disturbances during their reigns, and paid their accustomed tribute +regularly;* if their rule was short, it was at least happy. It would +appear, however, that after their deaths, troubles arose in the state. +The lists of Manetho give two or three princes--Rathotis, Khebres, and +Akherres--whose names are not found on the monuments.** It is possible +that we ought not to regard them as historical personages, but merely +as heroes of popular romance, of the same type as those introduced so +freely into the history of the preceding dynasties by the chroniclers +of the Saite and Greek periods. They were, perhaps, merely short-lived +pretenders who were overthrown one by the other before either had +succeeded in establishing himself on the seat of Horus. Be that as it +may, the XVIIIth dynasty drew to its close amid strife and quarreling, +without our being able to discover the cause of its overthrow, or the +name of the last of its sovereigns.*** + + * Tutankhamon receives the tribute of the Kushites as well + as that of the Syrians; Ai is represented at Shataui in + Nubia as accompanied by Pauiru, the prince of Kush. + + ** Wiedemann has collected six royal names which, with much + hesitation, he places about this time. + + *** The list of kings who make up the XVIIIth dynasty can be + established with certainty, with the exception of the order + of the three last sovereigns who succeed Khuniatonu. It is + here given in its authentic form, as the monuments have + permitted us to reconstruct it, and in its Greek form as it + is found in the lists of Manetho: + + [Illustration: 112.jpg Table] + + Manetho's list, as we have it, is a very ill-made extract, + wherein the official kings are mixed up with the legitimate + queens, as well as, at least towards the end, with persons + of doubtful authenticity. Several kings, between Khuniatonu + and Harmhabi, are sometimes added at the end of the list; + some of these I think, belonged to previous dynasties, e.g. + Teti to the VIth, Rahotpu to the XVIIth; several are heroes + of romance, as Mernebphtah or Merkhopirphtah, while the + names of the others are either variants from the cartouche + names of known princes, or else are nicknames, such as was + Sesu, Sesturi for Ramses II. Dr. Mahler believes that he can + fix, within a few days, the date of the kings of whom the + list is composed, from Ahmosis I. to Ai. I hold to the + approximate date which I have given in vol. iv. p. 153 of + this History, and I give the years 1600 to 1350 as the + period of the dynasty, with a possible error of about fifty + years, more or less. + +Scarcely half a century had elapsed between the moment when the XVIII's +dynasty reached the height of its power under Amenothes III. and that of +its downfall. It is impossible to introduce with impunity changes of any +kind into the constitution or working of so complicated a machine as an +empire founded on conquest. When the parts of the mechanism have been +once put together and set in motion, and have become accustomed to +work harmoniously at a proper pace, interference with it must not be +attempted except to replace such parts as are broken or worn out, by +others exactly like them. To make alterations while the machine is in +motion, or to introduce new combinations, however ingenious, into any +part of the original plan, might produce an accident or a breakage of +the gearing when perhaps it would be least expected. When the devout +Khuniatonu exchanged one city and one god for another, he thought +that he was merely transposing equivalents, and that the safety of the +commonwealth was not concerned in the operation. Whether it was Amon or +Atonu who presided over the destinies of his people, or whether Thebes +or Tel el-Amarna were the centre of impulse, was, in his opinion, merely +a question of internal arrangement which could not affect the economy +of the whole. But events soon showed that he was mistaken in his +calculations. It is probable that if, on the expulsion of the Hyksos, +the earlier princes of the dynasty had attempted an alteration in the +national religion, or had moved the capital to any other city they might +select, the remainder of the kingdom would not have been affected by the +change. But after several centuries of faithful adherence to Amon in +his city of Thebes, the governing power would find it no easy matter +to accomplish such a resolution. During three centuries the dynasty had +become wedded to the city and to its patron deity, and the locality had +become so closely associated with the dynasty, that any blow aimed at +the god could not fail to destroy the dynasty with it; indeed, had the +experiment of Khuniatonu been prolonged beyond a few years, it might +have entailed the ruin of the whole country. All who came into contact +with Egypt, or were under her rule, whether Asiatics or Africans, +were quick to detect any change in her administration, and to remark a +falling away from the traditional systems of the times of Thutmosis III. +and Amenothes II. The successors of the heretic king had the sense to +perceive at once the first symptoms of disorder, and to refrain from +persevering in his errors; but however quick they were to undo his work, +they could not foresee its serious consequences. His immediate followers +were powerless to maintain their dynasty, and their posterity had to +make way for a family who had not incurred the hatred of Amon, or rather +that of his priests. If those who followed them were able by their tact +and energy to set Egypt on her feet again, they were at the same time +unable to restore her former prosperity or her boundless confidence in +herself. + +[Illustration: 114.jpg Tailpiece] + + + + +CHAPTER II--THE REACTION AGAINST EGYPT + + +_THE XIth DYNASTY: HARMHABI--THE HITTITE EMPIRE IN SYRIA AND IN ASIA +MINOR--SETI I. AND RAMSES II.--THE PEOPLE OF THE SEA: MINEPHTAH AND THE +ISRAELITE EXODUS._ + +_The birth and antecedents of Harmhabi, his youth, his enthronement--The +final triumph of Amon and his priests--Harmhabi infuses order into the +government: his wars against the Ethiopians and Asiatics--The Khati, +their civilization, religion; their political and military constitution; +the extension of their empire towards the north--The countries and +populations of Asia Minor; commercial routes between the Euphrates and +the AEgean Sea--The treaty concluded between Harmhabi and Sapalulu._ + +_Ramses I. and the uncertainties as to his origin--Seti I. and +the campaign against Syria in the 1st year of his reign; the +re-establishment of the Egyptian empire--Working of the gold-mines at +Etai--The monuments constructed by Seti I. in Nubia, at Karnak, Luxor, +and Abydos--The valley of the kings and tomb of Seti I. at Thebes._ + +_Ramses II., his infancy, his association in the Government, his debut +in Ethiopia: he builds a residence in the Delta--His campaign against +the Khati in the 5th year of his reign--The talcing of Qodshu, the +victory of Ramses II. and the truce established with Khatusaru: the poem +of Pentauirit--His treaty with the Khati in the 21st year of his reign: +the balance of power in Syria: the marriage of Ramses II. with a Hittite +princess--Public works: the Speos at Abu-Simbel; Luxor, Karnak, the +Eamesseum, the monuments in the Delta--The regency of Khamoisit and +Minephtah, the legend of Sesostris, the coffin and mummy of Ramses II._ + +_Minephtah--The kingdom of Libya, the people of the sea--The first +invasion of Libya: the Egyptian victory at Piriu; the triumph of +Minephtah--Seti II., Amenmeses, Siphtah-Minephtah--The foreign captives +in Egypt; the Exodus of the Hebrews and their march to Sinai--An +Egyptian romance of the Exodus: Amenophis, son of Pa-apis._ + +[Illustration: 117.jpg Page Image] + + + + +CHAPTER II--THE REACTION AGAINST EGYPT + + +_The XIXth dynasty: Harmhabi--The Hittite empire in Syria and in Asia +Minor--Seti I. and Ramses II.--The people of the sea: Minephtah and the +Israelite Exodus._ + +While none of these ephemeral Pharaohs left behind them a, either +legitimate or illegitimate, son there was no lack of princesses, any of +which, having on her accession to the throne to choose a consort after +her own heart, might thus become the founder of a new dynasty. By such a +chance alliance Harmhabi, who was himself descended from Thutmosis III., +was raised to the kingly office.* His mother, Mutnozmit, was of the +royal line, and one of the most beautiful statues in the Gizeh Museum +probably represents her. The body is mutilated, but the head is charming +in its intelligent and animated expression, in its full eyes and +somewhat large, but finely modelled, mouth. The material of the statue +is a finegrained limestone, and its milky whiteness tends to soften the +malign character of her look and smile. It is possible that Mutnozmit +was the daughter of Amenothes III. by his marriage with one of +his sisters: it was from her, at any rate, and not from his +great-grandfather, that Harmhabi derived his indisputable claims to +royalty.** + + * A fragment of an inscription at Karnak calls Thutmosis + III. "the father of his fathers." Champollion called him + Hornemnob, Rosellini, Hor-hemheb, Hor-em-hbai, and both + identified him with the Horos of Manetho, hence the custom + among Egyptologists for a long time to designate him by the + name Horus. Deveria was the first to show that the name + corresponded with the Armais of the lists of Manetho, and, + in fact, Armais is the Greek transcription of the group + Harmhabi in the bilingual texts of the Ptolemaic period. + + ** Mutnozmit was at first considered the daughter and + successor of Harmhabi, or his wife. Birch showed that the + monuments did not confirm these hypotheses, and he was + inclined to think that she was Harmhabi's mother. As far as + I can see for the present, it is the only solution which + agrees with the evidence on the principal monument which has + made known her existence. + +He was born, probably, in the last years of Amenothes, when Tii was the +exclusive favourite of the sovereign; but it was alleged later on, when +Harmhabi had emerged from obscurity, that Amon, destining him for the +throne, had condescended to become his father by Mutnozmit--a customary +procedure with the god when his race on earth threatened to become +debased.* It was he who had rocked the newly born infant to sleep, and, +while Harsiesis was strengthening his limbs with protective amulets, had +spread over the child's skin the freshness and brilliance which are the +peculiar privilege of the immortals. While still in the nursery, the +great and the insignificant alike prostrated themselves before Harmhabi, +making him liberal offerings. Every one recognised in him, even when +still a lad and incapable of reflection, the carriage and complexion +of a god, and Horus of Cynopolis was accustomed to follow his steps, +knowing that the time of his advancement was near. After having called +the attention of the Egyptians to Harmhabi, Amon was anxious, in fact, +to hasten the coming of the day when he might confer upon him supreme +rank, and for this purpose inclined the heart of the reigning Pharaoh +towards him. Ai proclaimed him his heir over the whole land.** + + * All that we know of the youth of Harmhabi is contained in + the texts on a group preserved in the Turin Museum, and + pointed out by Champollion, translated and published + subsequently by Birch and by Brugsch. The first lines of the + inscription seem to me to contain an account of the union of + Amon with the queen, analogous to those at Deir el-Bahari + treating of the birth of Hatshopsitu, and to those at Luxor + bearing upon Amenothes III. (cf. vol. iv. pp. 342, 343; and + p. 51 of the present volume), and to prove for certain that + Harmhabi's mother was a princess of the royal line by right. + + ** The king is not named in the inscription. It cannot have + been Amenothes IV., for an individual of the importance of + Harmhabi, living alongside this king, would at least have + had a tomb begun for him at. Tel el-Amarna. We may hesitate + between Ai and Tutankhamon; but the inscription seems to say + definitely that Harmhabi succeeded directly to the king + under whom he had held important offices for many years, and + this compels us to fix upon Ai, who, as we have said at p. + 108, et seq., of the present volume, was, to all + appearances, the last of the so-called heretical sovereigns. + +He never gave cause for any dissatisfaction when called to court, and +when he was asked questions by the monarch he replied always in fit +terms, in such words as were calculated to produce serenity, and thus +gained for himself a reputation as the incarnation of wisdom, all his +plans and intentions appearing to have been conceived by Thot the +Ibis himself. For many years he held a place of confidence with the +sovereign. The nobles, from the moment he appeared at the gate of the +palace, bowed their backs before him; the barbaric chiefs from the north +or south stretched out their arms as soon as they approached him, and +gave him the adoration they would bestow upon a god. His favourite +residence was Memphis, his preference for it arising from his having +possibly been born there, or from its having been assigned to him for +his abode. Here he constructed for himself a magnificent tomb, the +bas-reliefs of which exhibit him as already king, with the sceptre in +his hand and the uraaus on his brow, while the adjoining cartouche does +not as yet contain his name.* + + * This part of the account is based upon, a study of a + certain number of texts and representations all coming from + Harmhabi's tomb at Saqqarah, and now scattered among the + various museums--at Gizeh, Leyden, London, and Alexandria. + Birch was the first to assign those monuments to the Pharaoh + Harmhabi, supposing at the same time that he had been + dethroned by Ramses I., and had lived at Memphis in an + intermediate position between that of a prince and that of a + private individual; this opinion was adopted by Ed. Meyer, + rejected by Wiedemann and by myself. After full examination, + I think the Harmhabi of the tomb at Saqqarah and the Pharaoh + Harmhabi are one and the same person; Harmhabi, sufficiently + high placed to warrant his wearing the uraius, but not high + enough to have his name inscribed in a cartouche, must have + had his tomb constructed at Saqqarah, as Ai and possibly + Ramses I. had theirs built for them at Tel el-Amarna. + +He was the mighty of the mighty, the great among the great, the general +of generals, the messenger who ran to convey orders to the people of +Asia and Ethiopia, the indispensable companion in council or on the +field of battle,* at the time when Horus of Cynopolis resolved to +seat him upon his eternal throne. Ai no longer occupied it. Horus took +Harmhabi with him to Thebes, escorted him thither amid expressions of +general joy, and led him to Amon in order that the god might bestow upon +him the right to reign. The reception took place in the temple of +Luxor, which served as a kind of private chapel for the descendants of +Amenothes. Amon rejoiced to see Harmhabi, the heir of the two worlds; +he took him with him to the royal palace, introduced him into the +apartments of his august daughter, Mutnozmit; then, after she had +recognised her child and had pressed him to her bosom, all the gods +broke out into acclamations, and their cries ascended up to heaven.** + + * The fragments of the tomb preserved at Leyden show him + leading to the Pharaoh Asiatics and Ethiopians, burthened + with tribute. The expressions and titles given above are + borrowed from the fragments at Gizeh. + + ** Owing to a gap, the text cannot be accurately translated + at this point. The reading can be made out that Amon "betook + himself to the palace, placing the prince before him, as far + as the sanctuary of his (Amon's) daughter, the very + august...; she poured water on his hands, she embraced the + beauties (of the prince), she placed herself before him." It + will be seen that the name of the daughter of Amon is + wanting, and Birch thought that a terrestrial princess whom + Harmhabi had married was in question, Miifcnozmit, according + to Brugsch. If the reference is not to a goddess, who along + with Amon took part in the ceremonies, but to Mutnozmit, we + must come to the conclusion that she, as heir and queen by + birth, must have ceded her rights by some ritual to her son + before he could be crowned. + +"Behold, Amon arrives with his son before him, at the palace, in order +to put upon his head the diadem, and to prolong the length of his life! +We install him, therefore, in his office, we give to him the insignia of +Ea, we pray Amon for him whom he has brought as our protector: may he as +king have the festivals of Ea and the years of Horus; may he accomplish +his good pleasure in Thebes, in Heliopolis, in Memphis, and may he +add to the veneration with which these cities are invested." And +they immediately decided that the new Pharaoh should be called +Horus-sturdy-bull, mighty in wise projects, lord of the Vulture and of +the very marvellous Urseus in Thebes, the conquering Horus who takes +pleasure in the truth, and who maintains the two lands, the lord of the +south and north, Sozir Khopiruri chosen of Ea, the offspring of the Sun, +Harmhabi Miamun, giver of life. The _cortege_ came afterwards to the +palace, the king walking before Amon: there the god embraced his son, +placed the diadems upon his head, delivered to him the rule of the whole +world, over foreign populations as well as those of Egypt, inasmuch as +he possessed this power as the sovereign of the universe. + +This is the customary subject of the records of enthronement. Pharaoh is +the son of a god, chosen by his father, from among all those who might +have a claim to it, to occupy for a time the throne of Horus; and as he +became king only by a divine decree, he had publicly to express, at the +moment of his elevation, his debt of gratitude to, and his boundless +respect for, the deity, who had made him what he was. In this case, +however, the protocol embodied something more than the traditional +formality, and its hackneyed phrases borrowed a special meaning from the +circumstances of the moment. Amon, who had been insulted and proscribed +by Khuniatonu, had not fully recovered his prestige under the rule of +the immediate successors of his enemy. + +[Illustration: 123.jpg THE FIRST PYLON OF HARMHABI AT KARNAK] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken by Beato. + +They had restored to him his privileges and his worship, they had become +reconciled to him, and avowed themselves his faithful ones, but all this +was as much an act of political necessity as a matter of religion: +they still continued to tolerate, if not to favour, the rival doctrinal +system, and the temple of the hateful Disk still dishonoured by its +vicinity the sanctuary of Karnak. Harmhabi, on the other hand, was +devoted to Amon, who had moulded him in embryo, and had trained him from +his birth to worship none but him. Harmhabi's triumph marked the end +of the evil days, and inaugurated a new era, in which Amon saw +himself again master of Thebes and of the world. Immediately after his +enthronement Harmhabi rivalled the first Amen-othes in his zeal for the +interests of his divine father: he overturned the obelisks of Atonu and +the building before which they stood; then, that no trace of them might +remain, he worked up the stones into the masonry of two pylons, which he +set up upon the site, to the south of the gates of Thutmosis III. They +remained concealed in the new fabric for centuries, but in the year +27 B.C. a great earthquake brought them abruptly to light. We find +everywhere among the ruins, at the foot of the dislocated gates, or at +the bases of the headless colossal figures, heaps of blocks detached +from the structure, on which can be made out remnants of prayers +addressed to the Disk, scenes of worship, and cartouches of Amenofches +IV., Ai, and Tutankhamon. The work begun by Harmhabi at Thebes +was continued with unabated zeal through the length of the whole +river-valley. "He restored the sanctuaries from the marshes of Athu even +to Nubia; he repaired their sculptures so that they were better than +before, not to speak of the fine things he did in them, rejoicing the +eyes of Ra. That which he had found injured he put into its original +condition, erecting a hundred statues, carefully formed of valuable +stone, for every one which was lacking. He inspected the ruined towns of +the gods in the land, and made them such as they had been in the time +of the first Ennead, and he allotted to them estates and offerings +for every day, as well as a set of sacred vessels entirely of gold and +silver; he settled priests in them, bookmen, carefully chosen soldiers, +and assigned to them fields, cattle, all the necessary material to +make prayers to Ra every morning." These measures were inspired by +consideration for the ancient deities; but he added to them others, +which tended to secure the welfare of the people and the stability of +the government. Up to this time the officials and the Egyptian soldiers +had displayed a tendency to oppress the fellahin, without taking into +consideration the injury to the treasury occasioned by their rapacity. +Constant supervision was the only means of restraining them, for even +the best-served Pharaohs, Thutmosis, and Amenothes III. themselves, were +obliged to have frequent recourse to the rigour of the law to keep the +scandalous depredations of the officials within bounds.* + + * Harmhabi refers to the edicts of Thutmosis III. + +The religious disputes of the preceding years, in enfeebling the +authority of the central power, had given a free hand to these +oppressors. The scribes and tax-collectors were accustomed to exact +contributions for the public service from the ships, whether laden or +not, of those who were in a small way of business, and once they had +laid their hands upon them, they did not readily let them go. The poor +fellow falling into their clutches lost his cargo, and he was at his +wits' end to know how to deliver at the royal storehouses the various +wares with which he calculated to pay his taxes. No sooner had the +Court arrived at some place than the servants scoured the neighbourhood, +confiscating the land produce, and seizing upon slaves, under pretence +that they were acting for the king, while they had only their personal +ends in view. Soldiers appropriated all the hides of animals with the +object, doubtless, of making from them leather jackets and helmets, or +of duplicating their shields, with the result that when the treasury +made its claim for leather, none was to be found. It was hardly +possible, moreover, to bring the culprits to justice, for the chief men +of the towns and villages, the prophets, and all those who ought to +have looked after the interests of the taxpayer, took money from the +criminals for protecting them from justice, and compelled the innocent +victims also to purchase their protection. Harmhabi, who was continually +looking for opportunities to put down injustice and to punish deceit, +at length decided to pro-mulgate a very severe edict against the +magistrates and the double-dealing officials: any of them who was found +to have neglected his duty was to have his nose cut off, and was to +be sent into perpetual exile to Zalu, on the eastern frontier. His +commands, faithfully carried out, soon produced a salutary effect, and +as he would on no account relax the severity of the sentence, exactions +were no longer heard of, to the advantage of the revenue of the State. +On the last day of each month the gates of his palace were open to every +one. + +[Illustration: 127.jpg AMENOTHES IV. FROM A FRAGMENT USED AGAIN BY +HARMHABI] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Prisse d'Avennes. + +Any one on giving his name to the guard could enter the court of honour, +where he would find food in abundance to satisfy his hunger while he was +awaiting an audience. The king all the while was seated in the sight +of all at the tribune, whence he would throw among his faithful friends +necklaces and bracelets of gold: he inquired into complaints one after +another, heard every case, announced his judgments in brief words, and +dismissed his subjects, who went away proud and happy at having had +their affairs dealt with by the sovereign himself.* + + * All these details are taken from a stele discovered in + 1882. The text is so mutilated that it is impossible to give + a literal rendering of it in all its parts, but the sense is + sufficiently clear to warrant our rilling up the whole with + considerable certainty. + +The portraits of Harmhabi which have come down to us give us the +impression of a character at once energetic and agreeable. The most +beautiful of these is little more than a fragment broken off a +black granite statue. Its mournful expression is not pleasing to the +spectator, and at the first view alienates his sympathy. The face, which +is still youthful, breathes an air of melancholy, an expression which +is somewhat rare among the Pharaohs of the best period: the thin and +straight nose is well set on the face, the elongated eyes have somewhat +heavy lids; the large, fleshy lips, slightly contracted at the corners +of the mouth, are cut with a sharpness that gives them singular vigour, +and the firm and finely modelled chin loses little of its form from the +false beard depending from it. Every detail is treated with such freedom +that one would think the sculptor must have had some soft material to +work upon, rather than a rock almost hard enough to defy the chisel; +the command over it is so complete that the difficulty of the work is +forgotten in the perfection of the result. The dreamy expression of his +face, however, did not prevent Harmhabi from displaying beyond Egypt, as +within it, singular activity. + +[Illustration: 128.jpg HARMHABI] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a Autograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey. + +Although Egypt had never given up its claims to dominion over the whole +river-valley, as far as the plains of Sennar, yet since the time of +Amenothes III. no sovereign had condescended, it would I appear, to +conduct in person the expeditions directed against the tribes of! the +Upper Nile. Harmhabi was anxious to revive the custom which imposed +upon the Pharaohs the obligation to make their first essay in arms in +Ethiopia, as Horus, son of Isis, had done of yore, and he seized the +pretext of the occurrence of certain raids there to lead a body of +troops himself into the heart of the negro country. + +[Illustration: 129.jpg THE VAULTED PASSAGE OF THE ROCK-TOMB AT GEBEL +SILSILEH] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. + +He had just ordered at this time the construction of the two southern +pylons at Karnak, and there was great activity in the quarries of +Silsileh. A commemorative chapel also was in course of excavation here +in the sandstone rock, and he had dedicated it to his father, Amon-Ba of +Thebes, coupling with him the local divinities, Hapi the Nile, and Sobku +the patron of Ombos. The sanctuary is excavated somewhat deeply into +the hillside, and the dark rooms within it are decorated with the usual +scenes of worship, but the vaulted approach to them displays upon its +western wall the victory of the king. We see here a figure receiving +from Amon the assurance of a long and happy life, and another letting +fly his arrows at a host of fleeing enemies; Ethiopians raise their +heads to him in suppliant gesture; soldiers march past with their +captives; above one of the doors we see twelve military leaders marching +and carrying the king aloft upon their shoulders, while a group of +priests and nobles salute him, offering incense.* + + * The significance of the monument was pointed out first by + Champollion. The series of races conquered was represented + at Karnak on the internal face of one of the pylons built by + Harmhabi; it appears to have been "usurped" by Ramses II. + +At this period Egyptian ships were ploughing the Red Sea, and their +captains were renewing official relations with Puanit. Somali chiefs +were paying visits to the palace, as in the time of Thutmosis III. The +wars of Amon had, in fact, begun again. The god, having suffered neglect +for half a century, had a greater need than ever of gold and silver +to fill his coffers; he required masons for his buildings, slaves and +cattle for his farms, perfumed essences and incense for his daily rites. +His resources had gradually become exhausted, and his treasury would +soon be empty if he did not employ the usual means to replenish it. He +incited Harmhabi to proceed against the countries from which, in olden +times he had enriched himself--to the south in the first place, and +then, having decreed victory there, and having naturally taken for +himself the greater part of the spoils, he turned his attention to Asia. + +[Illustration: 131.jpg THE TRIUMPH OP HARMHABI IN THE SANCTUARY OF GEBEL +SILSILEH] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Daniel Heron. + The black spots are due to the torches of the fellahin of + the neighbourhood who have visited the rock tomb in bygone + years. + +In the latter campaign the Egyptian troops took once more the route +through Coele-Syria, and if the expedition experienced here more +difficulties than on the banks of the Upper Nile, it was, nevertheless, +brought to an equally triumphant conclusion. Those of their adversaries +who had offered an obstinate resistance were transported into other +lands, and the rebel cities were either razed to the ground or given to +the flames: the inhabitants having taken refuge in the mountains, where +they were in danger of perishing from hunger, made supplications for +peace, which was granted to them on the usual conditions of doing homage +and paying tribute.* + + * These details are taken from the fragment of an + inscription now in the museum at Vienna; Bergmann, and also + Erman, think that we have in this text the indication of an + immigration into Egypt of a tribe of the Monatiu. + +We do not exactly know how far he penetrated into the country; the +list of the towns and nations over which he boasts of having triumphed +contains, along with names unknown to us, some already famous or soon to +become so--Arvad, Pibukhu, the Khati, and possibly Alasia. The Haui-Nibu +themselves must have felt the effects of the campaign, for several of +their chiefs associated, doubtless, with the Phoenicians, presented +themselves before the Pharaoh at Thebes. Egypt was maintaining, +therefore, its ascendency, or at least appearing to maintain it in +those regions where the kings of the XVIIIth dynasty had ruled after +the campaigns of Thutmosis I., Thutmosis III., and Amenothes II. Its +influence, nevertheless, was not so undisputed as in former days; not +that the Egyptian soldiers were less valiant, but owing to the fact +that another power had risen up alongside them whose armies were strong +enough to encounter them on the field of battle and to obtain a victory +over them. + +Beyond Naharaim, in the deep recesses of the Amanus and Taurus, there +had lived, for no one knows how many centuries, the rude and warlike +tribes of the Khati, related not so, much to the Semites of the Syrian +plain as to the populations of doubtful race and language who occupied +the upper basins of the Halys and Euphrates.* The Chaldaean conquest +had barely touched them; the Egyptian campaign had not more effect, and +Thutmosis III. himself, after having crossed their frontiers and sacked +several of their towns, made no serious pretence to reckon them among +his subjects. Their chiefs were accustomed, like their neighbours, to +use, for correspondence with other countries, the cuneiform mode of +writing; they had among them, therefore, for this purpose, a host of +scribes, interpreters, and official registrars of events, such as we +find to have accompanied the sovereigns of Assyria and Babylon.** +These chiefs were accustomed to send from time to time a present to the +Pharaoh, which the latter was pleased to regard as a tribute,*** or +they would offer, perhaps, one of their daughters in marriage to the +king at Thebes, and after the marriage show themselves anxious to +maintain good faith with their son-in-law. + + * Halevy asserts that the Khati were Semites, and bases his + assertion on materials of the Assyrian period. Thes Khati, + absorbed in Syria by the Semites, with whom they were + blended, appear to have been by origin a non-Semitic people. + + ** A letter from the King of the Khati to the Pharaoh + Amenothes IV. is written in cuneiform writing and in a + Semitic language. It has been thought that other documents, + drawn up in a non-Semitic language and coming from Mitanni + and Arzapi, contain a dialect of the Hittite speech or that + language itself. A "writer of books," attached to the person + of the Hittite King Khatusaru, is named amongst the dead + found on the field of battle at Qodshu. + + *** It is thus perhaps we must understand the mention of + tribute from the Khati in the _Annals of Thutmosis III._, 1. + 26, in the year XXXIII., also in the year XL. One of the Tel + el-Amarna letters refers to presents of this kind, which the + King of Khati addresses to Amenothes IV. to celebrate his + enthronement, and to ask him to maintain with himself the + traditional good relations of their two families. + +They had, moreover, commercial relations with Egypt, and furnished it +with cattle, chariots, and those splendid Cappadocian horses whose breed +was celebrated down to the Greek period.* They were already, indeed, +people of consideration; their territory was so extensive that the +contemporaries of Thutmosis III. called them the Greater Khati; and the +epithet "vile," which the chancellors of the Pharaohs added to their +name, only shows by its virulence the impression which they had produced +upon the mind of their adversaries.** + + * The horses of the Khati were called _abari_, strong, + vigorous, as also their bulls. The King of Alasia, while + offering to Amenothes III. a profitable speculation, advises + him to have nothing to do with the King of the Khati or with + the King of Sangar, and thus furnishes proof that the + Egyptians held constant commercial relations with the Khati. + + ** M. de Rouge suggested that Khati "the Little" was the + name of the Hittites of Hebron. The expression, "Khati the + Great," has been compared with that of Khanirabbat, "Khani + the Great," which in the Assyrian texts would seem to + designate a part of Cappadocia, in which the province of + Miliddi occurs, and the identification of the two has found + an ardent defender in W. Max Millier. Until further light is + thrown upon it, the most probable reading of the word is not + Khani-_ra_bat, but Khani-_gal_bat. The name Khani-Galbat is + possibly preserved in Julbat, which the Arab geographers + applied in the Middle Ages to a province situated in Lesser + Armenia. + +Their type of face distinguishes them clearly from the nations +conterminous with them on the south. The Egyptian draughtsmen +represented them as squat and short in stature, though vigorous, +strong-limbed, and with broad and full shoulders in youth, but as +inclined frequently to obesity in old age. The head is long and heavy, +the forehead flattened, the chin moderate in size, the nose prominent, +the eyebrows and cheeks projecting, the eyes small, oblique, and +deep-set, the mouth fleshy, and usually framed in by two deep wrinkles; +the flesh colour is a yellowish or reddish white, but clearer than that +of the Phoenicians or the Amurru. + +[Illustration: 135.jpg THREE HEADS OF HITTITE SOLDIERS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. + +Their ordinary costume consisted, sometimes of a shirt with short +sleeves, sometimes of a sort of loin-cloth, more or less ample according +to the rank of the individual wearing it, and bound round the waist by +a belt. To these they added a scanty mantle, red or blue, fringed like +that of the Chaldaeans, which they passed over the left shoulder and +brought back under the right, so as to leave the latter exposed. They +wore shoes with thick soles, turning up distinctly at the toes,* and +they encased their hands in gloves, reaching halfway up the arm. + + * This characteristic is found on the majority of the + monuments which the peoples of Asia Minor have left to us, + and it is one of the most striking indications of the + northern origin of the Khati. The Egyptian artists and + modern draughtsmen have often neglected it, and the majority + of them have represented the Khati without shoes. + +They shaved off both moustache and beard, but gave free growth to their +hair, which they divided into two or three locks, and allowed to +fall upon their backs and breasts. The king's head-dress, which was +distinctive of royalty, was a tall pointed hat, resembling to some +extent the white crown of the Pharaohs. The dress of the people, taken +all together, was of better and thicker material than that of the +Syrians or Egyptians. The mountains and elevated plateaus which they +inhabited were subject to extraordinary vicissitudes of heat and cold. +If the summer burnt up everything, the winter reigned here with an +extreme rigour, and dragged on for months: clothing and footgear had +to be seen to, if the snow and the icy winds of December were to be +resisted. The character of their towns, and the domestic life of their +nobles and the common people, can only be guessed at. Some, at least, +of the peasants must have sheltered themselves in villages half +underground, similar to those which are still to be found in this +region. The town-folk and the nobles had adopted for the most part the +Chaldaean or Egyptian manners and customs in use among the Semites of +Syria. As to their religion, they reverenced a number of secondary +deities who had their abode in the tempest, in the clouds, the sea, the +rivers, the springs, the mountains, and the forests. Above this crowd +there were several sovereign divinities of the thunder or the air, +sun-gods and moon-gods, of which the chief was called Khati, and was +considered to be the father of the nation. They ascribed to all their +deities a warlike and savage character. The Egyptians pictured some of +them as a kind of Ra,* others as representing Sit, or rather Sutkhu, +that patron of the Hyksos which was identified by them with Sit: every +town had its tutelary heroes, of whom they were accustomed to speak as +if of its Sutkhu--Sutkhu of Paliqa, Sutkhu of Khissapa, Sutkhu of Sarsu, +Sutkhu of Salpina. The goddesses in their eyes also became Astartes, and +this one fact suggests that these deities were, like their Phoenician +and Canaanite sisters, of a double nature--in one aspect chaste, fierce, +and warlike, and in another lascivious and pacific. One god was called +Mauru, another Targu, others Qaui and Khepa.** + + * The Cilician inscriptions of the Graeco-Roman period reveal + the existence in this region of a god, Rho, Rhos. Did this + god exist among the Khati, and did the similarity of the + pronunciation of it to that of the god Ra suggest to the + Egyptians the existence of a similar god among these people, + or did they simply translate into their language the name of + the Hittite god representing the sun? + + ** The names Mauru and Qaui are deduced from the forms + Maurusaru and Qauisaru, which were borne by the Khati: Qaui + was probably the eponymous hero of the Qui people, as Khati + was of the Khati. Tarku and Tisubu appear to me to be + contained in the names Targanunasa, Targazatas, and + Tartisubu; Tisubu is probably the Tessupas mentioned in the + letter from Dushratta written in Mitannian, and identical + with the Tushupu of another letter from the same king, and + in a despatch from Tarkondaraush. Targu, Targa, Targanu, + resemble the god Tarkhu, which is known to us from the + proper names of these regions preserved in attributes + covered by each of these divine names, and as to the forms + with which they were invested. + +[Illustration: 138.jpg A HITTITE KING.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a picture in Lepsius. + Khatusaru, King of the Khati, who was for thirty years a + contemporary of Ramses II. + +Tishubu, the Ramman of the Assyrians, was doubtless lord of the tempest +and of the atmosphere; Shausbe answered to Shala and to Ishtar the queen +of love;* but we are frequently in ignorance as to the Assyrian and +Greek inscriptions. Kheba, Khepa, Khipa, is said to be a denomination +of Ramman; we find it in the names of the princesses Tadu-khipa, +Gilu-khipa, Puu-khipa. + +The majority of them, both male and female, were of gigantic stature, +and were arrayed in the vesture of earthly kings and queens: they +brandished their arms, displayed the insignia of their authority, such +as a flower or bunch of grapes, and while receiving the offerings of +the people were seated on a chair before an altar, or stood each on +the animal representing him--such as a lion, a stag, or wild goat. The +temples of their towns have disappeared, but they could never have been, +it would seem, either-large or magnificent: the favourite places of +worship were the tops of mountains, in the vicinity of springs, or the +depths of mysterious grottoes, where the deity revealed himself to his +priests, and received the faithful at the solemn festivals celebrated +several times a year.* + + * The association of Tushupu, Tessupas, Tisubu, with Rammanu + is made out from an Assyrian tablet published by Bezold: it + was reserved for Say ce and Jensen to determine the nature + of the god. Shausbe has been identified with Ishtar or Shala + by Jensen. + +We know as little about their political organisation as about their +religion.* We may believe, however, that it was feudal in character, and +that every clan had its hereditary chief and its proper gods: the +clans collectively rendered obedience to a common king, whose effective +authority depended upon his character and age.** + + * The religious cities and the festivals of the Greek epoch + are described by Strabo; these festivals were very ancient, + and their institution, if not the method of celebrating + them, may go back to the time of the Hittite empire. + + ** The description of the battle of Qodshu in the time of + Ramses II. shows us the King of the Khati surrounded by his + vassals. The evidence of the existence of a similar feudal + organisation from the time of the XVIIIth dynasty is + furnished by a letter of Dushratta, King of Mitanni, where + he relates to Amenothes IV. the revolt of his brother + Artassumara, and speaks of the help which one of the + neighbouring chiefs, Pirkhi, and all the Khati had given to + the rebel. + +The various contingents which the sovereign could collect together and +lead would, if he were an incapable general, be of little avail against +the well-officered and veteran troops of Egypt. Still they were not to +be despised, and contained the elements of an excellent army, superior +both in quality and quantity to any which Syria had ever been able +to put into the field. The infantry consisted of a limited number of +archers or slingers. They had usually neither shield nor cuirass, but +merely, in the way of protective armour, a padded head-dress, ornamented +with a tuft. The bulk of the army carried short lances and broad-bladed +choppers, or more generally, short thin-handled swords with flat +two-edged blades, very broad at the base and terminating in a point. + +[Illustration: 140.jpg A HITTITE CHARIOT WITH ITS THREE OCCUPANTS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Champollion. + +Their mode of attack was in close phalanxes, whose shock must have +been hard to bear, for the soldiers forming them were in part at least +recruited from among the strong and hardy mountaineers of the Taurus. +The chariotry comprised the nobles and the _elite_ of the army, but it +was differently constituted from that of the Egyptians, and employed +other tactics. + +The Hittite chariots were heavier, and the framework, instead of being a +mere skeleton, was pannelled on the sides, the contour at the top being +sometimes quite square, at other times rudely curved. It was bound +together in the front by two disks of metal, and strengthened by strips +of copper or bronze, which were sometimes plated with silver or gold. +There were no quiver-cases as in Egyptian chariots, for the Hittite +charioteers rarely resorted to the bow and arrow. The occupants of +a chariot were three in number--the driver; the shield-bearer, whose +office it was to protect his companions by means of a shield, sometimes +of a round form, with a segment taken out on each side, and sometimes +square; and finally, the warrior, with his sword and lance. The Hittite +princes whom fortune had brought into relations with Thutmosis III. and +Amenothes II. were not able to avail themselves properly of the latent +forces around them. It was owing probably to the feebleness of their +character or to the turbulence of their barons that we must ascribe the +poor part they played in the revolutions of the Eastern world at this +time. The establishment of a strong military power on their southern +frontier was certain, moreover, to be anything but pleasing to them; if +they preferred not to risk everything by entering into a great struggle +with the invaders, they could, without compromising themselves too +much, harass them with sudden attacks, and intrigue in an underhand way +against them to their own profit. Pharaoh's generals were accustomed +to punish, one after the other, these bands of invading tribes, and the +sculptors duly recorded their names on a pylon at Thebes among those +of the conquered nations, but these disasters had little effect in +restraining the Hittites. They continued, in spite of them, to march +southward, and the letters from the Egyptian governors record their +progress year after year. They had a hand in all the plots which were +being hatched among the Syrians, and all the disaffected who wished +to be free from foreign oppression--such as Abdashirti and his son +Aziru--addressed themselves to them for help in the way of chariots and +men.