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diff --git a/38843.txt b/38843.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a07d09 --- /dev/null +++ b/38843.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8932 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Egypt of the Hebrews and Herodotos by +A. H. Sayce + + + +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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Egypt of the Hebrews and Herodotos + +Author: A. H. Sayce + +Release Date: February 12, 2012 [Ebook #38843] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EGYPT OF THE HEBREWS AND HERODOTOS*** + + + + + + The Egypt of the Hebrews and Herodotos + + By + + The Rev. A. H. Sayce + + Professor of Assyriology at Oxford + + London + + Rivington, Percical & Co. + + 1895 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface +Chapter I. The Patriarchal Age. +Chapter II. The Age Of Moses. +Chapter III. The Exodus And The Hebrew Settlement In Canaan. +Chapter IV. The Age Of The Israelitish Monarchies. +Chapter V. The Age Of The Ptolemies. +Chapter VI. Herodotos In Egypt. +Chapter VII. In The Steps Of Herodotos. +Chapter VIII. Memphis And The Fayyum. +Appendices. + Appendix I. + Appendix II. Biblical Dates. + Appendix III. The Greek Writers Upon Egypt. + Appendix IV. Archaeological Excursions In The Delta. +Index. +Footnotes + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +A few words of preface are needful to justify the addition of another +contribution to the over-abundant mass of literature of which Egypt is the +subject. It is intended to supplement the books already in the hands of +tourists and students, and to put before them just that information which +either is not readily accessible or else forms part of larger and cumbrous +works. The travels of Herodotos in Egypt are followed for the first time +in the light of recent discoveries, and the history of the intercourse +between the Egyptians and the Jews is brought down to the age of the Roman +Empire. As the ordinary histories of Egypt used by travellers end with the +extinction of the native Pharaohs, I have further given a sketch of the +Ptolemaic period. I have moreover specially noted the results of the +recent excavations and discoveries made by the Egypt Exploration Fund and +by Professor Flinders Petrie, at all events where they bear upon the +subject-matter of the book. Those who have not the publications of the +Fund or of Professor Petrie, or who do not care to carry them into Egypt, +will, I believe, be glad to have the essence of them thus extracted in a +convenient shape. Lastly, in the Appendices I have put together +information which the visitor to the Nile often wishes to obtain, but +which he can find in none of his guide-books. The Appendix on the nomes +embodies the results of the latest researches, and the list will therefore +be found to differ here and there from the lists which have been published +elsewhere. Those who desire the assistance of maps should procure the very +handy and complete _Atlas of Ancient Egypt_, published by the Egypt +Exploration Fund (price 3s. 6d.). It makes the addition of maps to this or +any future work on Ancient Egypt superfluous. + +Discoveries follow so thickly one upon the other in these days of active +exploration that it is impossible for an author to keep pace with them. +Since my manuscript was ready for the press Dr. Naville, on behalf of the +Egypt Exploration Fund, has practically cleared the magnificent temple of +Queen Hatshepsu at Der el-Bahari, and has discovered beneath it the +unfinished sepulchre in which the queen fondly hoped that her body would +be laid; Professor Petrie has excavated in the desert behind Zawedeh and +opposite Qoft the tombs of barbarous tribes, probably of Libyan origin, +who settled in the valley of the Nile between the fall of the sixth and +the rise of the eleventh dynasty; Mr. de Morgan has disinterred more +jewellery of exquisite workmanship from the tombs of the princesses of the +twelfth dynasty at Dahshur; and Dr. Botti has discovered the site of the +Serapeum at Alexandria, thus obtaining for the first time a point of +importance for determining the topography of the ancient city. + +The people whose remains have been found by Professor Petrie buried their +dead in open situated in the central court. But his most interesting +discovery is that of long subterranean passages, once faced with masonry, +and furnished with niches for lamps, where the mysteries of Serapis were +celebrated. At the entrance of one of them pious visitors to the shrine +have scratched their vows on the wall of rock. Those who are interested in +the discovery should consult Dr. Botti's memoir on _L'Acropole +d'Alexandrie et le Serapeum_, presented to the Archaeological Society of +Alexandria, 17th August 1895. + +Two or three other recent discoveries may also find mention here. A +Babylonian seal-cylinder now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art at New York +has at last given me a clue to the native home of the Hyksos leaders. This +was in the mountains of Elam, on the eastern frontier of Chaldaea. It was +from these mountains that the Kassi descended upon Babylonia and founded a +dynasty there which lasted for nearly 600 years, and the same movement +which brought them into Babylonia may have sent other bands of them across +Western Asia into Egypt. At all events, the inscription upon the seal +shows that it belonged to a certain Uzi-Sutakh, "the son of the Kassite," +and "the servant of Burna-buryas," who was the Kassite king of Babylonia +in the age of the Tel el-Amarna correspondence. As the name of Sutakh is +preceded by the determinative of divinity, it is clear that we have in it +the name of the Hyksos deity Sutekh. + +In a hieroglyphic stela lately discovered at Saqqarah, and now in the +Gizeh Museum, we read of an earlier parallel to the Tyrian Camp at Memphis +seen by Herodotos. We learn from the stela that, in the time of King Ai, +in the closing days of the eighteenth dynasty, there was already a similar +"Camp" or quarter at Memphis which was assigned to the Hittites. The +inscription is further interesting as showing that the authority of Ai was +acknowledged at Memphis, the capital of Northern Egypt, as well as in the +Thebaid. + +Lastly, Professor Hommel seems to have found the name of the Zakkur or +Zakkal, the kinsfolk and associates of the Philistines, in a broken +cuneiform text which relates to one of the Kassite kings of Babylonia not +long before the epoch of Khu-n-Aten. Here mention is made not only of the +city of Arka in Phoenicia, but also of the city of Zaqqalu. In Zaqqalu we +must recognise the Zakkur of Egyptian history. I may add that Khar or +Khal, the name given by the Egyptians to the southern portion of +Palestine, is identified by Professor Maspero with the Horites of the Old +Testament. + +By way of conclusion, I have only to say that those who wish to read a +detailed account of the manner in which the great colossus of Ramses II. +at Memphis was raised and its companion statue disinterred must refer to +the Paper published by Major Arthur H. Bagnold himself in the +_Proceedings_ of the Society of Biblical Archaeology for June 1888. + +A. H. Sayce. + +_October 1895._ + + + + + +CHAPTER I. THE PATRIARCHAL AGE. + + +"Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there." When he entered the country +the civilisation and monarchy of Egypt were already very old. The pyramids +had been built hundreds of years before, and the origin of the Sphinx was +already a mystery. Even the great obelisk of Heliopolis, which is still +the object of an afternoon drive to the tourist at Cairo, had long been +standing in front of the temple of the Sun-god. + +The monuments of Babylonia enable us to fix the age to which Abraham +belongs. Arioch of Ellasar has left memorials of himself on the bricks of +Chaldaea, and we now know when he and his Elamite allies were driven out of +Babylonia and the Babylonian states were united into a single monarchy. +This was 2350 B.C. + +The united monarchy of Egypt went back to a far earlier date. Menes, its +founder, had been king of This (or Girgeh) in Upper Egypt, and starting +from his ancestral dominions had succeeded in bringing all Egypt under his +rule. But the memory of an earlier time, when the valley of the Nile was +divided into two separate sovereignties, survived to the latest age of the +monarchy. Up to the last the Pharaohs of Egypt called themselves "kings of +the two lands," and wore on their heads the crowns of Upper and Lower +Egypt. The crown of Upper Egypt was a tiara of white linen, that of Lower +Egypt a throne-like head-dress of red. The double crown was a symbol of +the imperial power. + +To Menes is ascribed the building of Memphis, the capital of the united +kingdom. He is said to have raised the great dyke which Linant de +Bellefonds identifies with that of Kosheish near Kafr el-Ayyat, and +thereby to have diverted the Nile from its ancient channel under the +Libyan plain. On the ground that he thus added to the western bank of the +river his new capital was erected. + +Memphis is the Greek form of the old Egyptian Men-nefer or "Good Place." +The final _r_ was dropped in Egyptian pronunciation at an early date, and +thus arose the Hebrew forms of the name, Moph and Noph, which we find in +the Old Testament,(1) while "Memphis" itself--Mimpi in the cuneiform +inscriptions of Assyria--has the same origin. Another name by which it went +in old Egyptian times was Anbu-hez, "the white wall," from the great wall +of brick, covered with white stucco, which surrounded it, and of which +traces still remain on the northern side of the old site. Here a fragment +of the ancient fortification still rises above the mounds of the city; the +wall is many feet thick, and the sun-dried bricks of which it is formed +are bonded together with the stems of palms. + +In the midst of the mounds is a large and deep depression, which is filled +with water during the greater part of the year. It marks the site of the +sacred lake, which was attached to every Egyptian temple, and in which the +priests bathed themselves and washed the vessels of the sanctuary. Here, +not long ago, lay the huge colossus of limestone which represented Ramses +II. of the nineteenth dynasty, and had been presented by the Egyptian +Khedive to the British Government. But it was too heavy and unwieldy for +modern engineers to carry across the sea, and it was therefore left lying +with its face prone in the mud and water of the ancient lake, a prey to +the first comer who needed a quarry of stone. It was not until after the +English occupation of Egypt that it was lifted out of its ignoble position +by Major Bagnold and placed securely in a wooden shed. While it was being +raised another colossus of the same Pharaoh, of smaller size but of better +workmanship, was discovered, and lifted beyond the reach of the +inundation. + +The two statues once stood before the temple of the god Ptah, whom the +Greeks identified with their own deity Hephaestos, for no better reason +than the similarity of name. The temple of Ptah was coeval with the city +of Memphis itself. When Menes founded Memphis, he founded the temple at +the same time. It was the centre and glory of the city, which was placed +under the protection of its god. Pharaoh after Pharaoh adorned and +enlarged it, and its priests formed one of the most powerful organisations +in the kingdom. + +The temple of Ptah, the Creator, gave to Memphis its sacred name. This was +Ha-ka-Ptah, "the house of the double (or spiritual appearance) of Ptah," +in which Dr. Brugsch sees the original of the Greek Aigyptos. + +But the glories of the temple of Ptah have long since passed away. The +worship of its god ceased for ever when Theodosius, the Roman Emperor, +closed its gates, and forbade any other religion save the Christian to be +henceforth publicly professed in the empire. Soon afterwards came the +Mohammedan conquest of Egypt. Memphis was deserted; and the sculptured +stones of the ancient shrine served to build the palaces and mosques of +the new lords of the country. Fostat and Cairo were built out of the +spoils of the temple of Ptah. But the work of destruction took long to +accomplish. As late as the twelfth century, the Arabic writer 'Abd +el-Latif describes the marvellous relics of the past which still existed +on the site of Memphis. Colossal statues, the bases of gigantic columns, a +chapel formed of a single block of stone and called "the green +chamber"--such were some of the wonders of ancient art which the traveller +was forced to admire. + +The history of Egypt, as we have seen, begins with the record of an +engineering feat of the highest magnitude. It is a fitting commencement +for the history of a country which has been wrested by man from the waters +of the Nile, and whose existence even now is dependent on the successful +efforts of the engineer. Beyond this single record, the history of Menes +and his immediate successors is virtually a blank. No dated monuments of +the first dynasty have as yet been discovered. It may be, as many +Egyptologists think, that the Sphinx is older than Menes himself; but if +so, that strange image, carved out of a rock which may once have jutted +into the stream of the Nile, still keeps the mystery of its origin locked +up in its breast. We know that it was already there in the days of +Khephren of the fourth dynasty; but beyond that we know nothing. + +Of the second dynasty a dated record still survives. Almost the first gift +received by the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford was the lintel-stone of an +ancient Egyptian tomb, brought from Saqqarah, the necropolis of Memphis, +by Dr. Greaves at the end of the seventeenth century. When, more than a +century later, the hieroglyphics upon it came to be read, it was found +that it had belonged to the sepulchre