* + + * Aziru defends himself in one of his letters against the + accusation of having received four messengers from the King + of the Khati, while he refused to receive those from Egypt. + The complicity of Aziru with the Khati is denounced in an + appeal from the inhabitants of Tunipa. In a mutilated + letter, an unknown person calls attention to the + negotiations which a petty-Syrian prince had entered into + with the King of the Khati. + +Even inthe time of Amenofches III. they had endeavoured to reap profit +from the discords of Mitanni, and had asserted their supremacy over it. +Dushratta, however, was able to defeat one of their chiefs. Repulsed on +this side, they fell back upon that part of Naharaim lying between the +Euphrates and Orontes, and made themselves masters of one town after +another in spite of the despairing appeals of the conquered to the +Theban king. From the accession of Khuniatonu, they set to work to annex +the countries of Nukhassi, Nii, Tunipa, and Zinzauru: they looked with +covetous eyes upon Phoenicia, and were already menacing Coele-Syria. The +religious confusion in Egypt under Tutankhamon and Ai left them a free +field for their ambitions, and when Harmhabi ventured to cross to the +east of the isthmus, he found them definitely installed in the region +stretching from the Mediterranean and the Lebanon to the Euphrates. +Their then reigning prince, Sapalulu, appeared to have been the founder +of a new dynasty: he united the forces of the country in a solid body, +and was within a little of making a single state out of all Northern +Syria.* + + +* Sapalulu has the same name as that wo meet with later on in the +country of Patin, in the time of Salmanasar III., viz. Sapalulme. It is +known to us only from a treaty with the Khati, which makes him coeval +with Ramses I.: it was with him probably that Harmhabi had to deal +in his Syrian campaigns. The limit of his empire towards the south is +gathered in a measure from what we know of the wars of Seti I. with the +Khati. + +All Naharaim had submitted to him: Zahi, Alasia, and the Amurru had +passed under his government from that of the Pharaohs; Carchemish, +Tunipa, Nii, Hamath, figured among his royal cities, and Qodshu was the +defence of his southern frontier. His progress towards the east was +not less considerable. Mitanni, Arzapi, and the principalities of the +Euphrates as far as the Balikh, possibly even to the Khabur,* paid him +homage: beyond this, Assyria and Chaldaea barred his way. Here, as on +his other frontiers, fortune brought him face to face with the most +formidable powers of the Asiatic world. + + * The text of the poem of Pentauirit mentions, among the + countries confederate with the Khati, all Naharaim; that is + to say, the country on either side of the Euphrates, + embracing Mitanni and the principalities named in the Amarna + correspondence, and in addition some provinces whose sites + have not yet been discovered, but which may be placed + without much risk of error to the north of the Taurus. + +The latter prince was obliged to capture Qodshu, and to conquer the +people of the Lebanon. Had he sufficient forces at his disposal to +triumph over them, or only enough to hold his ground? Both hypotheses +could have been answered in the affirmative if each one of these great +powers, confiding in its own resources, had attacked him separately. +The Amorites, the people of Zahi, Alasia, and Naharaim, together with +recruits from Hittite tribes, would then have put him in a position +to resist, and even to carry off victory with a high hand in the final +struggle. But an alliance between Assyria or Babylon and Thebes was +always possible. There had been such things before, in the time of +Thut-mosis IV. and in that of Amenothes III., but they were lukewarm +agreements, and their effect was not much to boast of, for the two +parties to the covenant had then no common enemy to deal with, and their +mutual interests were not, therefore, bound up with their united action. +The circumstances were very different now. The rapid growth of a nascent +kingdom, the restless spirit of its people, its trespasses on domains in +which the older powers had been accustomed to hold the upper hand,--did +not all this tend to transform the convention, more commercial than +military, with which up to this time they had been content, into an +offensive and defensive treaty? If they decided to act in concert, how +could Sapalulu or his successors, seeing that he was obliged to defend +himself on two frontiers at the same moment, muster sufficient resources +to withstand the double assault? The Hittites, as we know them more +especially from the hieroglyphic inscriptions, might be regarded as the +lords only of Northern Syria, and their power be measured merely by the +extent of territory which they occupied to the south of the Taurus and +on the two banks of the Middle Euphrates. But this does not by any means +represent the real facts. This was but the half of their empire; the +rest extended to the westward and northward, beyond the mountains into +that region, known afterwards as Asia Minor, in which Egyptian tradition +had from ancient times confused some twenty nations under the common +vague epithet of Haui-nibu. Official language still employed it as a +convenient and comprehensive term, but the voyages of the Phoenicians +and the travels of the "Royal Messengers," as well as, probably, the +maritime commerce of the merchants of the Delta, had taught the scribes +for more than a century and a half to make distinctions among these +nations which they had previously summed up in one. The Lufeu* were to +be found there, as well as the Danauna,** the Shardana,*** and others +besides, who lay behind one another on the coast. Of the second line of +populations behind the region of the coast tribes, we have up to +the present no means of knowing anything with certainty. Asia Minor, +furthermore, is divided into two regions, so distinctly separated by +nature as well as by races that one would be almost inclined to regard +them as two countries foreign to each other. + + * The Luku, Luka, are mentioned in the Amarna correspondence + under the form Lukki as pirates and highway robbers. The + identity of these people with the Lycians I hold as well + established. + + ** The Danauna are mentioned along with the Luku in the + Amarna correspondence. The termination, _-auna, -ana_ of + this word appears to be the ending in -aon found in Asiatic + names like Lykaon by the side of Lykos, Kataon by the side + of Ketis and Kat-patuka; while the form of the name Danaos + is preserved in Greek legend, Danaon is found only on + Oriental monuments. The Danauna came "from their islands," + that is to say, from the coasts of Asia Minor, or from + Greece, the term not being pressed too literally, as the + Egyptians were inclined to call all distant lands situated + to the north beyond the Mediterranean Sea "islands." + + *** E. de Rouge and Chabas were inclined to identify the + Shardana with the Sardes and the island of Sardinia. Unger + made them out to be the Khartanoi of Libya, and was followed + by Brugsch. W. Max Mueller revived the hypotheses of De Rouge + and Chabas, and saw in them bands from the Italian island. I + am still persuaded, as I was twenty-five years ago, that + they were Asiatics--the Maeonian tribe which gave its name + to Sardis. The Serdani or Shardana are mentioned as serving + in the Egyptian Army in the Tel el-Amarna tablets. + +In its centre it consists of a well-defined undulating plain, having a +gentle slope towards the Black Sea, and of the shape of a kind of convex +trapezium, clearly bounded towards the north by the highlands of Pontus, +and on the south by the tortuous chain of the Taurus. A line of low +hills fringes the country on the west, from the Olympus of Mysia to the +Taurus of Pisidia. Towards the east it is bounded by broken chains of +mountains of unequal height, to which the name Anti-Taurus is not very +appropriately applied. An immense volcanic cone, Mount Argseus, looks +down from a height of some 13,000 feet over the wide isthmus which +connects the country with the lands of the Euphrates. This volcano +is now extinct, but it still preserved in old days something of its +languishing energy, throwing out flames at intervals above the sacred +forests which clothed its slopes. The rivers having their sources in the +region just described, have not all succeeded in piercing the obstacles +which separate them from the sea, but the Pyramus and the Sarus find +their way into the Mediterranean and the Iris, Halys and Sangarios into +the Euxine. The others flow into the lowlands, forming meres, marshes, +and lakes of fluctuating extent. The largest of these lakes, called +Tatta, is salt, and its superficial extent varies with the season. In +brief, the plateau of this region is nothing but an extension of the +highlands of Central Asia, and has the same vegetation, fauna, and +climate, the same extremes of temperature, the same aridity, and the +same wretched and poverty-stricken character as the latter. The maritime +portions are of an entirely different aspect. + +[Illustration: 146.jpg Map] + +The western coast which stretches into the AEgean is furrowed by deep +valleys, opening out as they reach the sea, and the rivers--the Caicus, +the Hermos, the Cayster, and Meander--which flow through them are +effective makers of soil, bringing down with them, as they do, a +continual supply of alluvium, which, deposited at their mouths, causes +the land to encroach there upon the sea. The littoral is penetrated here +and there by deep creeks, and is fringed with beautiful islands--Lesbos, +Chios, Samos, Cos, Rhodes--of which the majority are near enough to the +continent to act as defences of the seaboard, and to guard the mouths of +the rivers, while they are far enough away to be secure from the effects +of any violent disturbances which might arise in the mainland. The +Cyclades, distributed in two lines, are scattered, as it were, at hazard +between Asia and Europe, like great blocks which have fallen around the +piers of a broken bridge. The passage from one to the other is an easy +matter, and owing to them, the sea rather serves to bring together the +two continents than to divide them. Two groups of heights, imperfectly +connected with the central plateau, tower above the AEgean slope--wooded +Ida on the north, veiled in cloud, rich in the flocks and herds upon +its sides, and in the metals within its bosom; and on the south, the +volcanic bastions of Lycia, where tradition was wont to place the +fire-breathing Chimaera. A rocky and irregularly broken coast stretches +to the west of Lycia, in a line almost parallel with the Taurus, through +which, at intervals, torrents leaping from the heights make their way +into the sea. At the extreme eastern point of the coast, almost at the +angle where the Cilician littoral meets that of Syria, the Pyramus and +the Sarus have brought down between them sufficient material to form an +alluvial plain, which the classical geographers designated by the name +of the Level Cilicia, to distinguish it from the rough region of the +interior, Gilicia Trachea. + +The populations dwelling in this peninsula belong to very varied races. +On the south and south-west certain Semites had found an abode--the +mysterious inhabitants of Solyma, and especially the Phoenicians in +their scattered trading-stations. On the north-east, beside the Khati, +distributed throughout the valleys of the Anti-Taurus, between +the Euphrates and Mount Argseus, there were tribes allied to the +Khati*--possibly at this time the Tabal and the Mushka--and, on the +shores of the Black Sea, those workers in metal, which, following the +Greeks, we may call, for want of a better designation, the Chalybes. + + + * A certain number of these tribes or of their towns are to + be found in the list contained in the treaty of Ramses II. + with the Khati. + +We are at a loss to know the distribution of tribes in the centre and +in the north-west, but the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, we may rest +assured, never formed an ethnographical frontier. The continents on +either side of them appear at this point to form the banks of a river, +or the two slopes of a single valley, whose bottom lies buried beneath +the waters. The barbarians of the Balkans had forced their way across at +several points. Dardanians were to be encountered in the neighbourhood +of Mount Ida, as well as on the banks of the Axios, from early times, +and the Kebrenes of Macedonia had colonised a district of the Troad near +Ilion, while the great nation of the Mysians had issued, like them, +from the European populations of the Hebrus and the Strymon. The hero +Dardanos, according to legend, had at first founded, under the auspices +of the Idasan Zeus, the town of Dardania; and afterwards a portion +of his progeny followed the course of the Scamander, and entrenched +themselves upon a precipitous hill, from the top of which they could +look far and wide over the plain and sea. The most ancient Ilion, at +first a village, abandoned on more than one occasion in the course of +centuries, was rebuilt and transformed, earlier than the XVth century +before Christ, into an important citadel, the capital of a warlike +and prosperous kingdom. The ruins on the spot prove the existence of +a primitive civilization analogous to that of the islands of the +Archipelago before the arrival of the Phoenician navigators. We find +that among both, at the outset, flint and bone, clay, baked and unbaked, +formed the only materials for their utensils and furniture; metals were +afterwards introduced, and we can trace their progressive employment +to the gradual exclusion of the older implements. These ancient Trojans +used copper, and we encounter only rarely a kind of bronze, in which the +proportion of tin was too slight to give the requisite hardness to the +alloy, and we find still fewer examples of iron and lead. They were +fairly adroit workers in silver, electrum, and especially in gold. The +amulets, cups, necklaces, and jewellery discovered in their tombs or in +the ruins of their houses, are sometimes of a not ungraceful form. Their +pottery was made by hand, and was not painted or varnished, but they +often gave to it a fine lustre by means of a stone-polisher. Other +peoples of uncertain origin, but who had attained a civilization as +advanced as that of the Trojans, were the Maeonians, the Leleges, and +the Carians who had their abode to the south of Troy and of the Mysians. +The Maeonians held sway in the fertile valleys of the Hermos, Cayster, +and Maaander. They were divided into several branches, such as the +Lydians, the Tyrseni, the Torrhebi, and the Shardana, but their most +ancient traditions looked back with pride to a flourishing state to +which, as they alleged, they had all belonged long ago on the slopes of +Mount Sipylos, between the valley of the Hermos and the Gulf of Smyrna. +The traditional capital of this kingdom was Magnesia, the most ancient +of cities, the residence of Tantalus, the father of Niobe and the +Pelopidae. The Leleges rise up before us from many points at the same +time, but always connected with the most ancient memories of Greece and +Asia. The majority of the strongholds on the Trojan coast belonged to +them--such as Antandros and Gargara--and Pedasos on the Satniois boasted +of having been one of their colonies, while several other towns of the +same name, but very distant from each other, enable us to form some idea +of the extent of their migrations.* + + * According to the scholiast on Nicander, the word "Pedasos" + signified "mountain," probably in the language of the + Leleges. We know up to the present of four Pedasi, or + Pedasa: the first in Messenia, which later on took the name + of Methone; the second in the Troad, on the banks of the + Satniois; the third in the neighbourhood of Cyzicus; and the + fourth in Caria. + +In the time of Strabo, ruined tombs and deserted sites of cities were +shown in Caria which the natives regarded as Lelegia--that is, abode +of the Leleges. The Carians were dominant in the southern angle of the +peninsula and in the AEgean Islands; and the Lycians lay next them on the +east, and were sometimes confounded with them. One of the most powerful +tribes of the Carians, the Tremilse, were in the eyes of the Greeks +hardly to be separated from the mountainous district which they knew +as Lycia proper; while other tribes extended as far as the Halys. A +district of the Troad, to the south of Mount Ida, was called Lycia, and +there was a Lycaonia on both sides of the Middle Taurus; while Attica +had its Lycia, and Crete its Lycians. These three nations--the Lycians, +Carians, and Leleges--were so entangled together from their origin, that +no one would venture now to trace the lines of demarcation between +them, and we are often obliged to apply to them collectively what can be +appropriately ascribed to only one. + +How far the Hittite power extended in the first years of its expansion +we have now hardly the means of knowing. It would appear that it +took within its scope, on the south-west, the Cilician plain, and the +undulating region bordering on it--that of Qodi: the prince of the +latter district, if not his vassal, was at least the colleague of the +King of the Khati, and he acted in concert with him in peace as well as +in war.* + + * The country of Qidi, Qadi, Qodi, has been connected by + Chabas with Galilee, and Brugsch adopted the identification. + W. Max Mueller identified it with Phoenicia. I think the + name served to designate the Cilician coast and plain from + the mouth of the Orontes, and the country which was known in + the Graeco-Roman period by the name Ketis and Kataonia. + +It embraced also the upper basin of the Pyramos and its affluents, as +well as the regions situated between the Euphrates and the Halys, but +its frontier in this direction was continually fluctuating, and our +researches fail to follow it. It is somewhat probable that it extended +considerably towards the west and north-west in the direction of the +AEgean Sea. The forests and escarpments of Lycaonia, and the desolate +steppes of the central plateau, have always presented a barrier +difficult to surmount by any invader from the east. If the Khati at that +period attacked it in front, or by a flank movement, the assault must +rather have been of the nature of a hurried reconnaissance, or of a +raid, than of a methodically conducted campaign.* + + * The idea of a Hittite empire extending over almost all + Asia Minor was advanced by Sayce. + +They must have preferred to obtain possession of the valleys of the +Thermodon and the Iris, which were rich in mineral wealth, and from +which they could have secured an inexhaustible revenue. The extraction +and working of metals in this region had attracted thither from time +immemorial merchants from neighbouring and distant countries--at first +from the south to supply the needs of Syria, Chaldaea, and Egypt, then +from the west for the necessities of the countries on the AEgean. The +roads, which, starting from the archipelago on the one hand, or the +Euphrates on the other, met at this point, fell naturally into one, and +thus formed a continuous route, along which the caravans of commerce, as +well as warlike expeditions, might henceforward pass. Starting from the +cultivated regions of Maeonia, the road proceeded up the valley of the +Hermos from west to east; then, scaling the heights of the central +plateau and taking a direction more and more to the north-east, it +reached the fords of the Halys. Crossing this river twice--for the first +time at a point about two-thirds the length of its course, and for +the second at a short distance from its source--it made an abrupt turn +towards the Taurus, and joined, at Melitene, the routes leading to the +Upper Tigris, to Nisibis, to Singara, and to Old Assur, and connecting +further down beyond the mountainous region, under the walls of +Carchemish, with the roads which led to the Nile and to the river-side +cities on the Persian Gulf.* + + * The very early existence of this road, which partly + coincides with the royal route of the Persian Achemenids, + was proved by Kiepert. + +There were other and shorter routes, if we think only of the number of +miles, from the Hermos in Pisidia or Lycaonia, across the central +steppe and through the Cilician Gates, to the meeting of the ways at +Carchemish; but they led through wretched regions, without industries, +almost without tillage, and inhospitable alike to man and beast, and +they were ventured on only by those who aimed at trafficking among the +populations who lived in their neighbourhood. The Khati, from the time +even when they were enclosed among the fastnesses of the Taurus, had +within their control the most important section of the great land route +which served to maintain regular relations between the ancient kingdoms +of the east and the rising states of the AEgean, and whosoever would pass +through their country had to pay them toll. The conquest of Naharaim, in +giving them control of a new section, placed almost at their discretion +the whole traffic between Chaldaea and Egypt. From the time of Thutmosis +III. caravans employed in this traffic accomplished the greater part +of their journey in territories depending upon Babylon, Assyria, or +Memphis, and enjoyed thus a relative security; the terror of the Pharaoh +protected the travellers even when they were no longer in his domains, +and he saved them from the flagrant exactions made upon them by princes +who called themselves his brothers, or were actually his vassals. But +the time had now come when merchants had to encounter, between Qodshu +and the banks of the Khabur, a sovereign owing no allegiance to any one, +and who would tolerate no foreign interference in his territory. From +the outbreak of hostilities with the Khati, Egypt could communicate +with the cities of the Lower Euphrates only by the Wadys of the Arabian +Desert, which were always dangerous and difficult for large convoys; and +its commercial relations with Chaldaea were practically brought thus to a +standstill, and, as a consequence, the manufactures which fed this trade +being reduced to a limited production, the fiscal receipts arising from +it experienced a sensible diminution. When peace was restored, matters +fell again into their old groove, with certain reservations to the Khati +of some common privileges: Egypt, which had formerly possessed these to +her own advantage, now bore the burden of them, and the indirect tribute +which she paid in this manner to her rivals furnished them with arms +to fight her in case she should endeavour to free herself from the +imposition. All the semi-barbaric peoples of the peninsula of Asia Minor +were of an adventurous and warlike temperament. They were always willing +to set out on an expedition, under the leadership of some chief of noble +family or renowned for valour; sometimes by sea in their light craft, +which would bring them unexpectedly to the nearest point of the Syrian +coast, sometimes by land in companies of foot-soldiers and charioteers. +They were frequently fortunate enough to secure plenty of booty, and +return with it to their homes safe and sound; but as frequently they +would meet with reverses by falling into some ambuscade: in such a case +their conqueror would not put them to the sword or sell them as slaves, +but would promptly incorporate them into his army, thus making his +captives into his soldiers. The King of the Khati was able to make use +of them without difficulty, for his empire was conterminous on the +west and north with some of their native lands, and he had often whole +regiments of them in his army--Mysians, Lycians, people of Augarit,* of +Ilion,** and of Pedasos.*** + + * The country of Augarit, Ugarit, is mentioned on several + occasions in the Tel el-Amarna correspondence. The name has + been wrongly associated with Caria; it has been placed by W. + Max Miiller well within Naharaim, to the east of the + Orontes, between Khalybon (Aleppo) and Apamoea, the writer + confusing it with Akaiti, named in the campaign of Amenothes + II. I am not sure about the site, but its association in the + Amarna letters with Gugu and Khanigalbat inclines me to + place it beyond the northern slopes of the Taurus, possibly + on the banks of the Halys or of the Upper Euphrates. + + ** The name of this people was read Eiuna by Champollion, + who identified it with the Ionians; this reading and + identification were adopted by Lenormant and by W. Max + Mueller. Chabas hesitates between Eiuna and Maiuna, Ionia and + Moonia and Brugsch read it Malunna. The reading Iriuna, + Iliuna, seems to me the only possible one, and the + identification with Ilion as well. + + *** Owing to its association with the Dardanians, Mysians, + and Ilion, I think it answers to the Pedasos on the Satniois + near Troy. + +The revenue of the provinces taken from Egypt, and the products of his +tolls, furnished him with abundance of means for obtaining recruits from +among them.* + +All these things contributed to make the power of the Khati so +considerable, that Harmhabi, when he had once tested it, judged it +prudent not to join issues with them. He concluded with Sapalulu +a treaty of peace and friendship, which, leaving the two powers in +possession respectively of the territory each then occupied, gave legal +sanction to the extension of the sphere of the Khati at the expense +of Egypt.** Syria continued to consist of two almost equal parts, +stretching from Byblos to the sources of the Jordan and Damascus: +the northern portion, formerly tributary to Egypt, became a Hittite +possession; while the southern, consisting of Phoenicia and Canaan,*** +which the Pharaoh had held for a long time with a more effective +authority, and had more fully occupied, was retained for Egypt. + + * E. de Rouge and the Egyptologists who followed him thought + at first that the troops designated in the Egyptian texts as + Lycians, Mysians, Dardanians, were the national armies of + these nations, each one commanded by its king, who had + hastened from Asia Minor to succour their ally the King of + the Khati. I now think that those were bands of adventurers, + consisting of soldiers belonging to these nations, who came + to put themselves at the service of civilized monarchs, as + the Oarians, Ionians, and the Greeks of various cities did + later on: the individuals whom the texts mention as their + princes were not the kings of these nations, but the warrior + chiefs to which each band gave obedience. + + ** It is not certain that Harmhabi was the Pharaoh with whom + Sapalulu entered into treaty, and it might be insisted with + some reason that Ramses I. was the party to it on the side + of Egypt; but this hypothesis is rendered less probable by + the fact of the extremely short reign of the latter Pharaoh. + I am inclined to think, as W. Max Miiller has supposed, that + the passage in the _Treaty of Ramses II. with the Prince of + the Khati,_ which speaks of a treaty concluded with + Sapalulu, looks back to the time of Ramses II.'s + predecessor, Harmhabi. + + *** This follows from the situation of the two empires, as + indicated in the account of the campaign of Seti I. in his + first year. The king, after having defeated the nomads of + the Arabian desert, passed on without further fighting into + the country of the Amurru and the regions of the Lebanon, + which fact seems to imply the submission of Kharu. W. Max + Miiller was the first to* discern clearly this part of the + history of Egyptian conquest; he appears, however, to have + circumscribed somewhat too strictly the dominion of Harmhabi + in assigning Carmel as its limit. The list of the nations of + the north who yielded, or are alleged to have yielded, + submission to Harmhabi, were traced on the first pylon of + this monarch at Karnak, and on its adjoining walls. Among + others, the names of the Khati and of Arvad are to be read + there. + +This could have been but a provisional arrangement: if Thebes had +not altogether renounced the hope of repossessing some day the lost +conquests of Thutmosis III., the Khati, drawn by the same instinct which +had urged them to cross their frontiers towards the south, were not +likely to be content with less than the expulsion of the Egyptians +from Syria, and the absorption of the whole country into the Hittite +dominion. Peace was maintained during Harmhabi's lifetime. We know +nothing of Egyptian affairs during the last years of his reign. His rule +may have come to an end owing to some court intrigue, or he may have had +no male heir to follow him.* Ramses, who succeeded him, did not belong +to the royal line, or was only remotely connected with it.** + + * It would appear, from an Ostracon in the British Museum, + that the year XXI. follows after the year VII. of Harmhabi's + reign; it is possible that the year XXI. may belong to one + of Harmhabi's successors, Seti I. or Ramses II., for + example. + + ** The efforts to connect Ramses I. with a family of Semitic + origin, possibly the Shepherd-kings themselves, have not + been successful. Everything goes to prove that the Ramses + family was, and considered itself to be, of Egyptian origin. + Brugsch and Ed. Meyer were inclined to see in Ramses I. a + younger brother of Harmhabi. This hypothesis has nothing + either for Or against it up to the present. + +He was already an old man when he ascended the throne, and we ought +perhaps to identify him with one or other of the Ramses who flourished +under the last Pharaohs of the XVIIIth dynasty, perhaps the one who +governed Thebes under Khuniatonu, or another, who began but never +finished his tomb in the hillside above Tel el-Amarna, in the +burying-place of the worshippers of the Disk. + +[Illustration: 160.jpg RAMSES I.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch in Rosellini. + +He had held important offices under Harmhabi,* and had obtained in +marriage for his son Seti the hand of Tuia, who, of all the royal +family, possessed the strongest rights to the crown.** + + * This Tel el-Amarna Ramses is, perhaps, identical with the + Theban one: he may have followed his master to his new + capital, and have had a tomb dug for himself there, which he + subsequently abandoned, on the death of Khuniatonu, in order + to return to Thebes with Tutankhamon and Ai. + + ** The fact that the marriage was celebrated under the + auspices of Harmhabi, and that, consequently, Ramses must + have occupied an important position at the court of that + prince, is proved by the appearance of Ramses II., son of + Tuia, as early as the first year of Seti, among the ranks of + the combatants in the war carried on by that prince against + the Tihonu; even granting that he was then ten years old, we + are forced to admit that he must have been born before his + grandfather came to the throne. There is in the Vatican a + statue of Tuia; other statues have been discovered at San. + +Ramses reigned only six or seven years, and associated Seti with himself +in the government from his second year. He undertook a short military +expedition into Ethiopia, and perhaps a raid into Syria; and we find +remains of his monuments in Nubia, at Bohani near Wady Haifa, and at +Thebes, in the temple of Amon.* + + * He began the great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak; E. de Rouge + thinks that the idea of building this was first conceived + under the XVIIIth dynasty. + +He displayed little activity, his advanced age preventing him from +entering on any serious undertaking: but his accession nevertheless +marks an important date in the history of Egypt. Although Harmhabi was +distantly connected with the line of the Ahmessides, it is difficult +at the present day to know what position to assign him in the Pharaonic +lists: while some regard him as the last of the XVIIIth dynasty, others +prefer to place him at the head of the XIXth. No such hesitation, +however, exists with regard to Ramses I., who was undoubtedly the +founder of a new family. The old familiar names of Thutmosis and +Amenothes henceforward disappear from the royal lists, and are replaced +by others, such as Seti, Minephtah, and, especially, Ramses, which now +figure in them for the first time. The princes who bore these names +showed themselves worthy successors of those who had raised Egypt to the +zenith of her power; like them they were successful on the battle-field, +and like them they devoted the best of the spoil to building innumerable +monuments. No sooner had Seti celebrated his father's obsequies, than he +assembled his army and set out for war. + +It would appear that Southern Syria was then in open revolt. "Word had +been brought to His Majesty: 'The vile Shausu have plotted rebellion; +the chiefs of their tribes, assembled in one place on the confines of +Kharu, have been smitten with blindness and with the spirit of violence; +every one cutteth his neighbour's throat."* It was imperative to send +succour to the few tribes who remained faithful, to prevent them from +succumbing to the repeated attacks of the insurgents. Seti crossed the +frontier at Zalu, but instead of pursuing his way along the coast, he +marched due east in order to attack the Shausu in the very heart of the +desert. The road ran through wide wadys, tolerably well supplied +with water, and the length of the stages necessarily depended on the +distances between the wells. This route was one frequented in early +times, and its security was ensured by a number of fortresses and +isolated towers built along it, such as "The House of the Lion "--_ta +ait pa mau_--near the pool of the same name, the Migdol of the springs +of Huzina, the fortress of Uazit, the Tower of the Brave, and the Migdol +of Seti at the pools of Absakaba. The Bedawin, disconcerted by the +rapidity of this movement, offered no serious resistance. Their flocks +were carried off, their trees cut down, their harvests destroyed, and +they surrendered their strongholds at discretion. Pushing on from +one halting-place to another, the conqueror soon reached Babbiti, and +finally Pakanana.** + + * The pictures of this campaign and the inscriptions which + explain them were engraved by Seti I., on the outside of the + north wall of the great hypostyle hall at Karnak. + + ** The site of Pakanana has, with much probability, been + fixed at El-Kenan or Khurbet-Kanaan, to the south of Hebron. + Brugsch had previously taken this name to indicate the + country of Canaan, but Chabas rightly contested this view. + W. Max Millier took up the matter afresh: he perceived that + we have here an allusion to the first town encountered by + Seti I. in the country of Canaan to the south-west of + Raphia, the name of which is not mentioned by the Egyptian + sculptor; it seems to me that this name should be Pakanana, + and that the town bore the same name as the country. + +The latter town occupied a splendid position on the slope of a rocky +hill, close to a small lake, and defended the approaches to the vale +of Hebron. It surrendered at the first attack, and by its fall the +Egyptians became possessed of one of the richest provinces in the +southern part of Kharu. This result having been achieved, Seti took +the caravan road to his left, on the further side of Gaza, and pushed +forward at full speed towards the Hittite frontier. + +[Illustration: 163.jpg THE RETURN OF THE NORTH WALL OF THE HYPOSTYLE +HALL AT KARNAK, WHERE SETI I. REPRESENTS SOME EPISODES IN HIS FIRST +CAMPAIGN] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph, by Emil Brugsch-Bey. + +It was probably unprotected by any troops, and the Hittite king was +absent in some other part of his empire. Seti pillaged the Amurru, +seized Ianuamu and Qodshu by a sudden attack, marched in an oblique +direction towards the Mediterranean, forcing the inhabitants of the +Lebanon to cut timber from their mountains for the additions which he +was premeditating in the temple of the Theban Amon, and finally returned +by the coast road, receiving, as he passed through their territory, the +homage of the Phoenicians. His entry into Egypt was celebrated by solemn +festivities. The nobles, priests, and princes of both south and north +hastened to meet him at the bridge of Zalu, and welcomed, with their +chants, both the king and the troops of captives whom he was bringing +back for the service of his father Amon at Karnak. The delight of his +subjects was but natural, since for many years the Egyptians bad not +witnessed such a triumph, and they no doubt believed that the prosperous +era of Thutmosis III. was about to return, and that the wealth of +Naharaim would once more flow into Thebes as of old. Their illusion +was short-lived, for this initial victory was followed by no other. +Maurusaru, King of the Khati, and subsequently his son Mautallu, +withstood the Pharaoh with such resolution that he was forced to treat +with them. A new alliance was concluded on the same conditions as the +old one, and the boundaries of the two kingdoms remained the same as +under Harmhabi, a proof that neither sovereign had gained any advantage +over his rival. Hence the campaign did not in any way restore Egyptian +supremacy, as had been hoped at the moment; it merely served to +strengthen her authority in those provinces which the Khati had failed +to take from Egypt. The Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon had too many +commercial interests on the banks of the Nile to dream of breaking +the slender tie which held them to the Pharaoh, since independence, +or submission to another sovereign, might have ruined their trade. The +Kharu and the Bedawin, vanquished wherever they had ventured to oppose +the Pharaoh's troops, were less than ever capable of throwing off the +Egyptian yoke. Syria fell back into its former state. The local princes +once more resumed their intrigues and quarrels, varied at intervals by +appeals to their suzerain for justice or succour. The "Royal Messengers" +appeared from time to time with their escorts of archers and chariots +to claim tribute, levy taxes, to make peace between quarrelsome vassals, +or, if the case required it, to supersede some insubordinate chief by a +governor of undoubted loyalty; in fine, the entire administration of the +empire was a continuation of that of the preceding century. The peoples +of Kush meanwhile had remained quiet during the campaign in Syria, and +on the western frontier the Tihonu had suffered so severe a defeat that +they were not likely to recover from it for some time.* The bands of +pirates, Shardana and others, who infested the Delta, were hunted down, +and the prisoners taken from among them were incorporated into the royal +guard.** + + * This war is represented at Karnak, and Ramses II. figures + there among the children of Seti I. + + ** We gather this from passages in the inscriptions from the + year V. onwards, in which Ramses II. boasts that he has a + number of Shardana prisoners in his guard; Rouge was, + perhaps, mistaken in magnifying these piratical raids into a + war of invasion. + +[Illustration: 166.jpg REPRESENTATION OF SETI I. VANQUISHING THE LIBYANS +AND ASIATICS ON THE WALLS, KARNAK] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Ernil Brugsch-Bey. + +Seti, however, does not appear to have had a confirmed taste for war. +He showed energy when occasion required it, and he knew how to lead his +soldiers, as the expedition of his first year amply proved; but when the +necessity was over, he remained on the defensive, and made no further +attempt at conquest. By his own choice he was "the jackal who prowls +about the country to protect it," rather than "the wizard lion marauding +abroad by hidden paths,"* and Egypt enjoyed a profound peace in +consequence of his ceaseless vigilance. + + * These phrases are taken direct from the inscriptions of + Seti I. + +A peaceful policy of this kind did not, of course, produce the amount +of spoil and the endless relays of captives which had enabled his +predecessors to raise temples and live in great luxury without +overburdening their subjects with taxes. Seti was, therefore, the more +anxious to do all in his power to develop the internal wealth of the +country. The mining colonies of the Sinaitic Peninsula had never ceased +working since operations had been resumed there under Hatshopsitu and +Thutmosis III., but the output had lessened during the troubles under +the heretic kings. Seti sent inspectors thither, and endeavoured to +stimulate the workmen to their former activity, but apparently with no +great success. We are not able to ascertain if he continued the revival +of trade with Puanit inaugurated by Harmhabi; but at any rate he +concentrated his attention on the regions bordering the Red Sea and the +gold-mines which they contained. Those of Btbai, which had been worked +as early as the XIIth dynasty, did not yield as much as they had done +formerly; not that they were exhausted, but owing to the lack of water +in their neighbourhood and along the routes leading to them, they were +nearly deserted. It was well known that they contained great wealth, +but operations could not be carried on, as the workmen were in danger +of dying of thirst. Seti despatched engineers to the spot to explore the +surrounding wadys, to clear the ancient cisterns or cut others, and +to establish victualling stations at regular intervals for the use of +merchants supplying the gangs of miners with commodities. These stations +generally consisted of square or rectangular enclosures, built of +stones without mortar, and capable of resisting a prolonged attack. The +entrance was by a narrow doorway of stone slabs, and in the interior +were a few huts and one or two reservoirs for catching rain or storing +the water of neighbouring springs. Sometimes a chapel was built close at +hand, consecrated to the divinities of the desert, or to their compeers, +Minu of Coptos, Horus, Maut, or Isis. One of these, founded by Seti, +still exists near the modern town of Redesieh, at the entrance to one of +the valleys which furrow this gold region. + +[Illustration: 168.jpg A FORTIFIED STATION ON THE ROUTE BETWEEN THE NILE +AND THE RED SEA. + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by M. de Bock + +It is built against, and partly excavated in, a wall of rock, the +face of which has been roughly squared, and it is entered through a +four-columned portico, giving access to two dark chambers, whose walls +are covered with scenes of adoration and a lengthy inscription. In this +latter the sovereign relates how, in the IXth year of his reign, he +was moved to inspect the roads of the desert; he completed the work in +honour of Amon-Ra, of Phtah of Memphis, and of Harmakhis, and he states +that travellers were at a loss to express their gratitude and thanks for +what he had done. "They repeated from mouth to mouth: 'May Amon give him +an endless existence, and may he prolong for him the length of eternity! +O ye gods of fountains, attribute to him your life, for he has rendered +back to us accessible roads, and he has opened that which was closed to +us. Henceforth we can take our way in peace, and reach our destination +alive; now that the difficult paths are open and the road has become +good, gold can be brought back, as our lord and master has commanded.'" +Plans were drawn on papyrus of the configuration of the district, of the +beds of precious metal, and of the position of the stations. + +[Illustration: 169.jpg THE TEMPLE OF SETI I. AT REDESIEH] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Golenischeff. + +One of these plans has come down to us, in which the districts are +coloured bright red, the mountains dull ochre, the roads dotted +over with footmarks to show the direction to be taken, while the +superscriptions give the local names, and inform us that the map +represents the Bukhni mountain and a fortress and stele of Seti. The +whole thing is executed in a rough and naive manner, with an almost +childish minuteness which provokes a smile; we should, however, not +despise it, for it is the oldest map in the world. + +[Illustration: 170.jpg FRAGMENT OF THE MAP OF THE GOLD-MINES] + + Facsimile by Faucher-Gudin of coloured chalk-drawing by Chabas. + +The gold extracted from these regions, together with that brought +from Ethiopia, and, better still, the regular payment of taxes and +custom-house duties, went to make up for the lack of foreign spoil all +the more opportunely, for, although the sovereign did not share the +military enthusiasm of Thutmosis III., he had inherited from him the +passion for expensive temple-building. + +[Illustration: 171.jpg THE THREE STANDING COLUMNS OF THE TEMPLE OF +SESEBI] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Insinger. + +He did not neglect Nubia in this respect, but repaired several of +the monuments at which the XVIIIth dynasty had worked--among others, +Kalabsheh, Dakkeh, and Amada, besides founding a temple at Sesebi, of +which three columns are still standing.* + + * In Lepsius's time there were still four columns standing; + Insinger shows us only three. + +The outline of these columns is not graceful, and the decoration of them +is very poor, for art degenerated rapidly in these distant provinces of +the empire, and only succeeded in maintaining its vigour and spirit in +the immediate neighbourhood of the Pharaoh, as at Abydos, Memphis, and +above all at Thebes. Seti's predecessor Ramses, desirous of obliterating +all traces of the misfortunes lately brought about by the changes +effected by the heretic kings, had contemplated building at Karnak, +in front of the pylon of Amenothes III., an enormous hall for the +ceremonies connected with the cult of Amon, where the immense numbers of +priests and worshippers at festival times could be accommodated without +inconvenience. It devolved on Seti to carry out what had been merely an +ambitious dream of his father's.* + + * The great hypostyle hall was cleared and the columns were + strengthened in the winter of 1895-6, as far, at least, as + it was possible to carry out the work of restoration without + imperilling the stability of the whole. + +We long to know who was the architect possessed of such confidence in +his powers that he ventured to design, and was able to carry out, this +almost superhuman undertaking. His name would be held up to almost +universal admiration beside those of the greatest masters that we are +familiar with, for no one in Greece or Italy has left us any work which +surpasses it, or which with such simple means could produce a similar +impression of boldness and immensity. It is almost impossible to convey +by words to those who have not seen it, the impression which it makes on +the spectator. Failing description, the dimensions speak for themselves. +The hall measures one hundred and sixty-two feet in length, by three +hundred and twenty-five in breadth. A row of twelve columns, the largest +ever placed inside a building, runs up the centre, having capitals in +the form of inverted bells. + +[Illustration: 173 AN AVENUE OF ONE OF THE AISLES OF THE HYPOSTYLE HALL +AT KARNAK] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +One hundred and twenty-two columns with lotiform capitals fill +the aisles, in rows of nine each. The roof of the central bay is +seventy-four feet above the ground, and the cornice of the two towers +rises sixty-three feet higher. The building was dimly lighted from the +roof of the central colonnade by means of stone gratings, through +which the air and the sun's rays entered sparingly. The daylight, as it +penetrated into the hall, was rendered more and more obscure by the rows +of columns; indeed, at the further end a perpetual twilight must have +reigned, pierced by narrow shafts of light falling from the ventilation +holes which were placed at intervals in the roof. + +[Illustration: 174.jpg THE GRATINGS OF THE CENTRAL COLONNADE IN THE +HYPOSTYLE HALL AT KARNAK] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. In the + background, on the right, may be seen a column which for + several centuries has been retained in a half-fallen + position by the weight of its architrave. + +The whole building now lies open to the sky, and the sunshine which +floods it, pitilessly reveals the mutilations which it has suffered in +the course of ages; but the general effect, though less mysterious, is +none the less overwhelming. It is the only monument in which the first +_coup d'oil_ surpasses the expectations of the spectator instead of +disappointing him. The size is immense, and we realise its immensity the +more fully as we search our memory in vain to find anything with which +to compare it. Seti may have entertained the project of building a +_replica_ of this hall in Southern Thebes. Amenothes III. had left his +temple at Luxor unfinished. The sanctuary and its surrounding buildings +were used for purposes of worship, but the court of the customary pylon +was wanting, and merely a thin wall concealed the mysteries from the +sight of the vulgar. Seti resolved to extend the building in a northerly +direction, without interfering with the thin screen which had satisfied +his predecessors. Starting from the entrance in this wall, he planned an +avenue of giant columns rivalling those of Karnak, which he destined to +become the central colonnade of a hypostyle hall as vast as that of +the sister temple. Either money or time was lacking to carry out his +intention. He died before the aisles on either side were even begun. At +Abydos, however, he was more successful. We do not know the reason +of Seti's particular affection for this town; it is possible that his +family held some fief there, or it may be that he desired to show the +peculiar estimation in which he held its local god, and intended, by the +homage that he lavished on him, to cause the fact to be forgotten that +he bore the name of Sit the accursed. + +[Illustration: 176.jpg ONE OF THE COLONNADES OF THE HYPOSTYLE HALL IN +THE TEMPLE OF SETI I. AT ABYDOS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +The king selected a favourable site for his temple to the south of the +town, on the slope of a sandhill bordering the canal, and he marked +out in the hardened soil a ground plan of considerable originality. The +building was approached through two pylons, the remains of which are now +hidden under the houses of Aarabat el-Madfuneh. + +[Illustration: 176b.jpg THE FACADE OF THE TEMPLE OF SETI] + +A fairly large courtyard, bordered by two crumbling walls, lies between +the second pylon and the temple facade, which was composed of a portico +resting on square pillars. Passing between these, we reach two halls +supported by-columns of graceful outline, beyond which are eight chapels +arranged in a line, side by side, in front of two chambers built in +to the hillside, and destined for the reception of Osiris. The holy +of holies in ordinary temples is surrounded by chambers of lesser +importance, but here it is concealed behind them. The building-material +mainly employed here was the white limestone of Turah, but of a most +beautiful quality, which lent itself to the execution of bas-reliefs +of great delicacy, perhaps the finest in ancient Egypt. The artists who +carved and painted them belonged to the Theban school, and while their +subjects betray a remarkable similarity to those of the monuments +dedicated by Amenothes III., the execution surpasses them in freedom and +perfection of modelling; we can, in fact, trace in them the influence of +the artists who furnished the drawings for the scenes at Tel el-Amarna. +They have represented the gods and goddesses with the same type +of profile as that of the king--a type of face of much purity and +gentleness, with its aquiline nose, its decided mouth, almond-shaped +eyes, and melancholy smile. When the decoration of the temple was +completed, Seti regarded the building as too small for its divine +inmate, and accordingly added to it a new wing, which he built along +the whole length of the southern wall; but he was unable to finish +it completely. Several parts of it are lined with religious +representations, but in others the subjects have been merely sketched +out in black ink with corrections in red, while elsewhere the walls +are bare, except for a few inscriptions, scribbled over them after an +interval of twenty centuries by the monks who turned the temple chambers +into a convent. This new wing was connected with the second hypostyle +hall of the original building by a passage, on one of the walls of which +is a list of seventy-five royal names, representing the ancestors of the +sovereign traced back to Mini. The whole temple must be regarded as a +vast funerary chapel, and no one who has studied the religion of Egypt +can entertain a doubt as to its purpose. Abydos was the place where the +dead assembled before passing into the other world. It was here, at the +mouth of the "Cleft," that they received the provisions and offerings +of their relatives and friends who remained on this earth. As the dead +flocked hither from all quarters of the world, they collected round the +tomb of Osiris, and there waited till the moment came to embark on the +Boat of the Sun. Seti did not wish his soul to associate with those of +the common crowd of his vassals, and prepared this temple for himself, +as a separate resting-place, close to the mouth of Hades. After having +dwelt within it for a short time subsequent to his funeral, his soul +could repair thither whenever it desired, certain of always finding +within it the incense and the nourishment of which it stood in need. + +Thebes possessed this king's actual tomb. The chapel was at Qurnah, a +little to the north of the group of pyramids in which the Pharaohs of +the XIth dynasty lay side by side with those of the XIIIth and XVIIth. +Ramses had begun to build it, and Seti continued the work, dedicating +it to the cult of his father and of himself. Its pylon has altogether +disappeared, but the facade with lotus-bud columns is nearly perfect, +together with several of the chambers in front of the sanctuary. The +decoration is as carefully carried out and the execution as delicate as +that in the work at Abydos; we are tempted to believe from one or two +examples of it that the same hands have worked at both buildings. + +[Illustration: 181.jpg THE TEMPLE OF QURNAH] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +The rock-cut tomb is some distance away up in the mountain, but not +in the same ravine as that in which Amenothes III., Ai, and probably +Tutankhamon and Harmhabi, are buried.* + + * There are, in fact, close to those of Ai and Amenothes + III., three other tombs, two at least of which have been + decorated with paintings, now completely obliterated, and + which may have served as the burying-places of Tutankhamon + and Harmhabi: the earlier Egyptologists believed them to + have been dug by the first kings of the XVIIIth dynasty. + +There then existed, behind the rock amphitheatre of Deir el-Bahari, a +kind of enclosed basin, which could be reached from the plain only by +dangerous paths above the temple of Hatshopsitu. This basin is divided +into two parts, one of which runs in a south-easterly direction, +while the other trends to the south-west, and is subdivided into minor +branches. To the east rises a barren peak, the outline of which is not +unlike that of the step-pyramid of Saqqara, reproduced on a colossal +scale. No spot could be more appropriate to serve as a cemetery for a +family of kings. The difficulty of reaching it and of conveying thither +the heavy accessories and of providing for the endless processions of +the Pharaonic funerals, prevented any attempt being made to cut tombs +in it during the Ancient and Middle Empires. About the beginning of the +XIXth dynasty, however, some engineers, in search of suitable burial +sites, at length noticed that this basin was only separated from the +wady issuing to the north of Qurnah by a rocky barrier barely five +hundred cubits in width. This presented no formidable obstacle to such +skilful engineers as the Egyptians. They cut a trench into the living +rock some fifty or sixty cubits in depth, at the bottom of which they +tunnelled a narrow passage giving access to the valley.* + + * French scholars recognised from the beginning of this + century that the passage in question had been made by human + agency. I attribute the execution of this work to Ramses I., + as I believe Harmhabi to have been buried in the eastern + valley, near Amenothes III. + +It is not known whether this herculean work was accomplished during the +reign of Harnhabi or in that of Ramses I. The latter was the first of +the Pharaohs to honour the spot by his presence. His tomb is simple, +almost coarse in its workmanship, and comprises a gentle inclined +passage, a vault and a sarcophagus of rough stone. That of Seti, on the +contrary, is a veritable palace, extending to a distance of 325 feet +into the mountain-side. It is entered by a wide and lofty door, which +opens on to a staircase of twenty-seven steps, leading to an inclined +corridor; other staircases of shallow steps follow with their landings; +then come successively a hypostyle hall, and, at the extreme end, a +vaulted chamber, all of which are decorated with mysterious scenes +and covered with inscriptions. This is, however, but the first storey, +containing the antechambers of the dead, but not their living-rooms. A +passage and steps, concealed under a slab to the left of the hall, lead +to the real vault, which held the mummy and its funerary furniture. +As we penetrate further and further by the light of torches into this +subterranean abode, we see that the walls are covered with pictures and +formulae, setting forth the voyages of the soul through the twelve hours +of the night, its trials, its judgment, its reception by the departed, +and its apotheosis--all depicted on the rock with the same perfection +as that which characterises the bas-reliefs on the finest slabs of Turah +stone at Qurnah and Abydos. A gallery leading out of the last of +these chambers extends a few feet further and then stops abruptly; the +engineers had contemplated the excavation of a third storey to the tomb, +when the death of their master obliged them to suspend their task. +The king's sarcophagus consists of a block of alabaster, hollowed +out, polished, and carved with figures and hieroglyphs, with all the +minuteness which we associate with the cutting of a gem. + +[Illustration: 184.jpg ONE OF THE PILLARS OF THE TOMB OF SETI I.] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Insinger, taken in + 1884. + +It contained a wooden coffin, shaped to the human figure and painted +white, the features picked out in black, and enamel eyes inserted in +a mounting of bronze. The mummy is that of a thin elderly man, well +preserved; the face was covered by a mask made of linen smeared with +pitch, but when this was raised by means of a chisel, the fine kingly +head was exposed to view. It was a masterpiece of the art of the +embalmer, and the expression of the face was that of one who had only +a few hours previously breathed his last. Death had slightly drawn +the nostrils and contracted the lips, the pressure of the bandages had +flattened the nose a little, and the skin was darkened by the pitch; but +a calm and gentle smile still played over the mouth, and the half-opened +eyelids allowed a glimpse to be seen from under their lashes of an +apparently moist and glistening line,--the reflection from the white +porcelain eyes let in to the orbit at the time of burial. + +Seti had had several children by his wife Tuia, and the eldest had +already reached manhood when his father ascended the throne, for he had +accompanied him on his Syrian campaign. The young prince died, however, +soon after his return, and his right to the crown devolved on his +younger brother, who, like his grandfather, bore the name of Ramses. +The prince was still very young,* but Seti did not on that account delay +enthroning with great pomp this son who had a better right to the throne +than himself. + + * The history of the youth and the accession of Ramses II. + is known to us from the narrative given by himself in the + temple of Seti I. at Abydos. The bulk of the narrative is + confirmed by the evidence of the Kuban inscription, + especially as to the extreme youth of Ramses at the time + when he was first associated with the crown. + +"From the time that I was in the egg," Ramses writes later on, "the +great ones sniffed the earth before me; when I attained to the rank of +eldest son and heir upon the throne of Sibu, I dealt with affairs, I +commanded as chief the foot-soldiers and the chariots. My father having +appeared before the people, when I was but a very little boy in his +arms, said to me: 'I shall have him crowned king, that I may see him +in all his splendour while I am still on this earth!' The nobles of the +court having drawn near to place the pschent upon my head: 'Place the +diadem upon his forehead!' said he." As Ramses increased in years, +Seti delighted to confer upon him, one after the other, the principal +attributes of power; "while he was still upon this earth, regulating +everything in the land, defending its frontiers, and watching over the +welfare of its inhabitants, he cried: 'Let him reign!' because of the +love he had for me." Seti also chose for him wives, beautiful "as are +those of his palace," and he gave him in marriage his sisters Nofritari +II. Mimut and Isitnofrit, who, like Ramses himself, had claims to the +throne. Ramses was allowed to attend the State councils at the age +of ten; he commanded armies, and he administered justice under the +direction of his father and his viziers. Seti, however, although making +use of his son's youth and activity, did not in any sense retire in his +favour; if he permitted Ramses to adopt the insignia of royalty--the +cartouches, the pschent, the bulbous-shaped helmet, and the various +sceptres--he still remained to the day of his death the principal State +official, and he reckoned all the years of this dual sovereignty as +those of his sole reign.* + + * Brugsoh is wrong in reckoning the reign of Ramses II. from + the time of his association in the crown; the great + inscription of Abydos, which has been translated by Brugsch + himself, dates events which immediately followed the death + of Seti I. as belonging to the first year of Ramses II. + +Ramses repulsed the incursions of the Tihonu, and put to the sword +such of their hordes as had ventured to invade Egyptian territory. +He exercised the functions of viceroy of Ethiopia, and had on several +occasions to chastise the pillaging negroes. We see him at Beit-Wally +and at Abu Simbel charging them in his chariot: in vain they flee in +confusion before him; their flight, however swift, cannot save them from +captivity and destruction. + +[Illustration: 187.jpg RAMSES II. PUTS THE NEGROES TO FLIGHT] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. + +He was engaged in Ethiopia when the death of Seti recalled him to +Thebes.* + + * We do not know how long Seti I. reigned; the last date is + that of his IXth year at Redesieh and at Aswan, and that of + the year XXVII. sometimes attributed to him belongs to one + of the later Ramessides. I had at first supposed his reign + to have been a long one, merely on the evidence afforded by + Manetho's lists, but the presence of Ramses II. as a + stripling, in the campaign of Seti's 1st year, forces us to + limit its duration to fifteen or twenty years at most, + possibly to only twelve or fifteen. + +He at once returned to the capital, celebrated the king's funeral +obsequies with suitable pomp, and after keeping the festival of Amon, +set out for the north in order to make his authority felt in that part +of his domains. He stopped on his way at Abydos to give the necessary +orders for completing the decoration of the principal chambers of the +resting-place built by his father, and chose a site some 320 feet to +the north-west of it for a similar Memnonium for himself. He granted +cultivated fields and meadows in the Thinite name for the maintenance +of these two mausolea, founded a college of priests and soothsayers in +connexion with them, for which he provided endowments, and also assigned +them considerable fiefs in all parts of the valley of the Nile. The +Delta next occupied his attention. The increasing importance of the +Syrian provinces in the eyes of Egypt, the growth of the Hittite +monarchy, and the migrations of the peoples of the Mediterranean, +had obliged the last princes of the preceding dynasty to reside more +frequently at Memphis than Amenothes I. or Thutmosis III. had done. +Amenothes III. had set to work to restore certain cities which had been +abandoned since the days of the Shepherds, and Bubastis, Athribis, and +perhaps Tanis, had, thanks to his efforts, revived from their decayed +condition. The Pharaohs, indeed, felt that at Thebes they were too far +removed from the battle-fields of Asia; distance made it difficult for +them to counteract the intrigues in which their vassals in Kharu and the +lords of Naharaim were perpetually implicated, and a revolt which might +have been easily anticipated or crushed had they been advised of +it within a few days, gained time to increase and extend during the +interval occupied by the couriers in travelling to and from the capital. +Ramses felt the importance of possessing a town close to the Isthmus +where he could reside in security, and he therefore built close to Zalu, +in a fertile and healthy locality, a stronghold to which he gave his own +name,* and of which the poets of the time have left us an enthusiastic +description. "It extends," they say, "between Zahi and Egypt--and is +filled with provisions and victuals.--It resembles Hermonthis,--it is +strong like Memphis,--and the sun rises--and sets in it--so that men +quit their villages and establish themselves in its territory."--"The +dwellers on the coasts bring conger eels and fish in homage,--they +pay it the tribute of their marshes.--The inhabitants don their festal +garments every day,--perfumed oil is on their heads and new wigs;--they +stand at their doors, their hands full of bunches of flowers,--green +branches from the village of Pihathor,--garlands of Pahuru,--on the day +when Pharaoh makes his entry.--Joy then reigns and spreads, and nothing +can stay it,--O Usirmari-sotpuniri, thou who art Montu in the two +lands,--Ramses-Miamun, the god." The town acted as an advance post, +from whence the king could keep watch against all intriguing +adversaries,--whether on the banks of the Orontes or the coast of the +Mediterranean. + + * An allusion to the foundation of this residence occurs in + an inscription at Abu Simbel, dated in his XXVth year. + +Nothing appeared for the moment to threaten the peace of the empire. +The Asiatic vassals had raised no disturbance on hearing of the king's +accession, and Mautallu continued to observe the conditions of +the treaty which he had signed with Seti. Two military expeditions +undertaken beyond the isthmus in the IInd and IVth years of the new +sovereign were accomplished almost without fighting. He repressed by the +way the marauding Shausu, and on reaching the Nahr el-Kelb, which then +formed the northern frontier of his empire, he inscribed at the turn +of the road, on the rocks which overhang the mouth of the river, two +triumphal stelae in which he related his successes.* Towards the end +of his IVth year a rebellion broke out among the Khati, which caused a +rupture of relations between the two kingdoms and led to some irregular +fighting. Khatusaru, a younger brother of Maurusaru, murdered the latter +and made himself king in his stead.** It is not certain whether the +Egyptians took up arms against him, or whether he judged it wise to +oppose them in order to divert the attention of his subjects from his +crime. + + * The stelae are all in a very bad condition; in the last of + them the date is no longer legible. + + ** In the _Treaty of Harrises II. with the Prince of Khati_, + the writer is content to use a discreet euphemism, and + states that Mautallu succumbed "to his destiny." The name of + the Prince of the Khati is found later on under the form + Khatusharu, in that of a chief defeated by Tiglath-pileser + I. in the country of Kummukh, though this name has generally + been read Khatukhi. + +At all events, he convoked his Syrian vassals and collected his +mercenaries; the whole of Naharaim, Khalupu, Carchemish, and Arvad sent +their quota, while bands of Dardanians, Mysians, Trojans, and Lycians, +together with the people of Pedasos and Girgasha,* furnished further +contingents, drawn from an area extending from the most distant coasts +of the Mediterranean to the mountains of Cilicia. Ramses, informed of +the enemy's movement by his generals and the governors of places on the +frontier, resolved to anticipate the attack. He assembled an army almost +as incongruous in its component elements as that of his adversary: +besides Egyptians of unmixed race, divided into four corps bearing +the names of Amon, Phtah, Harmakhis and Sutkhu, it contained Ethiopian +auxiliaries, Libyans, Mazaiu, and Shardana.** + + * The name of this nation is written Karkisha, Kalkisha, or + Kashkisha, by one of those changes of _sh_ into _r-l_ which + occur so frequently in Assyro-Chaldaean before a dental; the + two different spellings seem to show that the writers of the + inscriptions bearing on this war had before them a list of + the allies of Khatusaru, written in cuneiform characters. If + we may identify the nation with the Kashki or Kashku of the + Assyrian texts, the ancestors of the people of Colchis of + classical times, the termination _-isha_ of the Egyptian + word would be the inflexion _-ash_ or _-ush_ of the Eastern- + Asiatic tongues which we find in so many race-names, e.g. + Adaush, Saradaush, Ammaush. Rouge and Brugsch identified + them with the Girgashites of the Bible. Brugsch, adopting + the spelling Kashki, endeavoured to connect them with + Casiotis; later on he identified them with the people of + Gergis in Troas. Ramsay recognises in them the Kisldsos of + Cilicia. + + ** In the account of the campaign the Shardana only are + mentioned; but we learn from a list in the _Anastasi Papyrus + I_, that the army of Ramses II. included, in ordinary + circumstances, in addition to the Shardana, a contingent of + Mashauasha, Kahaka, and other Libyan and negro mercenaries. + +When preparations were completed, the force crossed the canal at Zalu, +on the 9th of Payni in his Vth year, marched rapidly across Canaan till +they reached the valley of the Litany, along which they took their way, +and then followed up that of the Orontes. They encamped for a few days +at Shabtuna, to the south-west of Qodshu,* in the midst of the Amorite +country, sending out scouts and endeavouring to discover the position of +the enemy, of whose movements they possessed but vague information. + + * Shabtuna had been placed on the Nahr es-Sebta, on the site + now occupied by Kalaat el-Hosn, a conjecture approved by + Mariette; it was more probably a town situated in the plain, + to the south of Bahr el-Kades, a little to the south-west of + Tell Keby Mindoh which represents Qodshu, and close to some + forests which at that time covered the slopes of Lebanon, + and, extending as they did to the bottom of the valley, + concealed the position of the Khati from the Egyptians. + +Khatusaru lay concealed in the wooded valleys of the Lebanon; he was +kept well posted by his spies, and only waited an opportunity to take +the field; as an occasion did not immediately present itself, he had +recourse to a ruse with which the generals of the time were familiar. +Ramses, at length uneasy at not falling in with the enemy, advanced to +the south of Shabtuna, where he endeavoured to obtain information from +two Bedawin. "Our brethren," said they, "who are the chiefs of +the tribes united under the vile Prince of Khati, send us to give +information to your Majesty: We desire to serve the Pharaoh. We are +deserting the vile Prince of the Khati; he is close to Khalupu (Aleppo), +to the north of the city of Tunipa, whither he has rapidly retired from +fear of the Pharaoh." This story had every appearance of probability; +and the distance--Khalupu was at least forty leagues away--explained why +the reconnoitring parties of the Egyptians had not fallen in with any of +the enemy. The Pharaoh, with this information, could not decide whether +to lay siege to Qodshu and wait until the Hittites were forced to +succour the town, or to push on towards the Euphrates and there seek the +engagement which his adversary seemed anxious to avoid. + +[Illustration: 193.jpg THE SHARDANA GUARD OF RAMSES II.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. + +He chose the latter of the two alternatives. He sent forward the legions +of Anion, Phra, Phtah, and Sutkhu, which constituted the main body of +his troops, and prepared to follow them with his household chariotry. At +the very moment when this division was being effected, the Hittites, who +had been represented by the spies as being far distant, were secretly +massing their forces to the north-east of Qodshu, ready to make an +attack upon the Pharaoh's flank as soon as he should set out on his +march towards Khalupu. The enemy had considerable forces at their +disposal, and on the day of the engagement they placed 18,000 to 20,000 +picked soldiers in the field.* Besides a well-disciplined infantry, they +possessed 2500 to 3000 chariots, containing, as was the Asiatic custom, +three men in each.** + + * An army corps is reckoned as containing 9000 men on the + wall scenes at Luxor, and 8000 at the Eamesseum; the 3000 + chariots were manned by 9000 men. In allowing four to five + thousand men for the rest of the soldiers engaged, we are + not likely to be far wrong, and shall thus obtain the modest + total mentioned in the text, contrary to the opinion current + among historians. + + * The mercenaries are included in these figures, as is shown + by the reckoning of the Lycian, Dardanian, and Pedasian + chiefs who were in command of the chariots during the + charges against Ramses II. + +The Egyptian camp was not entirely broken up, when the scouts brought +in two spies whom they had seized--Asiatics in long blue robes arranged +diagonally over one shoulder, leaving the other bare. The king, who was +seated on his throne delivering his final commands, ordered them to +be beaten till the truth should be extracted from them. They at last +confessed that they had been despatched to watch the departure of the +Egyptians, and admitted that the enemy was concealed in ambush behind +the town. Ramses hastily called a council of war and laid the situation +before his generals, not without severely reprimanding them for the +bad organisation of the intelligence department. The officers excused +themselves as best they could, and threw the blame on the provincial +governors, who had not been able to discover what was going on. The king +cut short these useless recriminations, sent swift messengers to recall +the divisions which had started early that morning, and gave orders +that all those remaining in camp should hold themselves in readiness to +attack. The council were still deliberating when news was brought that +the Hittites were in sight. + +[Illustration: 195.jpg TWO HITTITE SPIES BEATEN BY THE EGYPTIAN +SOLDIERS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the picture in the temple at + Abu Simbel. + +Their first onslaught was so violent that they threw down one side of +the camp wall, and penetrated into the enclosure. Ramses charged them at +the head of his household troops. Eight times he engaged the chariotry +which threatened to surround him, and each time he broke their ranks. +Once he found himself alone with Manna, his shield-bearer, in the midst +of a knot of warriors who were bent on his destruction, and he escaped +solely by his coolness and bravery. The tame lion which accompanied him +on his expeditions did terrible work by his side, and felled many an +Asiatic with his teeth and claws.* + + * The lion is represented and named in the battle-scenes at + Abu Simbel, at Dorr, and at Luxor, where we see it in camp + on the eve of the battle, with its two front paws tied, and + its keeper threatening it. + +[Illustration: 196.jpg THE EGYPTIAN CAMP AND THE COUNCIL OF WAR ON THE +MORNING OF THE BATTLE OF QODSHU] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato of the west + front of the Eamesseum. + +The soldiers, fired by the king's example, stood their ground resolutely +during the long hours of the afternoon; at length, as night was drawing +on, the legions of Phra and Sutkhu, who had hastily retraced their +steps, arrived on the scene of action. A large body of Khafci, who were +hemmed in in that part of the camp which they had taken in the morning, +were at once killed or made prisoners, not a man of them escaping. +Khatusaru, disconcerted by this sudden reinforcement of the enemy, beat +a retreat, and nightfall suspended the struggle. It was recommenced at +dawn the following morning with unabated fury, and terminated in the +rout of the confederates. Garbatusa, the shield-bearer of the Hittite +prince, the generals in command of his infantry and chariotry, and +Khalupsaru, the "writer of books," fell during the action. The chariots, +driven back to the Orontes, rushed into the river in the hope of fording +it, but in so doing many lives were lost. Mazraima, the Prince of +Khati's brother, reached the opposite bank in safety, but the Chief of +Tonisa was drowned, and the lord of Khalupu was dragged out of the water +more dead than alive, and had to be held head downwards to disgorge the +water he had swallowed before he could be restored to consciousness. + +[Illustration: 198.jpg THE GARRISON OF QODSHU ISSUING FORTH TO HELP THE +PRINCE OF KHATI.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Benedite. + +Khatusaru himself was on the point of perishing, when the troops which +had been shut up in Qodshu, together with the inhabitants, made a +general sortie; the Egyptians were for a moment held in check, and +the fugitives meanwhile were able to enter the town. Either there was +insufficient provision for so many mouths, or the enemy had lost all +heart from the disaster; at any rate, further resistance appeared +useless. The next morning Khatusaru sent to propose a truce or peace to +the victorious Pharaoh. The Egyptians had probably suffered at least +as much as their adversaries, and perhaps regarded the eventuality of +a siege with no small distaste; Ramses, therefore, accepted the offers +made to him and prepared to return to Egypt. The fame of his exploits +had gone before him, and he himself was not a little proud of the energy +he had displayed on the day of battle. His predecessors had always shown +themselves to be skilful generals and brave soldiers, but none of them +had ever before borne, or all but borne, single-handed the brunt of an +attack. Ramses loaded his shield-bearer Manna with rewards for having +stood by him in the hour of danger, and ordered abundant provender and +sumptuous harness for the good horses--"Strength-in-Thebaid" and "Nurit +the satisfied"--who had drawn his chariot.* + + * A gold ring in the Louvre bears in relief on its bezel two + little horses; which are probably "Strength-in-Thebaid"and + "Nurit satisfied." + +He determined that the most characteristic episodes of the campaign--the +beating of the spies, the surprise of the camp, the king's repeated +charges, the arrival of his veterans, the flight of the Syrians, and the +surrender of Qodshu--should be represented on the walls and pylons of +the temples. A poem in rhymed strophes in every case accompanies +these records of his glory, whether at Luxor, at the Eamesseum, at the +Memnonium of Abydos, or in the heart of Nubia at Abu Simbel. The author +of the poem must have been present during the campaign, or must have had +the account of it from the lips of his sovereign, for his work bears no +traces of the coldness of official reports, and a warlike strain runs +through it from one end to the other, so as still to invest it with life +after a lapse of more than thirty centuries.* + + * The author is unknown: Pentaur, or rather Pentauirit, to + whom E. de Rouge attributed the poem, is merely the + transcriber of the copy we possess on papyrus. + +But little pains are bestowed on the introduction, and the poet does not +give free vent to his enthusiasm until the moment when he describes +his hero, left almost alone, charging the enemy in the sight of his +followers. The Pharaoh was surrounded by two thousand five hundred +chariots, and his retreat was cut off by the warriors of the "perverse" +Khati and of the other nations who accompanied them--the peoples of +Arvad, Mysia, and Pedasos; each of their chariots contained three men, +and the ranks were so serried that they formed but one dense mass. "No +other prince was with me, no general officers, no one in command of the +archers or chariots. My foot-soldiers deserted me, my charioteers +fled before the foe, and not one of them stood firm beside me to fight +against them." Then said His Majesty: "Who art thou, then, my father +Amon? A father who forgets his son? Or have I committed aught against +thee? Have I not marched and halted according to thy command? When he +does not violate thy orders, the lord of Egypt is indeed great, and he +overthrows the barbarians in his path! What are these Asiatics to +thy heart? Amon will humiliate those who know not the god. Have I +not consecrated innumerable offerings to thee? Filling thy holy +dwelling-place with my prisoners, I build thee a temple for millions of +years, I lavish all my goods on thy storehouses, I offer thee the whole +world to enrich thy domains.... A miserable fate indeed awaits him who +sets himself against thy will, but happy is he who finds favour with +thee by deeds done for thee with a loving heart. I invoke thee, O my +father Amon! Here am I in the midst of people so numerous that it cannot +be known who are the nations joined together against me, and I am alone +among them, none other is with me. My many soldiers have forsaken me, +none of my charioteers looked towards me when I called them, not one of +them heard my voice when I cried to them. But I find that Amon is more +to me than a million soldiers, than a hundred thousand charioteers, than +a myriad of brothers or young sons, joined all together, for the number +of men is as nothing, Amon is greater than all of them. Each time I have +accomplished these things, Amon, by the counsel of thy mouth, as I do +not transgress thy orders, I rendered thee glory even to the ends of the +earth." So calm an invocation in the thick of the battle would appear +misplaced in the mouth of an ordinary man, but Pharaoh was a god, and +the son of a god, and his actions and speeches cannot be measured by +the same standard as that of a common mortal. He was possessed by the +religious spirit in the hour of danger, and while his body continued +to fight, his soul took wing to the throne of Amon. He contemplates the +lord of heaven face to face, reminds him of the benefits which he had +received from him, and summons him to his aid with an imperiousness +which betrays the sense of his own divine origin. The expected help was +not delayed. "While the voice resounds in Hermonthis, Amon arises at my +behest, he stretches out his hand to me, and I cry out with joy when he +hails me from behind: 'Face to face with thee, face to face with thee, +Ramses Miamun, I am with thee! It is I, thy father! My hand is with +thee, and I am worth more to thee than hundreds of thousands. I am the +strong one who loves valour; I have beheld in thee a courageous heart, +and my heart is satisfied; my will is about to be accomplished!' I am +like Montu; from the right I shoot with the dart, from the left I seize +the enemy. I am like Baal in his hour, before them; I have encountered +two thousand five hundred chariots, and as soon as I am in their midst, +they are overthrown before my mares. Not one of all these people has +found a hand wherewith to fight; their hearts sink within their breasts, +fear paralyses their limbs; they know not how to throw their darts, they +have no strength to hold their lances. I precipitate them into the water +like as the crocodile plunges therein; they are prostrate face to the +earth, one upon the other, and I slay in the midst of them, for I have +willed that not one should look behind him, nor that one should return; +he who falls rises not again." This sudden descent of the god has, even +at the present day, an effect upon the reader, prepared though he is +by his education to consider it as a literary artifice; but on the +Egyptian, brought up to regard Amon with boundless reverence, its +influence was irresistible. The Prince of the Khati, repulsed at the +very moment when he was certain of victory, "recoiled with terror. He +sends against the enemy the various chiefs, followed by their chariots +and skilled warriors,--the chiefs of Arvad, Lycia, and Ilion, the +leaders of the Lycians and Dardanians, the lords of Carchemish, of the +Girgashites, and of Khalupu; these allies of the Khati, all together, +comprised three thousand chariots." Their efforts, however, were in +vain. "I fell upon them like Montu, my hand devoured them in the space +of a moment, in the midst of them I hewed down and slew. They said one +to another: 'This is no man who is amongst us; it is Sutkhu the great +warrior, it is Baal incarnate! These are not human actions which he +accomplishes: alone, by himself, he repulses hundreds of thousands, +without leaders or men. Up, let us flee before him, let us seek to save +our lives, and let us breathe again!'" When at last, towards evening, +the army again rallies round the king, and finds the enemy completely +defeated, the men hang their heads with mingled shame and admiration as +the Pharaoh reproaches them: "What will the whole earth say when it is +known that you left me alone, and without any to succour me? that not a +prince, not a charioteer, not a captain of archers, was found to place +his hand in mine? I fought, I repulsed millions of people by myself +alone. 'Victory-in-Thebes' and 'Nurit satisfied' were my glorious +horses; it was they that I found under my hand when I was alone in the +midst of the quaking foe. I myself will cause them to take their food +before me, each day, when I shall be in my palace, for I was with them +when I was in the midst of the enemy, along with the Prince Manna my +shield-bearer, and with the officers of my house who accompanied me, and +who are my witnesses for the combat; these are those whom I was with. +I have returned after a victorious struggle, and I have smitten with my +sword the assembled multitudes." + +The ordeal was a terrible one for the Khati; but when the first moment +of defeat was over, they again took courage and resumed the campaign. +This single effort had not exhausted their resources, and they rapidly +filled up the gaps which had been made in their ranks. The plains of +Naharaim and the mountains of Cilicia supplied them with fresh chariots +and foot-soldiers in the place of those they had lost, and bands of +mercenaries were furnished from the table-lands of Asia Minor, so that +when Ramses II. reappeared in Syria, he found himself confronted by a +completely fresh army. Khatusaru, having profited by experience, did not +again attempt a general engagement, but contented himself with disputing +step by step the upper valleys of the Litany and Orontes. Meantime his +emissaries spread themselves over Phoenicia and Kharu, sowing the seeds +of rebellion, often only too successfully. In the king's VIIIth year +there was a general rising in Galilee, and its towns--Galaput in the +hill-country of Bit-Aniti, Merorn, Shalama, Dapur, and Anamaim*--had to +be reduced one after another. + + * Episodes from this war are represented at Karnak. The list + of the towns taken, now much mutilated, comprised twenty- + four names, which proves the importance of the revolt. + +Dapur was the hardest to carry. It crowned the top of a rocky eminence, +and was protected by a double wall, which followed the irregularities of +the hillside. It formed a rallying-point for a large force, which had to +be overcome in the open country before the investment of the town could +be attempted. The siege was at last brought to a conclusion, after +a series of skirmishes, and the town taken by scaling, four Egyptian +princes having been employed in conducting the attack. In the Pharaoh's +IXth year a revolt broke out on the Egyptian frontier, in the Shephelah, +and the king placed himself at the head of his troops to crush it. +Ascalon, in which the peasantry and their families had found, as they +hoped, a safe refuge, opened its gates to the Pharaoh, and its fall +brought about the submission of several neighbouring places. This, it +appears, was the first time since the beginning of the conquests in +Syria that the inhabitants of these regions attempted to take up arms, +and we may well ask what could have induced them thus to renounce their +ancient loyalty. Their defection reduced Egypt for the moment almost to +her natural frontiers. Peace had scarcely been resumed when war again +broke out with fresh violence in Coele-Syria, and one year it reached +even to Naharaim, and raged around Tunipa as in the days of Thutmosis +III. "Pharaoh assembled his foot-soldiers and chariots, and he commanded +his foot-soldiers and his chariots to attack the perverse Khati who were +in the neighbourhood of Tunipa, and he put on his armour and mounted his +chariot, and he waged battle against the town of the perverse Khati at +the head of his foot-soldiers and his chariots, covered with his armour;" +the fortress, however, did not yield till the second attack. Ramses +carried his arms still further afield, and with such results, that, +to judge merely from the triumphal lists engraved on the walls of the +temple of Karnak, the inhabitants on the banks of the Euphrates, those +in Carchemish, Mitanni, Singar, Assyria, and Mannus found themselves +once more at the mercy of the Egyptian battalions. These victories, +however brilliant, were not decisive; if after any one of them the +princes of Assyria and Singar may have sent presents to the Pharaoh, the +Hittites, on the other hand, did not consider themselves beaten, and it +was only after fifteen campaigns that they were at length sufficiently +subdued to propose a treaty. At last, in the Egyptian king's XXIst year, +on the 21st of the month Tybi, when the Pharaoh, then residing in his +good town of Anakhitu, was returning from the temple where he had been +offering prayers to his father Amon-Ea, to Harmakhis of Heliopolis, +to Phtah, and to Sutkhu the valiant son of Nuit, Eamses, one of the +"messengers" who filled the office of lieutenant for the king in Asia, +arrived at the palace and presented to him Tartisubu, who was authorised +to make peace with Egypt in the name of Khatusaru.