of a certain Sheri who had been the +"prophet" of the two Pharaohs Send and Per-ab-sen. Of Per-ab-sen no other +record remains, but the name of Send had long been known as that of a king +of the second dynasty. + +The rest of Sheri's tomb, so far as it has been preserved, is now in the +Gizeh Museum. Years after the inscription on the fragment at Oxford had +been deciphered, the hinder portion of the tomb was discovered by +Mariette. Like the lintel-stone in the Ashmolean Museum, it is adorned +with sculptures and hieroglyphics. Already, we learn from it, the +hieroglyphic system of writing was complete, the characters being used not +only to denote ideas and express syllables, but alphabetically as well. +The name of Send himself is spelt in the letters of the alphabet. The art +of the monument, though not equal to that which prevailed a few +generations later, is already advanced, while the texts show that the +religion and organisation of the empire were already old. In the age of +the second dynasty, at all events, we are far removed from the beginnings +of Egyptian civilisation. + +With Snefru, the first king of the fourth dynasty, or, according to +another reckoning, the last king of the third, we enter upon the +monumental history of Egypt. Snefru's monuments are to be found, not only +in Egypt, but also in the deserts of Sinai. There the mines of copper and +malachite were worked for him, and an Egyptian garrison kept guard upon +the Bedouin tribes. In Egypt, as has now been definitely proved by +Professor Petrie's excavations, he built the pyramid of Medum, one of the +largest and most striking of the pyramids. Around it were ranged the tombs +of his nobles and priests, from which have come some of the most beautiful +works of art in the Gizeh Museum. + +The painted limestone statues of Ra-nefer and his wife Nefert, for +instance, are among the finest existing specimens of ancient Egyptian +workmanship. They are clearly life-like portraits, executed with a +delicacy and finish which might well excite the envy of a modern artist. +The character, and even the antecedents of the husband and wife, breathe +through their features. While in the one we can see the strong will and +solid common-sense of the self-made man, in the other can be traced the +culture and refinement of a royal princess. + +The pyramids of Gizeh are the imperishable record of the fourth dynasty. +Khufu, Khaf-Ra and Men-ka-Ra, the Kheops, Khephren and Mykerinos of +Herodotos, were the builders of the three vast sepulchres which, by their +size and nearness to Cairo, have so long been an object of pilgrimage to +the traveller. The huge granite blocks of the Great Pyramid of Khufu have +been cut and fitted together with a marvellous exactitude. Professor +Petrie found that the joints of the casing-stones, with an area of some +thirty-five square feet each, were not only worked with an accuracy equal +to that of the modern optician, but were even cemented throughout. "Though +the stones were brought as close as 1/500 inch, or, in fact, into contact, +and the mean opening of the joint was 1/50 inch, yet the builders managed +to fill the joint with cement, despite the great area of it and the weight +of the stone to be moved--some sixteen tons. To merely place such stones in +exact contact at the sides would be careful work; but to do so with cement +in the joints seems almost impossible."(2) + +Professor Petrie believes that the stones were cut with tubular drills +fitted with jewel points--a mode of cutting stone which it was left to the +nineteenth century to re-discover. The lines marked upon the stone by the +drills can still be observed, and there is evidence that not only the tool +but the stone also was rotated. The great pressure needed for driving the +drills and saws with the requisite rapidity through the blocks of granite +and diorite is indeed surprising. It brings before us the high mechanical +knowledge attained by the Egyptians in the fourth millennium before our +era even more forcibly than the heights to which the blocks were raised. +The machinery, however, with which this latter work was effected is still +unknown. + +The sculptured and painted walls of the tombs which surround the pyramids +of Gizeh tell us something about the life and civilisation of the period. +The government was a highly organised bureaucracy, under a king who was +already regarded as the representative of the Sun-god upon earth. The land +was inhabited by an industrious people, mainly agricultural, who lived in +peace and plenty. Arts and crafts of all kinds were cultivated, including +that of making glass. The art of the sculptor had reached a high +perfection. One of the most striking statues in the world is that of +Khaf-Ra seated on his imperial throne, which is now in the Museum of +Gizeh. The figure of the king is more than life-size; above his head the +imperial hawk stretches forth its wings, and on the king's face, though +the features bear the unmistakable impress of a portrait, there rests an +aspect of divine calm. And yet this statue, with its living portraiture +and exquisite finish, is carved out of a dioritic rock, the hardest of +hard stone. + +The fourth dynasty was peaceably succeeded by the fifth and the sixth. +Culture and cultivation made yet further progress, and the art of the +painter and sculptor reached its climax. Those whose knowledge of Egyptian +art is derived from the museums of Europe have little idea of the +perfection which it attained at this remote period. The hard and +crystallised art of later ages differed essentially from that of the early +dynasties. The wooden figure of the 'Sheikh el-Beled'--the sleek and +well-to-do farmer, who gazes complacently on his fertile fields and +well-stocked farm--is one of the noblest works of human genius. And yet it +belongs to the age of the fifth or the sixth dynasty, like the pictures in +low relief, resembling exquisite embroidery on stone, which cover the +walls of the tombs of Ti and Ptah-hotep at Saqqarah. + +The first six dynasties constitute what Egyptologists call the Old Empire. +They ended with a queen, Nit-aqer (the Greek Nitokris), and Egypt passed +under sudden eclipse. For several centuries it lies concealed from the eye +of history. A few royal names alone are preserved; other records there are +as yet none. What befell the country and its rulers we do not know. +Whether it was foreign invasion or civil war, or the internal decay of the +government, certain it is that disaster overshadowed for a while the +valley of the Nile. It may be that the barbarian tribes, whose tombs +Professor Petrie has lately discovered in the desert opposite Qoft, and +whom he believes to have been of Libyan origin, were the cause. With the +tenth dynasty light begins again to dawn. Mr. Griffith has shown that some +at least of the tombs cut out of the cliffs behind Siut belonged to that +era, and that Ka-meri-Ra, whose name appears in one of them, was a king of +the tenth dynasty. The fragmentary inscription, which can still be traced +on the walls of the tomb, seems to allude to the successful suppression of +a civil war. + +The eleventh dynasty arose at Thebes, of which its founders were the +hereditary chiefs. It introduces us to the so-called Middle Empire. But +the Egypt of the Middle Empire was no longer the Egypt of the Old Empire. +The age of the great pyramid-builders was past, and the tomb carved in the +rock begins to take the place of the pyramid of the earlier age. Memphis +has ceased to be the capital of the country; the centre of power has been +transferred to Thebes and the south. The art which flourished at Memphis +has been superseded by the art with which our museums have made us +familiar. With the transfer of the government, moreover, from north to +south, Egyptian religion has undergone a change. Ptah of Memphis and Ra of +Heliopolis have had to yield to Amon, the god of Thebes. The god of the +house of the new Pharaohs now takes his place at the head of the pantheon, +and the older gods of the north fall more and more into the background. + +The Egypt of the Middle Empire was divided among a number of great +princes, who had received their power and property by inheritance, and +resembled the great lords of the feudal age. The Pharaoh at first was +little more than the chief among his peers. But when the sceptre passed +into the vigorous hands of the kings of the twelfth dynasty, the influence +and authority of the feudal princes was more and more encroached upon. A +firm government at home and successful campaigns abroad restored the +supreme rule of the Pharaoh and made him, perhaps more than had ever been +the case before, a divinely-instituted autocrat. + +The wars of the twelfth dynasty extended the Egyptian domination far to +the south. The military organisation of the Middle Empire was indeed its +most striking point of contrast to the Old Empire. The Egypt of the first +six dynasties had been self-contained and pacific. A few raids were made +from time to time against the negroes south of the First Cataract, but +only for the sake of obtaining slaves. The idea of extending Egyptian +power beyond the natural boundaries of Egypt has as yet never presented +itself. The Pharaohs of the Old Empire did not need an army, and +accordingly did not possess one. But with the Middle Empire all this was +changed. Egypt ceases to be isolated: its history will be henceforth part +of the history of the world. Foreign wars, however, and the organisation +of a strong government at home, did not absorb the whole energies of the +court. Temples and obelisks were erected, art was patronised, and the +creation of the Fayyum, whereby a large tract of fertile land was won for +Egypt, not only proved the high engineering skill of the age of the +twelfth dynasty, but constituted a solid claim for gratitude to its +creator, Amon-em-hat III., on the part of all succeeding generations. + +The thirteenth dynasty followed in the footsteps of its predecessor. We +possess the names of more than one hundred and fifty kings who belonged to +it, and their monuments were scattered from one end of Egypt to the other. +The fourteenth dynasty ended in disaster. Egypt was invaded by Asiatic +hordes, and the line of native Pharaohs was for a time extinct. + +The invaders were called by Manetho, the Egyptian historian, the Hyksos or +Shepherd Princes: on the monuments they are known as the Aamu or +"Asiatics." At first, we are told, their progress was marked by massacre +and destruction. The temples were profaned and overthrown, the cities +burned with fire. But after a while the higher culture of the conquered +people overcame the conquerors. A king arose among the invaders who soon +adopted the prerogatives and state of the Pharaohs. The fifteenth, +sixteenth, and seventeenth dynasties were Hyksos. + +Recent discoveries have proved that at one time the dominion of the Hyksos +extended, if not to the first cataract, at all events far to the south of +Thebes. Their monuments have been found at Gebelen and El-Kab. Gradually, +however, the native princes recovered their power in Upper Egypt. While +the seventeenth Hyksos dynasty was reigning at Zoan, or Tanis, in the +north, a seventeenth Egyptian dynasty was ruling at Thebes. But the +princes of Thebes did not as yet venture to claim the imperial title. They +still acknowledged the supremacy of the foreign Pharaoh. + +The war of independence broke out in the reign of the Hyksos king Apopi. +According to the Egyptian legend, Apopi had sent messengers to the prince +of Thebes, bidding him worship none other god than Baal-Sutekh, the Hyksos +divinity. But Amon-Ra of Thebes avenged the dishonour that had been done +him, and stirred up his adorers to successful revolt. For five generations +the war went on, and ended with the complete expulsion of the stranger. +Southern Egypt first recovered its independence, then Memphis fell, and +finally the Hyksos conquerors were driven out of Zoan, their capital, and +confined to the fortress of Avaris, on the confines of Asia. But even here +they were not safe from the avenging hand of the Egyptian. Ahmes I., the +founder of the eighteenth dynasty, drove them from their last refuge and +pursued them into Palestine. + +The land which had sent forth its hordes to conquer Egypt was now in turn +to be conquered by the Egyptians. The war was carried into Asia, and the +struggle for independence became a struggle for empire. Under the Pharaohs +of the eighteenth dynasty, Egypt, for the first time in its history, +became a great military state. Army after army poured out of the gates of +Thebes, and brought back to it the spoils of the known world. Ethiopia and +Syria alike felt the tread of the Egyptian armies, and had alike to bow +the neck to Egyptian rule. Canaan became an Egyptian province, Egyptian +garrisons were established in the far north on the frontiers of the +Hittite tribes, and the boundaries of the Pharaoh's empire were pushed to +the banks of the Euphrates. + +It is probable that Abraham did not enter Egypt until after the Hyksos +conquest. But before the rise of the eighteenth dynasty Egyptian +chronology is uncertain. We have to reckon it by dynasties rather than by +years. According to Manetho, the Old Empire lasted 1478 years, and a +considerable interval must be allowed for the troublous times which +intervened between its fall and the beginning of the Middle Empire. We +learn from the Turin papyrus--a list of the Egyptian kings and dynasties +compiled in the time of Ramses II., but now, alas! in tattered +fragments--that the tenth dynasty lasted 355 years and 10 days, the +eleventh dynasty 243 years. The duration of the twelfth dynasty is known +from the monuments (165 years 2 months), that of the thirteenth, with its +more than one hundred and fifty kings, cannot have been short. How long +the Hyksos rule endured it is difficult to say. Africanus, quoting from +Manetho, as Professor Erman has shown, makes it 953 years, with which the +fragment quoted by Josephus from the Egyptian historian also agrees. In +this case the Hyksos conquest of Egypt would have taken place about 2550 +B.C. + +Unfortunately the original work of Manetho is lost, and we are dependent +for our knowledge of it on later writers, most of whom sought to harmonise +its chronology with that of the Septuagint. When we further remember the +corruptions undergone by numerical figures in passing through the hands of +the copyists, it is clear that we cannot place implicit confidence in the +Manethonian numbers as they have come down to us. Indeed, the writers who +have recorded them do not always agree together, and we find the names of +kings arbitrarily omitted or the length of their reigns shortened in order +to force the chronology into agreement with that of the author. The +twelfth dynasty reigned 134 years according to Eusebius, 160 years +according to Africanus; its real duration was 165 years, 2 months, and 12 +days. + +With the help of certain astronomical data furnished by the monuments, Dr. +Mahler, the Viennese astronomer, has succeeded in determining the exact +date of the reigns of the two most famous monarchs of the eighteenth and +nineteenth dynasties, Thothmes III. and Ramses II. Thothmes III. reigned +from the 20th of March B.C. 1503 to the 14th of February B.C. 1449, while +the reign of Ramses II. lasted from B.C. 1348 to B.C. 1281. The date of +Thothmes III. enables us to fix the beginning of the eighteenth dynasty +about B.C. 1570. + +The dynasties of Manetho were successive and not contemporaneous. This +fact was one of the main results of the excavations and discoveries of +Mariette Pasha. The old attempts to form artificial schemes of +chronology--which, however, satisfied no one but their authors--upon the +supposition that some of the dynasties reigned together are now +discredited for ever. Every fresh discovery made in Egypt, which adds to +our knowledge of ancient Egyptian history, makes the fact still more +certain. There were epochs, indeed, when more than one line of kings +claimed sway in the valley of the Nile, but when such was the case, +Manetho selected what he or his authorities considered the sole legitimate +dynasty, and disregarded every other. Of the two rival twenty-first +dynasties which the monuments have brought to light, the lists of Manetho +recognise but one, and the Assyrian rule in Egypt at a subsequent date is +ignored in favour of the princes of Sais who were reigning at the same +time. + +If, then, any reliance is to be placed on the length of time ascribed to +the Hyksos dominion in the valley of the Nile, and if we are still to hold +to the old belief of Christendom and see in the Hebrew wanderer into Egypt +the Abram who contended against Chedor-laomer and the subject kings of +Babylonia, it would have been about two centuries after the settlement of +the Asiatic conquerors in the Delta that Abraham and Sarah arrived at +their court. The court was doubtless held at Zoan, the modern San. Here +was the Hyksos capital, and its proximity to the Asiatic frontier of Egypt +made it easy of access to a traveller from Palestine. We are told in the +Book of Numbers (xiii. 22) that Hebron was built seven years before Zoan +in Egypt; and it may be that the building here referred to was that which +caused Zoan to become the seat of the Hyksos power. + +Asiatic migration into Egypt was no new thing. On the walls of one of the +tombs of Beni-Hassan there is pictured the arrival of thirty-seven Aamu or +Asiatics "of Shu," in the sixth year of Usertesen II. of the twelfth +dynasty. Under the conduct of their chief, Ab-sha, they came from the +mountains of the desert, bringing with them gazelles as well as kohl for +the ladies of the court. Four women in long bright-coloured robes walk +between groups of bearded men, and two children are carried in a pannier +on a donkey's back. The men are armed with bows, their feet are shod with +sandals, and they wear the vari-coloured garments for which the people of +Phoenicia were afterwards famed. + +After the Hyksos conquest Asiatic migration must naturally have largely +increased. Between northern Egypt and Palestine there must have been a +constant passage to and fro. The rulers of the land of the Nile were now +themselves of Asiatic extraction, and it may be that the language of +Palestine was spoken in the court of the Pharaoh. At all events, the +emigrant from Canaan no longer found himself an alien and a stranger in +"the land of Ham." His own kin were now supreme there, and a welcome was +assured to him whenever he might choose to come. The subject population +tilled their fields for the benefit of their foreign lords, and the +benefit was shared by the inhabitants of Canaan. In case of famine, +Palestine could now look to the never-failing soil of Egypt for its supply +of corn. + +If, therefore, Abraham lived in the age when northern Egypt was subject to +the rule of the Hyksos Pharaohs, nothing was more natural than for him, an +Asiatic emigrant into Canaan, to wander into Egypt when the corn of +Palestine had failed. He would but be following in the wake of that larger +Asiatic migration which led to the rise of the Hyksos dynasties +themselves. + +There is, however, a statement connected with his residence at the court +of the Pharaoh which does not seem compatible with the evidence of the +monuments. We are told that among the gifts showered upon him by the king +were not only sheep and oxen and asses, but camels as well. The camel was +the constant companion of the Asiatic nomad. As far back as we can trace +the history of the Bedouin, he has been accompanied by the animal which +the old Sumerian population of Babylonia called the beast which came from +the Persian Gulf. Indeed, it would appear that to the Bedouin belongs the +credit of taming the camel, in so far as it has been tamed at all. But to +the Egyptians it was practically unknown. Neither in the hieroglyphics, +nor on the sculptured and painted walls of the temples and tombs, do we +anywhere find it represented. The earliest mention of it yet met with in +an Egyptian document is in a papyrus of the age of the Exodus, and there +it bears the Semitic name of _kamail_, the Hebrew _gamal_.(3) Naturalists +have shown that it was not introduced into the northern coast of Africa +until after the beginning of the Christian era. + +Nevertheless it does not follow that because the camel was never used in +Egypt by the natives of the country, it was not at times brought there by +nomad visitors from Arabia and Palestine. It is difficult to conceive of +an Arab family on the march without a train of camels. And that camels +actually found their way into the valley of the Nile has been proved by +excavation. When Hekekyan Bey, in 1851-54, was sinking shafts in the Nile +mud at Memphis for the Geological Society of London, he found, among other +animal remains, the bones of dromedaries.(4) + +The name of the Pharaoh visited by Abraham is not told to us. As elsewhere +in Genesis, the king of Egypt is referred to only by his official title. +This title of "Pharaoh" was one which went back to the early days of the +monarchy. It represents the Egyptian Per-aa, or "Great House," and is of +repeated occurrence in the inscriptions. All power and government emanated +from the royal palace, and accordingly, just as we speak of the "Sublime +Porte" or "Lofty Gate" when we mean the Sultan of Turkey, so the Egyptians +spoke of their own sovereign as the Pharaoh or "Great House." To this day +the king of Japan is called the Mi-kado, or "Lofty Gate." + +That the Hyksos princes should have assumed the title of their +predecessors on the throne of Egypt is not surprising. The monuments have +shown us how thoroughly Egyptianised they soon became. The court of the +Hyksos Pharaoh differed but little, if at all, from that of the native +Pharaoh. The invaders rapidly adopted the culture of the conquered people, +and with it their manners, customs, and even language. The most famous +mathematical treatise which Egypt has bequeathed to us was written for a +Hyksos king. It may be that the old language of Asia was retained, at all +events for a time, by the side of the language of the subject population; +but if so, its position must have been like that of Turkish by the side of +Arabic in Egypt during the reign of Mohammed Ali. For several centuries +the Hyksos could be described as Egyptians, and the dynasties of the +Hyksos Pharaohs are counted by the Egyptian historian among the legitimate +dynasties of his country. + +It was only in the matter of religion that the Hyksos court kept itself +distinct from its native subjects. The supreme god of the Hyksos princes +was Sutekh, in whom we must see a form of the Semitic Baal. As has already +been stated, Egyptian legend ascribed the origin of the war of +independence to a demand on the part of the Hyksos Pharaoh Apopi that the +prince and the god of Thebes should acknowledge the supremacy of the +Hyksos deity. But even in the matter of religion the Hyksos princes could +not help submitting to the influence of the old Egyptian civilisation. Ra, +the sun-god of Heliopolis, was identified with Sutekh, and even Apopi +added to his name the title of Ra, and so claimed to be an incarnation of +the Egyptian sun-god, like the native Pharaohs who had gone before him. + +When next we hear of Egypt in the Old Testament, it is when Israel is +about to become a nation. Joseph was sold by his brethren to merchants +from Arabia, who carried him into Egypt. There he became the slave of +Potiphar, "the eunuch of Pharaoh and chief of the executioners," or royal +body-guard. The name of Potiphar, like that of Potipherah, the priest of +On, corresponds with the Egyptian Pa-tu-pa-Ra, "the Gift of the Sun-god." +It has been asserted by Egyptologists that names of this description are +not older than the age of the twenty-second dynasty, to which Shishak, the +contemporary of Rehoboam, belonged; but because no similar name of an +earlier date has hitherto been found, it does not follow that such do not +exist. As long as our materials are imperfect, we cannot draw positive +conclusions merely from an absence of evidence. + +That Potiphar should have been an eunuch and yet been married seems a +greater obstacle to our acceptance of the story. This, however, it need +not be. Eunuchs in the modern East, who have risen to positions of power +and importance, have possessed their harems like other men. In ancient +Babylonia it was only the service of religion which the eunuch was +forbidden to enter. Such was doubtless the case in Egypt also. + +Egyptian research has brought to light a curious parallel to the history +of Joseph and Potiphar's wife. It is found in one of the many tales, the +equivalents of the modern novel, in which the ancient Egyptians delighted. +The tale, which is usually known as that of "The Two Brothers," was +written by the scribe Enna for Seti II. of the nineteenth dynasty when he +was still crown-prince, and it embodies the folk-lore of his native land. +Enna lived under Meneptah, the probable Pharaoh of the Exodus, and his +work was thus contemporaneous with the events which brought about the +release of the Israelites from their "house of bondage." How old the +stories may be upon which it is based it is impossible for us to tell. + +Here is Professor Erman's translation of the commencement of the tale:-- + +"Once upon a time there were two brothers, born of one mother and of one +father; the elder was called Anup, the younger Bata. Now Anup possessed a +house and had a wife, whilst his younger brother lived with him as a son. +He it was who wove (?) for him, and drove his cattle to the fields, who +ploughed and reaped; he it was who directed all the business of the farm +for him. The younger brother was a good (farmer); the like of whom was not +to be found throughout the country." One day Anup sent Bata from the field +to the house to fetch seed-corn. "And he sent his younger brother,(5) and +said to him: Hasten and bring me seed-corn from the village. And his +younger brother found the wife of his elder brother occupied in combing +her hair. And he said to her: Rise up, give me seed-corn that I may return +to the field, for thus has my elder brother enjoined me, to return without +delaying. The woman said to him: Go in, open the chest, that thou mayst +take what thine heart desires, for otherwise my locks will fall to the +ground. And the youth went within into the stable, and took thereout a +large vessel, for it was his will to carry out much seed-corn. And he +loaded himself with wheat and dhurra and went out with it. Then she said +to him: How great is the burden in thy arms? He said to her: Two measures +of dhurra and three measures of wheat make together five measures which +rest on my arms. Thus he spake to her. But she spake to the youth and +said: How great is thy strength! Well have I remarked thy power many a +time. And her heart knew him.... And she stood up and laid hold of him and +said unto him: Come let us celebrate an hour's repose; the most beautiful +things shall be thy portion, for I will prepare for thee festal garments. +Then was the youth like unto the panther of the south for rage on account +of the wicked word which she had spoken to him. But she was afraid beyond +all measure. And he spoke to her and said: Thou, oh woman, hast been like +a mother to me and thy husband like a father, for he is older than I, so +that he might have been my begetter. Wherefore this great sin that thou +hast spoken unto me? Say it not to me another time, then will I this time +not tell it, and no word of it shall come out of my mouth to any man at +all. And he loaded himself with his burden and went out into the field. +And he went to his elder brother, and they completed their day's work. And +when it was evening, the