* Tartisubu carried +in his hand a tablet of silver, on which his master had prescribed the +conditions which appeared to him just and equitable. A short preamble +recalling the alliances made between the ancestors of both parties, was +followed by a declaration of friendship, and a reciprocal obligation to +avoid in future all grounds of hostility. + + * The treaty of Ramses II. with the Prince of the Khati was + sculptured at Karnak. + +Not only was a perpetual truce declared between both peoples, but they +agreed to help each other at the first demand. "Should some enemy march +against the countries subject to the great King of Egypt, and should he +send to the great Prince of the Khati, saying: 'Come, bring me forces +against them,' the great Prince of the Khati shall do as he is asked by +the great King of Egypt, and the great Prince of the Khati shall destroy +his enemies. And if the great Prince of the Khati shall prefer not to +come himself, he shall send his archers and his chariots to the great +King of Egypt to destroy his enemies." A similar clause ensured aid +in return from Ramses to Khatusaru, "his brother," while two articles +couched in identical terms made provision against the possibility of any +town or tribe dependent on either of the two sovereigns withdrawing its +allegiance and placing it in the hands of the other party. In this case +the Egyptians as well as the Hittites engaged not to receive, or at +least not to accept, such offers, but to refer them at once to the +legitimate lord. The whole treaty was placed under the guarantee of the +gods both, of Egypt and of the Khati, whose names were given at length: +"Whoever shall fail to observe the stipulations, let the thousand gods +of Khati and the thousand gods of Egypt strike his house, his land, and +his servants. But he who shall observe the stipulations engraved on the +tablet of silver, whether he belong to the Hittite people or whether +he belong to the people of Egypt, as he has not neglected them, may the +thousand gods of Khati and the thousand gods of Egypt give him health, +and grant that he may prosper, himself, the people of his house, and +also his land and his servants." The treaty itself ends by a description +of the plaque of silver on which it was engraved. It was, in fact, a +facsimile in metal of one of those clay tablets on which the Chaldaeans +inscribed their contracts. The preliminary articles occupied the upper +part in closely written lines of cuneiform characters, while in the +middle, in a space left free for the purpose, was the impress of +two seals, that of the Prince of the Khati and of his wife Puukhipa. +Khatusaru was represented on them as standing upright in the arms of +Sutkhu, while around the two figures ran the inscription, "Seal of +Sutkhu, the sovereign of heaven." Puukhipa leaned on the breast of a +god, the patron of her native town of Aranna in Qaauadana, and the +legend stated that this was the seal of the Sun of the town of Aranna, +the regent of the earth. The text of the treaty was continued beneath, +and probably extended to the other side of the tablet. The original +draft had terminated after the description of the seals, but, to +satisfy the Pharaoh, certain additional articles were appended for the +protection of the commerce and industry of the two countries, for the +prevention of the emigration of artisans, and for ensuring that steps +taken against them should be more effectual and less cruel. Any criminal +attempting to evade the laws of his country, and taking refuge in that +of the other party to the agreement, was to be expelled without delay +and consigned to the officers of his lord; any fugitive not a criminal, +any subject carried off or detained by force, any able artisan quitting +either territory to take up permanent residence in the other, was to be +conducted to the frontier, but his act of folly was not to expose him +to judicial condemnation. "He who shall thus act, his fault shall not +be brought up against him; his house shall not be touched, nor his wife, +nor his children; he shall not have his throat cut, nor shall his eyes +be touched, nor his mouth, nor his feet; no criminal accusation shall be +made against him." + +This treaty is the most ancient of all those of which the text has +come down to us; its principal conditions were--perfect equality +and reciprocity between the contracting sovereigns, an offensive and +defensive alliance, and the extradition of criminals and refugees. The +original was drawn up in Chaldaean script by the scribes of Khatusaru, +probably on the model of former conventions between the Pharaohs and +the Asiatic courts, and to this the Egyptian ministers had added a few +clauses relative to the pardon of emigrants delivered up by one or other +of the contracting parties. When, therefore, Tartisubu arrived in the +city of Eamses, the acceptance of the treaty was merely a matter of +form, and peace was virtually concluded. It did not confer on the +conqueror the advantages which we might have expected from his +successful campaigns: it enjoined, on the contrary, the definite +renunciation of those countries, Mitanni, Naharaim, Alasia, and Amurru, +over which Thutmosis III. and his immediate successors had formerly +exercised an effective sovereignty. Sixteen years of victories had left +matters in the same state as they were after the expedition of Harmhabi, +and, like his predecessor, Ramses was able to retain merely those +Asiatic provinces which were within the immediate influence of Egypt, +such as the Phoenician coast proper, Kharu, Persea beyond Jordan, the +oases of the Arabian desert, and the peninsula of Sinai.* + + * The _Anastasi Papyrus I_. mentions a place called _Zaru of + Sesostris_, in the neighbourhood of Aleppo, in a part of + Syria which was not in Egyptian territory: the frontier in + this locality must have passed between Arvad and Byblos on + the coast, and between Qodshu and Hazor from Merom inland. + Egyptian rule on the other side of the Jordan seems to be + proved by the monument discovered a few years ago in the + Hauran, and known under the name of the "Stone of Job" by + the Bedawin of the neighbourhood. + +This apparently unsatisfactory result, after such supreme efforts, was, +however, upon closer examination, not so disappointing. For more than +half a century at least, since the Hittite kingdom had been developed +and established under the impulse given to it by Sapalulu, everything +had been in its favour. The campaign of Seti had opposed merely a +passing obstacle to its expansion, and had not succeeded in discouraging +its ambitions, for its rulers still nursed the hope of being able +one day to conquer Syria as far as the isthmus. The check received at +Qodshu, the abortive attempts to foment rebellion in Galilee and the +Shephelah, the obstinate persistence with which Ramses and his army +returned year after year to the attack, the presence of the enemy at +Tunipa, on the banks of the Euphrates, and in the provinces then forming +the very centre of the Hittite kingdom--in short, all the incidents of +this long struggle--at length convinced Khatusaru that he was powerless +to extend his rule in this direction at the expense of Egypt. Moreover, +we have no knowledge of the events which occupied him on the other +frontiers of his kingdom, where he may have been engaged at the same +time in a conflict with Assyria, or in repelling an incursion of the +tribes on the Black Sea. The treaty with Pharaoh, if made in good faith +and likely to be lasting, would protect the southern extremities of his +kingdom, and allow of his removing the main body of his forces to the +north and east in case of attack from either of these quarters. The +security which such an alliance would ensure made it, therefore, worth +his while to sue for peace, even if the Egyptians should construe his +overtures as an acknowledgment of exhausted supplies or of inferiority +of strength. Ramses doubtless took it as such, and openly displayed +on the walls at Karnak and in the Eamesseum a copy of the treaty so +flattering to his pride, but the indomitable resistance which he had +encountered had doubtless given rise to reflections resembling those of +Khatusaru, and he had come to realise that it was his own interest not +to lightly forego the good will of the Khati. Egypt had neighbours +in Africa who were troublesome though not dangerous: the Timihu, the +Tihonu, the Mashuasha, the negroes of Kush and of Puanit, might be a +continual source of annoyance and disturbance, even though they were +incapable of disturbing her supremacy. The coast of the Delta, it is +true, was exposed to the piracy of northern nations, but up to that time +this had been merely a local trouble, easy to meet if not to obviate +altogether. The only real danger was on the Asiatic side, arising +from empires of ancient constitution like Chaldaea, or from hordes who, +arriving at irregular intervals from the north, and carrying all before +them, threatened, after the example of the Hyksos, to enter the Delta. +The Hittite kingdom acted as a kind of buffer between the Nile valley +and these nations, both civilized and barbarous; it was a strongly armed +force on the route of the invaders, and would henceforth serve as a +protecting barrier, through which if the enemy were able to pass +it would only be with his strength broken or weakened by a previous +encounter. The sovereigns loyally observed the peace which they had +sworn to each other, and in his XXXIVth year the marriage of Ramses with +the eldest daughter of Khatusaru strengthened their friendly relations. + +[Illustration: 214.jpg KHATUSARU, PRINCE OF KHATI, AND HIS DAUGHTER] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the plate in Lepsius; the triad + worshipped by Khatusaru and his daughter is composed of + Ramses II., seated between Amon-Ra and Phtah-Totunen. + +Pharaoh was not a little proud of this union, and he has left us a naive +record of the manner in which it came about. The inscription is engraved +on the face of the rock at Abu Simbel in Nubia; and Ramses begins by +boasting, in a heroic strain, of his own energy and exploits, of the +fear with which his victories inspired the whole world, and of the +anxiety of the Syrian kinglets to fulfil his least wishes. The Prince of +the Khati had sent him sumptuous presents at every opportunity, and, +not knowing how further to make himself agreeable to the Pharaoh, had +finally addressed the great lords of his court, and reminded them how +their country had formerly been ruined by war, how their master Sutkhu +had taken part against them, and how they had been delivered from their +ills by the clemency of the Sun of Egypt. "Let us therefore take our +goods, and placing my eldest daughter at the head of them, let us +repair to the domains of the great god, so that the King Sesostris may +recognise us." He accordingly did as he had proposed, and the embassy +set out with gold and silver, valuable horses, and an escort of +soldiers, together with cattle and provisions to supply them with food +by the way. When they reached the borders of Kharu, the governor wrote +immediately to the Pharaoh as follows: "Here is the Prince of the Khati, +who brings his eldest daughter with a number of presents of every kind; +and now this princess and the chief of the country of the Khati, after +having crossed many mountains and undertaken a difficult journey from +distant parts, have arrived at the frontiers of His Majesty. May we be +instructed how we ought to act with regard to them." The king was +then in residence at Ramses. When the news reached him, he officially +expressed his great joy at the event, since it was a thing unheard of +in the annals of the country that so powerful a prince should go to such +personal inconvenience in order to marry his daughter to an ally. The +Pharaoh, therefore, despatched his nobles and an army to receive them, +but he was careful to conceal the anxiety which he felt all the while, +and, according to custom, took counsel of his patron god Sutkhu: "Who +are these people who come with a message at this time to the country of +Zahi?" The oracle, however, reassured him as to their intentions, and +he thereupon hastened to prepare for their proper reception. The embassy +made a triumphal entry into the city, the princess at its head, escorted +by the Egyptian troops told off for the purpose, together with the +foot-soldiers and charioteers of the Khati, comprising the flower of +their army and militia. A solemn festival was held in their honour, in +which food and drink were served without stint, and was concluded by the +celebration of the marriage in the presence of the Egyptian lords and of +the princes of the whole earth.* + + * The fact of the marriage is known to us by the decree of + Phtah Totunen at Abu Simbel in the XXXVth year of the king's + reign. The account of it in the text is taken from the stele + at Abu Simbel. The last lines are so mutilated that I have + been obliged to paraphrase them. The stele of the Princess + of Bakhtan has preserved the romantic version of this + marriage, such as was current about the Saite period. The + King of the Khati must have taken advantage of the + expedition which the Pharaoh made into Asia to send him + presents by an embassy, at the head of which he placed his + eldest daughter: the princess found favour with Ramses, who + married her. + +Ramses, unwilling to relegate a princess of such noble birth to the +companionship of his ordinary concubines, granted her the title of +queen, as if she were of solar blood, and with the cartouche gave her +the new name of Uirimaunofiruri--"She who sees the beauties of the Sun." +She figures henceforth in the ceremonies and on the monuments in the +place usually occupied by women of Egyptian race only, and these unusual +honours may have compensated, in the eyes of the young princess, for the +disproportion in age between herself and a veteran more than sixty years +old. The friendly relations between the two courts became so intimate +that the Pharaoh invited his father-in-law to visit him in his own +country. "The great Prince of Khati informed the Prince of Qodi: +'Prepare thyself that we may go down into Egypt. The word of the king +has gone forth, let us obey Sesostris. He gives the breath of life to +those who love him; hence all the earth loves him, and Khati forms but +one with him.'" They were received with pomp at Ramses-Anakhitu, and +perhaps at Thebes. It was with a mixture of joy and astonishment that +Egypt beheld her bitterest foe become her most faithful ally, "and the +men of Qimit having but one heart with the chiefs of the Khati, a thing +which had not happened since the ages of Pa." + +The half-century following the conclusion of this alliance was a period +of world-wide prosperity. Syria was once more able to breathe freely, +her commerce being under the combined protection of the two powers who +shared her territory. Not only caravans, but isolated travellers, were +able to pass through the country from north to south without incurring +any risks beyond those occasioned by an untrustworthy guide or a few +highwaymen. It became in time a common task in the schools of Thebes to +describe the typical Syrian tour of some soldier or functionary, and we +still possess one of these imaginative stories in which the scribe takes +his hero from Qodshu across the Lebanon to Byblos, Berytus, Tyre, and +Sidon, "the fish" of which latter place "are more numerous than the +grains of sand;" he then makes him cross Galilee and the forest of +oaks to Jaffa, climb the mountains of the Dead Sea, and following the +maritime route by Raphia, reach Pelusium. The Egyptian galleys thronged +the Phoenician ports, while those of Phoenicia visited Egypt. The latter +drew so little water that they had no difficulty in coming up the Nile, +and the paintings in one of the tombs represent them at the moment of +their reaching Thebes. The hull of these vessels was similar to that +of the Nile boats, but the bow and stern were terminated by structures +which rose at right angles, and respectively gave support to a sort of +small platform. Upon this the pilot maintained his position by one of +those wondrous feats of equilibrium of which the Orientals were masters. + +[Illustration: 218.jpg PHOENICIAN BOATS LANDING AT THEBES] + + Drawn by Boudier, from the photograph published by Daressy. + +An open rail ran round the sides of the vessel, so as to prevent goods +stowed upon the deck from falling into the sea when the vessel lurched. +Voyages to Puanit were undertaken more frequently in quest of incense +and precious metals. The working of the mines of Akiti had been the +source of considerable outlay at the beginning of the reign. The +measures taken by Seti to render the approaches to them practicable at +all seasons had not produced the desired results; as far back as the +IIIrd year of Ramses the overseers of the south had been forced to +acknowledge that the managers of the convoys could no longer use any of +the cisterns which had been hewn and built at such great expense. "Half +of them die of thirst, together with their asses, for they have no means +of carrying a sufficient number of skins of water to last during the +journey there and back." The friends and officers whose advice had been +called in, did not doubt for a moment that the king would be willing to +complete the work which his father had merely initiated. "If thou sayest +to the water, 'Come upon the mountain,' the heavenly waters will spring +out at the word of thy mouth, for thou art Ra incarnate, Khopri +visibly created, thou art the living image of thy father Tumu, the +Heliopolitan."--"If thou thyself sayest to thy father the Nile, father +of the gods," added the Viceroy of Ethiopia, "'Raise the water up to the +mountain,' he will do all that thou hast said, for so it has been with +all thy projects which have been accomplished in our presence, of which +the like has never been heard, even in the songs of the poets." The +cisterns and wells were thereupon put into such a condition that the +transport of gold was rendered easy for years to come. The war with the +Khati had not suspended building and other works of public utility; +and now, owing to the establishment of peace, the sovereign was able +to devote himself entirely to them. He deepened the canal at Zalu; he +repaired the walls and the fortified places which protected the frontier +on the side of the Sinaitic Peninsula, and he built or enlarged the +strongholds along the Nile at those points most frequently threatened +by the incursions of nomad tribes. Ramses was the royal builder _par +excellence_, and we may say without fear of contradiction that, from the +second cataract to the mouths of the Nile, there is scarcely an edifice +on whose ruins we do not find his name. In Nubia, where the desert +approaches close to the Nile, he confined himself to cutting in the +solid rock the monuments which, for want of space, he could not build in +the open. The idea of the cave-temple must have occurred very early +to the Egyptians; they were accustomed to house their dead in the +mountain-side, why then should they not house their gods in the same +manner? The oldest forms of speos, those near to Beni-Hasan, at Deir +el-Bahari, at Bl-Kab, and at Gebel Silsileh, however, do not date +further back than the time of the XVIIIth dynasty. All the forms of +architectural plan observed in isolated temples were utilised by Ramses +and applied to rock-cut buildings with more or less modification, +according to the nature of the stratum in which he had to work. Where +space permitted, a part only of the temple was cut in the rock, and the +approaches to it were built in the open air with blocks brought to +the spot, so that the completed speos became only in part a grotto--a +hemi-speos of varied construction. It was in this manner that the +architects of Ramses arranged the court and pylon at Beit-Wally, the +hypostyle hall, rectangular court and pylon at Gerf-Hossein, and the +avenue of sphinxes at Wady es-Sebuah, where the entrance to the +avenue was guarded by two statues overlooking the river. The pylon +at Gerf-Hossein has been demolished, and merely a few traces of the +foundations appear here and there above the soil, but a portion of the +portico which surrounded the court is still standing, together with its +massive architraves and statues, which stand with their backs against +the pillars. + +[Illustration: 221.jpg THE PROJECTING COLUMNS OF THE SPEOS OF +GERF-HOSSEIN] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger. + +The sanctuary itself comprised an antechamber, supported by two columns +and flanked by two oblong recesses; this led into the Holy of Holies, +which was a narrow niche with a low ceiling, placed between two lateral +chapels. A hall, nearly square in shape, connected these mysterious +chambers with the propylaea, which were open to the sky and faced with +Osiride caryatides. + +[Illustration: 221.jpg THE CARYATIDES OF GERF-HOSSEIN] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger and + Daniel Heron. + +These appear to keep rigid and solemn watch over the approaches to the +tabernacle, and their faces, half hidden in the shadow, still +present such a stern appearance that the semi-barbaric Nubians of the +neighbouring villages believe them to be possessed by implacable genii. +They are supposed to move from their places during the hours of night, +and the fire which flashes from their eyes destroys or fascinates +whoever is rash enough to watch them. + +Other kings before Ramses had constructed buildings in these spots, and +their memory would naturally become associated with his in the future; +he wished, therefore, to find a site where he would be without a rival, +and to this end he transformed the cliff at Abu Simbel into a monument +of his greatness. The rocks here project into the Nile and form +a gigantic conical promontory, the face of which was covered with +triumphal stelae, on which the sailors or troops going up or down the +river could spell out as they passed the praises of the king and his +exploits. A few feet of shore on the northern side, covered with dry and +knotty bushes, affords in winter a landing-place for tourists. At the +spot where the beach ends near the point of the promontory, sit four +colossi, with their feet nearly touching the water, their backs leaning +against a sloping wall of rock, which takes the likeness of a pylon. A +band of hieroglyphs runs above their heads underneath the usual cornice, +over which again is a row of crouching cynocephali looking straight +before them, their hands resting upon their knees, and above this line +of sacred images rises the steep and naked rock. One of the colossi is +broken, and the bust of the statue, which must have been detached by +some great shock, has fallen to the ground; the others rise to the +height of 63 feet, and appear to look across the Nile as if watching the +wadys leading to the gold-mines. + +[Illustration 224.jpg THE TWO COLOSSI OF ABU SIMBEL TO THE SOUTH OF THE +DOORWAY] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger and + Daniel Heron. + +The pschent crown surmounts their foreheads, and the two ends of the +head-dress fall behind their ears; their features are of a noble type, +calm and serious; the nose slightly aquiline, the under lip projecting +above a square, but rather heavy, chin. Of such a type we may picture +Ramses, after the conclusion of the peace with the Khati, in the full +vigour of his manhood and at the height of his power. + +[Illustration: 225.jpg THE INTERIOR OF THE SPEOS OF ABU SIMBEL] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Insinger and Daniel + Heron. + +The doorway of the temple is in the centre of the facade, and rises +nearly to a level with the elbows of the colossi; above the lintel, +and facing the river, stands a figure of the god Ra, represented with a +human body and the head of a sparrow-hawk, while two images of the king +in profile, one on each side of the god, offer him a figure of Truth. +The first hall, 130 feet long by 58 feet broad, takes the place of the +court surrounded by a colonnade which in other temples usually follows +the pylon. Her eight Osiride figures, standing against as many square +pillars, appear to support the weight of the superincumbent rock. Their +profile catches the light as it enters through the open doorway, and +in the early morning, when the rising sun casts a ruddy ray over their +features, their faces become marvellously life-like. We are almost +tempted to think that a smile plays over their lips as the first beams +touch them. The remaining chambers consist of a hypostyle hall nearly +square in shape, the sanctuary itself being between two smaller +apartments, and of eight subterranean chambers excavated at a lower +level than the rest of the temple. The whole measures 178 feet from the +threshold to the far end of the Holy of Holies. The walls are covered +with bas-reliefs in which the Pharaoh has vividly depicted the wars +which he carried on in the four corners of his kingdom; here we see +raids against the negroes, there the war with the Khati, and further +on an encounter with some Libyan tribe. Ramses, flushed by the heat of +victory, is seen attacking two Timihu chiefs: one has already fallen +to the ground and is being trodden underfoot; the other, after vainly +letting fly his arrows, is about to perish from a blow of the conqueror. + +[Illustration: 228.jpg THE FACE OF THE ROCK AT ABU SIMGEL] + +His knees give way beneath him, his head falls heavily backwards, and +the features are contracted in his death-agony. Pharaoh with his left +hand has seized him by the arm, while with his right he points his +lance against his enemy's breast, and is about to pierce him through +the heart. As a rule, this type of bas-relief is executed with a +conventional grace which leaves the spectator unmoved, and free to +consider the scene merely from its historical point of view, forgetful +of the artist. + +[Illustration: 229.jpg RAMSES II. PIERCES a Libyan chief with his lance] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Mons. do Bock. + +An examination of most of the other wall-decorations of the speos will +furnish several examples of this type: we see Ramses with a suitable +gesture brandishing his weapon above a group of prisoners, and the +composition furnishes us with a fair example of official sculpture, +correct, conventional, but devoid of interest. Here, on the contrary, +the drawing is so full of energy that it carries the imagination hack to +the time and scene of those far-off battles. + +[Illustration: 230.jpg RAMSES II. STRIKES A GROUP OF PRISONERS] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Insinger. + +The indistinct light in which it is seen helps the illusion, and we +almost forget that it is a picture we are beholding, and not the action +itself as it took place some three thousand years ago. A small speos, +situated at some hundred feet further north, is decorated with standing +colossi of smaller size, four of which represent Ramses, and two of them +his wife, Isit Nofritari. This speos possesses neither peristyle +nor crypt, and the chapels are placed at the two extremities of the +transverse passage, instead of being in a parallel line with the +sanctuary; on the other hand, the hypostyle hall rests on six pillars +with Hathor-headed capitals of fine proportions. + +[Illustration: 231.jpg THE FACADE OF THE LITTLE SPEOS OF HAUTHOR AT ABU +SIMBEL] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the plates in Champollion. + +A third excavated grotto of modest dimensions served as an accessory +chamber to the two others. An inexhaustible stream of yellow sand +poured over the great temple from the summit of the cliff, and partially +covered it every year. No sooner were the efforts to remove it relaxed, +than it spreads into the chambers, concealing the feet of the colossi, +and slowly creeping upwards to their knees, breasts, and necks; at the +beginning of this century they were entirely hidden. In spite of all +that was done to divert it, it ceaselessly reappeared, and in a few +summers regained all the ground which had been previously cleared. +It would seem as if the desert, powerless to destroy the work of the +conqueror, was seeking nevertheless to hide it from the admiration of +posterity.* + + * The English engineers have succeeded in barring out the + sand, and have prevented it from pouring over the cliff any + more.--Ed. + +Seti had worked indefatigably at Thebes, but the shortness of his reign +prevented him from completing the buildings he had begun there. There +existed everywhere, at Luxor, at Karnak, and on the left bank of the +Nile, the remains of his unfinished works; sanctuaries partially roofed +in, porticoes incomplete, columns raised to merely half their height, +halls as yet imperfect with blank walls, here and there covered with +only the outlines in red and black ink of their future bas-reliefs, +and statues hardly blocked out, or awaiting the final touch of the +polisher.* + + * This is the description which Ramses gave of the condition + in which he found the Memnonium of Abydos. An examination of + the inscriptions existing in the Theban temples which Seti + I. had constructed, shows that it must have applied also to + the appearance of certain portions of Qurneh, Luxor, and + Karnak in the time of Ramses II. + +Ramses took up the work where his father had relinquished it. At Luxor +there was not enough space to give to the hypostyle hall the extension +which the original plans proposed, and the great colonnade has an +unfinished appearance. + +[Illustration: 230.jpg COLUMNS OF TEMPLE AT LUXOR] + +The Nile, in one of its capricious floods, had carried away the land +upon which the architects had intended to erect the side aisles; and if +they wished to add to the existing structure a great court and a pylon, +without which no temple was considered complete, it was necessary to +turn the axis of the building towards the east. + +[Illustration: 233.jpg THE CHAPEL OF THUTMOSIS III. AND ONE OF THE +PYLONS OF RAMSES II. AT LUXOR] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +In their operations the architects came upon a beautiful little edifice +of rose granite, which had been either erected or restored by Thutmosis +III. at a time when the town was an independent municipality and was +only beginning to extend its suburban dwellings to meet those of Karnak. +They took care to make no change in this structure, but set to work to +incorporate it into their final plans. It still stands at the north-west +corner of the court, and the elegance of its somewhat slender little +columns contrasts happily with the heaviness of the structure to which +it is attached. A portion of its portico is hidden by the brickwork of +the mosque of Abu'l Haggag: the part brought to light in the course of +the excavations contains between each row of columns a colossal statue +of Ramses II. We are accustomed to hear on all sides of the degeneracy +of the sculptor's art at this time, and of its having fallen into +irreparable neglect. Nothing can be further from the truth than this +sweeping statement. There are doubtless many statues and bas-reliefs of +this epoch which shock us by their crudity and ugliness, but these owed +their origin for the most part to provincial workshops which had been +at all times of mediocre repute, and where the artists did not receive +orders enough to enable them to correct by practice the defects of their +education. We find but few productions of the Theban school exhibiting +bad technique, and if we had only this one monument of Luxor from which +to form our opinion of its merits, it would be sufficient to prove that +the sculptors of Ramses II. were not a whit behind those of Harmham or +Seti I. Adroitness in cutting the granite or hard sandstone had in no +wise been lost, and the same may be said of the skill in bringing +out the contour and life-like action of the figure, and of the art of +infusing into the features and demeanour of the Pharaoh something of +the superhuman majesty with which the Egyptian people were accustomed to +invest their monarchs. If the statues of Ramses II. in the portico are +not perfect models of sculpture, they have many good points, and their +bold treatment makes them effectively decorative. + +[Illustration: 235.jpg THE COLONNADE OF SETI I. AND THE THREE COLOSSAL +STATUES OF RAMSES II. AT LUXOR] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +Eight other statues of Ramses are arranged along the base of the +facade, and two obelisks--one of which has been at Paris for half a +century*--stood on either side of the entrance. + + * The colonnade and the little temple of Thutmosis III. were + concealed under the houses of the village; they were first + brought to light in the excavations of 1884-86. + +The whole structure lacks unity, and there is nothing corresponding to +it in this respect anywhere else in Egypt. The northern half does +not join on to the southern, but seems to belong to quite a distinct +structure, or the two parts might be regarded as having once formed +a single edifice which had become divided by an accident, which the +architect had endeavoured to unite together again by a line of columns +running between two walls. The masonry of the hypostyle hall at Karnak +was squared and dressed, but the walls had been left undecorated, as +was also the case with the majority of the shafts of the columns and the +surface of the architraves. Ramses covered the whole with a series of +sculptured and painted scenes which had a rich ornamental effect; he +then decorated the pylon, and inscribed on the outer wall to the south +the list of cities which he had captured. The temple of Amon then +assumed the aspect which it preserved henceforward for centuries. The +Ramessides and their successors occupied themselves in filling it with +furniture, and in taking steps for the repair of any damage that might +accrue to the hall or pillars; they had their cartouches or inscriptions +placed in vacant spaces, but they did not dare to modify its +arrangement. It was reserved for the Ethiopian and Greek Pharaohs, in +presence of the hypostyle and pylon of the XIXth dynasty, to conceive of +others on a still vaster scale. + +[Illustration: 236.jpg PAINTINGS OF CHAIRS] + +Ramses, having completed the funerary chapel of Seti at Qurneh upon the +left bank of the river, then began to think of preparing the edifice +destined for the cult of his "double"--that Eamesseum whose majestic +ruins still stand at a short distance to the north of the giants of +Amenothes. Did these colossal statues stimulate his spirit of emulation +to do something yet more marvellous? He erected here, at any rate, +a still more colossal figure. The earthquake which shattered Memnon +brought it to the ground, and fragments of it still strew the soil where +they fell some nineteen centuries ago. There are so many of them that the +spectator would think himself in the middle of a granite quarry.* + + * The ear measures 3 feet 4 inches (feet ?) in length; the + statue is 58 feet high from the top of the head to the + sole of the foot, and the weight of the whole has been + estimated at over a thousand tons. + +[Illustration: 237.jpg THE REMAINS OF THE COLOSSAL STATUE OF RAMSES II. +AT THE RAMESSEUM] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato + +The portions forming the breast, arms, and thighs are in detached +pieces, but they are still recognisable where they lie close to each +other. The head has lost nothing of its characteristic expression, and +its proportions are so enormous, that a man could sleep crouched up +in the hollow of one of its ears as if on a sofa. Behind the court +overlooked by this colossal statue lay a second court, surrounded by a +row of square pillars, each having a figure of Osiris attached to it. +The god is represented as a mummy, the swathings throwing the body and +limbs into relief. + +[Illustration: 238.jpg THE RAMESSEUM] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato; the great + blocks in the foreground are the fragments of the colossal + statue of Ramses II. + +His hands are freed from the bandages and are crossed on the breast, and +hold respectively the flail and crook; the smiling face is surmounted by +an enormous head-dress. The sanctuary with the buildings attached to +it has perished, but enormous brick structures extend round the ruins, +forming an enclosure of storehouses. Here the priests of the "double" +were accustomed to dwell with their wives and slaves, and here they +stored up the products of their domains--meat, vegetables, corn, fowls +dried or preserved in fat, and wines procured from all the vineyards of +Egypt. + +These were merely the principal monuments put up by Ramses II. at Thebes +during the sixty-seven years of his rule. There would be no end to the +enumeration of his works if we were to mention all the other edifices +which he constructed in the necropolis or among the dwellings of the +living, all those which he restored, or those which he merely repaired +or inscribed with his cartouches. These are often cut over the name of +the original founder, and his usurpations of monuments are so numerous +that he might be justly accused of having striven to blot out the memory +of his predecessors, and of claiming for himself the entire work of the +whole line of Pharaohs. It would seem as if, in his opinion, the glory +of Egypt began with him, or at least with his father, and that no +victorious campaigns had been ever heard of before those which he +conducted against the Libyans and the Hittites. + +The battle of Qodshu, with its attendant episodes--the flogging of the +spies, the assault upon the camp, the charge of the chariots, the flight +of the Syrians--is the favourite subject of his inscriptions; and the +poem of Pentauirit adds to the bas-reliefs a description worthy of the +acts represented. This epic reappears everywhere, in Nubia and in the +Said, at Abu Simbel, at Beit-Wally, at Derr, at Luxor, at Karnak, and +on the Eamesseum, and the same battle-scenes, with the same accompanying +texts, reappear in the Memnonium, whose half-ruined walls still crown +the necropolis of Abydos. + +[Illustration: 240.jpg THE RUINS OF THE MEMNONIUM OF RAMSES II. AT +ABYDOS] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey. + +He had decided upon the erection of this latter monument at the very +beginning of his reign, and the artisans who had worked at the similar +structure of Seti I. were employed to cover its walls with admirable +bas-reliefs. Ramses also laid claim to have his own resting-place at +"the Cleft;" in this privilege he associated all the Pharaohs, from whom +he imagined himself to be descended, and the same list of their names, +which we find engraved in the chapel of his father, appears on his +building also. Some ruins, lying beyond Abydos, are too formless to do +more than indicate the site of some of his structures. He enlarged +the temple of Harshafitu and that of Osiris at Heracleopolis, and, to +accomplish these works the more promptly, his workmen had recourse +for material to the royal towns of the IVth and XIIth dynasties; the +pyramids of Usirtasen II. and Snofrui at Medum suffered accordingly the +loss of the best part of their covering. He finished the mausoleum at +Memphis, and dedicated the statue which Seti had merely blocked out; +he then set to work to fill the city with buildings of his own +device--granite and sandstone chambers to the east of the Sacred Lake,* +monumental gateways to the south,** and before one of them a fine +colossal figure in granite.*** It lay not long ago at the bottom of a +hole among the palm trees, and was covered by the inundation every year; +it has now been so raised as to be safe from the waters. Ramses could +hardly infuse new life into all the provinces which had been devastated +years before by the Shepherd-kings; but Heliopolis,**** Bubastes, +Athribis, Patumu, Mendis, Tell Moqdam, and all the cities of the eastern +corner of the Delta, constitute a museum of his monuments, every object +within them testifying to his activity. + + * Partly excavated and published by Mariette, and partly by + M. de Morgan. This is probably the temple mentioned in the + _Great Inscription of Abu Simbel_. + + ** These are probably those mentioned by Herodotus, when he + says that Sesostris constructed a propylon in the temple of + Hephaistos. + + *** This is Abu-1-hol of the Arabs. + + **** Ruins of the temple of Ra bear the cartouche of Ramses + II. "Cleopatra's Needle," transported to Alexandria by one + of the Ptolemies, had been set up by Ramses at Heliopolis; + it is probably one of the four obelisks which the + traditional Sesostris is said to have erected in that city, + according to Pliny. + +He colonised these towns with his prisoners, rebuilt them, and set to +work to rouse them from the torpor into which they had fallen after +their capture by Ahmosis. He made a third capital of Tanis, which +rivalled both Memphis and Thebes. + +[Illustration: 242.jpg THE COLOSSAL STATUE OF RAMSES II. AT MITRAHINEH] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph brought back by + Benedite. + +Before this it had been little more than a deserted ruin: he cleared +out the _debris_, brought a population to the place; rebuilt the temple, +enlarging it by aisles which extended its area threefold; and here he +enthroned, along with the local divinities, a triad, in which Amonra and +Sutkhu sat side by side with his own deified "double." The ruined +walls, the overturned stelae, the obelisks recumbent in the dust, and +the statues of his usurped predecessors, all bear his name. His colossal +figure of statuary sandstone, in a sitting attitude like that at the +Eamesseum, projected from the chief court, and seemed to look down upon +the confused ruin of his works.* + + * The fragments of the colossus were employed in the Graeco- + Roman period as building material, and used in the masonry + of a boundary wall. + +We do not know how many wives he had in his harem, but one of the lists +of his children which has come down to us enumerates, although mutilated +at the end, one hundred and eleven sons, while of his daughters we know +of fifty-five.* + + * The list of Abydos enumerates thirty-three of his sons and + thirty-two of his daughters, that of Wady-Sebua one hundred + and eleven of his sons and fifty-one of his daughters; both + lists are mutilated. The remaining lists for the most part + record only some of the children living at the time they + were drawn up, at Derr, at the Eamesseum, and at Abu Simbel. + +The majority of these were the offspring of mere concubines or foreign +princesses, and possessed but a secondary rank in comparison with +himself; but by his union with his sisters Nofritari Maritmut and +Isitnofrit, he had at least half a dozen sons and daughters who might +aspire to the throne. Death robbed him of several of these before +an opportunity was open to them to succeed him, and among them +Amenhikhopshuf, Amenhiunamif, and Ramses, who had distinguished +themselves in the campaign against the Khati; and some of his +daughters--Bitaniti, Maritamon, Nibittaui--by becoming his wives lost +their right to the throne. About the XXXth year of his reign, when he +was close upon sixty, he began to think of an associate, and his choice +rested on the eldest surviving son of his queen Isitnofrit, who was +called Khamoisit. This prince was born before the succession of his +father, and had exhibited distinguished bravery under the walls of +Qodshu and at Ascalon. When he was still very young he had been invested +with the office of high priest of the Memphite Phtah, and thus had +secured to him the revenues of the possessions of the god, which were +the largest in all Egypt after those of the Theban Anion. He had a great +reputation for his knowledge of abstruse theological questions and of +the science of magic--a later age attributing to him the composition of +several books on magic giving directions for the invocation of spirits +belonging to this world and the world beyond. He became the hero also of +fantastic romances, in which it was related of him how, in consequence +of his having stolen from the mummy of an old wizard the books of +Thot, he became the victim of possession by a sort of lascivious and +sanguinary ghoul. Ramses relieved himself of the cares of state by +handing over to Khamoisifc the government of the country, without, +however, conferring upon him the titles and insignia of royalty. The +chief concern of Khamoisit was to secure the scrupulous observance +of the divine laws. He celebrated at Silsilis the festivals of the +inundation; he presided at the commemoration of his father's apotheosis, +and at the funeral rites of the Apis who died in the XXXth year of the +king's reign. Before his time each sacred bull had its separate tomb +in a quarter of the Memphite Necropolis known to the Greeks as the +Serapeion. The tomb was a small cone-roofed building erected on a square +base, and containing only one chamber. Khamoisit substituted for this a +rock-tomb similar to those used by ordinary individuals. He had a tunnel +cut in the solid rock to a depth of about a hundred yards, and on either +side of this a chamber was prepared for each Apis on its death, the +masons closing up the wall after the installation of the mummy. His +regency had lasted for nearly a quarter of a century, when, the burden +of government becoming too much for him, he was succeeded in the LVth +year of Ramses by his younger brother Minephtah, who was like himself +a son of Isitnofrit.* Minephtah acted, during the first twelve years of +his rule, for his father, who, having now almost attained the age of +a hundred, passed peacefully away at Thebes in the LXVIII year of his +reign, full of days and sated with glory.** He became the subject of +legend almost before he had closed his eyes upon the world. + + * Minephtah was in the order of birth the thirteenth son of + Ramses II. + + ** A passage on a stele of Ramses IV. formally attributes to + him a reign of sixty-seven years. I procured at Koptos a + stele of his year LXVI. + +[Illustration: 245.jpg THE CHAPEL OF THE APIS OF AMEKOTHES III.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Mariette. + +He had obtained brilliant successes during his life, and the scenes +describing them were depicted in scores of places. Popular fancy +believed everything which he had related of himself, and added to +this all that it knew of other kings, thus making him the Pharaoh of +Pharaohs--the embodiment of all preceding monarchs. Legend preferred to +recall him by the name Sesusu, Sesusturi--a designation which had been +applied to him by his contemporaries, and he thus became better known to +moderns as Sesostris than by his proper name Ramses Miamun.* + + * This designation, which is met with at Medinet-Habu and in + the Anmtasi Papyrus I., was shown by E. de Rouge to refer to + Ramses II.; the various readings Sesu, Sesusu, Sesusturi, + explain the different forms Sesosis, Sesoosis, Sesostris. + Wiedemann saw in this name the mention of a king of the + XVIIIth dynasty not yet classified. + +According to tradition, he was at first sent to Ethiopia with a fleet +of four hundred ships, by which he succeeded in conquering the coasts +of the Red Sea as far as the Indus. In later times several stelae in the +cinnamon country were ascribed to him. He is credited after this with +having led into the east a great army, with which he conquered Syria, +Media, Persia, Bactriana, and India as far as the ocean; and with having +on his return journey through the deserts of Scythia reached the Don +[Tanais], where, on the shore of the Masotic Sea, he left a number of +his soldiers, whose descendants afterwards peopled Colchis. It was +even alleged that he had ventured into Europe, but that the lack of +provisions and the inclemency of the climate had prevented him from +advancing further than Thrace. + +[Illustration: 246.jpg STATUE OF KHAMOISIT] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a statue in the British Museum. + +He returned to Egypt after an absence of nine years, and after +having set up on his homeward journey statues and stelae everywhere in +commemoration of his victories. Herodotus asserts that he himself had +seen several of these monuments in his travels in Syria and Ionia. Some +of these are of genuine Egyptian manufacture, and are to be attributed +to our Ramses; they are to be found near Tyre, and on the banks of the +Nahr el-Kelb, where they mark the frontier to which his empire extended +in this direction. Others have but little resemblance to Egyptian +monuments, and were really the work of the Asiatic peoples among whom +they were found. The two figures referred to long ago by Herodotus, +which have been discovered near Ninfi between Sardis and Smyrna, are +instances of the latter. + +[Illustration: 247.jpg STELE OF THE NAHR EL-KELB] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph. + +The shoes of the figures are turned up at the toe, and the head-dress +has more resemblance to the high hats of the people of Asia Minor +than to the double crown of Egypt, while the lower garment is striped +horizontally in place of vertically. The inscription, moreover, is in an +Asiatic form of writing, and has nothing Egyptian about it. Ramses +II. in his youth was the handsomest man of his time. He was tall and +straight; his figure was well moulded--the shoulders broad, the arms +full and vigorous, the legs muscular; the face was oval, with a firm and +smiling mouth, a thin aquiline nose, and large open eyes. + +[Illustration: 248.jpg THE BAS-BELIEF OF NINFI] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph. + +[Illustration: 249.jpg THE COFFIN AND MUMMY OF RAMSES II] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken from the mummy + itself, by Emil Brugsch-Bey. + +There may be seen below the cartouche the lines of the official report +of inspection written during the XXIst dynasty. Old age and death did +not succeed in marring the face sufficiently to disfigure it. The coffin +containing his body is not the same as that in which his children placed +him on the day of his obsequies; it is another substituted for it by one +of the Ramessides, and the mask upon it has but a distant resemblance +to the face of the victorious Pharaoh. The mummy is thin, much shrunken, +and light; the bones are brittle, and the muscles atrophied, as one +would expect in the case of a man who had attained the age of a hundred; +but the figure is still tall and of perfect proportions.* + + +* Even after the coalescence of the vertebrae and the shrinkage produced +by mummification, the body of Ramses II. still measures over 5 feet 8 +inches. + +The head, which is bald on the top, is somewhat long, and small in +relation to the bulk of the body; there is but little hair on the +forehead, but at the back of the head it is thick, and in smooth stiff +locks, still preserving its white colour beneath the yellow balsams +of his last toilet. The forehead is low, the supra-orbital ridges +accentuated, the eyebrows thick, the eyes small and set close to the +nose, the temples hollow, the cheek-bones prominent; the ears, finely +moulded, stand out from the head, and are pierced, like those of a +woman, for the usual ornaments pendant from the lobe. A strong jaw and +square chin, together, with a large thick-lipped mouth, which reveals +through the black paste within it a few much-worn but sound teeth, make +up the features of the mummied king. His moustache and beard, which were +closely shaven in his lifetime, had grown somewhat in his last sickness +or after his death; the coarse and thick hairs in them, white like those +of the head and eyebrows, attain a length of two or three millimetres. +The skin shows an ochreous yellow colour under the black bituminous +plaster. The mask of the mummy, in fact, gives a fair idea of that of +the living king; the somewhat unintelligent expression, slightly brutish +perhaps, but haughty and firm of purpose, displays itself with an air +of royal majesty beneath the sombre materials used by the embalmer. +The disappearance of the old hero did not produce many changes in the +position of affairs in Egypt: Minephtah from this time forth possessed +as Pharaoh the power which he had previously wielded as regent. He was +now no longer young. Born somewhere about the beginning of the reign of +Ramses II., he was now sixty, possibly seventy, years old; thus an old +man succeeded another old man at a moment when Egypt must have needed +more than ever an active and vigorous ruler. The danger to the country +did not on this occasion rise from the side of Asia, for the relations +of the Pharaoh with his Kharu subjects continued friendly, and, during a +famine which desolated Syria,* he sent wheat to his Hittite allies. + + * A document preserved in the _Anastasi Papyrus III._ shows + how regular the relations with Syria had become. It is the + journal of a custom-house officer, or of a scribe placed at + one of the frontier posts, who notes from day to day the + letters, messengers, officers, and troops which passed from + the 15th to the 25th of Pachons, in the IIIrd year of the + reign. + +The nations, however, to the north and east, in Libya and in the +Mediterranean islands, had for some time past been in a restless +condition, which boded little good to the empires of the old world. The +Tirnihu, some of them tributaries from the XIIth, and others from the +first years of the XVIIIth dynasty, had always been troublesome, but +never really dangerous neighbours. From time to time it was necessary +to send light troops against them, who, sailing along the coast or +following the caravan routes, would enter their territory, force them +from their retreats, destroy their palm groves, carry off their cattle, +and place garrisons in the principal oases--even in Siwah itself. +For more than a century, however, it would seem that more active and +numerically stronger populations had entered upon the stage. A current +of invasion, having its origin in the region of the Atlas, or possibly +even in Europe, was setting towards the Nile, forcing before it the +scattered tribes of the Sudan. Who were these invaders? Were they +connected with the race which had planted its dolmens over the plains of +the Maghreb? Whatever the answer to this question may be, we know that +a certain number of Berber tribes*--the Labu and Mashauasha--who had +occupied a middle position between Egypt and the people behind them, +and who had only irregular communications with the Nile valley, were now +pushed to the front and forced to descend upon it.** + + * The nationality of these tribes is evidenced by the names + of their chiefs, which recall exactly those of the + Numidians--Massyla, Massinissa, Massiva. + + ** The Labu, Laubu, Lobu, are mentioned for the first time + under Ramses II.; these are the Libyans of classical + geographers. The Mashauasha answer to the Maxycs of + Herodotus; they furnished mercenaries to the armies of + Ramses II. + +They were men tall of stature and large of limb, with fair skins, light +hair, and blue eyes; everything, in fact, indicating their northern +origin. They took pleasure in tattooing the skin, just as the Tuaregs +and Kabyles are now accustomed to do, and some, if not all, of them +practised circumcision, like a portion of the Egyptians and Semites. In +the arrangement of the hair, a curl fell upon the shoulder, while the +remainder was arranged in small frizzled locks. Their chiefs and braves +wore on their heads two flowering plumes. A loin-cloth, a wild-beast's +skin thrown over the back, a mantle, or rather a covering of woollen +or dyed cloth, fringed and ornamented with many-coloured needlework, +falling from the left shoulder with no attachment in front, so as to +leave the body unimpeded in walking,--these constituted the ordinary +costume of the people. Their arms were similar to those of the +Egyptians, consisting of the lance, the mace, the iron or copper dagger, +the boomerang, the bow and arrow, and the sling. + +[Illustration: 253.jpg A LIBYAN] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph. + +They also employed horses and chariots. Their bravery made them a foe +not to be despised, in spite of their ignorance of tactics and their +want of discipline. When they were afterwards formed into regiments and +conducted by experienced generals, they became the best auxiliary troops +which Egypt could boast of. The Labu from this time forward were the +most energetic of the tribes, and their chiefs prided themselves upon +possessing the leadership over all the other clans in this region of the +world.* + + * This was the case in the wars of Minephtah and Ramses + III., in which the Labu and their kings took the command of + the confederate armies assembled against Egypt. + +The Labu might very well have gained the mastery over the other +inhabitants of the desert at this period, who had become enfeebled +by the frequent defeats which they had sustained at the hands of the +Egyptians. At the moment when Minephtah ascended the throne, their king, +Maraiu, son of Didi, ruled over the immense territory lying between the +Fayum and the two Syrtes: the Timihu, the Kahaka, and the Mashauasha +rendered him the same obedience as his own people. A revolution had +thus occurred in Africa similar to that which had taken place a century +previously in Naharaim, when Sapalulu founded the Hittite empire. A +great kingdom rose into being where no state capable of disturbing +Egyptian control had existed before. The danger was serious. The +Hittites, separated from the Nile by the whole breadth of Kharu, could +not directly threaten any of the Egyptian cities; but the Libyans, lords +of the desert, were in contact with the Delta, and could in a few days +fall upon any point in the valley they chose. Minephtah, therefore, +hastened to resist the assault of the westerns, as his father had +formerly done that of the easterns, and, strange as it may seem, he +found among the troops of his new enemies some of the adversaries with +whom the Egyptians had fought under the walls of Qodshu sixty years +before. The Shardana, Lycians, and others, having left the coasts of the +Delta and the Phoenician seaports owing to the vigilant watch kept by +the Egyptians over their waters, had betaken themselves to the Libyan +littoral, where they met with a favourable reception. Whether they had +settled in some places, and formed there those colonies of which a Greek +tradition of a recent age speaks, we cannot say. They certainly followed +the occupation of mercenary soldiers, and many of them hired out their +services to the native princes, while others were enrolled among the +troops of the King of the Khati or of the Pharaoh himself. Maraiu +brought with him Achaeans, Shardana, Tursha, Shagalasha,* and Lycians +in considerable numbers when he resolved to begin the strife.** This was +not one of those conventional little wars which aimed at nothing further +than the imposition of the payment of a tribute upon the conquered, or +the conquest of one of their provinces. Maraiu had nothing less in view +than the transport of his whole people into the Nile valley, to settle +permanently there as the Hyksos had done before him. + + * The Shakalasha, Shagalasha, identified with the Sicilians + by E. de Rouge, were a people of Asia Minor whose position + there is approximately indicated by the site of the town + Sagalassos, named after them. + + ** The _Inscription of Minephtah_ distinguishes the Libyans + of Maraiu from "the people of the Sea." + +He set out on his march towards the end of the IVth year of the +Pharaoh's reign, or the beginning of his Vth, surrounded by the elite +of his troops, "the first choice from among all the soldiers and all the +heroes in each land." The announcement of their approach spread terror +among the Egyptians. The peace which they had enjoyed for fifty years +had cooled their warlike ardour, and the machinery of their military +organisation had become somewhat rusty. The standing army had almost +melted away; the regiments of archers and charioteers were no longer +effective, and the neglected fortresses were not strong enough to +protect the frontier. As a consequence, the oases of Farafrah and of the +Natron lakes fell into the hands of the enemy at the first attack, and +the eastern provinces of the Delta became the possession of the invader +before any steps could be taken for their defence. Memphis, which +realised the imminent danger, broke out into open murmurs against the +negligent rulers who had given no heed to the country's ramparts, and +had allowed the garrisons of its fortresses to dwindle away. Fortunately +Syria remained quiet. The Khati, in return for the aid afforded them +by Minephtah during the famine, observed a friendly attitude, and +the Pharaoh was thus enabled to withdraw the troops from his Asiatic +provinces. He could with perfect security take the necessary measures +for ensuring "Heliopolis, the city of Tumu," against surprise, "for +arming Memphis, the citadel of Phtah-Tonen, and for restoring all things +which were in disorder: he fortified Pibalisit, in the neighbourhood of +the Shakana canal, on a branch of that of Heliopolis," and he rapidly +concentrated his forces behind these quickly organised lines.* + + * Chabas would identify Pibalisit with Bubastis; I agree + with Brugsch in placing it at Belbeis. + +Maraiu, however, continued to advance; in the early months of the summer +he had crossed the Canopic branch of the Nile, and was now about to +encamp not far from the town of Pirici. When the king heard of this "he +became furious against them as a lion that fascinates its victim; he +called his officers together and addressed them: 'I am about to make you +hear the words of your master, and to teach you this: I am the sovereign +shepherd who feeds you; I pass my days in seeking out that which is +useful for you: I am your father; is there among you a father like me +who makes his children live? You are trembling like geese, you do not +know what is good to do: no one gives an answer to the enemy, and +our desolated land is abandoned to the incursions of all nations. The +barbarians harass the frontier, rebels violate it every day, every one +robs it, enemies devastate our seaports, they penetrate into the fields +of Egypt; if there is an arm of a river they halt there, they stay for +days, for months; they come as numerous as reptiles, and no one is able +to sweep them back, these wretches who love death and hate life, whose +hearts meditate the consummation of our ruin. Behold, they arrive with +their chief; they pass their time on the land which they attack in +filling their stomachs every day; this is the reason why they come to +the land of Egypt, to seek their sustenance, and their intention is to +install themselves there; mine is to catch them like fish upon their +bellies. Their chief is a dog, a poor devil, a madman; he shall never +sit down again in his place.'" He then announced that on the 14th of +Epiphi he would himself conduct the troops against the enemy. + +These were brave words, but we may fancy the figure that this king of +more than sixty years of age would have presented in a chariot in the +middle of the fray, and his competence to lead an effective charge +against the enemy. On the other hand, his absence in such a critical +position of affairs would have endangered the _morale_ of his soldiers +and possibly compromised the issue of the battle. A dream settled the +whole question.* + + * Ed. Meyer sees in this nothing but a customary rhetorical + expression, and thinks that the god spoke in order to + encourage the king to defend himself vigorously. + +While Minephtah was asleep one night, he saw a gigantic figure of Phtah +standing before him, and forbidding him to advance. "'Stay,' cried +the god to him, while handing him the curved khopesh: 'put away +discouragement from thee!' His Majesty said to him: 'But what am I to do +then?' And Phtah answered him: 'Despatch thy infantry, and send before +it numerous chariots to the confines of the territory of Piriu.'"** + + * This name was read Pa-ari by E. de Rouge, Pa-ali by Lauth, + and was transcribed Pa-ari-shop by Brugsch, who identified + with Prosopitis. The orthography of the text at Athribis + shows that we ought to read Piri, Piru, Piriu; possibly the + name is identical with that of laru which is mentioned in + the Pyramid-texts. + +The Pharaoh obeyed the command, and did not stir from his position. +Maraiu had, in the mean time, arranged his attack for the 1st of Epiphi, +at the rising of the sun: it did not take place, however, until the 3rd. +"The archers of His Majesty made havoc of the barbarians for six +hours; they were cut off by the edge of the sword." When Maraiu saw +the carnage, "he was afraid, his heart failed him; he betook himself +to flight as fast as his feet could bear him to save his life, so +successfully that his bow and arrows remained behind him in his +precipitation, as well as everything else he had upon him." His +treasure, his arms, his wife, together with the cattle which he had +brought with him for his use, became the prey of the conqueror; "he tore +out the feathers from his head-dress, and took flight with such of those +wretched Libyans as escaped the massacre, but the officers who had the +care of His Majesty's team of horses followed in their steps" and put +most of them to the sword. Maraiu succeeded, however, in escaping in the +darkness, and regained his own country without water or provisions, and +almost without escort. The conquering troops returned to the camp laden +with booty, and driving before them asses carrying, as bloody tokens of +victory, quantities of hands and phalli cut from the dead bodies of the +slain. The bodies of six generals and of 6359 Libyan soldiers were found +upon the field of battle, together with 222 Shagalasha, 724 Tursha, and +some hundreds of Shardana and Achaeans: several thousands of prisoners +passed in procession before the Pharaoh, and were distributed among such +of his soldiers as had distinguished themselves. These numbers show the +gravity of the danger from which Egypt had escaped: the announcement +of the victory filled the country with enthusiasm, all the more sincere +because of the reality of the panic which had preceded it. The fellahin, +intoxicated with joy, addressed each other: "'Come, and let us go a long +distance on the road, for there is now no fear in the hearts of +men.'The fortified posts may at last be left; the citadels are now open; +messengers stand at the foot of the walls and wait in the shade for the +guard to awake after their siesta, to give them entrance. The military +police sleep on their accustomed rounds, and the people of the marshes +once more drive their herds to pasture without fear of raids, for there +are no longer marauders near at hand to cross the river; the cry of the +sentinels is heard no more in the night: 'Halt, thou that comest, thou +that comest under a name which is not thine own--sheer off!' and men no +longer exclaim on the following morning: 'Such or such a thing has been +stolen;' but the towns fall once more into their usual daily routine, +and he who works in the hope of the harvest, will nourish himself upon +that which he shall have reaped." The return from Memphis to Thebes was +a triumphal march. + +[Illustration: 260.jpg STATUE OF MINEPHTAH] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Deveria. + +"He is very strong, Binri Minephtah," sang the court poets, "very +wise are his projects--his words have as beneficial effect as those of +Thot--everything which he does is completed to the end.--When he is like +a guide at the head of his armies--his voice penetrates the fortress +walls.--Very friendly to those who bow their backs--before Miamun--his +valiant soldiers spare him who humbles himself--before his courage +and before his strength;--they fall upon the Libyans--they consume the +Syrian;--the Shardana whom thou hast brought back by thy +sword--make prisoners of their own tribes.--Very happy thy return to +Thebes--victorious! Thy chariot is drawn by hand--the conquered chiefs +march backwards before thee--whilst thou leadest them to thy venerable +father--Amon, husband of his mother." And the poets amuse themselves +with summoning Maraiu to appear in Egypt, pursued as he was by his own +people and obliged to hide himself from them. "He is nothing any longer +but a beaten man, and has become a proverb among the Labu, and his +chiefs repeat to themselves: 'Nothing of the kind has occurred since the +time of Ra.' The old men say each one to his children: 'Misfortune +to the Labu! it is all over with them! No one can any longer pass +peacefully across the country; but the power of going out of our +land has been taken from us in a single day, and the Tihonu have been +withered up in a single year; Sutkhu has ceased to be their chief, and +he devastates their "duars;" there is nothing left but to conceal one's +self, and one feels nowhere secure except in a fortress.'" The news of +the victory was carried throughout Asia, and served to discourage the +tendencies to revolt which were beginning to make themselves manifest +there. "The chiefs gave there their salutations of peace, and none among +the nomads raised his head after the crushing defeat of the Libyans; +Khati is at peace, Canaan is a prisoner as far as the disaffected are +concerned, the inhabitant of Ascalon is led away, Gezer is carried into +captivity, Ianuamim is brought to nothing, the Israilu are destroyed and +have no longer seed, Kharu is like a widow of the land of Egypt."* + + * This passage is taken from a stele discovered by Petrie in + 1896, on the site of the Amenophium at Thebes. The mention + of the Israilu immediately calls to mind the place-names + Yushaph-ilu, Yakob-ilu, on lists of Thutmosis III. which + have been compared with the names Jacob and Joseph. + +Minephtah ought to have followed up his opportunity to the end, but he +had no such intention, and his inaction gave Maraiu time to breathe. +Perhaps the effort which he had made had exhausted his resources, +perhaps old age prevented him from prosecuting his success; he was +content, in any case, to station bodies of pickets on the frontier, +and to fortify a few new positions to the east of the Delta. The Libyan +kingdom was now in the same position as that in which the Hittite had +been after the campaign of Seti I.: its power had been checked for the +moment, but it remained intact on the Egyptian frontier, awaiting its +opportunity. + +Minephtah lived for some time after this memorable year* and the number +of monuments which belong to this period show that he reigned in peace. +We can see that he carried out works in the same places as his father +before him; at Tanis as well as Thebes, in Nubia as well as in the +Delta. He worked the sandstone quarries for his building materials, +and continued the custom of celebrating the feasts of the inundation at +Silsileh. One at least of the stelae which he set up on the occasion of +these feasts is really a chapel, with its architraves and columns, and +still, excites the admiration of the traveller on account both of its +form and of its picturesque appearance. + + * The last known year of his reign is the year VIII. The + lists of Manetho assign to him a reign of from twenty to + forty years; Brugsch makes it out to have been thirty-four + years, from 1300 to 1266 B.C., which is evidently too much, + but we may attribute to him without risk of serious error a + reign of about twenty years. + +The last years of his life were troubled by the intrigues of princes who +aspired to the throne, and by the ambition of the ministers to whom he +was obliged to delegate his authority. + +[Illustration: 263.jpg THE CHAPELS OF RAMSES II. AND MINEPHTAH AT +SISILEH] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +One of the latter, a man of Semite origin, named Ben-Azana, of +Zor-bisana, who had assumed the appellation of his first patron, +ramsesupirniri, appears to have acted for him as regent. Minephtah +was succeeded, apparently, by one of his sons, called Seti, after his +great-grandfather.* Seti II. had doubtless reached middle age at the +time of his accession, but his portraits represent him, nevertheless, +with the face and figure of a young man.** The expression in these is +gentle, refined, haughty, and somewhat melancholic. MU It is the type +of Seti I. and Ramses II., but enfeebled and, as it were, saddened. An +inscription of his second year attributes to him victories in Asia,*** +but others of the same period indicate the existence of disturbances +similar to those which had troubled the last years of his father. + + * E. de Rouge introduced Amenmeses and Siphtah between + Minephtah and Seti II., and I had up to the present followed + his example; I have come back to the position of Chabas, + making Seti II. the immediate successor of Minephtah, which + is also the view of Brugsch, Wiedemann, and Ed. Meyer. The + succession as it is now given does not seem to me to be free + from difficulties; the solution generally adopted has only + the merit of being preferable to that of E. de Rouge, which + I previously supported. + + ** The last date known of his reign is the year II. which is + found at Silsilis; Chabas was, nevertheless, of the opinion + that he reigned a considerable time. + + *** The expressions employed in this document do not vary + much from the usual protocol of all kings of this period. + The triumphal chant of Seti II. preserved in the _Anastasi + Papyrus IV_. is a copy of the triumphal chant of Minephtah, + which is in the same Papyrus. + +[Illustration: 264.jpg STATUE OF SETI II.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph. + +These were occasioned by a certain Aiari, who was high priest of Phtah, +and who had usurped titles belonged ordinarily to the Pharaoh or his +eldest son, in the house of Sibu, "heir and hereditary prince of the two +lands." Seti died, it would seem, without having had time to finish his +tomb. We do not know whether he left any legitimate children, but two +sovereigns succeeded him who were not directly connected with him, but +were probably the grandsons of the Amenmesis and the Siphtah, whom we +meet with among the children of Ramses. The first of these was also +called Amenmesis,* and he held sway for several years over the whole of +Egypt, and over its foreign possessions. + + * Graffiti of this sovereign have been found at the second + cataract. Certain expressions have induced E. de Rouge to + believe that he, as well as Siphtah, came originally from + Khibit in the Aphroditopolite nome. This was an allusion, as + Chabas had seen, to the myth of Horus, similar to that + relating to Thutmosis III., and which we more usually meet + with in the cases of those kings who were not marked out + from their birth onwards for the throne. + +[Illustration: 265.jpg SETI II.] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch-Bey. + +The second, who was named Siphtah-Minephtah, ascended "the throne of his +father" thanks to the devotion of his minister Bai,* but in a greater +degree to his marriage with a certain princess called Tausirit. He +maintained himself in this position for at least six years, during which +he made an expedition into Ethiopia, and received in audience at +Thebes messengers from all foreign nations. He kept up so zealously the +appearance of universal dominion, that to judge from his inscriptions +he must have been the equal of the most powerful of his predecessors at +Thebes. + +Egypt, nevertheless, was proceeding at a quick pace towards its +downfall. No sooner had this monarch disappeared than it began to break +up.** There were no doubt many claimants for the crown, but none of them +succeeded in disposing of the claims of his rivals, and anarchy reigned +supreme from one end of the Nile valley to the other. The land of Qimit +began to drift away, and the people within it had no longer a sovereign, +and this, too, for many years, until other times came; for "the land of +Qimit was in the hands of the princes ruling over the nomes, and they +put each other to death, both great and small. + + * Bai has left two inscriptions behind him, one at Silsilis + and the other at Sehel, and the titles he assumes on both + monuments show the position he occupied at the Theban court + during the reign of Siphtah-Minephtah. Chabas thought that + Bai had succeeded in maintaining his rights to the crown + against the claims of Amenmesis. + + ** The little that we know about this period of anarchy has + been obtained from the _Harris Papyrus_. + +Other times came afterwards, during years of nothingness, in which +Arisu, a Syrian,* was chief among them, and the whole country paid +tribute before him; every one plotted with his neighbour to steal the +goods of others, and it was the same with regard to the gods as with +regard to men, offerings were no longer made in the temples." + + * The name of this individual was deciphered by Chabas; + Lauth, and after him Krall, were inclined to read it as Ket, + Ketesh, in order to identify it with the Ketes of Diodorus + Siculus. A form of the name Arisai in the Bible may be its + original, or that of Arish which is found in Phoenician, + especially Punic, inscriptions. + +This was in truth the revenge of the feudal system upon Pharaoh. The +barons, kept in check by Ahmosis and Amenothes I., restricted by the +successors of these sovereigns to the position of simple officers of the +king, profited by the general laxity to recover as many as possible of +their ancient privileges. For half a century and more, fortune had given +them as masters only aged princes, not capable of maintaining continuous +vigilance and firmness. The invasions of the peoples of the sea, the +rivalry of the claimants to the throne, and the intrigues of ministers +had, one after the other, served to break the bonds which fettered them, +and in one generation they were able to regain that liberty of action +of which they had been deprived for centuries. To this state of +things Egypt had been drifting from the earliest times. Unity could be +maintained only by a continuous effort, and once this became relaxed, +the ties which bound the whole country together were soon broken. There +was another danger threatening the country beside that arising from +the weakening of the hands of the sovereign, and the turbulence of the +barons. For some three centuries the Theban Pharaohs were accustomed to +bring into the country after each victorious campaign many thousands of +captives. The number of foreigners around them had, therefore, increased +in a striking manner. The majority of these strangers either died +without issue, or their posterity became assimilated to the indigenous +inhabitants. In many places, however, they had accumulated in such +proportions that they were able to retain among themselves the +remembrance of their origin, their religion, and their customs, and with +these the natural desire to leave the country of their exile for their +former fatherland. As long as a strict watch was kept over them they +remained peaceful subjects, but as soon as this vigilance was relaxed +rebellion was likely to break out, especially amongst those who worked +in the quarries. Traditions of the Greek period contain certain romantic +episodes in the history of these captives. Some Babylonian prisoners +brought back by Sesostris, these traditions tell us, unable to endure +any longer the fatiguing work to which they were condemned, broke out +into open revolt. + +[Illustration: 268.jpg AMENMESIS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after a picture in Rosellini. + +They made themselves masters of a position almost opposite Memphis, and +commanding the river, and held their ground there with such obstinacy +that it was found necessary to give up to them the province which they +occupied: they built here a town, which they afterwards called Babylon. +A similar legend attributes the building of the neighbouring village of +Troiu to captives from Troy.* + +The scattered barbarian tribes of the Delta, whether Hebrews or the +remnant of the iiyksos, had endured there a miserable lot ever since the +accession of the Ramessides. The rebuilding of the cities which had +been destroyed there during the wars with the Hyksos had restricted the +extent of territory on which they could pasture their herds. Ramses II. +treated them as slaves of the treasury,** and the Hebrews were not long +under his rule before they began to look back with regret on the time of +the monarchs "who knew Joseph."** + + * The name Babylon comes probably from _Banbonu, Barbonu, + Babonu_--a term which, under the form _Hat-Banbonu,_ served + to designate a quarter of Heliopolis, or rather a suburban + village of that city. Troja was, as we have seen, the + ancient city of Troiu, now Turah, celebrated for its + quarries of fine limestone. The narratives collected by the + historians whom Diodorus consulted were products of the + Saite period, and intended to explain to Greeks the + existence on Egyptian territory of names recalling those of + Babylon in Chaldaea and of Homeric Troy. + + ** A very ancient tradition identifies Ramses II. with the + Pharaoh "who knew not Joseph" (_Exod._ i. 8). Recent + excavations showing that the great works in the east of the + Delta began under this king, or under Seti II. at the + earliest, confirm in a general way the accuracy of the + traditional view: I have, therefore, accepted it in part, + and placed the Exodus after the death of Ramses II. Other + authorities place it further back, and Lieblein in 1863 was + inclined to put it under Amenothes III. + +The Egyptians set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their +burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. +But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. +And they were "grieved because of the children of Israel."* A secondary +version of the same narrative gives a more detailed account of their +condition: "They made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar +and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field."** The +unfortunate slaves awaited only an opportunity to escape from the +cruelty of their persecutors. + + * _Exod_. i. 11, 12. Excavations made by Naville have + brought to light near Tel el-Maskhutah the ruins of one of + the towns which the Hebrews of the Alexandrine period + identified with the cities constructed by their ancestors in + Egypt: the town excavated by Naville is Pitumu, and + consequently the Pithom of the Biblical account, and at the + same time also the Succoth of Exod. xii. 37, xiii. 20, the + first station of the Bne-Israel after leaving Ramses. + + ** _Exod,_ i. 13, 14. + +The national traditions of the Hebrews inform us that the king, in +displeasure at seeing them increase so mightily notwithstanding his +repression, commanded the midwives to strangle henceforward their male +children at their birth. A woman of the house of Levi, after having +concealed her infant for three months, put him in an ark of bulrushes +and consigned him to the Nile, at a place where the daughter of Pharaoh +was accustomed to bathe. The princess on perceiving the child had +compassion on him, adopted him, called him Moses--saved from the +waters--and had him instructed in all the knowledge of the Egyptians. +Moses had already attained forty years of age, when he one day +encountered an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, and slew him in his anger, +shortly afterwards fleeing into the land of Midian. Here he found an +asylum, and Jethro the priest gave him one of his daughters in marriage. +After forty years of exile, God, appearing to him in a burning bush, +sent him to deliver His people. The old Pharaoh was dead, but Moses and +his brother Aaron betook themselves to the court of the new Pharaoh, and +demanded from him permission for the Hebrews to sacrifice in the desert +of Arabia. They obtained it, as we know, only after the infliction +of the ten plagues, and after the firstborn of the Egyptians had been +stricken.* The emigrants started from Ramses; as they were pursued by a +body of troops, the Sea parted its waters to give them passage over the +dry ground, and closing up afterwards on the Egyptian hosts, overwhelmed +them to a man. Thereupon Moses and the children of Israel sang this song +unto Jahveh, saying: "Jahveh is my strength and song--and He has become +my salvation.--This is my God, and I will praise Him,--my father's God, +and I will exalt Him.--The Lord is a man of war,--and Jahveh is His +name.--Pharaoh's chariots and his hosts hath He cast into the sea, +--and his chosen captains are sunk in the sea of weeds.--The deeps cover +them--they went down into the depths like a stone.... The enemy said: 'I +will pursue, I will overtake--I will divide the spoil--my lust shall +be satiated upon them--I will draw my sword--my hand shall destroy +them.'--Thou didst blow with Thy wind--the sea covered them--they sank +as lead in the mighty waters."** + + * _Exod._ ii.-xiii. I have limited myself here to a summary + of the Biblical narrative, without entering into a criticism + of the text, which I leave to others. + + ** _Exod._ xv. 1-10 (R.V.) + +From this narrative we see that the Hebrews, or at least those of them +who dwelt in the Delta, made their escape from their oppressors, and +took refuge in the solitudes of Arabia. According to the opinion of +accredited historians, this Exodus took place in the reign of Minephtah, +and the evidence of the triumphal inscription, lately discovered by +Prof. Petrie, seems to confirm this view, in relating that the people of +Israilu were destroyed, and had no longer a seed. The context indicates +pretty clearly that these ill-treated Israilu were then somewhere south +of Syria, possibly in the neighbourhood of Ascalon and Glezer. If it is +the Biblical Israelites who are here mentioned for the first time on an +Egyptian monument, one might suppose that they had just quitted the land +of slavery to begin their wanderings through the desert. Although the +peoples of the sea and the Libyans did not succeed in reaching their +settlements in the land of Goshen, the Israelites must have profited +both by the disorder into which the Egyptians were thrown by the +invaders, and by the consequent withdrawal to Memphis of the troops +previously stationed on the east of the Delta, to break away from their +servitude and cross the frontier. If, on the other hand, the Israilu of +Minephtah are regarded as a tribe still dwelling among the mountains of +Canaan, while the greater part of the race had emigrated to the banks +of the Nile, there is no need to seek long after Minephtah for a date +suiting the circumstances of the Exodus. The years following the reign +of Seti II. offer favourable conditions for such a dangerous enterprise: +the break-up of the monarchy, the discords of the barons, the revolts +among the captives, and the supremacy of a Semite over the other chiefs, +must have minimised the risk. We can readily understand how, in the +midst of national disorders, a tribe of foreigners weary of its lot +might escape from its settlements and betake itself towards Asia without +meeting with strenous opposition from the Pharaoh, who would naturally +be too much preoccupied with his own pressing necessities to trouble +himself much over the escape of a band of serfs. + +Having crossed the Red Sea, the Israelites pursued their course to +the north-east on the usual road leading into Syria, and then turning +towards the south, at length arrived at Sinai. It was a moment when +the nations of Asia were stirring. To proceed straight to Canaan by +the beaten track would have been to run the risk of encountering their +moving hordes, or of jostling against the Egyptian troops, who still +garrisoned the strongholds of the She-phelah. The fugitives had, +therefore, to shun the great military roads if they were to avoid coming +into murderous conflict with the barbarians, or running into the teeth +of Pharaoh's pursuing army. The desert offered an appropriate asylum to +people of nomadic inclinations like themselves; they betook themselves +to it as if by instinct, and spent there a wandering life for several +generations.