elder brother returned home to his house. And his +younger brother followed behind his oxen, having laden himself with all +the good things of the field, and he drove his oxen before him to bring +them to the stable. And behold the wife of his elder brother was afraid +because of the word which she had spoken, and she took a jar of fat and +was like to one to whom an evil-doer had offered violence, since she +wished to say to her husband: Thy younger brother has offered me violence. +And her husband returned home at evening, according to his daily custom, +and found his wife lying stretched out and suffering from injury. She +poured no water over his hands, as was her custom; she had not lighted the +lights for him, so that his house was in darkness, and she lay there ill. +And her husband said to her: Who has had to do with thee? Lift thyself up! +She said to him: No one has had to do with me except thy younger brother, +since when he came to take seed-corn for thee, he found me sitting alone +and said to me, 'Come, let us make merry an hour and repose: let down thy +hair!' Thus he spake to me; but I did not listen to him (but said), 'See! +am I not thy mother, and is not thy elder brother like a father to thee?' +Thus I spoke to him, but he did not hearken to my speech, but used force +with me that I might not tell thee. Now if thou allow him to live I will +kill myself. + +"Then the elder brother began to rage like a panther: he sharpened his +knife and took it in his hand. And the elder brother stood behind the door +of the stable in order to kill the youth when he came back in the evening +to bring the oxen into the stable. Now when the sun was setting and he had +laden himself with all the good things of the field, according to his +custom, he returned (to the house). And his cow that first entered the +stable said to him: Beware! there stands thy elder brother before thee +with his knife in order to kill thee; run away from him! So he heard what +the first cow said. Then the second entered and spake likewise. He looked +under the door of the stable, and saw the feet of his brother, who was +standing behind the door with his knife in his hand. He threw his burden +on the ground and began to run away quickly. His elder brother ran after +him with his knife in his hand." + +Ra, the sun-god, however, came to the help of the innocent youth, and +interposed a river full of crocodiles between him and his pursuer. All +night long the two brothers stood on either side of the water; in the +morning Bata convinced his brother that he had done no wrong, and +reproached him for having believed that he could be guilty. Then he added: +"Go home now and see after thine oxen thyself, for I will no longer stay +with thee, but will go to the acacia valley." So Anup returned to his +house, put his wife to death, and sat there in solitude and sadness. + +Joseph, more fortunate than Bata, rose from his prison to the highest +office of state. The dreams, through which this was accomplished, were in +full keeping with the belief of the age. Dreams even to-day play an +important part in the popular faith of Egypt. In the days of the Pharaohs +it was the same. Thothmes IV. cleared away the sand that had overwhelmed +the Sphinx, and built a temple between its paws, in consequence of a dream +in which Ra-Harmakhis had appeared to him when, wearied with hunting, he +had lain down to sleep under the shadow of the ancient monument. A +thousand years later Nut-Amon of Ethiopia was summoned by a dream to march +into Egypt. In Greek days, when the temple of Abydos had fallen into ruin, +an oracle was established in one of its deserted chambers, and those who +consulted it received their answers in the "true dreams" that came to them +during the night. The dreams, however, needed at times an interpreter to +explain them, and of such an interpreter mention is made in a Greek +inscription from the Serapeum at Memphis. At other times the dreamer +himself could interpret his vision by the help of the books in which the +signification of dreams had been reduced to a science. + +The dreams of Pharaoh and "his two eunuchs," however, "the chief butler" +and "the chief baker," were of a strange and novel kind, and there were no +books that could explain them. Even the "magicians" and "wise men" of +Egypt failed to understand the dream of Pharaoh. And yet, when the Hebrew +captive had pointed out its meaning, no doubt remained in the mind of +Pharaoh and his servants that he was right. From time immemorial the Nile +had been likened to a milch-cow, and the fertilising water which it spread +over the soil to the milk that sustains human life. The cow-headed goddess +Hathor or Isis watched over the fertility of Egypt. It was said of her +that she "caused the Nile to overflow at his due time," and the "seven +great Hathors" were the seven forms under which she was worshipped. In the +seven kine, accordingly, which stood "upon the bank of the river" the +Egyptian readily saw the life-giving powers of the Nile. + +It needed but the word of the Pharaoh to change the Hebrew slave into an +Egyptian ruler, second only to the monarch itself. His very name ceased to +be Semitic, and henceforth became Zaphnath-paaneah. He even allied himself +with the exclusive priesthood of Heliopolis or On, marrying Asenath, the +daughter of the priest of Ra. By name and marriage, as well as by +position, he was thus adopted into the ranks of the native aristocracy. + +Such changes of name are not unknown to the inscriptions. From time to +time we meet with the records of foreigners who had settled down in the +valley of the Nile and there received new names of Egyptian origin. Thus a +monument found at Abydos tells us of a Canaanite from Bashan called +Ben-Azan, who received in Egypt the new name of Yu-pa-a and was the father +of a vizier of Meneptah, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. The Hittite wife of +Ramses II. similarly adopted an Egyptian name, and the tombstones of two +Karians are preserved, in which the Karian names of the dead are written +in the letters of the Karian alphabet, while a hieroglyphic text is +attached which gives the Egyptian names they had borne in Egypt. + +The exact transcription in hieroglyphics of the Egyptian name of Joseph is +still doubtful. But it is plain that it contains the Egyptian words +_pa-ankh_, "the life," or "the living one," which seem to be preceded by +the particle _nti_, "of." The term _pa-ankh_ is sometimes applied to the +Pharaoh, and since Kames, the last king of the seventeenth dynasty, +assumed the title of Zaf-n-to, "nourisher of the land," it is possible +that in Zaphnath-paaneah we may see an Egyptian Zaf-nti-pa-ankh, +"nourisher of the Pharaoh." But the final solution of the question must be +left to future research. + +It is now more easy to explain the cry which was raised before Joseph when +he went forth from the presence of the Pharaoh with the golden chain +around his neck and the royal signet upon his finger. "_Abrek!_" they +shouted before him, and an explanation of the word has been vainly sought +in the Egyptian language. It really is of Babylonian origin. In the +primitive non-Semitic language of Chaldaea _abrik_ signified "a seer" or +"soothsayer," and the term was borrowed by the Semitic Babylonians under +the two forms of _abrikku_ and _abarakku_. Joseph was thus proclaimed a +seer, and his exaltation was due to his power of foreseeing the future. It +was as a divinely-inspired seer that the subjects of the Pharaoh were to +reverence him. + +How a Babylonian word like _abrek_ came to be used in Egypt it is idle for +us to inquire. Those who believe in the late origin and fictitious +character of the story of Joseph would find an easy explanation of it. But +easy explanations are not necessarily true, either in archaeology or in +anything else. And since we now know that Canaan, long before the time of +Joseph, had fallen under Babylonian influence, that the Babylonian +language and writing were employed there, and that Babylonian words had +made their way into the native idiom, it does not require much stretch of +the imagination to suppose that such words may have also penetrated to the +court of the Asiatic rulers of northern Egypt. Up to the era of the +Exodus, Egypt and Canaan were for several centuries as closely connected +with each other as were England and the north of France in the age of the +Normans and Plantagenets. + +The prosperity of Egypt depends upon the Nile. If the river rises to too +great a height during the period of inundation, the autumn crops are +damaged or destroyed. If, on the other hand, its rise is insufficient to +fill the canals and basins, or to reach the higher ground, the land +remains unwatered, and nothing will grow. Egypt, in fact, is the gift of +the Nile; let the channel of the great river be diverted elsewhere, and +the whole country would at once become an uninhabited desert. + +A low Nile consequently brings with it a scarcity of food. When provisions +cannot be imported from abroad, famine is the necessary result, and the +population perishes in thousands. Such was the case in the eleventh and +twelfth centuries of our era, when the inundation was deficient for +several successive years. The Arabic writers, El-Makrizi and Abd-el-Latif, +describe the famines that ensued in terrible terms. Abd-el-Latif was a +witness of that which lasted from A.D. 1200 to 1202, and of the horrors +which it caused. After eating grass, corpses, and even excrement, the +wretched inhabitants of the country began to devour one another. Mothers +were arrested in the act of cooking their own children, and it was unsafe +to walk in the streets for fear of being murdered for food. + +The famine described by El-Makrizi lasted, like that of Joseph, for seven +years, from A.D. 1064 to 1071, and was similarly occasioned by a deficient +Nile. A hieroglyphic inscription, discovered in 1888 by Mr. Wilbour in the +island of Sehel, contains a notice of another famine of seven years, which +occurred at an earlier date. The island of Sehel lies in the Cataract, +midway between Assouan and Philae, and the inscription is carved on a block +of granite and looks towards the south. It is dated in the eighteenth year +of a king, who was probably one of the Ethiopian princes that reigned over +southern Egypt in the troublous age of the fourth and fifth Ptolemies. +According to Dr. Brugsch's translation, it states that the king sent to +the governor of Nubia saying: "I am sorrowing upon my high throne over +those who belong to the palace. In sorrow is my heart for the vast +misfortune, because the Nile flood in my time has not come for seven +years. Light is the grain; there is lack of crops and of all kinds of +food. Each man has become a thief to his neighbour. They desire to hasten +and cannot walk; the child cries, the youth creeps along and the old man; +their souls are bowed down. Their legs are bent together and drag along +the ground, and their hands rest in their bosoms. The counsel of the great +ones of the court is but emptiness. Torn open are the chests of +provisions, but instead of contents there is air. Everything is +exhausted." The text then goes on to declare how Khnum the Creator came to +the help of the Pharaoh, and caused the Nile once more to inundate the +lands. In return for this the king gave the priests of Khnum at +Elephantine twenty miles of river bank on either side of the island, +together with tithes of all the produce of the country. + +Dr. Brugsch has brought to light yet another record of a famine in Upper +Egypt which belongs to an older period. Among the rock-cut tombs of +El-Kab, where the princes of Thebes held their court in the days of the +Hyksos, is one which commemorates the name of a certain Baba. The name +occurs elsewhere at El-Kab, and was that of the father of "Captain Ahmes," +whose tomb is one of the most interesting there, and who, in his youthful +days, assisted Ahmes of the eighteenth dynasty in driving the Hyksos from +their last fortress in Egypt. Baba enumerates his wealth and many good +deeds, and adds: "When a famine arose, lasting many years, I issued out +corn to the city." + +It may be that the famine here referred to is the famine of Joseph. All we +know about the date of Baba is that he lived in the age of the Hyksos. If +he flourished before the war of independence and in days when the +authority of the Hyksos Pharaoh was still paramount in Upper Egypt, we +should have good reason for believing that the famine of which he speaks +was the same as that described in Genesis. One of the results of the +latter was that the Egyptians parted with their lands and stock to Joseph, +so that henceforth they became the tenants of the Pharaoh, to whom they +paid a fifth of all their produce. If this statement is historical, the +administration of Joseph must have extended from one end of Egypt to the +other. His Hyksos master must have been like Apopi, of whom the Sallier +Papyrus tells us that "the entire country paid him tribute, together with +its manufactured products, and so loaded him with all the good things of +Egypt." + +The account of Joseph's famine, however, betrays in one respect a sign of +later date. The famine is said to have extended to Canaan. But a famine in +Egypt and a famine in Canaan were not due to the same cause, and the +failure of the waters of the Nile would have no effect upon the crops of +Palestine. In Canaan it was the want of rain, not of the inundation of the +Nile, which produced a failure of corn. We hear from time to time, in the +inscriptions, of corn being sent from Egypt to Syria, but it was when +there was plenty on the banks of the Nile and a scarcity of rain on the +Syrian coast. The Hebrew writer has regarded the history of the past from +a purely Asiatic rather than an Egyptian point of view. + +Joseph must have entered Egypt when it was still under Hyksos domination. +The