* + + * This explanation of the wanderings of the Israelites has + been doubted by most historians: it has a cogency, once we + admit the reality of the sojourn in Egypt and the Exodus. + +The traditions collected in their sacred books described at length their +marches and their halting-places, the great sufferings they endured, and +the striking miracles which God performed on their behalf.* + + * The itinerary of the Hebrew people through the desert + contains a very small number of names which were not + actually in use. They represent possibly either the stations + at which the caravans of the merchants put up, or the + localities where the Bedawin and their herds were accustomed + to sojourn. The majority of them cannot be identified, but + enough can still be made out to give us a general idea of + the march of the emigrants. + +Moses conducted them through all these experiences, continually troubled +by their murmurings and seditions, but always ready to help them out of +the difficulties into which they were led, on every occasion, by their +want of faith. He taught them, under God's direction, how to correct the +bitterness of brackish waters by applying to them the wood of a certain +tree.* When they began to look back with regret to the "flesh-pots +of Egypt" and the abundance of food there, another signal miracle was +performed for them. "At even the quails came up and covered the camp, +and in the morning the dew lay round about the host; and when the dew +that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay +a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when +the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, 'What is it? +'for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, 'It is the +bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.'"** + + * _Exod._ xv. 23-25. The station Marah, "the bitter waters," + is identified by modern tradition with Ain Howarah. There is + a similar way of rendering waters potable still in use among + the Bedawin of these regions. + + ** _Exod._ xvi. 13-15. + +"And the house of Israel called the name thereof 'manna: 'and it was +like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made +with honey."* "And the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, +until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna until they +came unto the borders of the land of Canaan."** Further on, at Eephidim, +the water failed: Moses struck the rocks at Horeb, and a spring gushed +out.*** The Amalekites, in the meantime, began to oppose their +passage; and one might naturally doubt the power of a rabble of slaves, +unaccustomed to war, to break through such an obstacle. Joshua was made +their general, "and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the +hill: and it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel +prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But +Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and +he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the +one side, and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady +until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his +people with the edge of the sword."**** + + * _Exod._ xvi. 31. Prom early times the manna of the Hebrews + had been identified with the mann-es-sama, "the gift of + heaven," of the Arabs, which exudes in small quantities from + the leaves of the tamarisk after being pricked by insects: + the question, however, is still under discussion whether + another species of vegetable manna may not be meant. + + ** _Exod._ xvi. 35. + + *** _Exod._ xvii. 1-7. There is a general agreement as to + the identification of Rephidim with the Wady Peiran, the + village of Pharan of the Graeco-Roman geographers. + + **** Exod. xvii. 8-13. + +Three months after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt they +encamped at the foot of Sinai, and "the Lord called unto Moses out of +the mountain, saying, 'Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and +tell the children of Israel: Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, +and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now +therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then +ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me from among all peoples: for all +the earth is Mine: and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an +holy nation.' The people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord +hath spoken we will do.' And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Lo, I come unto +thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, +and may also believe thee for ever.'" "On the third day, when it was +morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the +mount, and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud; and all the people +that were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people +out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether part of the +mountain. And Mount Sinai was altogether on smoke, because the Lord +descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke +of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of +the trumpet waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him +by a voice."* + + * _Exod._ xix. 3-6, 9, 16-19. + +Then followed the giving of the supreme law, the conditions of the +covenant which the Lord Himself deigned to promulgate directly to His +people. It was engraved on two tables of stone, and contained, in ten +concise statements, the commandments which the Creator of the Universe +imposed upon the people of His choice. + +"I. I am Jahveh, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Thou shalt +have none other gods before Me. + +II. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, etc. + +III. Thou shalt not take the name of Jahveh thy God in vain. + +IV. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. + +V. Honour thy father and thy mother. + +VI. Thou shalt do no murder. + +VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. + +VIII. Thou shalt not steal. + +IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. + +X. Thou shalt not covet."* + + * We have two forms of the Decalogue--one in _Exod._ xx. 2- + 17, and the other in _Deut._ v. 6-18. + +"And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the +voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw +it, they trembled, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, 'Speak +thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest +we die.'"* God gave His commandments to Moses in instalments as the +circumstances required them: on one occasion the rites of sacrifice, +the details of the sacerdotal vestments, the mode of consecrating the +priests, the composition of the oil and the incense for the altar; later +on, the observance of the three annual festivals, and the orders as to +absolute rest on the seventh day, as to the distinctions between clean +and unclean animals, as to drink, as to the purification of women, and +lawful and unlawful marriages.** + + * _Exod._ xx. 18, 19. + + ** This legislation and the history of the circumstances on + which it was promulgated are contained in four of the books + of the Pentateuch, viz. _Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and + Deuteronomy_. Any one of the numerous text-books published + in Germany will be found to contain an analysis of these + books, and the prevalent opinions as to the date of the + documents which it [the Hexateuch] contains. I confine + myself here and afterwards only to such results as may fitly + be used in a general history. + +The people waited from week to week until Jahveh had completed the +revelation of His commands, and in their impatience broke the new law +more than once. On one occasion, when "Moses delayed to come out of the +mount," they believed themselves abandoned by heaven, and obliged Aaron, +the high priest, to make for them a golden calf, before which they +offered burnt offerings. The sojourn of the people at the foot of Sinai +lasted eleven months. At the end of this period they set out once more +on their slow marches to the Promised Land, guided during the day by +a cloud, and during the night by a pillar of fire, which moved before +them. This is a general summary of what we find in the sacred writings. + +The Israelites, when they set out from Egypt, were not yet a nation. +They were but a confused horde, flying with their herds from their +pursuers; with no resources, badly armed, and unfit to sustain the +attack of regular troops. After leaving Sinai, they wandered for some +time among the solitudes of Arabia Petraea in search of some uninhabited +country where they could fix their tents, and at length settled on +the borders of Idumaea, in the mountainous region surrounding +Kadesh-Barnea.* Kadesh had from ancient times a reputation for sanctity +among the Bedawin of the neighbourhood: it rejoiced in the possession +of a wonderful well--the Well of Judgment--to which visits were made +for the purpose of worship, and for obtaining the "judgment" of God. The +country is a poor one, arid and burnt up, but it contains wells which +never fail, and wadys suitable for the culture of wheat and for the +rearing of cattle. The tribe which became possessed of a region in +which there was a perennial supply of water was fortunate indeed, and +a fragment of the psalmody of Israel at the time of their sojourn here +still echoes in a measure the transports of joy which the people gave +way to at the discovery of a new spring: "Spring up, O well; sing ye +unto it: the well which the princes digged, which the nobles of the +people delved with the sceptre and with their staves."** + + * The site of Kadesh-Barnea appears to have been fixed with + certainty at Ain-Qadis by C. Trumbull. + + ** _Numb._ xxi. 17, 18. The context makes it certain that + this song was sung at Beer, beyond the Arnon, in the land of + Moab. It has long been recognised that it had a special + reference, and that it refers to an incident in the + wanderings of the people through the desert. + +The wanderers took possession of this region after some successful +brushes with the enemy, and settled there, without being further +troubled by their neighbours or by their former masters. The Egyptians, +indeed, absorbed in their civil discords, or in wars with foreign +nations, soon forgot their escaped slaves, and never troubled themselves +for centuries over what had become of the poor wretches, until in the +reign of the Ptolemies, when they had learned from the Bible something +of the people of God, they began to seek in their own annals for traces +of their sojourn in Egypt and of their departure from the country. A +new version of the Exodus was the result, in which Hebrew tradition was +clumsily blended with the materials of a semi-historical romance, of +which Amenothes III. was the hero. His minister and namesake, Amenothes, +son of Hapu, left ineffaceable impressions on the minds of the +inhabitants of Thebes: he not only erected the colossal figures in the +Amenophium, but he constructed the chapel at Deir el-Medineh, which was +afterwards restored in Ptolemaic times, and where he continued to be +worshipped as long as the Egyptian religion lasted. Profound knowledge +of the mysteries of magic were attributed to him, as in later times to +Prince Khamoisit, son of Ramses II. On this subject he wrote certain +works which maintained their reputation for more than a thousand years +after his death,* and all that was known about him marked him out for +the important part he came to play in those romantic stories so popular +among the Egyptians. + + * One of these books, which is mentioned in several + religious texts, is preserved in the _Louvre Papyrus_. + +The Pharaoh in whose good graces he lived had a desire, we are informed, +to behold the gods, after the example of his ancestor Horus. The son of +Hapu, or Pa-Apis, informed him that he could not succeed in his design +until he had expelled from the country all the lepers and unclean +persons who contaminated it. Acting on this information, he brought +together all those who suffered from physical defects, and confined +them, to the number of eighty thousand, in the quarries of Turah. There +were priests among them, and the gods became wrathful at the treatment +to which their servants were exposed; the soothsayer, therefore, fearing +the divine anger, predicted that certain people would shortly arise who, +forming an alliance with the Unclean, would, together with them, hold +sway in Egypt for thirteen years. He then committed suicide, but the +king nevertheless had compassion on the outcasts, and granted to them, +for their exclusive use, the town of Avaris, which had been deserted +since the time of Ahmosis. The outcasts formed themselves into a nation +under the rule of a Heliopolitan priest called Osarsyph, or Moses, +who gave them laws, mobilised them, and joined his forces with the +descendants of the Shepherds at Jerusalem. The Pharaoh Amenophis, taken +by surprise at this revolt, and remembering the words of his minister +Amenothes, took flight into Ethiopia. The shepherds, in league with the +Unclean, burned the towns, sacked the temples, and broke in pieces the +statues of the gods: they forced the Egyptian priests to slaughter even +their sacred animals, to cut them up and cook them for their foes, who +ate them derisively in their accustomed feasts. Amenophis returned from +Ethiopia, together with his son Ramses, at the end of thirteen years, +defeated the enemy, driving them back into Syria, where the remainder of +them became later on the Jewish nation.* + + * A list of the Pharaohs after Ai, as far as it is possible + to make them out, is here given: + +[Illustration: 281.jpg Table] + +This is but a romance, in which a very little history is mingled with a +great deal of fable: the scribes as well as the people were acquainted +with the fact that Egypt had been in danger of dissolution at the time +when the Hebrews left the banks of the Nile, but they were ignorant +of the details, of the precise date and of the name of the reigning +Pharaoh. A certain similarity in sound suggested to them the idea +of assimilating the prince whom the Chroniclers called Menepthes or +Amenepthes with Amen-othes, i.e. Amenophis III.; and they gave to the +Pharaoh of the XIXth dynasty the minister who had served under a king of +the XVIIIth: they metamorphosed at the same time the Hebrews into lepers +allied with the Shepherds. From this strange combination there resulted +a narrative which at once fell in with the tastes of the lovers of the +marvellous, and was a sufficient substitute for the truth which had +long since been forgotten. As in the case of the Egyptians of the Greek +period, we can see only through a fog what took place after the deaths +of Minephtah and Seti II. We know only for certain that the chiefs of +the nomes were in perpetual strife with each other, and that a foreign +power was dominant in the country as in the time of Apophis. The days of +the empire would have Harmhabi himself belonged to the XVIIIth dynasty, +for he modelled the form of his cartouches on those of the Ahmesside +Pharaohs: the XIXth dynasty began only, in all probability, with Ramses +I., but the course of the history has compelled me to separate Harmhabi +from his predecessors. Not knowing the length of the reigns, we cannot +determine the total duration of the dynasty: we shall not, however, be +far wrong in assigning to it a length of 130 years or thereabouts, i.e. +from 1350 to somewhere near 1220 B.C. been numbered if a deliverer had +not promptly made his appearance. The direct line of Ramses II. was +extinct, but his innumerable sons by innumerable concubines had left a +posterity out of which some at least might have the requisite ability +and zeal, if not to save the empire, at least to lengthen its duration, +and once more give to Thebes days of glorious prosperity. Egypt had set +out some five centuries before this for the conquest of the world, and +fortune had at first smiled upon her enterprise. Thutmosis I., Thutmosis +III., and the several Pharaohs bearing the name of Amenothes had marched +with their armies from the upper waters of the Nile to the banks of the +Euphrates, and no power had been able to withstand them. New nations, +however, soon rose up to oppose her, and the Hittites in Asia and the +Libyans of the Sudan together curbed her ambition. Neither the triumphs +of Ramses II. nor the victory of Minephtah had been able to restore her +prestige, or the lands of which her rivals had robbed her beyond her +ancient frontier. Now her own territory itself was threatened, and her +own well-being was in question; she was compelled to consider, not +how to rule other tribes, great or small, but how to keep her own +possessions intact and independent: in short, her very existence was at +stake. + + + + +CHAPTER III--THE CLOSE OF THE THEBAN EMPIRE + + +_RAMSES III.--THE THEBAN CITY UNDER THE RAMESSIDES--MANNERS AND +CUSTOMS._ + +_Nalthtasit and Ramses III.: the decline of the military spirit in +Egypt--The reorganisation of the army and fleet by Ramses--The second +Libyan invasion--The Asiatic peoples, the Pulasati, the Zakleala, and +the Tyrseni: their incursions into Syria and their defeat--The campaign +of the year XL and the fall of the Libyan kingdom--Cruising on the Red +Sea--The buildings at Medinet-Habu--The conspiracy of Pentauirit--The +mummy of Ramses III._ + +_The sons and immediate successors of Ramses III.--Thebes and the +Egyptian population: the transformation of the people and of the great +lords: the feudal system from being military becomes religious--The +wealth of precious metals, jewellery, furniture, costume--Literary +education, and the influence of the Semitic language on the Egyptian: +romantic stories, the historical novel, fables, caricatures and satires, +collections of maxims and moral dialogues, love-poems._ + +[Illustration: 287.jpg Page Image] + + + + +CHAPTER III--THE CLOSE OF THE THEBAN EMPIRE + + +_Ramses III.--The Theban city under the Ramessides--Manners and +customs._ + + +As in a former crisis, Egypt once more owed her salvation to a scion +of the old Theban race. A descendant of Seti I. or Ramses II., named +Nakhtusit, rallied round him the forces of the southern nomes, and +succeeded, though not without difficulty, in dispossessing the Syrian +Arisu. "When he arose, he was like Sutkhu, providing for all the +necessities of the country which, for feebleness, could not stand, +killing the rebels which were in the Delta, purifying the great throne +of Egypt; he was regent of the two lands in the place of Tumu, setting +himself to reorganise that which had been overthrown, to such good +purpose, that each one recognised as brethren those who had been +separated from him as by a wall for so long a time, strengthening +the temples by pious gifts, so that the traditional rites could be +celebrated at the divine cycles."* + + * The exact relationship between Nakhtusit and Ramses II. is + not known; he was probably the grandson or great-grandson of + that sovereign, though Ed. Meyer thinks he was perhaps the + son of Seti II. The name should be read either Nakhitsit, + with the singular of the first word composing it, or + Nakhitusit, Nakhtusit, with the plural, as in the analogous + name of the king of the XXXth dynasty, Nectanebo. + +Many were the difficulties that he had to encounter before he could +restore to his country that peace and wealth which she had enjoyed under +the long reign of Sesostris. It seems probable that his advancing years +made him feel unequal to the task, or that he desired to guard against +the possibility of disturbances in the event of his sudden death; at +all events, he associated with himself on the throne his eldest son +Ramses--not, however, as a Pharaoh who had full rights to the crown, +like the coadjutors of the Amenemhaits and Usirtasens, but as a prince +invested with extraordinary powers, after the example of the sons of the +Pharaohs Thutmosis and Seti I. Ramses recalls with pride, towards the +close of his life, how his father "had promoted him to the dignity of +heir-presumptive to the throne of Sibu," and how he had been acclaimed +as "the supreme head of Qimit for the administration of the whole earth +united together."* This constituted the rise of a new dynasty on the +ruins of the old--the last, however, which was able to retain the +supremacy of Egypt over the Oriental world. We are unable to ascertain +how long this double reign lasted. + + * The only certain monument that we as yet possess of this + double reign is a large stele cut on the rock behind + Medinet-Habu. + +[Illustration: 289.jpg NAKHTUSIT.] + +Nakhtusit, fully occupied by enemies within the country, had no leisure +either to build or to restore any monuments;* on his death, as no tomb +had been prepared for him, his mummy was buried in that of the usurper +Siphtah and the Queen Tausirit. + + * Wiedemann attributes to him the construction of one of the + doors of the temple of Mut at Karnak; it would appear that + there is a confusion in his notes between the prenomen of + this sovereign and that of Seti II., who actually did + decorate one of the doorways of that temple. Nakhusit must + have also worked on the temple of Phtah at Memphis. His + cartouche is met with on a statue originally dedicated by a + Pharaoh of the XIIth dynasty, discovered at Tell-Nebesheh. + +He was soon forgotten, and but few traces of his services survived him; +his name was subsequently removed from the official list of the kings, +while others not so deserving as he--as, for instance, Siphtah-Minephtah +and Amenmesis--were honourably inscribed in it. The memory of his son +overshadowed his own, and the series of the legitimate kings who formed +the XXth dynasty did not include him. Ramses III. took for his hero his +namesake, Ramses the Great, and endeavoured to rival him in everything. +This spirit of imitation was at times the means of leading him to commit +somewhat puerile acts, as, for example, when he copied certain +triumphal inscriptions word for word, merely changing the dates and +the cartouches,* or when he assumed the prenomen of Usirmari, and +distributed among his male children the names and dignities of the sons +of Sesostris. We see, moreover, at his court another high priest of +Phtah at Memphis bearing the name of Khamoisit, and Maritumu, another +supreme pontiff of Ra in Heliopolis. However, this ambition to resemble +his ancestor at once instigated him to noble deeds, and gave him the +necessary determination to accomplish them. + + * Thus the great decree of Phtah-Totunen, carved by Ramses + II. in the year XXXV. on the rocks of Abu Simbel, was copied + by Ramses III. at Medinet-Habu in the year XII. + +He began by restoring order in the administration of affairs; "he +established truth, crushed error, purified the temple from all crime," +and made his authority felt not only in the length and breadth of the +Nile valley, but in what was still left of the Asiatic provinces. +The disturbances of the preceding years had weakened the prestige of +Amon-Ra, and the king's supremacy would have been seriously endangered, +had any one arisen in Syria of sufficient energy to take advantage of +the existing state of affairs. But since the death of Khatusaru, the +power of the Khati had considerably declined, and they retained their +position merely through their former prestige; they were in as much need +of peace, or even more so, than the Egyptians, for the same discords +which had harassed the reigns of Seti II. and his successors had +doubtless brought trouble to their own sovereigns. They had made no +serious efforts to extend their dominion over any of those countries +which had been the objects of the cupidity of their forefathers, while +the peoples of Kharu and Phoenicia, thrown back on their own resources, +had not ventured to take up arms against the Pharaoh. The yoke lay +lightly upon them, and in no way hampered their internal liberty; they +governed as they liked, they exchanged one prince or chief for another, +they waged petty wars as of old, without, as a rule, exposing themselves +to interference from the Egyptian troops occupying the country, or from +the "royal messengers." These vassal provinces had probably ceased to +pay tribute, or had done so irregularly, during the years of anarchy +following the death of Siphtah, but they had taken no concerted action, +nor attempted any revolt, so that when Ramses III. ascended the throne +he was spared the trouble of reconquering them. He had merely to claim +allegiance to have it at once rendered him--an allegiance which included +the populations in the neighbourhood of Qodshu and on the banks of the +Nahr el-Kelb. The empire, which had threatened to fall to pieces amid +the civil wars, and which would indeed have succumbed had they continued +a few years longer, again revived now that an energetic prince had been +found to resume the direction of affairs, and to weld together those +elements which had been on the point of disintegration. + +One state alone appeared to regret the revival of the Imperial power; +this was the kingdom of Libya. It had continued to increase in size +since the days of Minephtah, and its population had been swelled by the +annexation of several strange tribes inhabiting the vast area of the +Sahara. One of these, the Mashauasha, acquired the ascendency among +these desert races owing to their numbers and valour, and together with +the other tribes--the Sabati, the Kaiakasha, the Shaiu, the Hasa, the +Bikana, and the Qahaka*--formed a confederacy, which now threatened +Egypt on the west. This federation was conducted by Didi, Mashaknu, +and Maraiu, all children of that Maraiu who had led the first Libyan +invasion, and also by Zamaru and Zautmaru, two princes of less important +tribes.** Their combined forces had attacked Egypt for the second time +during the years of anarchy, and had gained possession one after another +of all the towns in the west of the Delta, from the neighbourhood of +Memphis to the town of Qarbina: the Canopic branch of the Nile now +formed the limit of their dominion, and they often crossed it to +devastate the central provinces.*** + + * This enumeration is furnished by the summary of the + campaigns of Ramses III. in _The Great Harris Papyrus_. The + Sabati of this text are probably identical with the people + of the Sapudiu or Spudi (Asbytse), mentioned on one of the + pylons of Medinet-Habu. + + ** The relationship is nowhere stated, but it is thought to + be probable from the names of Didi and Maraiu, repeated in + both series of inscriptions. + + *** The town of Qarbina has been identified with the Canopus + of the Greeks, and also with the modern Korbani; and the + district of Gautu, which adjoined it, with the territory of + the modern town of Edko. Spiegel-berg throws doubt on the + identification of Qarbu or Qarbina, with Canopus. Revillout + prefers to connect Qarbina with Heracleopolis Parva in Lower + Egypt. + +Nakhtusiti had been unable to drive them out, and Ramses had not +ventured on the task immediately after his accession. The military +institutions of the country had become totally disorganised after the +death of Minephtah, and that part of the community responsible for +furnishing the army with recruits had been so weakened by the late +troubles, that they were in a worse condition than before the first +Libyan invasion. The losses they had suffered since Egypt began its +foreign conquests had not been repaired by the introduction of fresh +elements, and the hope of spoil was now insufficient to induce members +of the upper classes to enter the army. There was no difficulty in +filling the ranks from the fellahin, but the middle class and the +aristocracy, accustomed to ease and wealth, no longer came forward in +large numbers, and disdained the military profession. It was the fashion +in the schools to contrast the calling of a scribe with that of a +foot-soldier or a charioteer, and to make as merry over the discomforts +of a military occupation as it had formerly been the fashion to extol +its glory and profitableness. These scholastic exercises represented the +future officer dragged as a child to the barracks, "the side-lock over +his ear.--He is beaten and his sides are covered with scars,--he is +beaten and his two eyebrows are marked with wounds,--he is beaten and +his head is broken by a badly aimed blow; he is stretched on the ground" +for the slightest fault, "and blows fall on him as on a papyrus,--and +he is broken by the stick." His education finished, he is sent away to +a distance, to Syria or Ethiopia, and fresh troubles overtake him. "His +victuals and his supply of water are about his neck like the burden of +an ass,--and his neck and throat suffer like those of an ass,--so that +the joints of his spine are broken.--He drinks putrid water, keeping +perpetual guard the while." His fatigues soon tell upon his health +and vigour: "Should he reach the enemy,--he is like a bird which +trembles.--Should he return to Egypt,--he is like a piece of old +worm-eaten wood.--He is sick and must lie down, he is carried on an +ass,--while thieves steal his linen,--and his slaves escape." The +charioteer is not spared either. He, doubtless, has a moment of +vain-glory and of flattered vanity when he receives, according to +regulations, a new chariot and two horses, with which he drives at a +gallop before his parents and his fellow-villagers; but once having +joined his regiment, he is perhaps worse off than the foot-soldier. +"He is thrown to the ground among thorns:--a scorpion wounds him in +the foot, and his heel is pierced by its sting.--When his kit is +examined,--his misery is at its height." No sooner has the fact been +notified that his arms are in a bad condition, or that some article has +disappeared, than "he is stretched on the ground--and overpowered with +blows from a stick." This decline of the warlike spirit in all classes +of society had entailed serious modifications in the organisation of +both army and navy. The native element no longer predominated in most +battalions and on the majority of vessels, as it had done under the +XVIIIth dynasty; it still furnished those formidable companies of +archers--the terror of both Africans and Asiatics--and also the most +important part, if not the whole, of the chariotry, but the main body +of the infantry was composed almost exclusively of mercenaries, +particularly of the Shardana and the Qahaka. Ramses began his reforms +by rebuilding the fleet, which, in a country like Egypt, was always +an artificial creation, liable to fall into decay, unless a strong +and persistent effort were made to keep it in an efficient condition. +Shipbuilding had made considerable progress in the last few centuries, +perhaps from the impulse received through Phoenicia, and the vessels +turned out of the dockyards were far superior to those constructed under +Hatshopsitu. The general outlines of the hull remained the same, but +the stem and stern were finer, and not so high out of the water; the +bow ended, moreover, in a lion's head of metal, which rose above +the cut-water. A wooden structure running between the forecastle and +quarter-deck protected the rowers during the fight, their heads alone +being exposed. The mast had only one curved yard, to which the sail was +fastened; this was run up from the deck by halyards when the sailors +wanted to make sail, and thus differed from the Egyptian arrangement, +where the sail was fastened to a fixed upper yard. At least half of the +crews consisted of Libyan prisoners, who were branded with a hot iron +like cattle, to prevent desertion; the remaining half was drawn from +the Syrian or Asiatic coast, or else were natives of Egypt. In order +to bring the army into better condition, Ramses revived the system of +classes, which empowered him to compel all Egyptians of unmixed race to +take personal service, while he hired mercenaries from Libya, Phoenicia, +Asia Minor, and wherever he could get them, and divided them into +regular regiments, according to their extraction and the arms that they +bore. In the field, the archers always headed the column, to meet the +advance of the foe with their arrows; they were followed by the Egyptian +lancers--the Shardana and the Tyrseni with their short spears and heavy +bronze swords--while a corps of veterans, armed with heavy maces, +brought up the rear.* In an engagement, these various troops formed +three lines of infantry disposed one behind the other--the light brigade +in front to engage the adversary, the swordsmen and lancers who were to +come into close quarters with the foe, and the mace-bearers in reserve, +ready to advance on any threatened point, or to await the critical +moment when their intervention would decide the victory: as in the times +of Thutmosis and Ramses II. the chariotry covered the two wings. + + * This is the order of march represented during the Syrian + campaign, as gathered from the arrangement observed in the + pictures at Medinet-Habu. + +It was well for Ramses that on ascending the throne he had devoted +himself to the task of recruiting the Egyptian army, and of personally +and carefully superintending the instruction and equipment of his men; +for it was thanks to these precautions that, when the confederated +Libyans attacked the country about the Vth year of his reign, he was +enabled to repulse them with complete success. "Didi, Mashaknu, Maraiu, +together with Zamaru and Zautmaru, had strongly urged them to +attack Egypt and to carry fire before them from one end of it to the +other."--"Their warriors confided to each other in their counsels, +and their hearts were full: 'We will be drunk!' and their princes said +within their breasts: 'We will fill our hearts with violence!' But their +plans were overthrown, thwarted, broken against the heart of the god, +and the prayer of their chief, which their lips repeated, was +not granted by the god." They met the Egyptians at a place called +"Kamsisu-Khasfi-Timihu" ("Ramses repulses the Timihu"), but their attack +was broken by the latter, who were ably led and displayed considerable +valour. "They bleated like goats surprised by a bull who stamps its +foot, who pushes forward its horn and shakes the mountains, charging +whoever seeks to annoy it." They fled afar, howling with fear, and +many of them, in endeavouring to escape their pursuers, perished in the +canals. "It is," said they, "the breaking of our spines which threatens +us in the land of Egypt, and its lord destroys our souls for ever and +ever. Woe be upon them! for they have seen their dances changed into +carnage, Sokhit is behind them, fear weighs upon them. We march no +longer upon roads where we can walk, but we run across fields, all the +fields! And their soldiers did not even need to measure arms with us in +the struggle! Pharaoh alone was our destruction, a fire against us every +time that he willed it, and no sooner did we approach than the flame +curled round us, and no water could quench it on us." The victory was a +brilliant one; the victors counted 12,535 of the enemy killed,* and +many more who surrendered at discretion. The latter were formed into +a brigade, and were distributed throughout the valley of the Nile in +military settlements. They submitted to their fate with that resignation +which we know to have been a characteristic of the vanquished at that +date. + + * The number of the dead is calculated from that of the + hands and phalli brought in by the soldiers after the + victory, the heaps of which are represented at Medinet-Habu. + +They regarded their defeat as a judgment from God against which there +was no appeal; when their fate had been once pronounced, nothing +remained to the condemned except to submit to it humbly, and to +accommodate themselves to the master to whom they were now bound by a +decree from on high. The prisoners of one day became on the next the +devoted soldiers of the prince against whom they had formerly fought +resolutely, and they were employed against their own tribes, their +employers having no fear of their deserting to the other side during +the engagement. They were lodged in the barracks at Thebes, or in the +provinces under the feudal lords and governors of the Pharaoh, and +were encouraged to retain their savage customs and warlike spirit. They +intermarried either with the fellahin or with women of their own tribes, +and were reinforced at intervals by fresh prisoners or volunteers. +Drafted principally into the Delta and the cities of Middle Egypt, they +thus ended by constituting a semi-foreign population, destined by nature +and training to the calling of arms, and forming a sort of warrior +caste, differing widely from the militia of former times, and known for +many generations by their national name of Mashauasha. As early as the +XIIth dynasty, the Pharaohs had, in a similar way, imported the Mazaiu +from Nubia, and had used them as a military police; Ramses III. now +resolved to naturalise the Libyans for much the same purpose. His +victory did not bear the immediate fruits that we might have expected +from his own account of it; the memory of the exploits of Ramses II. +haunted him, and, stimulated by the example of his ancestor at Qodshu, +he doubtless desired to have the sole credit of the victory over the +Libyans. He certainly did overcome their kings, and arrested their +invasion; we may go so far as to allow that he wrested from them the +provinces which they had occupied on the left bank of the Canopic +branch, from Marea to the Natron Lakes, but he did not conquer them, +and their power still remained as formidable as ever. He had gained a +respite at the point of the sword, but he had not delivered Egypt from +their future attacks. + +[Illustration: 299.jpg one of the Libyan chiefs VANQUISHED BY RAMSES +III.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Champollion. + +He might perhaps have been tempted to follow up his success and assume +the offensive, had not affairs in Asia at this juncture demanded the +whole of his attention. The movement of great masses of European tribes +in a southerly and easterly direction was beginning to be felt by the +inhabitants of the Balkans, who were forced to set out in a double +stream of emigration--one crossing the Bosphorus and the Propontis +towards the centre of Asia Minor, while the other made for what was +later known as Greece Proper, by way of the passes over Olympus and +Pindus. The nations who had hitherto inhabited these regions, now found +themselves thrust forward by the pressure of invading hordes, and were +constrained to move towards the south and east by every avenue which +presented itself. It was probably the irruption of the Phrygians into +the high table-land which gave rise to the general exodus of these +various nations--the Pulasati, the Zakkala, the Shagalasha, the Danauna, +and the Uashasha--some of whom had already made their way into Syria and +taken part in campaigns there, while others had as yet never measured +strength with the Egyptians. The main body of these migrating tribes +chose the overland route, keeping within easy distance of the coast, +from Pamphylia as far as the confines of Naharaim. + +[Illustration: 300.jpg THE WAGGONS OF THE PULASATI AND THEIR +CONFEDERATES] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Champollion. + +They were accompanied by their families, who must have been mercilessly +jolted in the ox-drawn square waggons with solid wheels in which they +travelled. The body of the vehicle was built either of roughly squared +planks, or else of something resembling wicker-work. The round axletree +was kept in its place by means of a rude pin, and four oxen were +harnessed abreast to the whole structure. The children wore no clothes, +and had, for the most part, their hair tied into a tuft on the top of +their heads; the women affected a closely fitting cap, and were wrapped +in large blue or red garments drawn close to the body.* The men's attire +varied according to the tribe to which they belonged. The Pulasati +undoubtedly held the chief place; they were both soldiers and sailors, +and we must recognise in them the foremost of those tribes known to the +Greeks of classical times as the Oarians, who infested the coasts of +Asia Minor as well as those of Greece and the AEgean islands.** + + * These details are taken from the battle-scenes at Medinet- + Habu. + + ** The Pulasati have been connected with the Philistines by + Champollion, and subsequently by the early English + Egyptologists, who thought they recognised in them the + inhabitants of the Shephelah. Chabas was the first to + identify them with the Pelasgi; Unger and Brugsch prefer to + attribute to them a Libyan origin, but the latter finally + returns to the Pelasgic and Philistine hypothesis. They were + without doubt the Philistines, but in their migratory state, + before they settled on the coast of Palestine. + +[Illustration: 301.jpg PULASATI] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +Crete was at this time the seat of a maritime empire, whose chiefs were +perpetually cruising the seas and harassing the civilized states of +the Eastern Mediterranean. These sea-rovers had grown wealthy through +piracy, and contact with the merchants of Syria and Egypt had awakened +in them a taste for a certain luxury and refinement, of which we find +no traces in the remains of their civilization anterior to this period. +Some of the symbols in the inscriptions found on their monuments recall +certain of the Egyptian characters, while others present an original +aspect and seem to be of AEgean origin. We find in them, arranged in +juxtaposition, signs representing flowers, birds, fish, quadrupeds +of various kinds, members of the human body, and boats and household +implements. From the little which is known of this script we are +inclined to derive it from a similar source to that which has furnished +those we meet with in several parts of Asia Minor and Northern Syria. +It would appear that in ancient times, somewhere in the centre of the +Peninsula--but under what influence or during what period we know not--a +syllabary was developed, of which varieties were handed on from tribe +to tribe, spreading on the one side to the Hittites, Cilicians, and +the peoples on the borders of Syria and Egypt, and on the other to the +Trojans, to the people of the Cyclades, and into Crete and Greece. It +is easy to distinguish the Pulasati by the felt helmet which they wore +fastened under the chin by two straps and surmounted by a crest of +feathers. The upper part of their bodies was covered by bands of leather +or some thick material, below which hung a simple loin-cloth, while +their feet were bare or shod with short sandals. They carried each a +round buckler with two handles, and the stout bronze sword common to +the northern races, suspended by a cross belt passing over the left +shoulder, and were further armed with two daggers and two javelins. +They hurled the latter from a short distance while attacking, and then +drawing their sword or daggers, fell upon the enemy; we find among them +a few chariots of the Hittite type, each manned by a driver and two +fighting men. The Tyrseni appear to have been the most numerous after +the Pulasati, next to whom came the Zakkala. The latter are thought to +have been a branch of the Siculo-Pelasgi whom Greek tradition represents +as scattered at this period among the Cyclades and along the coast of +the Hellespont;* they wore a casque surmounted with plumes like that +of the Pulasati. The Tyrseni may be distinguished by their feathered +head-dress, but the Shaga-lasha affected a long ample woollen cap +falling on the neck behind, an article of apparel which is still worn by +the sailors of the Archipelago; otherwise they were equipped in much the +same manner as their allies. The other members of the confederation, +the Shardana, the Danauna, and the Nashasha, each furnished an +inconsiderable contingent, and, taken all together, formed but a small +item of the united force.** + + * The Zakkara, or Zakkala, have been identified with the + Teucrians by Lauth, Chabas, and Fr. Lenormant, with the + Zygritse of Libya by linger and Brugsch, who subsequently + returned to the Teucrian hypothesis; W. Max Millier regards + them as an Asiatic nation probably of the Lydian family. The + identification with the Siculo-Pelasgi of the AEgean Sea was + proposed by Maspero. + + ** The form of the word shows that it is of Asiatic origin, + Uasasos, Uassos, which refers us to Caria or Lycia. + +Their fleet sailed along the coast and kept within sight of the force on +land. The squadrons depicted on the monuments are without doubt those of +the two peoples, the Pulasati and Zakkala. Their ships resembled in many +respects those of Egypt, except in the fact that they had no cut-water. +The bow and stern rose up straight like the neck of a goose or swan; two +structures for fighting purposes were erected above the dock, while a +rail running round the sides of the vessel protected the bodies of the +rowers. An upper yard curved in shape hung from the single mast, which +terminated in a top for the look-out during a battle. The upper yard was +not made to lower, and the top-men managed the sail in the same manner +as the Egyptian sailors. The resemblance between this fleet and that +of Ramses is easily explained. The dwellers on the AEgean, owing to +the knowledge they had acquired of the Phoenician galleys, which +were accustomed to cruise annually in their waters, became experts in +shipbuilding. + +[Illustration: 304.jpg A SIHAGALASHA CHIEF] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Petrie. + +They copied the lines of the Phoenician craft, imitated the rigging, and +learned to manoeuvre their vessels so well, both on ordinary occasions +and in a battle, that they could now oppose to the skilled eastern +navigators ships as well fitted out and commanded by captains as +experienced as those of Egypt or Asia. + +There had been a general movement among all these peoples at the very +time when Ramses was repelling the attack of the Libyans; "the isles had +quivered, and had vomited forth their people at once."* + + * This campaign is mentioned in the inscription of Medinet- + Habu. We find some information about the war in the _Great + Harris Papyrus_, also in the inscription of Medinet-Habu + which describes the campaign of the year V., and in other + shorter texts of the same temple. + +They were subjected to one of those irresistible impulses such as had +driven the Shepherds into Egypt; or again, in later times, had carried +away the Cimmerians and the Scyths to the pillage of Asia Minor: "no +country could hold out against their arms, neither Khati, nor Qodi, nor +Carchemish, nor Arvad, nor Alasia, without being brought to nothing." +The ancient kingdoms of Sapalulu and Khatusaru, already tottering, +crumbled to pieces under the shock, and were broken up into their +primitive elements. The barbarians, unable to carry the towns by +assault, and too impatient to resort to a lengthened siege, spread +over the valley of the Orontes, burning and devastating the country +everywhere. Having reached the frontiers of the empire, in the country +of the Amorites, they came to a halt, and constructing an entrenched +camp, installed within it their women and the booty they had acquired. +Some of their predatory bands, having ravaged the Bekaa, ended by +attacking the subjects of the Pharaoh himself, and their chiefs dreamed +of an invasion of Egypt. Ramses, informed of their design by the +despatches of his officers and vassals, resolved to prevent its +accomplishment. He summoned his troops together, both indigenous +and mercenary, in his own person looked after their armament and +commissariat, and in the VIIIth year of his reign crossed the frontier +near Zalu. He advanced by forced marches to meet the enemy, whom +he encountered somewhere in Southern Syria, on the borders of the +Shephelah,* and after a stubbornly contested campaign obtained the +victory. He carried off from the field, in addition to the treasures of +the confederate tribes, some of the chariots which had been used for the +transport of their families. The survivors made their way hastily to the +north-west, in the direction of the sea, in order to receive the support +of their navy, but the king followed them step by step. + + * No site is given for these battles. E. de Rouge placed the + theatre of war in Syria, and his opinion was accepted by + Brugsch. Chabas referred it to the mouth of the Nile near + Pelusium, and his authority has prevailed up to the present. + The remarks of W. Max Mueller have brought me back to the + opinion of the earlier Egyptologists; but I differ from him + in looking for the locality further south, and not to the + mouth of Nahr el-Kelb as the site of the naval battle. It + seems to me that the fact that the Zakkala were prisoners at + Dor, and the Pulasati in the Shephelah, is enough to assign + the campaign to the regions I have mentioned in the text. + +It is recorded that he occupied himself with lion-hunting _en route_ +after the example of the victors of the XVIIIth dynasty, and that he +killed three of these animals in the long grass on one occasion on the +banks of some river. He rejoined his ships, probably at Jaffa, and made +straight for the enemy. The latter were encamped on the level shore, at +the head of a bay wide enough to offer to their ships a commodious +space for naval evolutions--possibly the mouth of the Belos, in the +neighbourhood of Magadil. The king drove their foot-soldiers into the +water at the same moment that his admirals attacked the combined fleet +of the Pulasati and Zakkala. + +[Illustration: 307.jpg THE ARMY OP RAMSES III. ON THE MARCH, AND THE +LION-HUNT] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +Some of the AEgean galleys were capsized and sank when the Egyptian +vessels rammed them with their sharp stems, and the crews, in +endeavouring to escape to land by swimming, were picked off by the +arrows of the archers of the guard who were commanded by Ramses and his +sons; they perished in the waves, or only escaped through the compassion +of the victors. "I had fortified," said the Pharaoh, "my frontier at +Zahi; I had drawn up before these people my generals, my provincial +governors, the vassal princes, and the best of my soldiers. The mouths +of the river seemed to be a mighty rampart of galleys, barques, and +vessels of all kinds, equipped from the bow to the stern with valiant +armed men. The infantry, the flower of Egypt, were as lions roaring +on the mountains; the charioteers, selected from among the most rapid +warriors, had for their captains only officers confident in themselves; +the horses quivered in all their limbs, and were burning to trample the +nations underfoot. As for me, I was like the warlike Montu: I stood up +before them and they saw the vigour of my arms. I, King Ramses, I was as +a hero who is conscious of his valour, and who stretches his hands over +the people in the day of battle. Those who have violated my frontier +will never more garner harvests from this earth: the period of their +soul has been fixed for ever. My forces were drawn up before them on +the 'Very Green,' a devouring flame approached them at the river mouth, +annihilation embraced them on every side. Those who were on the strand +I laid low on the seashore, slaughtered like victims of the butcher. +I made their vessels to capsize, and their riches fell into the sea." +Those who had not fallen in the fight were caught, as it were, in +the cast of a net. A rapid cruiser of the fleet carried the Egyptian +standard along the coast as far as the regions of the Orontes and +Saros. The land troops, on the other hand, following on the heels of the +defeated enemy, pushed through Coele-Syria, and in their first burst of +zeal succeeded in reaching the plains of the Euphrates. A century had +elapsed since a Pharaoh had planted his standard in this region, and the +country must have seemed as novel to the soldiers of Ramses III. as to +those of his predecessor Thutmosis. + +[Illustration: 308.jpg THE DEFEAT OF THE PEOPLES OF THE SEA] + +The Khati were still its masters; and all enfeebled as they were by +the ravages of the invading barbarians, were nevertheless not slow in +preparing to resist their ancient enemies. The majority of the citadels +shut their gates in the face of Ramses, who, wishing to lose no time, +did not attempt to besiege them: he treated their territory with the +usual severity, devastating their open towns, destroying their harvests, +breaking down their fruit trees, and cutting away their forests. He was +able, moreover, without arresting his march, to carry by assault several +of their fortified towns, Alaza among the number, the destruction of +which is represented in the scenes of his victories. The spoils were +considerable, and came very opportunely to reward the soldiers or to +provide funds for the erection of monuments. The last battalion of +troops, however, had hardly recrossed the isthmus when Lotanu became +again its own master, and Egyptian rule was once more limited to its +traditional provinces of Kharu and Phoenicia. The King of the Khati +appears among the prisoners whom the Pharaoh is represented as bringing +to his father Amon; Carchemish, Tunipa, Khalabu, Katna, Pabukhu, Arvad, +Mitanni, Mannus, Asi, and a score of other famous towns of this period +appear in the list of the subjugated nations, recalling the triumphs +of Thutmosis III. and Amenothes II. Ramses did not allow himself to +be deceived into thinking that his success was final. He accepted the +protestations of obedience which were spontaneously offered him, but he +undertook no further expedition of importance either to restrain or to +provoke his enemies: the restricted rule which satisfied his exemplar +Ramses II. ought, he thought, to be sufficient for his own ambition. + +Egypt breathed freely once more on the announcement of the victory; +henceforward she was "as a bed without anguish." "Let each woman now go +to and fro according to her will," cried the sovereign, in describing +the campaign, "her ornaments upon her, and directing her steps to any +place she likes!" And in order to provide still further guarantees of +public security, he converted his Asiatic captives, as he previously +had his African prisoners, into a bulwark against the barbarians, and +a safeguard of the frontier. The war must, doubtless, have decimated +Southern Syria; and he planted along its coast what remained of the +defeated tribes--the Philistines in the Shephelah, and the Zakkala on +the borders of the great oak forest stretching from Oarmel to Dor.* + + * It is in this region that we find henceforward the Hebrews + in contact with the Philistines: at the end of the XXIst + Egyptian dynasty a scribe makes Dor a town of the Zakkala. + +Watch-towers were erected for the supervision of this region, and for +rallying-points in case of internal revolts or attacks from without. One +of these, the Migdol of Ramses III., was erected, not far from the scene +of the decisive battle, on the spot where the spoils had been divided. +This living barrier, so to speak, stood between the Nile valley and the +dangers which threatened it from Asia, and it was not long before +its value was put to the proof. The Libyans, who had been saved from +destruction by the diversion created in their favour on the eastern side +of the empire, having now recovered their courage, set about collecting +their hordes together for a fresh invasion. They returned to the attack +in the XIth year of Ramses, under the leadership of Kapur, a prince of +the Mashauasha.* + + * The second campaign against the Libyans is known to us + from the inscriptions of the year XI. at Medinet-Habu. + +[Illustration: 313.jpg THE CAPTIVE CHIEFS OF RAMSES III. AT +MEDINET-IHABU] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Beato. The first + prisoner on the left is the Prince of the Khati (cf. the cut + on p. 318 of the present work), the second is the Prince of + the Amauru [Amoritos], the third the Prince of the Zakkala, + the fourth that of the Shardana, the fifth that of the + Shakalasha (see the cut on p. 304 of this work), and the + sixth that of the Tursha [Tyrseni]. + +Their soul had said to them for the second time that "they would end +their lives in the nomes of Egypt, that they would till its valleys and +its plains as their own land." The issue did not correspond with their +intentions. "Death fell upon them within Egypt, for they had hastened +with their feet to the furnace which consumes corruption, under the +fire of the valour of the king who rages like Baal from the heights of +heaven. All his limbs are invested with victorious strength; with his +right hand he lays hold of the multitudes, his left extends to those who +are against him, like a cloud of arrows directed upon them to destroy +them, and his sword cuts like that of Montu. Kapur, who had come to +demand homage, blind with fear, threw down his arms, and his troops did +the same. He sent up to heaven a suppliant cry, and his son [Mashashalu] +arrested his foot and his hand; for, behold, there rises beside him the +god who knows what he has in his heart: His Majesty falls upon their +heads as a mountain of granite and crushes them, the earth drinks up +their blood as if it had been water...; their army was slaughtered, +slaughtered their soldiers," near a fortress situated on the borders +of the desert called the "Castle of Usirmari-Miamon." They were seized, +"they were stricken, their arms bound, like geese piled up in the bottom +of a boat, under the feet of His Majesty."* The fugitives were pursued +at the sword's point from the _Castle of Usirmari-Miamon_ to the _Castle +of the Sands_, a distance of over thirty miles.** + + * The name of the son of Kapur, Mashashalu, Masesyla, which + is wanting in this inscription, is supplied from a parallel + inscription. + + * The Castle of Usirmari-Miamon was "on the mountain of the + horn of the world," which induces me to believe that we must + seek its site on the borders of the Libyan desert. The royal + title entering into its name being liable to change with + every reign, it is possible that we have an earlier + reference to this stronghold in a mutilated passage of the + Athribis Stele, which relates to the campaigns of Minephtah; + it must have commanded one of the most frequented routes + leading to the oasis of Amon. + +[Illustration: 314.jpg RAMSES III. BINDS THE CHIEFS OF THE LIBYANS] + + From a photograph by Beato. + +Two thousand and seventy-five Libyans were left upon the ground that +day, two thousand and fifty-two perished in other engagements, while +two thousand and thirty-two, both male and female, were made prisoners. +These were almost irreparable losses for a people of necessarily small +numbers, and if we add the number of those who had succumbed in the +disaster of six years before, we can readily realise how discouraged +the invaders must have been, and how little likely they were to try the +fortune of war once more. Their power dwindled and vanished almost as +quickly as it had arisen; the provisional cohesion given to their forces +by a few ambitious chiefs broke up after their repeated defeats, and +the rudiments of an empire which had struck terror into the Pharaohs, +resolved itself into its primitive elements, a number of tribes +scattered over the desert. They were driven back beyond the Libyan +mountains; fortresses* guarded the routes they had previously followed, +and they were obliged henceforward to renounce any hope of an invasion +_en masse_, and to content themselves with a few raiding expeditions +into the fertile plain of the Delta, where they had formerly found a +transitory halting-place. Counter-raids organised by the local troops +or by the mercenaries who garrisoned the principal towns in the +neighbourhood of Memphis--Hermopolis and Thinisl--inflicted punishment +upon them when they became too audacious. Their tribes, henceforward, +as far as Egypt was concerned, formed a kind of reserve from which the +Pharaoh could raise soldiers every year, and draw sufficient materials +to bring his army up to fighting strength when internal revolt or an +invasion from without called for military activity. + + * _The Great Harris Papyrus_ speaks of fortifications + erected in the towns of Anhuri-Shu, possibly Thinis, and of + Thot, possibly Hermopolis, in order to repel the tribes of + the Tihonu who were ceaselessly harassing the frontier. + +[Illustration: 318.jpg THE PRINCE OF THE KHATI] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken at Medinet- + Habu. + +The campaign of the XIth year brought to an end the great military +expeditions of Ramses III. Henceforward he never took the lead in any +more serious military enterprise than that of repressing the Bedawin of +Seir for acts of brigandage,* or the Ethiopians for some similar +reason. He confined his attention to the maintenance of commercial and +industrial relations with manufacturing countries, and with the +markets of Asia and Africa. He strengthened the garrisons of Sinai, and +encouraged the working of the ancient mines in that region. He sent a +colony of quarry-men and of smelters to the land of Atika, in order to +work the veins of silver which were alleged to exist there.** + + *The Sairu of the Egyptian texts have been identified with + the Bedawin of Seir. + + ** This is the Gebel-Ataka of our day. All this district is + imperfectly explored, but we know that it contains mines and + quarries some of which were worked as late as in the time of + the Mameluk Sultans. + +He launched a fleet on the Red Sea, and sent it to the countries of +fragrant spices. "The captains of the sailors were there, together with +the chiefs of the _corvee_ and accountants, to provide provision" for +the people of the Divine Lands "from the innumerable products of Egypt; +and these products were counted by myriads. Sailing through the great +sea of Qodi, they arrived at Puantt without mishap, and there collected +cargoes for their galleys and ships, consisting of all the unknown +marvels of Tonutir, as well as considerable quantities of the perfumes +of Puatin, which they stowed on board by tens of thousands without +number. The sons of the princes of Tonutir came themselves into Qimit +with their tributes. They reached the region of Coptos safe and sound, +and disembarked there in peace with their riches." It was somewhere +about Sau and Tuau that the merchants and royal officers landed, +following the example of the expeditions of the XIIth and XVIIIth +dynasties. Here they organised caravans of asses and slaves, which +taking the shortest route across the mountain--that of the valley of +Rahanu--carried the precious commodities to Coptos, whence they were +transferred to boats and distributed along the river. The erection +of public buildings, which had been interrupted since the time of +Minephtah, began again with renewed activity. The captives in the recent +victories furnished the requisite labour, while the mines, the voyages +to the Somali coast, and the tributes of vassals provided the necessary +money. Syria was not lost sight of in this resumption of peaceful +occupations. The overthrow of the Khati secured Egyptian rule in this +region, and promised a long tranquillity within its borders. One temple +at least was erected in the country--that of Pa-kanana--where the +princes of Kharu were to assemble to offer worship to the Pharaoh, and +to pay each one his quota of the general tribute. The Pulasati were +employed to protect the caravan routes, and a vast reservoir was +erected near Aina to provide a store of water for the irrigation of the +neighbouring country. The Delta absorbed the greater part of the royal +subsidies; it had suffered so much from the Libyan incursions, that the +majority of the towns within it had fallen into a condition as +miserable as that in which they were at the time of the expulsion of the +Shepherds. Heliopolis, Bubastis, Thmuis, Amu, and Tanis still preserved +some remains of the buildings which had already been erected in them +by Ramses; he constructed also, at the place at present called Tel +el-Yahudiyeh, a royal palace of limestone, granite, and alabaster, of +which the type is unique amongst all the structures hitherto discovered. +Its walls and columns were not ornamented with the usual sculptures +incised in stone, but the whole of the decorations--scenes as well +as inscriptions--consisted of plaques of enamelled terra-cotta set +in cement. The forms of men and animals and the lines of hieroglyphs, +standing out in slight relief from a glazed and warm-coloured +background, constitute an immense mosaic-work of many hues. The few +remains of the work show great purity of design and an extraordinary +delicacy of tone. + +[Illustration: 320.jpg SIGNS, ARMS AND INSTRUMENTS] + +All the knowledge of the Egyptian painters, and all the technical skill +of their artificers in ceramic, must have been employed to compose such +harmoniously balanced decorations, with their free handling of line and +colour, and their thousands of rosettes, squares, stars, and buttons of +varicoloured pastes.* + + * This temple has been known since the beginning of the + nineteenth century, and the Louvre is in possession of some + fragments from it which came from Salt's collection; it was + rediscovered in 1870, and some portions of it were + transferred by Mariette to the Boulaq Museum. The remainder + was destroyed by the fellahin, at the instigation of the + enlightened amateurs of Cairo, and fragments of it have + passed into various private collections. The decoration has + been attributed to Chaldoan influence, but it is a work + purely Egyptian, both in style and in technique. + +[Illustration: 321.jpg THE COLOSSAL OSIRIAN FIGURES in THE FIRST COURT +AT MEDINET-HABU] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +The difficulties to overcome were so appalling, that when the marvellous +work was once accomplished, no subsequent attempt was made to construct +a second like it: all the remaining structures of Ramses III., whether +at Memphis, in the neighbourhood of Abydos, or at Karnak, were in the +conventional style of the Pharaohs. He determined, nevertheless, to give +to the exterior of the Memnonium, which he built near Medinet-Habu for +the worship of himself, the proportions and appearance of an Asiatic +"Migdol," influenced probably by his remembrance of similar structures +which he had seen during his Syrian campaign. The chapel itself is of +the ordinary type, with its gigantic pylons, its courts surrounded by +columns--each supporting a colossal Osirian statue--its hypostyle +hall, and its mysterious cells for the deposit of spoils taken from the +peoples of the sea and the cities of Asia. His tomb was concealed at a +distant spot in the Biban-el-Moluk, and we see depicted on its walls the +same scenes that we find in the last resting-place of Seti I. or Ramses +II., and in addition to them, in a series of supplementary chambers, the +arms of the sovereign, his standards, his treasure, his kitchen, and the +preparation of offerings which were to be made to him. His sarcophagus, +cut out of an enormous block of granite, was brought for sale to Europe +at the beginning of this century, and Cambridge obtained possession of +its cover, while the Louvre secured the receptacle itself. + +These were years of profound tranquillity. The Pharaoh intended that +absolute order should reign throughout his realm, and that justice +should be dispensed impartially within it. + +[Illustration: 322.jpg THE FIRST PYLON OF THE TEMPLE] + +There were to be no more exactions, no more crying iniquities: whoever +was discovered oppressing the people, no matter whether he were court +official or feudal lord--was instantly deprived of his functions, +and replaced by an administrator of tried integrity. Ramses boasts, +moreover, in an idyllic manner, of having planted trees everywhere, and +of having built arbours wherein the people might sit in the shade in the +open air; while women might go to and fro where they would in security, +no one daring to insult them on the way. The Shardanian and Libyan +mercenaries were restricted to the castles which they garrisoned, and +were subjected to such a severe discipline that no one had any cause of +complaint against these armed barbarians settled in the heart of Egypt. +"I have," continues the king, "lifted up every miserable one out of his +misfortune, I have granted life to him, I have saved him from the mighty +who were oppressing him, and have secured rest for every one in his own +town." The details of the description are exaggerated, but the general +import of it is true. Egypt had recovered the peace and prosperity of +which it had been deprived for at least half a century, that is, since +the death of Minephtah. The king, however, was not in such a happy +condition as his people, and court intrigues embittered the later years +of his life. One of his sons, whose name is unknown to us, but who is +designated in the official records by the nickname of Pentauirit, formed +a conspiracy against him. His mother, Tii, who was a woman of secondary +rank, took it into her head to secure the crown for him, to the +detriment of the children of Queen Isit. An extensive plot was hatched +in which scribes, officers of the guard, priests, and officials in +high place, both natives and foreigners, were involved. A resort to +the supernatural was at first attempted, and the superintendent of the +Herds, a certain Panhuibaunu, who was deeply versed in magic, undertook +to cast a spell upon the Pharaoh, if he could only procure certain +conjuring books of which he was not possessed. These were found to be +in the royal library. He managed to introduce himself under cover of the +night into the harem, where he manufactured certain waxen figures, of +which some were to excite the hate of his wives against their husband, +while others would cause him to waste away and finally perish. A traitor +betrayed several of the conspirators, who, being subjected to the +torture, informed upon others, and these at length brought the matter +home to Pentauirit and his immediate accomplices. All were brought +before a commission of twelve members, summoned expressly to try the +case, and the result was the condemnation and execution of six women and +some forty men. The extreme penalty of the Egyptian code was reserved +for Pentauirit, and for the most culpable,--"they died of themselves," +and the meaning of this phrase is indicated, I believe, by the +appearance of one of the mummies disinterred at Deir el-Bahari.* The +coffin in which it was placed was very plain, painted white and without +inscription; the customary removal of entrails had not been effected, +but the body was covered with a thick layer of natron, which was applied +even to the skin itself and secured by wrappings. + + * The translations by Deveria, Lepage-Renouf, and Erman + agree in making it a case of judicial suicide: there was + left to the condemned a choice of his mode of death, in + order to avoid the scandal of a public execution. It is also + possible to make it a condemnation to death in person, which + did not allow of the substitution of a proxy willing, for a + payment to his family, to undergo death in place of the + condemned; but, unfortunately, no other text is to be found + supporting the existence of such a practice in Egypt. + +It makes one's flesh creep to look at it: the hands and feet are tied +by strong bands, and are curled up as if under an intolerable pain; +the abdomen is drawn up, the stomach projects like a ball, the chest is +contracted, the head is thrown back, the face is contorted in a hideous +grimace, the retracted lips expose the teeth, and the mouth is open as +if to give utterance to a last despairing cry. The conviction is +borne in upon us that the man was invested while still alive with the +wrappings of the dead. Is this the mummy of Pentauirit, or of some +other prince as culpable as he was, and condemned to this frightful +punishment? In order to prevent the recurrence of such wicked plots, +Pharaoh resolved to share his throne with that one of his sons who had +most right to it. In the XXXIInd year of his reign he called together +his military and civil chiefs, the generals of the foreign mercenaries, +the Shardana, the priests, and the nobles of the court, and presented +to them, according to custom, his heir-designate, who was also called +Ramses. He placed the double crown upon his brow, and seated him beside +himself upon the throne of Horus. This was an occasion for the Pharaoh +to bring to remembrance all the great exploits he had performed during +his reign--his triumphs over the Libyans and over the peoples of the +sea, and the riches he had lavished upon the gods: at the end of the +enumeration he exhorted those who were present to observe the same +fidelity towards the son which they had observed towards the father, and +to serve the new sovereign as valiantly as they had served himself. + +[Illustration: 327.jpg THE MUMMY OF RAMSES III.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a, photograph by Emil Brugsch- + Bey. + +The joint reign lasted for only four years. Ramses III. was not +much over sixty years of age when he died. He was still vigorous and +muscular, but he had become stout and heavy. The fatty matter of the +body having been dissolved by the natron in the process of embalming, +the skin distended during life has gathered up into enormous loose +folds, especially about the nape of the neck, under the chin, on the +hips, and at the articulations of the limbs. The closely shaven head and +cheeks present no trace of hair or beard. The forehead, although neither +broad nor high, is better proportioned than that of Ramses II.; the +supra-orbital ridges are less accentuated than his, the cheek-bones not +so prominent, the nose not so arched, and the chin and jaw less massive. +The eyes were perhaps larger, but no opinion can be offered on this +point, for the eyelids have been cut away, and the cleared-out cavities +have been filled with rags. The ears do not stand out so far from the +head as those of Ramses II., but they have been pierced for ear-rings. +The mouth, large by nature, has been still further widened in the +process of embalming, owing to the awkwardness of the operator, who +has cut into the cheeks at the side. The thin lips allow the white and +regular teeth to be seen; the first molar on the right has been either +broken in half, or has worn away more rapidly than the rest. Ramses III. +seems, on the whole, to have been a sort of reduced copy, a little +more delicate in make, of Ramses II.; his face shows more subtlety +of expression and intelligence, though less nobility than that of the +latter, while his figure is not so upright, his shoulders not so +broad, and his general muscular vigour less. What has been said of +his personality may be extended to his reign; it was evidently and +designedly an imitation of the reign of Ramses IL, but fell short of its +model owing to the insufficiency of his resources in men and money. If +Ramses III. did not succeed in becoming one of the most powerful of the +Theban Pharaohs, it was not for lack of energy or ability; the depressed +condition of Egypt at the time limited the success of his endeavours and +caused them to fall short of his intentions. The work accomplished by +him was not on this account less glorious. At his accession Egypt was +in a wretched state, invaded on the west, threatened by a flood +of barbarians on the east, without an army or a fleet, and with no +resources in the treasury. In fifteen years he had disposed of his +inconvenient neighbours, organised an army, constructed a fleet, +re-established his authority abroad, and settled the administration +at home on so firm a basis, that the country owed the peace which it +enjoyed for several centuries to the institutions and prestige which +he had given it. His associate in the government, Ramses IV., barely +survived him. Then followed a series of _rois faineants_ bearing the +name of Ramses, but in an order not yet clearly determined. It is +generally assumed that Ramses V., brother of Ramses III., succeeded +Ramses IV. by supplanting his nephews--who, however, appear to have +soon re-established their claim to the throne, and to have followed each +other in rapid succession as Ramses VI., Ramses VIL, Ramses VIII., and +Maritumu.* Others endeavour to make out that Ramses V. was the son of +Ramses IV., and that the prince called Ramses VI. never succeeded to the +throne at all. At any rate, his son, who is styled Ramses VIL, but who +is asserted by some to have been a son of Ramses III., is considered to +have succeeded Ramses V., and to have become the ancestor from whom the +later Ramessides traced their descent.** + + * The order of the Ramessides was first made out by + Champollion the younger and by Rosellini. Bunsen and Lepsius + reckon in it thirteen kings; E. de Rouge puts the number at + fifteen or sixteen; Maspero makes the number to be twelve, + which was reduced still further by Setho. Erman thinks that + Ramses IX. and Ramses X. were also possibly sons of Ramses + III.; he consequently declines to recognise King Maritumu as + a son of that sovereign, as Brugsch would make out. + + * The monuments of these later Ramessides are so rare and so + doubtful that I cannot yet see my way to a solution of the + questions which they raise. + +The short reigns of these Pharaohs were marked by no events which would +cast lustre on their names; one might say that they had nothing else to +do than to enjoy peacefully the riches accumulated by their forefather. +Ramses IV. was anxious to profit by the commercial relations which +had been again established between Egypt and Puanit, and, in order to +facilitate the transit between Coptos and Kosseir, founded a station, +and a temple dedicated to Isis, in the mountain of Bakhni; by this +route, we learn, more than eight thousand men had passed under the +auspices of the high priest of Amon, Nakh-tu-ramses. This is the only +undertaking of public utility which we can attribute to any of these +kings. As we see them in their statues and portraits, they are heavy +and squat and without refinement, with protruding eyes, thick lips, +flattened and commonplace noses, round and expressionless faces. Their +work was confined to the engraving of their cartouches on the blank +spaces of the temples at Karnak and Medinet-Habu, and the addition of a +few stones to the buildings at Memphis, Abydos, and Heliopolis. Whatever +energy and means they possessed were expended on the construction of +their magnificent tombs. + +[Illustration: 331.jpg A RAMSES OF THE XXth DYNASTY] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Emil Brugsch- + Bey. This is the Ramses VI. of the series now generally + adopted. + +These may still be seen in the Biban el-Moluk, and no visitor can +refrain from admiring them for their magnitude and decoration. As to +funerary chapels, owing to the shortness of the reigns of these kings, +there was not time to construct them, and they therefore made up for +this want by appropriating the chapel of their father, which was at +Medinet-Habu, and it was here consequently that their worship was +maintained. The last of the sons of Ramses III. was succeeded by another +and equally ephemeral Ramses; after whom came Ramses X. and Ramses XI., +who re-established the tradition of more lasting reigns. There was +now no need of expeditions against Kharu or Libya, for these enfeebled +countries no longer disputed, from the force of custom, the authority of +Egypt. From time to time an embassy from these countries would arrive at +Thebes, bringing presents, which were pompously recorded as representing +so much tribute.* If it is true that a people which has no history +is happy, then Egypt ought to be reckoned as more fortunate under the +feebler descendants of Ramses III. than it had ever been under the most +famous Pharaohs. + + * The mention of a tribute, for instance, in the time of + Ramses IV. from the Lotanu. + +Thebes continued to be the favourite royal residence. Here in its temple +the kings were crowned, and in its palaces they passed the greater part +of their lives, and here in its valley of sepulchres they were laid +to rest when their reigns and lives were ended. The small city of the +beginning of the XVIIIth dynasty had long encroached upon the plain, and +was now transformed into an immense town, with magnificent monuments, +and a motley population, having absorbed in its extension the villages +of Ashiru,* and Madit, and even the southern Apit, which we now call +Luxor. But their walls could still be seen, rising up in the middle of +modern constructions, a memorial of the heroic ages, when the power of +the Theban princes was trembling in the balance, and when conflicts with +the neighbouring barons or with the legitimate king were on the point of +breaking out at every moment.** + + * The village of Ashiru was situated to the south of the + temple of Karnak, close to the temple of Mut. Its ruins, + containing the statues of Sokhit collected by Amenothes III., + extend around the remains marked X in Mariette's plan. + + * These are the walls which are generally regarded as + marking the sacred enclosure of the temples: an examination + of the ruins of Thebes shows us that, during the XXth and + XXIst dynasties, brick-built houses lay against these walls + both on the inner and outer sides, so that they must have + been half hidden by buildings, as are the ancient walls of + Paris at the present day. + +The inhabitants of Apit retained their walls, which coincided almost +exactly with the boundary of Nsittaui, the great sanctuary of Amon; +Ashiru sheltered behind its ramparts the temple of Mut, while Apit-risit +clustered around a building consecrated by Amenothes III. to his divine +father, the lord of Thebes. Within the boundary walls of Thebes extended +whole suburbs, more or less densely populated and prosperous, through +which ran avenues of sphinxes connecting together the three chief +boroughs of which the sovereign city was composed. On every side might +have been seen the same collections of low grey huts, separated from +each other by some muddy pool where the cattle were wont to drink +and the women to draw water; long streets lined with high houses, +irregularly shaped open spaces, bazaars, gardens, courtyards, and +shabby-looking palaces which, while presenting a plain and unadorned +exterior, contained within them the refinements of luxury and the +comforts of wealth. The population did not exceed a hundred thousand +souls,* reckoning a large proportion of foreigners attracted hither by +commerce or held as slaves. + + * Letronne, after having shown that we have no authentic + ancient document giving us the population, fixes it at + 200,000 souls. My estimate, which is, if anything, + exaggerated, is based on the comparison of the area of + ancient Thebes and that of such modern towns as Shit, Girgeh + and Qina, whose populations are known for the last fifty + years from the census. + +[Illustration: 334.jpg MAP: THEBES IN THE XXTH DYNASTY] + +The court of the Pharaoh drew to the city numerous provincials, who, +coming thither to seek their fortune, took up their abode there, +planting in the capital of Southern Egypt types from the north and +the centre of the country, as well as from Nubia and the Oases; such a +continuous infusion of foreign material into the ancient Theban stock +gave rise to families of a highly mixed character, in which all the +various races of Egypt were blended in the most capricious fashion. In +every twenty officers, and in the same number of ordinary officials, +about half would be either Syrians, or recently naturalised Nubians, or +the descendants of both, and among the citizens such names as Pakhari +the Syrian, Palamnani the native of the Lebanon, Pinahsi the negro, +Palasiai the Alasian, preserved the indications of foreign origin.* +A similar mixture of races was found in other cities, and Memphis, +Bubastis, Tanis, and Siut must have presented as striking an aspect +in this respect as Thebes.** At Memphis there were regular colonies of +Phoenician, Canaanite, and Amorite merchants sufficiently prosperous +to have temples there to their national gods, and influential enough to +gain adherents to their religion from the indigenous inhabitants. They +worshipped Baal, Aniti. Baal-Zaphuna, and Ashtoreth, side by side with +Phtah, Nofirtumu, and Sokhit,*** and this condition of things at Memphis +was possibly paralleled elsewhere--as at Tanis and Bubastis. + + * Among the forty-three individuals compromised in the + conspiracy against Ramses III. whose names have been + examined by Deveria, nine are foreigners, chiefly Semites, + and were so recognised by the Egyptians themselves--Adiram, + Balmahara, Garapusa, lunini the Libyan, Paiarisalama, + possibly the Jerusalemite, Nanaiu, possibly the Ninevite, + Palulca the Lycian, Qadendena, and Uarana or Naramu. + + ** An examination of the stelae of Abydos shows the extent of + foreign influence in this city in the middle of the + XVIIIth dynasty. + + *** These gods are mentioned in the preamble of a letter + written on the _verso_ of the _Sallier Papyrus_. From the + mode in which they are introduced we may rightly infer that + they had, like the Egyptian gods who are mentioned with + them, their chapels at Memphis. A place in Memphis is called + "the district called the district of the Khatiu" is an + inscription of the IIIth year of Ai, and shows that Hittites + were there by the side of Canaanites. + +This blending of races was probably not so extensive in the country +districts, except in places where mercenaries were employed as +garrisons; but Sudanese or Hittite slaves, brought back by the soldiers +of the ranks, had introduced Ethiopian and Asiatic elements into many a +family of the fellahin.* + + * One of the letters in the Great Bologna Papyrus treats of + a Syrian slave, employed as a cultivator at Hermopolis, who + had run away from his master. + +We have only to examine in any of our museums the statues of the +Memphite and Theban periods respectively, to see the contrast between +the individuals represented in them as far as regards stature and +appearance. Some members of the courts of the Ramessides stand out as +genuine Semites notwithstanding the disguise of their Egyptian names; +and in the times of Kheops and Usirtasen they would have been regarded +as barbarians. Many of them exhibit on their faces a blending of the +distinctive features of one or other of the predominant Oriental races +of the time. Additional evidence of a mixture of races is forthcoming +when we examine with an unbiased mind the mummies of the period, and +the complexity of the new elements introduced among the people by the +political movements of the later centuries is thus strongly confirmed. +The new-comers had all been absorbed and assimilated by the country, but +the generations which arose from this continual cross-breeding, while +representing externally the Egyptians of older epochs, in manners, +language, and religion, were at bottom something different, and +the difference became the more accentuated as the foreign elements +increased. The people were thus gradually divested of the character +which had distinguished them before the conquest of Syria; the +dispositions and defects imported from without counteracted to such +an extent their own native dispositions and defects that all marks of +individuality were effaced and nullified. The race tended to become more +and more what it long continued to be afterwards,--a lifeless and inert +mass, without individual energy--endowed, it is true, with patience, +endurance, cheerfulness of temperament, and good nature, but with little +power of self-government, and thus forced to submit to foreign masters +who made use of it and oppressed it without pity. + +The upper classes had degenerated as much as the masses. The feudal +nobles who had expelled the Shepherds, and carried the frontiers of +the empire to the banks of the Euphrates, seemed to have expended their +energies in the effort, and to have almost ceased to exist. As long as +Egypt was restricted to the Nile valley, there was no such disproportion +between the power of the Pharaoh and that of his feudatories as to +prevent the latter from maintaining their privileges beside, and, when +occasion arose, even against the monarch. The conquest of Asia, while it +compelled them either to take up arms themselves or to send their +troops to a distance, accustomed them and their soldiers to a passive +obedience. The maintenance of a strict discipline in the army was the +first condition of successful campaigning at great distances from the +mother country and in the midst of hostile people, and the unquestioning +respect which they had to pay to the orders of their general prepared +them for abject submission to the will of their sovereign. To their +bravery, moveover, they owed not only money and slaves, but also +necklaces and bracelets of honour, and distinctions and offices in +the Pharaonic administration. The king, in addition, neglected no +opportunity for securing their devotion to himself. He gave to them +in marriage his sisters, his daughters, his cousins, and any of the +princesses whom he was not compelled by law to make his own wives. He +selected from their harems nursing-mothers for his own sons, and this +choice established between him and them a foster relationship, which +was as binding among the Egyptians and other Oriental peoples as one of +blood. It was not even necessary for the establishment of this relation +that the foster-mother's connexion with the Pharaoh's son should be +durable or even effective: the woman had only to offer her breast to +the child for a moment, and this symbol was quite enough to make her his +nurse--his true _monait_. This fictitious fosterage was carried so far, +that it was even made use of in the case of youths and persons of mature +age. When an Egyptian woman wished to adopt an adult, the law prescribed +that she should offer him the breast, and from that moment he became her +son. A similar ceremony was prescribed in the case of men who wished to +assume the quality of male nurse--_monai_--or even, indeed, of female +nurse--_monait_--like that of their wives; according to which they were +to place, it would seem, the end of one of their fingers in the mouth +of the child.