promise made to Abraham (Gen. xv. 13) is very explicit: "Know of a +surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and +shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years." Equally +explicit is the statement of the book of Exodus (xii. 40, 41): "The +sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred +and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and +thirty years, even the self-same day it came to pass, that all the hosts +of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt." Here thirty years--the length +of a generation--are added to the four hundred during which the Israelites +were to be afflicted in the land of the foreigner. If the Exodus took +place in the latter years of the nineteenth dynasty---and, as we shall see, +the Egyptian monuments forbid our placing it elsewhere--the four hundred +and thirty years of the Biblical narrative bring us to the beginning of +the last Hyksos dynasty. + +It is a curious fact that Egyptian history also knows of an epoch of four +hundred years which covers almost the same period as the four hundred +years of Genesis. Mariette Pasha, when excavating at San, the ancient +Zoan, found a stela which had been erected in the reign of Ramses II. by +one of his officers, the governor of the Asiatic frontier. The stela +commemorates a visit to San made by the governor, on the fourth day of the +month Mesori, in the four hundredth year of "the king of Upper and Lower +Egypt, Set-aa-pehti, the son of the Sun who loved him, also named +Set-Nubti." Since Set or Sutekh was the god of the Hyksos, while San was +the Hyksos capital, it is clear that Set-aa-pehti or Set-Nubti was a +Hyksos prince who claimed rule over the whole of Egypt, and with whom a +Hyksos era commenced. Professor Maspero and Dr. de Cara consider the +prince in question to have been really the god Sutekh himself; this, +however, is not the natural interpretation of the titles assigned to him, +and it is not improbable that Professor Wiedemann is right in identifying +him with a certain Hyksos Pharaoh, Set-[Nub?]ti, mentioned on a monument +discovered by Mariette at Tel-Mokdam. This latter Pharaoh is entitled "the +good god, the star of Upper and Lower Egypt, the son of the Sun, beloved +by Sutekh, the lord of Avaris." + +But whether or not the Hyksos Pharaoh of Tel-Mokdam is the same as +Set-Nubti of San, it would seem probable that the era connected with his +name marked the rise of the last Hyksos dynasty. According to Eusebius, +the leader of this dynasty was Saites, a name which reminds us of +Set-aa-[pehti]. Eusebius makes the length of the dynasty 103 years, but +Africanus, a more trustworthy authority, gives it as 151 years. This would +assign the rise of the seventeenth dynasty, the last of Hyksos rule, to +about B.C. 1720, a date which agrees very well with that of the monument +of San.(6) The Exodus of the Israelites, if it took place in the reign of +Meneptah, would have happened about B.C. 1270 (or B.C. 1250, if it +occurred in the reign of Seti II., as Professor Maspero maintains); in +this case the 430 years of sojourning in the land of Egypt brings us to +B.C. 1700 (or 1680). This would be about twenty years after the +establishment of the last Hyksos line of Pharaohs, and one hundred and +thirty years before the foundation of the eighteenth dynasty. Joseph would +thus have been vizier of the country long before the war of independence +broke out, and there would have been time in abundance for him to have +lived and died before his friends and protectors were driven from the land +they had so long occupied. + +Chronologically, therefore, the Biblical narrative fits in with the +requirements of Egyptian history, and allows us to see in the Hebrew +captive the powerful minister of a race of kings who, like himself, had +come from the highlands of Asia. But it must be remembered that it was +only in the north of Egypt that Hyksos rule made itself actually visible +to the eyes of the people. Southern Egypt was nominally governed by its +native princes, though they did not assume the title of king or Pharaoh. +They were _hiqu_, "hereditary chieftains," the last representatives of the +royal families of earlier days. They acknowledged the supremacy of the +Hyksos Pharaoh, and tribute was sent to him from Thebes and El-Kab. + +Though Memphis, the ancient capital of the country, was in the hands of +the strangers, Zoan, the Tanis of classical geography, was rather the seat +of Hyksos power. Protected by the marshes which surrounded it, Zoan, the +modern San, lay on the eastern side of the Delta at no great distance from +the frontier of Asia and the great Hyksos fortress of Avaris. From Zoan, +the "road of the Philistines," as it is called in the Pentateuch, ran +almost in a straight line to Pelusium and the south of Palestine, skirting +on one side the Mediterranean Sea, and leaving to the right the lofty +fortress-rock of El-Arish on the waterless "river of Egypt." Tanis had +existed in the days of the Old Empire, but either the Hyksos conquest or +earlier invasions had caused it to decay, and when the Hyksos court was +established there its ancient temple was already in ruins. The restoration +of the city was due to the Hyksos kings, who have left in it memorials of +themselves. The Hyksos sphinxes in the Museum of Gizeh, on one of which +the name of Apopi is engraved, were found there by Mariette, as well as a +curious group of two persons with enormous wigs holding fish and +water-fowl in their laps. When it is stated in the book of Numbers (xiii. +22) that "Hebron was built seven years before Zoan," it is probable that +the building of Zoan by the Shepherd kings is meant. + +In journeying from southern Palestine to Zoan, Jacob and his sons had no +very long distance to traverse. Nor had they to pass through a long tract +of Egyptian territory. From the desert, with its roving bands of kindred +Bedouin, to the Pharaoh's court at Zoan, was hardly more than a day's +journey. There was little fear that the Semitic traveller would meet with +insult or opposition from the Egyptian _fellahin_ on the way. The +_fellahin_ themselves were doubtless then, as now, mixed with Semitic +elements; it was needful to go westward of Zoan in order to find Egyptians +of pure blood. + +Nor was the land of Goshen, the modern Wadi Tumilat, far from the Hyksos +capital. It lay to the south of Zoan, on the banks of a canal whose course +is now marked by the Freshwater Canal of Lesseps. The tourist who takes +the train from Ismailiyeh to Zagazig traverses the whole length of the +land of Goshen. The tradition that here was the territory assigned by +Joseph to his brethren lingered long into the Christian centuries, and had +been revived by more than one Egyptologist in later years. But the +question was finally settled by Dr. Naville, and the excavations he +undertook for the Egypt Exploration Fund. In 1883 he disinterred the +remains of Pa-Tum, or Pithom, one of the two "store-cities" which the +children of Israel were forced to build. The ruins are now known as Tel +el-Maskhuteh, "the mound of the Statue," about twelve miles to the +south-east of Ismailiyeh, and the monuments discovered there show that the +Pharaoh for whom the city was built was Ramses II. There was more than one +Pa-Tum, or temple-city of the Sun-god of the evening, and the Pa-Tum of +the eastern Delta is referred to in papyri of the nineteenth dynasty. +Thus, in the eighth year of Meneptah II., an official report speaks of the +passage of certain Shasu or Bedouin from Edom through the +frontier-fortress of Thukut or Succoth, to "the pools of the city of +Pa-Tum of Meneptah-hotep-hir-ma, in the district of Thukut." + +In 1884 Dr. Naville excavated, at Saft el-Henneh, an ancient mound close +to the railway between Zagazig and Tel el-Kebir. His excavations resulted +in the discovery that Saft el-Henneh marks the site of the ancient Qesem +or Qos (Pha-kussa in the Greek geographers), the capital of the nome of +the Egyptian Arabia. Qesem corresponds exactly with Geshem, which +represents in the Septuagint the Hebrew Goshen, and points to the fact +that the Egyptian Jews, to whom the Greek translation of the Old Testament +was due, recognised in the Biblical Goshen the Qeshem of Egyptian +geography. + +The district immediately around Saft el-Henneh is fertile, but the name of +the Egyptian Arabia which it once bore shows unmistakably who its +cultivators must have been. They were the Semitic nomads from the East +who, like their descendants to-day, occasionally settled on the +frontier-lands of Egypt, and became more or less unwilling agriculturists. +But the larger part of them remained shepherds, leading a nomad life with +their flocks and camels, and pitching their tents wherever the monotony of +the desert was broken by water and vegetation. The Wadi Tumilat, into +which the district of Saft el-Henneh opened, was thus eminently suited for +the residence of the Hebrew Bedouin. Here they had food for their flocks, +plenty of space for their camping-grounds, and freedom from interference +on the part of the Egyptians, while in the background was a fertile +district, in close connection with the capital, where those of them who +cared to exchange a pastoral for an agricultural life could find rich soil +to sow and cultivate. + +Hard by Zagazig are the mounds of the ancient Bubastis, and here the +excavations carried on by the Egypt Exploration Fund have brought to light +remains of the Hyksos Pharaohs, including one of Apopi. Bubastis, +therefore, must have been a Hyksos residence, and its temple was adorned +by the Hyksos kings. Between Bubastis and Heliopolis stood Pa-Bailos, and +of this town Meneptah II. says at Thebes that "the country around was not +cultivated, but left as pasture for cattle because of the strangers, +having been abandoned since the times of old." What better proof can we +have that the Arabian nome was in truth what the land of Goshen is +represented to be? + +By a curious coincidence, the Wadi Tumilat, the old land of Goshen, has, +in the present century, again been handed over to Bedouin and Syrians, and +again been the scene of an Exodus. Mohammed Ali was anxious to establish +the culture of the silk-worm in Egypt, and accordingly planted +mulberry-trees in the Wadi Tumilat, and settled there a large colony of +Syrians and Bedouin. The Bedouin were induced to remain there, partly by +the pasturage provided for their flocks, partly by a promise of exemption +from taxes and military conscription. When Abbas Pasha became Khedive, +however, the promise was forgotten; orders were issued that the free +Bedouin of the Wadi Tumilat should be treated like the enslaved +_fellahin_, compelled to pay the tax-gatherer, and to see their children +driven in handcuffs and with the courbash to serve in the army. But the +orders were never carried out. Suddenly, in a single night, without noise +or warning, the whole Bedouin population deserted their huts, and with +their flocks and other possessions disappeared into the eastern desert. +The Pasha lost his slaves, the culture of the silk-worm ceased, and when +the Freshwater Canal was cut not a single mulberry-tree remained. + +In the land of Goshen, the Israelitish settlers throve and multiplied. But +a time came when a new king arose "which knew not Joseph," and when the +descendants of Jacob seemed to the Egyptians a source of danger. Like +Abbas Pasha in a later century, the Pharaoh determined to reduce the +free-born Israelites into the condition of public slaves, and by every +means in his power to diminish their number. The male children were +destroyed, the adults compelled to labour at the cities the Egyptian +monarch was building in their neighbourhood, and the land in which they +lived was surrounded by Egyptian garrisons and controlled by Egyptian +officers. + +The slaves, however, succeeded in escaping from their "house of bondage." +Under the leadership of Moses they made their way into the eastern desert, +and received, at Sinai and Kadesh-Barnea, the laws which were henceforth +to govern them. The army sent to pursue them was swallowed up in the +waters of the sea, and the district they had occupied was left desolate. + +A variety of reasons had led Egyptologists to the belief that in the +Pharaoh of the Oppression we were probably to see Ramses II. Ramses II., +the Sesostris and Osymandyas of Greek story, was the third king of the +nineteenth dynasty, and one of the most striking figures of Egyptian +history. His long reign of sixty-seven years was the evening of Egyptian +greatness. With his death the age of Egyptian conquests passed away, and +the period of decay set in. Like Louis XIV. of France, the _grand +monarque_ of ancient Egypt exhausted in his wars the resources and +fighting population of his country. + +But it was as a builder rather than as a conqueror that Ramses II. was +famous. Go where we will in Egypt or Nubia, we find traces of his +architectural activity. There is hardly a place where he has not left his +name. His whole reign must have been occupied with the construction of +cities and temples, or the restoration and enlargement of previously +existing ones, and, in spite of its length, it is difficult to understand +how so vast an amount of work could have been accomplished in the time. +Much of the work, however, is poor and scamped; it bears, in fact, marks +of the feverish haste with which it was carried through. Much of it, on +the other hand, is grandiose and striking in its colossal proportions and +boldness of design. The shattered granite colossus at the Ramesseum, once +nearly sixty feet in height, the fragment of a standing figure of granite +found by Professor Flinders Petrie at San, which must originally have been +over a hundred feet high, the great hall of columns at Karnak, the temple +of Abu-Simbel in Nubia, are all so many witnesses of vast conceptions +successfully realised. Abu-Simbel, indeed, where a mountain has been +hollowed into a temple, and a cliff carved into the likeness of four +sitting figures, each with an unrivalled expression of divine calm upon +its countenance, justly claims to be one of the wonders of the world. + +Apart from the colossal proportions of so many of them, the buildings of +Ramses II. are distinguished by another trait. They were erected to the +glory of the Pharaoh rather than of the gods. It is the name and titles of +Ramses that everywhere force themselves upon our notice, and often +constitute the chief decoration of the monument. He must have been +vainglorious above all other kings of Egypt, filled with the pride of his +own power and the determination that his name should never be forgotten +upon the earth. + +It is not strange, therefore, that Ramses II. should be the most prominent +figure in ancient Egyptian history. His name and the shattered relics of +his architectural triumphs force themselves upon the attention of the +traveller wherever he goes. His long reign, moreover, was a period of +great literary activity, and a considerable portion of the literary papyri +which have survived to us was written during his lifetime. He was, +furthermore, the last of the conquering Pharaohs; the last of the Theban +monarchs whose rule was obeyed from the mountains of Lebanon and the +plateau of the Hauran to the southern frontiers of Ethiopia. With his +death the empire, which had been founded by the military skill and energy +of the kings of the eighteenth dynasty, began to pass away. His son and +successor, Meneptah, had to struggle for bare existence against an +invasion of barbarian hordes, and the sceptre dropped from the feeble +hands of Seti II., who next followed, into those of rival kings. The +nineteenth dynasty ended in the midst of civil war and foreign attack: for +a while Egypt submitted to the rule of a Syrian stranger, and when +Setnekht, the founder of the twentieth dynasty, restored once more the +native line of kings, he found a ruined and impoverished country, scarcely +able to protect itself from hostile assault. + +But the age of the twentieth dynasty was still distant when Jacob and his +sons journeyed into Egypt, or even when his descendants, under the +leadership of Moses, succeeded in escaping from the land of their slavery. +Before that age arrived more than one revolution was destined to pass over +the valley of the Nile, which had momentous consequences for the foreign +settlers in Goshen. The Hyksos were driven back into Asia, and a united +Egypt once more obeyed the rule of a native Pharaoh. + +But the centre of power had been shifted from the north to the south. +Memphis and Zoan had to make way for Thebes, and it is probable that the +monarchs of the eighteenth dynasty, under whom Egypt recovered its +independence, had Nubian blood in their veins. A new life was breathed +into the ancient kingdom of Menes, and for the first time in its history +Egypt became a great military power. The war was transferred from the +Delta to Asia itself; Canaan and Syria were conquered, and an Egyptian +empire established, which extended as far as the Euphrates. With this +empire in Asia, however, came Asiatic influences, ideas, and beliefs. The +Pharaohs intermarried with the royal families of Asia, and little by +little their court became semi-Asiatic. Then followed reaction and +counter-revolution. A new king arose--the founder of the nineteenth +dynasty--"who knew not Joseph," representing the national antagonism to the +Asiatic foreigner and his religious faith. For a while the Asiatic was +proscribed; and the expulsion of the stranger and his religion, which +Arabi endeavoured to effect in our time, was successfully effected in the +troublous days which saw the fall of the eighteenth dynasty. In this war +against the hated Asiatic the Israelites were involved; their children +were destroyed lest they should multiply, and they themselves were +degraded into public slaves. We have now to trace the events which led to +such a result, and to show how the political history of Egypt was the +ultimate cause of the Israelitish Exodus. + + + + + +CHAPTER II. THE AGE OF MOSES. + + +On the eastern bank of the Nile, about midway between Minieh and Assiout, +the traveller from Cairo to Assouan passes a line of mounds which are +known by the name of Tel el-Amarna. _Tel_ is the name given to the +artificial mounds which cover the remains of ancient cities, while +_el-Amarna_ denotes the Bedouin tribe of Beni-Amran whose descendants +inhabit the district in which the line of mounds is found. Between the +mounds and the Nile is a fertile strip of bank, green with corn in the +winter and spring, and shaded with groves of lofty palms. On the other +side of them is a tawny desert plain, shut in by an amphitheatre of hills. +The limestone cliffs of the latter are broken in three places, where +ravines lead through them to the Arabian plateau beyond. The central +ravine is short and rugged; that to the north, however, though its lofty +walls of rock seem at times almost to meet, eventually carries the +explorer by a slow ascent into the heart of the Arabian desert. About +three miles from its mouth, and in a side-valley, the tomb has lately been +discovered of the founder of the city, of which the mounds of Tel +el-Amarna are now the sole representatives. The tomb is worthy of the +monarch for whom it was intended. In the distant solitude of the desert +gorge, it is cut deep into the solid rock. Steps first convey the visitor +downwards to the huge door of the sepulchre. Within is a broad sloping +passage, to the right of which are the sculptured chambers in which the +body of one of the Pharaoh's daughters once rested, while at the end of it +is a vast columned hall, within which the sarcophagus of the Pharaoh +himself was placed. + +The Pharaoh had been named by his father, Amenophis III., after himself, +but Amenophis IV. had not long mounted the throne before he gave himself a +new name, and was henceforth known as Khu-n-Aten, "the Glory of the Solar +Disk." The change of name was the outward sign and token of a religious +revolution. The king publicly renounced the ancient religion of Egypt, of +which he was the official representative, and declared himself a convert +to an Asiatic form of faith. The very name of Amon, the supreme god of +Thebes and of the royal family to which Khu-n-Aten belonged, was +proscribed, and erased from the monuments wherever it occurred. In the +temples and tombs and quarries alike it was defaced; even the name of the +king's own father, which contained it, was not spared. When the arm of the +persecutor was thus extended to the written and sculptured monument, we +cannot suppose that the adherents of the ancient cult would be treated +with a gentle hand. + +It was not long before the Pharaoh and the powerful hierarchy of Thebes +were at open war. But the priesthood proved too strong for the king. He +quitted the capital of his fathers and built himself a new city farther +north. It is the site of this city which is now covered by the mounds of +Tel el-Amarna. + +Towards the northern side of it rose the palace of the Pharaoh, whose +ruins have been explored by Professor Flinders Petrie. It was one of the +most gorgeous edifices ever erected by man. The walls and columns were +inlaid with gold and bronze and stones of various colours, and adorned +with statuary and painting. Even the floors were frescoed; and, if we may +judge from the one discovered by Professor Petrie, the art was of the +highest order. The plants and animals and fish depicted on it are drawn +with a perfection and a truthfulness to nature which seem to belong to the +nineteenth century of our era rather than to the fifteenth century before +Christ. + +The public offices of the government adjoined the palace, and around it +were the houses of the nobles and officers of the court. They too +reflected the gay and brilliant adornment of the royal palace, and their +walls were enlivened by frescoes, which represented the scenes of +every-day life. Among the public offices was the archive-chamber, to which +the documents of state had been transferred from Thebes, as well as the +foreign office, where scribes were busily engaged in correspondence with +the governors of the Asiatic provinces of the empire and the princes of +foreign states. + +In the centre of the city rose the great temple of Aten, the solar disk, +the new object of the Pharaoh's adoration. Though the name was Egyptian, +the deity and his cult were alike of Asiatic origin. The Aten, in fact, to +whom the temple had been reared, was the Asiatic Baal. He was the Sun-god, +whose visible manifestation was the solar disk. But it was a Sun-god who +was not only supreme over all other gods; they were absorbed into him, and +existed only in so far as he endowed them with divine life. It is thus +that Aten-Ra, the solar disk of the Sun-god, is addressed by the Pharaoh's +queen: "Thou disk of the Sun, thou living god, there is none other beside +thee! Thou givest health to the eyes through thy beams, Creator of all +things!" One of Khu-n-Aten's officers, on the walls of his tomb, speaks in +similar terms: "Thou, O god, who in truth art the living one, standest +before the two eyes. Thou art he which createst what never was, which +formest everything, which art in all things: we also have come into being +through the word of thy mouth." + +The new faith of Egypt was a combination of the worship of Baal with the +philosophic conceptions which had gathered round the worship of the +Egyptian Sun-god, Ra, at Heliopolis. The worship of Baal had lost its +grossness, and been refined into a form of monotheism. But the monotheism +was essentially pantheistic; there was, indeed, but one god to whom +adoration was paid, but he was universally diffused throughout nature. The +personal character of the Asiatic Baal seems to have disappeared in the +Aten worship of Egypt. + +Along with the new religion came a new style of art. Asiatic artists and +workmen manufactured the variegated glass and bright-coloured porcelain of +Tel el-Amarna, or discarded the conventionalism of Egyptian art in their +delineation of animal and vegetable life, while architecture branched out +in new directions, and the sculptor exaggerated the peculiarities of the +king's personal appearance. Every effort, in fact, was made to break away +from the past, and from the mannerisms and traditions of Egyptian art. +That art had been closely associated with the ancient religion of the +country, and with the change of religion came a change in all things else. + +The causes of the change can now in great measure be traced. To some +extent it was due to the character of the king himself. A plaster cast of +his face, taken immediately after death, has been found by Professor +Petrie, and is an eloquent witness of what the man himself was like. It is +the face of a philosopher and a mystic, of one whose interest lay rather +in the problems of religious belief than in the affairs of state. In +studying it we feel that the man to whom it belonged was destined to be a +religious reformer. + +But this destiny was assisted by the training and education which +Khu-n-Aten had received. His mother, Teie, bore a foremost part in the +introduction of the cult of Aten. She must have been a woman of strong +character, and her influence over her son must also have been great. If, +as is probable, Khu-n-Aten was very young when he ascended the throne, the +religious reform he endeavoured to effect must have been in great measure +his mother's work. That she had aroused deep feelings of hatred among the +adherents of the older creed may be gathered from the condition of +Khu-n-Aten's tomb. Though the body of the Pharaoh was despoiled, and the +sarcophagus in which it rested shattered into fragments, they had +nevertheless been deposited in the sepulchre that had been constructed to +receive them. But no trace of the queen-mother's mummy has been met with, +and the corridor in the royal tomb, which seems to have been excavated for +her, has never been finished, any more than the two or three tombs which +were cut in the immediate neighbourhood. After the death of her son, Queen +Teie seems to have found no protector from the vengeance of her enemies. + +It is probable that Teie was of Asiatic birth, though no certain proof of +it has yet been found. Her husband, Amenophis III., was fond of connecting +himself by marriage with the royal houses of Asia, and more than one of +the wives who occupied a secondary rank in the Pharaoh's household were of +Asiatic extraction. His own mother had been an Asiatic princess, the +daughter of the king of Mitanni, the Aram-Naharaim of the Old Testament. +From Mitanni also had come two of his own wives, as well as the wife of +his son and successor, Amenophis IV. (Khu-n-Aten). + +There is little room for wonder that, with their Asiatic proclivities and +half-Asiatic descent, the later Pharaohs of the eighteenth dynasty should +have surrounded themselves with Asiatic officials and courtiers. The +conquest of Western Asia by Thothmes III. had brought Asiatic fashions +into Egypt. Thothmes himself, on the walls of his temple at Karnak, shows +the spirit of an Asiatic rather than of an Egyptian conqueror. The +inscriptions engraved upon them differ wholly from those which usually +adorn the walls of an Egyptian temple. There are no praises or lists of +the gods, no description of the offerings made to them, no interminable +catalogue of the empty titles of the Pharaoh; we have, on the contrary, a +business-like account of his campaigns, much of it copied from the +memoranda of the scribes who accompanied the army on its march. It reads +like an inscription on the walls of an Assyrian palace rather than one +belonging to an Egyptian temple. It is, in fact, unique, the solitary +example of a historical text which the