* Once this affinity was established, the fidelity of these +feudal lords was established beyond question; and their official duties +to the sovereign were not considered as accomplished when they had +fulfilled their military obligations, for they continued to serve him in +the palace as they had served him on the field. Wherever the necessities +of the government called them--at Memphis, at Ramses, or elsewhere--they +assembled around the Pharaoh; like him they had their palaces at Thebes, +and when they died they were anxious to be buried there beside him.** + + * These symbolical modes of adoption were first pointed out + by Maspero. Legend has given examples of them: as, for + instance, where Isis fosters the child of Malkander, King of + Byblos, by inserting the tip of her finger in its mouth. + + ** The tomb of a prince of Tobui, the lesser Aphroditopolis, + was discovered at Thebes by Maspero. The rock-out tombs of + two Thinite princes were noted in the same necropolis. These + two were of the time of Thutmosis III. I have remarked in + tombs not yet made public the mention of princes of El-Kab, + who played an important part about the person of the + Pharaohs down to the beginning of the XXth dynasty. + +Many of the old houses had become extinct, while others, owing to +marriages, were absorbed into the royal family; the fiefs conceded to +the relations or favourites of the Pharaoh continued to exist, indeed, +as of old, but the ancient distrustful and turbulent feudality had given +place to an aristocracy of courtiers, who lived oftener in attendance on +the monarch than on their own estates, and whose authority continued to +diminish to the profit of the absolute rule of the king. There would +be nothing astonishing in the "count" becoming nothing more than a +governor, hereditary or otherwise, in Thebes itself; he could hardly be +anything higher in the capital of the empire.* But the same restriction +of authority was evidenced in all the provinces: the recruiting of +soldiers, the receipt of taxes, most of the offices associated with the +civil or military administration, became more and more affairs of the +State, and passed from the hands of the feudal lord into those of the +functionaries of the Crown. The few barons who still lived on their +estates, while they were thus dispossessed of the greater part of their +prerogatives, obtained some compensation, on the other hand, on the side +of religion. From early times they had been by birth the heads of the +local cults, and their protocol had contained, together with those +titles which justified their possession of the temporalities of the +nome, others which attributed to them spiritual supremacy. The sacred +character with which they were invested became more and more prominent +in proportion as their political influence became curtailed, and we find +scions of the old warlike families or representatives of a new lineage +at Thinis, at Akhmim,** in the nome of Baalu, at Hieraconpolis,*** +at El-Kab,**** and in every place where we have information from the +monuments as to their position, bestowing more concern upon their +sacerdotal than on their other duties. + + * Rakhmiri and his son Manakhpirsonbu were both "counts "of + Thebes under Thutmosis III., and there is nothing to show + that there was any other person among them invested with the + same functions and belonging to a different family. + + ** For example, the tomb of Anhurimosu, high priest of + Anhuri-Shu and prince of Thinis, under Minephtah, where the + sacerdotal character is almost exclusively prominent. The + same is the case with the tombs of the princes of Akhmim in + the time of Khuniatonu and his successors: the few still + existing in 1884-5 have not been published. The stelae + belonging to them are at Paris and Berlin. + + *** Horimosu, Prince of Hieraconpolis under Thutmosis III., + is, above everything else, a prophet of the local Horus. + + **** The princes of El-Kab during the XIXth and XXth + dynasties were, before everything, priests of Nekhabit, as + appears from an examination of their tombs, which, lying in + a side valley, far away from the tomb of Pihiri, are rarely + visited. + +This transfiguration of the functions of the barons, which had been +completed under the XIXth and XXth dynasties, corresponded with a +more general movement by which the Pharaohs themselves were driven to +accentuate their official position as high priests, and to assign to +their sons sacerdotal functions in relation to the principal deities. +This rekindling of religious fervour would not, doubtless, have +restrained military zeal in case of war;* but if it did not tend to +suppress entirely individual bravery, it discouraged the taste for arms +and for the bold adventures which had characterised the old feudality. + + * The sons of Ramses II., Khamoisit and Maritumu, were bravo + warriors in spite of their being high priests of Phtah at + Memphis, and of Ra at Heliopolis. + +The duties of sacrificing, of offering prayer, of celebrating the sacred +rites according to the prescribed forms, and rendering due homage to the +gods in the manner they demanded, were of such an exactingly scrupulous +and complex character that the Pharaohs and the lords of earlier times +had to assign them to men specially fitted for, and appointed to, the +task; now that they had assumed these absorbing functions themselves, +they were obliged to delegate to others an increasingly greater +proportion of their civil and military duties. Thus, while the king +and his great vassals were devoutly occupying themselves in matters of +worship and theology, generals by profession were relieving them of +the care of commanding their armies; and as these individuals were +frequently the chiefs of Ethiopian, Asiatic, and especially of Libyan +bands, military authority, and, with it, predominant influence in the +State were quickly passing into the hands of the barbarians. A sort of +aristocracy of veterans, notably of Shardana or Mashauasha, entirely +devoted to arms, grew up and increased gradually side by side with the +ancient noble families, now by preference devoted to the priesthood.* + + * This military aristocracy was fully developed in the XXIst + and XXIInd dynasties, but it began to take shape after + Ramses III. had planted the Shardana and Qahaka in certain + towns as garrisons. + +The barons, whether of ancient or modern lineage, were possessed of +immense wealth, especially those of priestly families. The tribute and +spoil of Asia and Africa, when once it had reached Egypt, hardly ever +left it: they were distributed among the population in proportion to the +position occupied by the recipients in the social scale. The commanders +of the troops, the attendants on the king, the administrators of the +palace and temples, absorbed the greater part, but the distribution +was carried down to the private soldier and his relations in town or +country, who received some of the crumbs. When we remember for a moment +the four centuries and more during which Egypt had been reaping the +fruits of her foreign conquest, we cannot think without amazement of +the quantities of gold and other precious metals which must have been +brought in divers forms into the valley of the Nile.* Every fresh +expedition made additions to these riches, and one is at a loss to know +whence in the intervals between two defeats the conquered could procure +so much wealth, and why the sources were never exhausted nor became +impoverished. This flow of metals had an influence upon commercial +transactions, for although trade was still mainly carried on by barter, +the mode of operation was becoming changed appreciably. In exchanging +commodities, frequent use was now made of rings and ingots of a certain +prescribed weight in _tabonu_; and it became more and more the custom +to pay for goods by a certain number of _tabonu_ of gold, silver, or +copper, rather than by other commodities: it was the practice even +to note down in invoices or in the official receipts, alongside the +products or manufactured articles with which payments were made, the +value of the same in weighed metal.** + + * The quantity of gold in ingots or rings, mentioned in the + _Annals of Tkutmosis III._, represents altogether a weight + of nearly a ton and a quarter, or in value some L140,000 of + our money. And this is far from being the whole of the metal + obtained from the enemy, for a large portion of the + inscription has disappeared, and the unrecorded amount might + be taken, without much risk of error, at as much as that of + which we have evidence--say, some two and a half tons, + which Thutmosis had received or brought back between the + years XXIII. and XLII. of his reign--an estimation rather + under than over the reality. These figures, moreover, take + no account of the vessels and statues, or of the furniture + and arms plated with gold. Silver was not received in such + large quantities, but it was of great value, and the like + may be said of copper and lead. + + * The facts justifying this position were observed and put + together for the first time by Chabas: a translation is + given in his memoir of a register of the XXth or XXIst + dynasty, which gives the price of butcher's meat, both in + gold and silver, at this date. Fresh examples have been + since collected by Spiegelberg, who has succeeded in drawing + up a kind of tariff for the period between the XVIIIth and + XXth dynasties. + +This custom, although not yet widely extended, placed at the disposal +of trade enormous masses of metal, which were preserved in the form of +ingots or bricks, except the portion which went to the manufacture of +rings, jewellery, or valuable vessels.* + + * There are depicted on the monuments bags or heaps of gold + dust, ingots in the shape of bricks, rings, and vases, + arranged alongside each other. + +The general prosperity encouraged a passion for goldsmith's work, and +the use of bracelets, necklaces, and chains became common among classes +of the people who were not previously accustomed to wear them. There was +henceforward no scribe or merchant, however poor he might be, who had +not his seal made of gold or silver, or at any rate of copper gilt. The +stone was sometimes fixed, but frequently arranged so as to turn round +on a pivot; while among people of superior rank it had some emblem +or device upon it, such as a scorpion, a sparrow-hawk, a lion, or +a cynocephalous monkey. Chains occupied the same position among the +ornaments of Egyptian women as rings among men; they were indispensable +decorations. Examples of silver chains are known of some five feet +in length, while others do not exceed two to three inches. There are +specimens in gold of all sizes, single, double, and triple, with large +or small links, some thick and heavy, while others are as slight and +flexible as the finest Venetian lace. The poorest peasant woman, alike +with the lady of the court, could boast of the possession of a chain, +and she must have been in dire poverty who had not some other ornament +in her jewel-case. The jewellery of Queen Ahhotpu shows to what degree +of excellence the work of the Egyptian goldsmiths had attained at the +time of the expulsion of the Nyksos: they had not only preserved the +good traditions of the best workmen of the XIIth dynasty, but they had +perfected the technical details, and had learned to combine form and +colour with a greater skill. The pectorals of Prince Khamoisit and the +Lord Psaru,now in the Louvre, but which were originally placed in the +tomb of the Apis in the time of Ramses II., are splendid examples. + +[Illustration: 345.jpg PECTORAL OF RAMSES II.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the jewel in the Louvre. + +The most common form of these represents in miniature the front of a +temple with a moulded or flat border, surmounted by a curved cornice. +In one of them, which was doubtless a present from the king himself, the +cartouche, containing the first name of the Pharaoh-Usirmari, appears +just below the frieze, and serves as a centre for the design within the +frame. The wings of the ram-headed sparrow-hawk, the emblem of Amonra, +are so displayed as to support it, while a large urseus and a vulture +beneath embracing both the sparrow-hawk and the cartouche with outspread +wings give the idea of divine protection. Two _didu_, each of them +filling one of the lower corners, symbolise duration. The framework of +the design is made up of divisions marked out in gold, and filled either +with coloured enamels or pieces of polished stone. The general effect is +one of elegance, refinement, and harmony, the three principal elements +of the design becoming enlarged from the top downwards in a deftly +adjusted gradation. The dead-gold of the cartouche in the upper centre +is set off below by the brightly variegated and slightly undulating band +of colours of the sparrow-hawk, while the urseus and vulture, associated +together with one pair of wings, envelope the upper portions in a +half-circle of enamels, of which the shades pass from red through +green to a dull blue, with a freedom of handling and a skill in the +manipulation of colour which do honour to the artist. It was not his +fault if there is still an element of stiffness in the appearance of the +pectoral as a whole, for the form which religious tradition had imposed +upon the jewel was so rigid that no artifice could completely get over +this defect. It is a type which arose out of the same mental concepts +as had given birth to Egyptian architecture and sculpture--monumental in +character, and appearing often as if designed for colossal rather than +ordinary beings. The dimensions, too overpowering for the decoration of +normal men or women, would find an appropriate place only on the breasts +of gigantic statues: the enormous size of the stone figures to which +alone they are adapted would relieve them, and show them in their proper +proportions. The artists of the second Theban empire tried all they +could, however, to get rid of the square framework in which the sacred +bird is enclosed, and we find examples among the pectorals in the Louvre +of the sparrow-hawk only with curved wings, or of the ram-headed hawk +with the wings extended; but in both of them there is displayed the same +brilliancy, the same purity of line, as in the square-shaped jewels, +while the design, freed from the trammels of the hampering enamelled +frame, takes on a more graceful form, and becomes more suitable for +personal decoration. + +[Illustration: 347.jpg THE RAM-HEADED SPARROW-HAWK IN THE LOUVRE] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a jewel in the Louvre. + +The ram's head in the second case excels in the beauty of its +workmanship anything to be found elsewhere in the museums of Europe or +Egypt. It is of the finest gold, but its value does not depend upon the +precious material: the ancient engraver knew how to model it with a bold +and free hand, and he has managed to invest it with as much dignity +as if he had been carving his subject in heroic size out of a block of +granite or limestone. It is not an example of pure industrial art, but +of an art for which a designation is lacking. Other examples, although +more carefully executed and of more costly materials, do not approach it +in value: such, for instance, are the earrings of Ramses XII. at +Gizeh, which are made up of an ostentatious combination of disks, +filigree-work, chains, beads, and hanging figures of the urseus. + +To get an idea of the character of the plate on the royal sideboards, we +must have recourse to the sculptures in the temples, or to the paintings +on the tombs: the engraved gold or silver centrepieces, dishes, bowls, +cups, and amphoras, if valued by weight only, were too precious to +escape the avarice of the impoverished generations which followed the +era of Theban prosperity. In the fabrication of these we can trace +foreign influences, but not to the extent of a predominance over native +art: even if the subject to be dealt with by the artist happened to be a +Phoenician god or an Asiatic prisoner, he was not content with slavishly +copying his model; he translated it and interpreted it, so as to give it +an Egyptian character. + +The household furniture was in keeping with these precious objects. +Beds and armchairs in valuable woods, inlaid with ivory, carved, gilt, +painted in subdued and bright colours, upholstered with mattresses +and cushions of many-hued Asiatic stuffs, or of home-made materials, +fashioned after Chaldaean patterns, were in use among the well-to-do, +while people of moderate means had to be content with old-fashioned +furniture of the ancient regime. + +[Illustration: 348.jpg DECORATED ARMCHAIR] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of these objects in the + tomb of Ramses III. + +The Theban dwelling-house was indeed more sumptuously furnished than the +earliest Memphite, but we find the same general arrangements in both, +which provided, in addition to quarters for the masters, a similar +number of rooms intended for the slaves, for granaries, storehouses, and +stables. While the outward decoration of life was subject to change, +the inward element remained unaltered. Costume was a more complex +matter than in former times: the dresses and lower garments were more +gauffered, had more embroidery and stripes; the wigs were larger and +longer, and rose up in capricious arrangements of curls and plaits. + +[Illustration: 349.jpg EGYPTIAN WIG] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by M. de Mertens. + +The use of the chariot had now become a matter of daily custom, and +the number of domestics, already formidable, was increased by fresh +additions in the shape of coachmen, grooms, and _saises_, who ran before +their master to clear a way for the horses through the crowded streets +of the city.* + + * The pictures at Tel el-Amarna exhibit the king, queen, and + princesses driving in their chariots with escorts of + soldiers and runners. We often find in the tomb-paintings + the chariot and coachman of some dignitary, waiting while + their master inspects a field or a workshop, or while he is + making a visit to the palace for some reward. + +As material, existence became more complex, intellectual life partook of +the same movement, and, without deviating much from the lines prescribed +for it by the learned and the scribes of the Memphite age, literature +had become in the mean time larger, more complicated, more exacting, +and more difficult to grapple with and to master. It had its classical +authors, whose writings were committed to memory and taught in the +schools. These were truly masterpieces, for if some felt that they +understood and enjoyed them, others found them almost beyond their +comprehension, and complained bitterly of their obscurity. The later +writers followed them pretty closely, in taking pains, on the one hand +to express fresh ideas in the forms consecrated by approved and ancient +usage, or when they failed to find adequate vehicles to convey new +thoughts, resorting in their lack of imagination to the foreigner for the +requisite expressions. The necessity of knowing at least superficially, +something of the dialect and writings of Asia compelled the Egyptian +scribes to study to some degree the literature of Phonecia and of +Chaldaea. + +[Illustration: 350.jpg Page Image with Furniture] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from photographs of the objects in + the Museums of Berlin and Gizeh. + +From these sources they had borrowed certain formulae and incantation, +medical recipes, and devout legends, in which the deities of Assyria +and especially Astarte played the chief part. They appropriated in +this manner a certain number of words and phrases with which they were +accustomed to interlard their discourses and writings. They thought it +polite to call a door no longer by the word _ro_, but the term _tira_, +and to accompany themselves no longer with the harp _bordt_, but with +the same instrument under its new name _kinnor_, and to make the _salam_ +in saluting the sovereign in place of crying before him, _aau_. They +were thorough-going Semiticisers; but one is less offended by their +affectation when one considers that the number of captives in the +country, and the intermarriages with Canaanite women, had familiarised a +portion of the community from childhood with the sounds and ideas of the +languages from which the scribes were accustomed to borrow unblushingly. +This artifice, if it served to infuse an appearance of originality into +their writings, had no influence upon their method of composition. Their +poetical ideal remained what it had been in the time of their ancestors, +but seeing that we are now unable to determine the characteristic +cadence of sentences or the mental attitude which marked each generation +of literary men, it is often difficult for us to find out the qualities +in their writings which gave them popularity. A complete library of one +of the learned in the Ramesside period must have contained a strange +mixture of works, embracing, in addition to books of devotion, which +were indispensable to those who were solicitous about their souls,* +collections of hymns, romances, war and love songs, moral and +philosophical treatises, letters, and legal documents. + + * There are found in the rubrics of many religious books, + for example that dealing with the unseen world, promises of + health and prosperity to the soul which, "while still on + earth," had read and learned them. A similar formula appears + at the end of several important chapters of the _Book of the + Dead._ + +It would have been similar in character to the literary-possessions of +an Egyptian of the Memphite period,* but the language in which it was +written would not have been so stiff and dry, but would have flowed more +easily, and been more sustained and better balanced. + + * The composition of these libraries may be gathered from + the collections of papyri which have turned up from time to + time, and have been sold by the Arabs to Europeans buyers; + e.g. the Sallier Collection, the Anastasi Collections, and + that of Harris. They have found their way eventually into + the British Museum or the Museum at Leyden, and have been + published in the _Select Papyri_ of the former, or in the + _Monuments Egyptiens_ of the latter. + +The great odes to the deities which we find in the Theban _papyri_ are +better fitted, perhaps, than the profane compositions of the period, +to give us an idea of the advance which Egyptian genius had made in the +width and richness of its modes of expression, while still maintaining +almost the same dead-level of idea which had characterised it from the +outset. Among these, one dedicated to Harmakhis, the sovereign sun, is +no longer restricted to a bare enumeration of the acts and virtues of +the "Disk," but ventures to treat of his daily course and his final +triumphs in terms which might have been used in describing the +victorious campaigns or the apotheosis of a Pharaoh. It begins with his +awakening, at the moment when he has torn himself away from the embraces +of night. Standing upright in the cabin of the divine bark, "the fair +boat of millions of years," with the coils of the serpent Mihni around +him, he glides in silence on the eternal current of the celestial +waters, guided and protected by those battalions of secondary deities +with whose odd forms the monuments have made us familiar. "Heaven is +in delight, the earth is in joy, gods and men are making festival, to +render glory to Phra-Harmakhis, when they see him arise in his bark, +having overturned his enemies in his own time!" They accompany him from +hour to hour, they fight the good fight with him against Apopi, they +shout aloud as he inflicts each fresh wound upon the monster: they +do not even abandon him when the west has swallowed him up in its +darkness.* Some parts of the hymn remind us, in the definiteness of +the imagery and in the abundance of detail, of a portion of the poem +of Pentauirit, or one of those inscriptions of Ramses III. wherein he +celebrates the defeat of hordes of Asiatics or Libyans. + + * The remains of Egyptian romantic literature have been + collected and translated into French by Maspero, and + subsequently into English by Flinders Petrie. + +The Egyptians took a delight in listening to stories. They preferred +tales which dealt with the marvellous and excited their imagination, +introducing speaking animals, gods in disguise, ghosts and magic. One +of them tells of a king who was distressed because he had no heir, and +had no sooner obtained the favour he desired from the gods, than the +Seven Hathors, the mistresses of Fate, destroyed his happiness by +predicting that the child would meet with his death by a serpent, a dog, +or a crocodile. Efforts were made to provide against such a fatality by +shutting him up in a tower; but no sooner had he grown to man's estate, +than he procured himself a dog, went off to wander through the world, +and married the daughter of the Prince of Naharaim. His fate meets him +first under the form of a serpent, which is killed by his wife; he is +next assailed by a crocodile, and the dog kills the crocodile, but as +the oracles must be fulfilled, the brute turns and despatches his master +without further consideration. Another story describes two brothers, +Anupu and Bitiu, who live happily together on their farm till the wife +of the elder falls in love with the younger, and on his repulsing her +advances, she accuses him to her husband of having offered her violence. +The virtue of the younger brother would not have availed him much, +had not his animals warned him of danger, and had not Phra-Harmakhis +surrounded him at the critical moment with a stream teeming with +crocodiles. He mutilates himself to prove his innocence, and announces +that henceforth he will lead a mysterious existence far from mankind; he +will retire to the Valley of the Acacia, place his heart on the topmost +flower of the tree, and no one will be able with impunity to steal it +from him. The gods, however, who frequent this earth take pity on his +loneliness, and create for him a wife of such beauty that the Nile falls +in love with her, and steals a lock of her hair, which is carried by its +waters down into Egypt. Pharaoh finds the lock, and, intoxicated by +its scent, commands his people to go in quest of the owner. Having +discovered the lady, Pharaoh marries her, and ascertaining from her +who she is, he sends men to cut down the Acacia, but no sooner has the +flower touched the earth, than Bitiu droops and dies. The elder brother +is made immediately acquainted with the fact by means of various +prodigies. The wine poured out to him becomes troubled, his beer leaves +a deposit. He seizes his shoes and staff and sets out to find the heart. + +After a search of seven years he discovers it, and reviving it in a vase +of water, he puts it into the mouth of the corpse, which at once returns +to life. Bitiu, from this moment, seeks only to be revenged. He changes +himself into the bull Apis, and, on being led to court, he reproaches +the queen with the crime she has committed against him. The queen causes +his throat to be cut; two drops of his blood fall in front of the gate +of the palace, and produce in the night two splendid "Persea" trees, +which renew the accusation in a loud voice. The queen has them cut down, +but a chip from one of them flies into her mouth, and ere long she gives +birth to a child who is none other than a reincarnation of Bitiu. When +the child succeeds to the Pharaoh, he assembles his council, reveals +himself to them, and punishes with death her who was first his wife +and subsequently his mother. The hero moves throughout the tale without +exhibiting any surprise at the strange incidents in which he takes +part, and, as a matter of fact, they did not seriously outrage the +probabilities of contemporary life. In every town sorcerers could be +found who knew how to transform themselves into animals or raise +the dead to life: we have seen how the accomplices of Pentauirit had +recourse to spells in order to gain admission to the royal palace when +they desired to rid themselves of Ramses III. The most extravagant +romances differed from real life merely in collecting within a dozen +pages more miracles than were customarily supposed to take place in the +same number of years; it was merely the multiplicity of events, and +not the events themselves, that gave to the narrative its romantic and +improbable character. The rank of the heroes alone raised the tale +out of the region of ordinary life; they are always the sons of kings, +Syrian princes, or Pharaohs; sometimes we come across a vague and +undefined Pharaoh, who figures under the title of Piruiaui or Pruiti, +but more often it is a well-known and illustrious Pharaoh who is +mentioned by name. It is related how, one day, Kheops, suffering from +_ennui_ within his palace, assembled his sons in the hope of learning +from them something which he did not already know. They described to him +one after another the prodigies performed by celebrated magicians under +Kanibri and Snofrui; and at length Mykerinos assured him that there +was a certain Didi, living then not far from Meidum, who was capable of +repeating all the marvels done by former wizards. Most of the Egyptian +sovereigns were, in the same way, subjects of more or less wonderful +legends--Sesostris, Amenothes III., Thufcmosis III., Amenemhait I., +Khiti, Sahuri, Usirkaf, and Kakiu. These stories were put into literary +shape by the learned, recited by public story-tellers, and received by +the people as authentic history; they finally filtered into the writings +of the chroniclers, who, in introducing them into the annals, filled +up with their extraordinary details the lacunae of authentic tradition. +Sometimes the narrative assumed a briefer form, and became an apologue. +In one of them the members of the body were supposed to have combined +against the head, and disputed its supremacy before a jury; the parties +all pleaded their cause in turn, and judgment was given in due form.* + + * This version of the _Fable of the Members and the Stomach_ + was discovered upon a schoolboy's tablet at Turin. + +Animals also had their place in this universal comedy. The passions or +the weaknesses of humanity were attributed to them, and the narrator +makes the lion, rat, or jackal to utter sentiments from which he draws +some short practical moral. La Fontaine had predecessors on the banks of +the Nile of whose existence he little dreamed. + +[Illustration: 357.jpg THE CAT AND THE JACKAL GO OFF TO THE FIELDS WITH +THEIR FLOCKS] +Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Lepsius. + +As La Fontaine found an illustrator in Granville, so, too, in Egypt +the draughtsman brought his reed to the aid of the fabulist, and by his +cleverly executed sketches gave greater point to the sarcasm of story +than mere words could have conveyed. Where the author had briefly +mentioned that the jackal and the cat had cunningly forced their +services on the animals whom they wished to devour at their leisure, the +artist would depict the jackal and the cat equipped as peasants, with +wallets on their backs, and sticks over their shoulders, marching behind +a troup of gazelles or a flock of fat geese: it was easy to foretell the +fate of their unfortunate charges. Elsewhere it is an ox who brings +up before his master a cat who has cheated him, and his proverbial +stupidity would incline us to think that he will end by being punished +himself for the misdeeds of which he had accused the other. Puss's sly +and artful expression, the ass-headed and important-looking judge, with +the wand and costume of a high and mighty dignitary, give pungency to +the story, and recall the daily scenes at the judgment-seat of the lord +of Thebes. In another place we see a donkey, a lion, a crocodile, and a +monkey giving an instrumental and vocal concert. + +[Illustration: 358.jpg THE CAT BEFORE ITS JUDGE] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Lepsius. + +A lion and a gazelle play a game of chess. A cat of fashion, with a +flower in her hair, has a disagreement with a goose: they have come to +blows, and the excitable puss, who fears she will come off worst in the +struggle, falls backwards in a fright. The draughtsmen having once found +vent for their satire, stopped at nothing, and even royalty itself did +not escape their attacks. While the writers of the day made fun of the +military calling, both in prose and verse, the caricaturists parodied +the combats and triumphal scenes of the Ramses or Thutmosis of the +day depicted on the walls of the pylons. The Pharaoh of all the rats, +perched upon a chariot drawn by dogs, bravely charges an army of cats; +standing in the heroic attitude of a conqueror, he pierces them with +his darts, while his horses tread the fallen underfoot; his legions +meanwhile in advance of him attack a fort defended by tomcats, with the +same ardour that the Egyptian battalions would display in assaulting a +Syrian stronghold. + +[Illustration: 359.jpg A CONCERT OF ANIMALS DEVOTED TO MUSIC] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Lepsius. + +This treatment of ethics did not prevent the Egyptian writers from +giving way to their natural inclinations, and composing large volumes +on this subject after the manner of Kaqimni or Phtahhotpu. One of their +books, in which the aged Ani inscribes his Instructions to his son, +Khonshotpu, is compiled in the form of a dialogue, and contains the +usual commonplaces upon virtue, temperance, piety, the respect due to +parents from children, or to the great ones of this world from +their inferiors. The language in which it is written is ingenious, +picturesque, and at times eloquent; the work explains much that is +obscure in Egyptian life, and upon which the monuments have thrown no +light. "Beware of the woman who goes out surreptitiously in her town, do +not follow her or any like her, do not expose thyself to the experience +of what it costs a man to face an Ocean of which the bounds are +unknown.* The wife whose husband is far from home sends thee letters, +and invites thee to come to her daily when she has no witnesses; if +she succeeds in entangling thee in her net, it is a crime which is +punishable by death as soon as it is known, even if no wicked act has +taken place, for men will commit every sort of crime when under this +temptation alone." + + * I have been obliged to paraphrase the sentence + considerably to render it intelligible to the modern reader. + The Egyptian text says briefly: "Do not know the man who + braves the water of the Ocean whose bounds are unknown."_To + know the man_ means here _know the state of the man_ who + does an action. + +"Be not quarrelsome in breweries, for fear that thou mayest be denounced +forthwith for words which have proceeded from thy mouth, and of having +spoken that of which thou art no longer conscious. Thou fallest, +thy members helpless, and no one holds out a hand to thee, but thy +boon-companions around thee say: 'Away with the drunkard!' Thou art +wanted for some business, and thou art found rolling on the ground like +an infant." In speaking of what a man owes to his mother, Ani waxes +eloquent: "When she bore thee as all have to bear, she had in thee a +heavy burden without being able to call on thee to share it. When thou +wert born, after thy months were fulfilled, she placed herself under a +yoke in earnest, her breast was in thy mouth for three years; in spite +of the increasing dirtiness of thy habits, her heart felt no disgust, +and she never said: 'What is that I do here?' When thou didst go to +school to be instructed in writing, she followed thee every day with +bread and beer from thy house. Now thou art a full-grown man, thou hast +taken a wife, thou hast provided thyself with a house; bear always in +mind the pains of thy birth and the care for thy education that thy +mother lavished on thee, that her anger may not rise up against thee, +and that she lift not her hands to God, for he will hear her complaint!" +The whole of the book does not rise to this level, but we find in it +several maxims which appear to be popular proverbs, as for instance: "He +who hates idleness will come without being called;" "A good walker comes +to his journey's end without needing to hasten;" or, "The ox which +goes at the head of the flock and leads the others to pasture is but an +animal like his fellows." Towards the end, the son Khonshotpu, weary of +such a lengthy exhortation to wisdom, interrupts his father roughly: +"Do not everlastingly speak of thy merits, I have heard enough of thy +deeds;" whereupon Ani resignedly restrains himself from further speech, +and a final parable gives us the motive of his resignation: "This is the +likeness of the man who knows the strength of his arm. The nursling who +is in the arms of his mother cares only for being suckled; but no sooner +has he found his mouth than he cries: 'Give me bread!'" + +It is, perhaps, difficult for us to imagine an Egyptian in love +repeating madrigals to his mistress,* for we cannot easily realise that +the hard and blackened bodies we see in our museums have once been men +and women loving and beloved in their own day. + + * The remains of Egyptian amatory literature have been + collected, translated, and commentated on by Maspero. They + have been preserved in two papyri, one of which is at Turin, + the other in the British Museum. The first of these appears + to be a sort of dialogue in which the trees of a garden + boast one after another of the beauty of a woman, and + discourse of the love-scenes which took place under their + shadow. + +The feeling which they entertained one for another had none of the +reticence or delicacy of our love: they went straight to the point, and +the language in which, they expressed themselves is sometimes too coarse +for our taste. The manners and customs of daily life among the Egyptians +tended to blunt in them the feelings of modesty and refinement to which +our civilization has accustomed us. Their children went about without +clothes, or, at any rate, wore none until the age of puberty. Owing to +the climate, both men and women left the upper part of the body more or +less uncovered, or wore fabrics of a transparent nature. In the towns, +the servants who moved about their masters or his guests had merely +a narrow loin-cloth tied round their hips; while in the country, the +peasants dispensed with even this covering, and the women tucked up +their garments when at work so as to move more freely. The religious +teaching and the ceremonies connected with their worship drew the +attention of the faithful to the unveiled human form of their gods, and +the hieroglyphs themselves contained pictures which shock our sense of +propriety. Hence it came about that the young girl who was demanded in +marriage had no idea, like the maiden of to-day, of the vague delights +of an ideal union. The physical side was impressed upon her mind, +and she was well aware of the full meaning of her consent. Her lover, +separated from her by her disapproving parents, thus expresses the grief +which overwhelms him: "I desire to lie down in my chamber,--for I am +sick on thy account,--and the neighbours come to visit me.--Ah! if my +sister but came with them,--she would show the physicians what ailed +me,--for she knows my sickness!" Even while he thus complains, he sees +her in his imagination, and his spirit visits the places she frequents: +"The villa of my sister,--(a pool is before the house),--the door opens +suddenly,--and my sister passes out in wrath.--Ah! why am I not the +porter,--that she might give me her orders!--I should at least hear +her voice, even were she angry,--and I, like a little boy, full of fear +before her!" Meantime the young girl sighs in vain for "her brother, the +beloved of her heart," and all that charmed her before has now ceased to +please her. "I went to prepare my snare, my cage and the covert for +my trap--for all the birds of Puanit alight upon Egypt, redolent with +perfume;--he who flies foremost of the flock is attracted by my worm, +bringing odours from Puanit,--its claws full of incense.--But my heart +is with thee, and desires that we should trap them together,--I with +thee, alone, and that thou shouldest be able to hear the sad cry of +my perfumed bird,--there near to me, close to me, I will make ready +my trap,--O my beautiful friend, thou who goest to the field of the +well-beloved!" The latter, however, is slow to appear, the day passes +away, the evening comes on: "The cry of the goose resounds--which is +caught by the worm-bait,--but thy love removes me far from the bird, and +I am unable to deliver myself from it; I will carry off my net, and what +shall I say to my mother,--when I shall have returned to her?--Every day +I come back laden with spoil,--but to-day I have not been able to set +my trap,--for thy love makes me its prisoner!" "The goose flies away, +alights,--it has greeted the barns with its cry;--the flock of birds +increases on the river, but I leave them alone and think only of thy +love,--for my heart is bound to thy heart--and I cannot tear myself +away from thy beauty." Her mother probably gave her a scolding, but she +hardly minds it, and in the retirement of her chamber never wearies +of thinking of her brother, and of passionately crying for him: "O my +beautiful friend! I yearn to be with thee as thy wife--and that thou +shouldest go whither thou wishest with thine arm upon my arm,--for then +I will repeat to my heart, which is in thy breast, my supplications.--If +my great brother does not come to-night,--I am as those who lie in the +tomb--for thou, art thou not health and life,--he who transfers the joys +of thy health to my heart which seeks thee?" The hours pass away and +he does not come, and already "the voice of the turtle-dove speaks,--it +says: 'Behold, the dawn is here, alas! what is to become of me?' Thou, +thou art the bird, thou callest me,--and I find my brother in his +chamber,--and my heart is rejoiced to see him!--I will never go away +again, my hand will remain in thy hand,--and when I wander forth, I will +go with thee into the most beautiful places,--happy in that he makes me +the foremost of women--and that he does not break my heart." We should +like to quote the whole of it, but the text is mutilated, and we are +unable to fill in the blanks. It is, nevertheless, one of those products +of the Egyptian mind which it would have been easy for us to appreciate +from beginning to end, without effort and almost without explanation. +The passion in it finds expression in such sincere and simple language +as to render rhetorical ornament needless, and one can trace in it, +therefore, nothing of the artificial colouring which would limit it to +a particular place or time. It translates a universal sentiment into the +common language of humanity, and the hieroglyphic groups need only to be +put into the corresponding words of any modern tongue to bring home +to the reader their full force and intensity. We might compare it with +those popular songs which are now being collected in our provinces +before the peasantry have forgotten them altogether: the artlessness of +some of the expressions, the boldness of the imagery, the awkwardness +and somewhat abrupt character of some of the passages, communicate to +both that wild charm which we miss in the most perfect specimens of our +modern love-poets. + +END OF VOL. V. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, +Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 5 (of 12), by G. 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