great monuments of Egypt have +bequeathed to us. It is, of itself, an eloquent testimony to the influence +which Asia had already acquired in the valley of the Nile. + +The conquests of Thothmes III. placed the northern boundary of the +Egyptian empire at the banks of the Euphrates. The kingdoms to the east, +including Assyria, offered tribute to the Egyptian monarch, and those of +northern Syria and eastern Asia Minor paid him homage. Farther south, +Palestine, Phoenicia, and the land of the Amorites, which lay to the north +of Palestine, became Egyptian provinces, garrisoned by Egyptian troops and +administered by Egyptian officers. Even the country beyond the Jordan, +Bashan and the Hauran, formed part of the Egyptian empire. + +In many cases the native princes were left to manage the affairs of their +several states, like the protected princes of modern India, but they were +controlled by "commissioners" sent from the valley of the Nile. More +frequently their place was taken by Egyptian governors, a very +considerable number of whom, however, were of Canaanitish descent. This, +indeed, is one of the most remarkable facts connected with the Egyptian +empire in Asia; it was governed for the Pharaoh by natives rather than by +Egyptians. But this was not all. Under Khu-n-Aten Egypt itself was invaded +by the Asiatic stranger. The high places about the court were filled with +foreigners whose names proclaim their Canaanitish origin; even the Vizier +was called Dudu, the Biblical Dodo, to which the name of David is akin. +The adherents of the cult of Aten who gathered round the Pharaoh at Tel +el-Amarna seem largely to have belonged to Asia instead of Egypt. + +Even the official language and writing were of Asiatic derivation. The +language was that of Babylonia, the script was the cuneiform syllabary of +the same country. The Babylonian script and language were used from the +banks of the Euphrates to those of the Nile. They were the common medium +of intercourse throughout the civilised world. It is in these that an +Egyptian official writes to his master, and it is again in these that the +reply is sent from the Egyptian foreign office. + +The fact is a very surprising one, but recent discoveries have tended to +explain it. At a very remote epoch Babylonian armies had made their way to +the west, and Palestine was a province of Babylonia long before it became +a province of Egypt. The long-continued and deep-seated influence of +Babylonia brought to it the culture and civilisation of the Babylonian +cities. The Babylonian system of writing formed a very important element +in this ancient culture, and, along with the language of which it was the +expression, took deep root in Western Asia. How long it continued to be +employed there may be gathered from the fact that each district of Western +Asia developed its own peculiar form of cuneiform script. + +All this we have learned from a discovery made in 1887 in the mounds of +Tel el-Amarna. Among the ruins of the foreign office of Khu-n-Aten, which +adjoined the royal palace, the _fellahin_ found a collection of clay +tablets inscribed with cuneiform or wedge-shaped characters. They turned +out to be the foreign correspondence of Khu-n-Aten and his father. When +Khu-n-Aten quitted Thebes he took with him the archives of his father, and +to these were subsequently added the official letters which he himself +received. + +Altogether, about three hundred tablets were discovered. But no one was on +the spot who could appreciate their value, and, owing to a series of +deplorable accidents, several of them were injured or destroyed before +they fell into European hands. Eighty-two found their way to the British +Museum, more than 160 fragments are at Berlin, the Gizeh Museum possesses +56, and a few are in the hands of private individuals. + +The tablets have thrown a new and unexpected light on the history of the +past. To find that the language and script of Babylonia were the common +medium of literary and official intercourse throughout Western Asia in the +century before the Exodus was sufficiently startling; it was much more +startling to find that this early period was emphatically a literary era. +Letters passed to and fro along the high-roads upon the most trifling +subjects, and a constant correspondence was maintained between the court +of the Pharaoh and the most distant parts of Western Asia. The Bedouin +chiefs beyond the Jordan send letters protesting their loyalty to the +Egyptian monarch, and declaring that their forces were at his disposal; +the vassal-king of Jerusalem begs for help from Egypt to protect him +against his personal enemies; the governors of Phoenicia and the land of +the Amorites describe the threatening attitude of the Hittites in the +north; the king of Mitanni or Aram-Naharaim dwells with pride on his +relationship to the ruler of the Egyptian empire; while the kings of +Assyria and Babylonia ask that gold may be sent them from Egypt, where it +is as plentiful as "the dust," or discuss questions of international +policy or commercial interest. We are suddenly transported to a world much +like our own;--a world in which education is widely spread, where schools +and scholars abound, and libraries and archive-chambers exist. + +The nature of the cuneiform system of writing would of itself indicate +that schools were numerous. It was a system which was extraordinarily +difficult to learn. Unlike the hieroglyphs of Egypt, no assistance was +afforded to the memory by any resemblance between the characters and +external objects; like the Chinese characters of to-day, they consisted +merely of groups of conventionally arranged lines or wedges. Like the +Egyptian hieroglyphs, however, the number of characters was extremely +large, and each character not only represented more than one phonetic +value, but it could also be used ideographically to express ideas. Thus +the same character may not only represent the phonetic values _kur_, +_mat_, _nat_, _lat_, _sat_, and _gin_; it may also denote the ideas of +"country," "mountain," and "conquest." But this was not all. The original +picture-writing out of which the cuneiform syllabary developed, had been +invented by the primitive non-Semitic population of Chaldaea, from whom it +had been afterwards adopted and adapted by their Semitic successors. +Accordingly, whole groups of characters which denoted a particular word in +Sumerian--the non-Semitic language of ancient Chaldaea--were taken over by +the Semites and used by them to denote the same word, though, of course, +with a totally different pronunciation. In Sumerian, for example, +_mer-sig_ signified "trousers," but though the two characters _mer_ and +_sig_ continued to be written in Semitic times in order to express the +word, the pronunciation attached to them was _sarbillu_, the modern Arabic +_shirwal_. + +The pupil, therefore, who wished to learn the cuneiform syllabary at all +thoroughly was compelled to know something of the old Sumerian language of +Chaldaea. It was far more necessary in his case than a knowledge of Latin +would be in our own. Moreover, it was necessary for him to learn the +various forms which the same cuneiform character assumed in different +countries or at different periods in the same country. These various forms +were very numerous, and they often differed more than black letter differs +from ordinary modern type. + +The fact, then, that the cuneiform syllabary was studied and used from the +banks of the Euphrates to those of the Nile, brings with it the further +fact that throughout this area there must have been numerous schools and +teachers. Time and persevering labour were needed for its acquisition, +while a knowledge of the Babylonian language which accompanied its study +could not have been obtained without the help of teachers. It is +accordingly a matter of no small astonishment that the letters received at +the Egyptian foreign office were written, not only by professional +scribes, but also by officials and soldiers. + +Naturally the study of the foreign syllabary and language was facilitated +in every possible way. In his excavations at Tel el-Amarna, Professor +Flinders Petrie has discovered fragments of lists of cuneiform characters, +as well as of comparative dictionaries of Semitic Babylonian and Sumerian. +Moreover, a Babylonian mythological text has been found, in which the +words have been divided from one another by dots of red paint, in order to +assist the learner in making his way through the legend. + +This mythological text is not the only one which has been met with among +the tablets of Tel el-Amarna. The existence of such texts is a proof that +the literature of Babylonia, as well as its language and script, was +carried to the West. From very remote times public libraries, consisting +for the most part of clay-books, were to be found in the Babylonian and +Assyrian cities, and when Babylonian culture made its way to the West, +similar libraries must have sprung up there also. The revelations made to +us by the tablets of Tel el-Amarna show that these libraries, like those +of Babylonia, were stocked with books written upon clay, many of which +contained copies of Babylonian legends and myths. + +One of the mythological tales discovered at Tel el-Amarna is the latter +portion of a story which described the creation of the first man, Adapa or +Adama, and the introduction of death into the world. Adapa had broken the +wings of the south wind, and was accordingly ordered to appear before Anu, +the lord of the sky. There he refused to touch the food and water of +"death" that were offered him, and when subsequently the heart of Anu was +"softened" towards him, he refused also the food and water of "life." +Whereupon "Anu looked upon him and raised his voice in lamentation: 'O +Adapa, wherefore eatest thou not? wherefore drinkest thou not? The gift of +life cannot now be thine.' " + +The beginning of the story has been in the British Museum many years. It +is a fragment of a copy of the myth which was made for the library of +Nineveh some eight centuries after the rest of the story, which has now +been disinterred on the banks of the Nile, had been buried under the ruins +of Khu-n-Aten's city. I copied it nearly twenty years ago, but had to wait +for the discovery of the tablets of Tel el-Amarna before ascertaining its +true meaning and significance. Nineveh and Tel el-Amarna had to unite in +the restoration of the old Babylonian myth. + +Canaan was the country in which the two streams of Babylonian and Egyptian +culture met together, and we now know that Canaan was the centre of that +literary activity which the Tel el-Amarna tablets have revealed to us. +Canaan, in the age of the eighteenth dynasty, was emphatically the land of +scribes and letter-writers. If libraries existed anywhere in Western Asia, +they would surely have done so in the cities of Canaan. + +One of these cities, Kirjath-Sepher, or "Book-town," is mentioned in the +Old Testament. It was also called Kirjath-Sannah, or "City of +Instruction," doubtless from the school which was attached to its library. +The site of it is unfortunately lost; should it ever be recovered, we may +expect to find beneath it literary treasures similar to those which the +mounds of Assyria and Babylonia have yielded. Perhaps some day the papyri +of Egypt will tell us where exactly to look for it. + +A reference to it has already been met with. In the time of Ramses II., an +Egyptian scribe composed an ironical account of the adventures of a +military officer in Palestine. The officer in question was called a Mohar, +a word borrowed from the Babylonians, in whose language it signified "an +envoy." + +The Egyptian work is consequently usually known as _The Travels of a +Mohar_, and it gives us an interesting picture of Canaan shortly before +the Israelitish Exodus. The author was clearly very proud of his +geographical knowledge, and has therefore introduced the names of a large +number of places. In one passage he asks: "Hast thou not seen Kirjath-Anab +together with Beth-Sopher? Dost thou not know Adullam and Zidiputha?" Dr. +W. Max Mueller, to whom the correct reading of the passage is due, points +out that the scribe has interchanged the words Kirjath, "city," and Beth, +"house," and that he ought to have written Beth-Anab and Kirjath-Sopher. +That he was acquainted, however, with the meaning of the Canaanitish word +Sopher (in Egyptian Thupar) is shown by his adding to it the determinative +of "writing." _Sopher_, in fact, means "scribe," just as _sepher_ means +"book," and indicates the fact that Kirjath-Sepher was not only a town of +books, but of book-writers as well. It will be remembered that Beth-Anab, +"the house of grapes," in the abbreviated form of Anab, is associated with +Kirjath-Sepher in the Old Testament (Josh. xi. 21; xv. 49, 50), just as it +is in the Egyptian papyrus. + +In the Tel el-Amarna tablets we have a picture of Canaan in the century +which preceded the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt. As we have seen, +it was at that time an Egyptian province. We can thus understand why, in +the tenth chapter of Genesis, Canaan is made a brother of Mizraim, or +Egypt. For a while it obeyed the same sovereign and was administered by +the same laws; the natives of Canaan held office in the court of the +Pharaoh, and Egyptian governors ruled in the Canaanitish cities. It was +not until after the death of Ramses II., of the nineteenth dynasty, and +about the very time when the Israelites were escaping from their house of +bondage, that Canaan ceased to be an Egyptian dependency. From that time +forward it was politically and geographically severed from the valley of +the Nile, and the geographer could never again couple it with the land of +Egypt. + +When Khu-n-Aten was Pharaoh, the cities of Canaan were numerous and +wealthy. The people were highly cultured, and excelled especially as +workers in gold and silver, as manufacturers of porcelain and +vari-coloured glass, and as weavers of richly-dyed linen. Their merchants +already traded to distant parts of the known world. The governors +appointed by the Pharaoh were for the most part of native origin, and at +times a representative of the old line of kings was left among them, +though an Egyptian prefect was often placed at his side. The governors +were controlled by the presence of Egyptian garrisons, as well as by the +visits of an Egyptian "commissioner." Their rivalries and quarrels form +the subject of many of the letters which have been found at Tel el-Amarna, +both sides appealing to the Pharaoh for protection and help, and alike +protesting their loyalty to him. It seems to have been the part of +Egyptian policy to encourage these quarrels, or at all events to hold an +even balance between the rival governors. + +As long as the power of Egypt remained intact, _these quarrels_, which +sometimes _resulted in open war_, offered no cause for alarm. Egyptian +troops could always be sent to the scene of disturbance before it could +become dangerous. But in the troublous days of Khu-n-Aten's reign, when +Egypt itself was restless and inclined for revolt, the position of affairs +was changed. The Egyptian forces were needed at home, and the Pharaoh was +compelled to turn a deaf ear to the piteous appeals that were made to him +for assistance. The enemies of Egyptian rule began to multiply and grow +powerful. In the south the Khabiri or "Confederates" threatened the +Egyptian domination; in the north, Amorite rebels intrigued with the +Hittites and with the kings of Naharaim and Babylonia, while in all parts +of Palestine the Sute or Bedouin were perpetually on the watch to take +advantage of the weakness of the government. + +It was the vassal-king of Jerusalem, Ebed-tob by name, who was especially +menaced by the Khabiri. In his letters he describes himself as unlike the +other governors, in that he had been appointed to his office by the "arm" +or "oracle" of "the Mighty King," the supreme deity of his city. It was +not from his father or his mother, consequently, that he had derived his +royal dignity. He was, in fact, a priest-king, like his predecessor +Melchizedek, to whom Abram had paid tithes. Ebed-tob, however, was unable +to make head against his enemies the Khabiri. One by one the towns which +were included in the territory of Jerusalem, from Keilah and Gath-Karmel +to Rabbah, fell into their hands; the Pharaoh was unable to send him the +help for which he so earnestly begged, and we finally hear of his having +fallen into the hands of his Bedouin enemy, Labai, along with the cities +of which he was in charge. Labai was in alliance with a certain Malchiel, +who also writes letters to the Egyptian monarch, as well as with Tagi of +Gath and the Khabiri. The latter seem to have given the name of Hebron, +"the Confederacy," to the old city of Kirjath-Arba. + +Megiddo was the seat of an Egyptian governor, like Gaza, near Shechem. The +name of Shechem has not been found in the Tel el-Amarna tablets, but a +reference is made to its "mountain," in the _Travels of a Mohar_. Either +Mount Ebal or Mount Gerizim must consequently have been already well known +in Egypt. Another Egyptian governor was in command of Phoenicia. Gebal, +north of Beyrut, was his chief residence, but he had palaces also at Tyre +and Zemar, in the mountains of the interior. In one of his letters he +alludes to the wealth of Tyre, which must therefore have been already +famous. + +Phoenicia and Palestine are alike included under the name of "Canaan" in +the cuneiform documents, though in the hieroglyphic records they are +called Zahi and Khal (or Khar). North of Palestine came "the land of the +Amorites," of which Ebed-Asherah and his son, Aziru or Ezer, were +governors, and to the east of the Jordan was "the field of Bashan." The +Egyptian supremacy was acknowledged as far south as the frontier of Edom; +the latter country preserved its independence. + +Such was the condition of Canaan when the cuneiform correspondence of Tel +el-Amarna comes suddenly to an end. The death of Khu-n-Aten had been the +signal for a revolt against the faith which he had endeavoured to impose +upon Egypt, as well as against the Asiatic influences by which he had been +surrounded. He left daughters only behind him. One of them was married to +a prince who, in order to secure the throne, was forced to return to the +old religion of the country, and to call himself by the name of +Tutankh-Amon. But his reign was short, like those of one or two other +relations and followers of Khu-n-Aten who have left traces of themselves +upon the monuments. A rival king, Ai by name, held possession of Egypt for +a while, and after his death Hor-m-hib, the Armais of Manetho, ruled once +more at Thebes over a united Egypt, and the worship of the solar disk was +at end. + +But the ruins of Tel el-Amarna show that the restoration of the old creed +and the overthrow of Khu-n-Aten's adherents had not been without a +struggle. Most of the tombs in the cliffs and sandhills which surround the +old city have been unfinished: the followers of the new cult for whom they +were intended have never been allowed to occupy them. The royal sepulchre +itself, as we have seen, is in an equally unfinished condition, and the +sarcophagus in which the body of the king rested was violated soon after +his mummy had been placed in it. Indeed, it had never been deposited in +the niche that had been cut to receive it; its shattered fragments were +discovered far away on the floor of the great columned hall. The capital +of the "heretic king" was destroyed by its enemies soon after his death, +and never inhabited again. The ruins of its palace and houses were full of +broken statues and other objects which their owners had no time to carry +away. The city lasted only for about thirty years, and the sands of the +desert then began to close over its fallen greatness. How sudden and +complete must have been its overthrow is proved by the cuneiform tablets; +not only were these imperial archives not carried elsewhere, the +correspondence contained in them breaks off suddenly with a half-told tale +of disaster and dismay. The Asiatic empire of Egypt is falling to pieces, +its enemies are enclosing it on every side; the Hittites have robbed it of +its northern provinces, and revolt is shaking it from within. The +governors and vassals of the Pharaoh send more and more urgent requests +for instant aid: "If troops come this year, then there will remain both +provinces and governors to the king, my lord; but if no troops come, no +provinces or governors will remain." But no answer was returned to these +pressing appeals, and the sudden cessation of the correspondence under the +ruins of the Egyptian foreign office itself gives us the reason why. + +One of the first acts of Hor-m-hib after the settlement of affairs at home +was to chastise the Asiatics, who had doubtless taken advantage of the +momentary weakness of Egypt. With the death of Hor-m-hib, after a reign of +five years,(7) the eighteenth dynasty came to an end. Ramses I., the +founder of the nineteenth dynasty, introduced a new type of royal name, +and also, as we learn from the monuments, a new type of royal face. After +a short reign of two years, he was succeeded by his son, Seti I., in whose +name we have an evidence that the proscribed worship of the god Set--the +god of the Delta--was again taken under royal patronage. It was an +indication that the new dynasty traced its descent from northern Egypt. + +Seti I. once more led the Egyptian armies to victory in Asia. With the +spoils of conquest temples were built and decorated, and the names of +conquered nations engraved upon their walls. One of these temples was at +Abydos, the most beautiful of all those which have been left to us in +Egypt. But Seti's fame as a builder was far eclipsed by that of his son +and successor, Ramses II., and even the temples which he had raised at +Abydos and Qurnah were completed, and to a certain extent appropriated, by +his better-known son. + +We are told in the Book of Exodus that two of the "treasure cities" which +the Israelites built for the Pharaoh of the Oppression were "Pithom and +Raamses." The discovery of Pithom was, as we have already seen, the +inaugural work of the Egypt Exploration Fund. The discovery, as has been +already stated, was made by Dr. Naville, who was led to the site by +certain monuments of Ramses II., which had been found there by the French +engineers of M. de Lesseps. These monuments consisted of a great tablet +and monolith of red granite, two sphinxes of exquisitely polished black +granite, and a broken shrine of red sandstone which had been transported +to Ismailiyeh, where they formed the chief ornament of the little public +garden. As they all showed that Tum, the setting sun, was the supreme +deity of the place from which they had come, Dr. Naville concluded that it +would prove to be Pi-Tum, "the abode of Tum," the Pithom of Scripture, and +not the companion city of Raamses, as Lepsius had believed. + +The mounds from which the monuments had been disinterred are about twelve +miles to the west of Ismailiyeh, and are called Tel el-Maskhuteh, "the +Mound of the Image." In the last century, however, they were known as Abu +Keshed, and were famous for a half-buried monolith of granite representing +Ramses II. seated between Tum and Ra, the hieroglyphic inscription on the +back of which has been published by Sir Gardner Wilkinson. The canal made +by the Pharaohs for uniting the Nile with the Red Sea, and afterwards +cleared of the sand that choked it by Darius, by Trajan, and by the Arab +conqueror 'Amru, skirted the southern side of the mounds. At present the +modern Freshwater Canal runs along their northern edge, to the north of +which again is the line of the railway from Cairo to Suez. The +fortifications erected by Arabi, however, hide the site of the old city +from the traveller in the train. + +Dr. Naville's excavations proved him to have been right in identifying Tel +el-Maskhuteh with Pithom. The inscriptions he found there showed that its +ancient name was Pi-Tum, and that it stood in the district of Thukut, the +Succoth of the Old Testament. The name of this district was already known +from papyri of the age of the nineteenth dynasty, and Dr. Brugsch had +pointed out its identity with the Biblical Succoth. + +But the discovery of the ancient name was not the only result of the +explorer's work. It turned out that the city had been built by Ramses II., +and that it contained a number of large brick buildings which seem to have +been intended for magazines. Here, then, at last was a proof that the +Egyptologists were correct in making Ramses II. the Pharaoh of the +Oppression. + +The site of Raamses or Ramses, the companion city of Pithom, has still to +be discovered. But it cannot be far distant from Tel el-Maskhuteh, and, +like the latter, must have been in that land of Goshen in which the +Israelites were settled. The discoveries which enabled Dr. Naville to +determine the boundaries of the land of Goshen and to fix the site of its +ancient capital have already been described. The site of Zoan, the modern +San, had long been known, and the excavations, first of Mariette Pasha and +then of Professor Flinders Petrie, have laid bare the foundations of its +temple and brought to light the monuments of the kings who enriched and +adorned it. Built originally in the age of the Old Empire, it was restored +by the Hyksos conquerors of Egypt, and became under them a centre of +influence and power. + +Goshen, Zoan and Pithom, the sites around which the early history of +Israel gathered, have thus been brought to light. The disputes which have +raged about them are at last ended. Here and there a persistent sceptic, +who has been reared in the traditions of the past, may still express +doubts concerning the discoveries of recent years, but for the +Egyptologist and the archaeologist the question has been finally settled. +We can visit "the field of Zoan" and explore the mounds of Pithom with no +misgivings as to their identity. When the train carries us from Ismailiyeh +to Cairo, we may feel assured that we are passing through the district in +which Jacob and his family were settled, and where the kinsfolk of Moses +had their homes. The Egypt of the patriarchs and the Exodus was an Egypt +narrow in compass and easily traversed in these days of steam; it +represented the western part of the Delta, more especially the strip of +cultivable land which stretches along the banks of the Freshwater Canal +from Zagazig to Ismailiyeh: that is all. The eastern and northern Delta, +Upper Egypt--even the district in which Cairo now stands--lay outside it. +The history which attaches itself to them is not the history of the early +Israelites. + + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE EXODUS AND THE HEBREW SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN. + + +Ramses II. was the last of the conquering Pharaohs of native Egyptian +history. The Asiatic empire of Thothmes III. was in some measure restored +by the victories of his father and himself. The cities of Palestine +yielded him an unwilling obedience. Gaza, and the other towns in what was +afterwards the territory of the Philistines, were garrisoned by Egyptian +troops, and on the walls of the Ramesseum were depicted his conquest of +Shalem or Jerusalem, Merom, Beth-Anath, and other Canaanite states, in his +eighth year. Egyptian armies again marched northward into Syria along the +highroad that led past the Phoenician cities, and on the banks of the Nahr +el-Kelb, or Dog's River, near Beyrut, the Pharaoh erected a tablet in +commemoration of his successes. On the eastern side of the Jordan also +Egyptian authority once more prevailed. In front of the northern pylon of +the temple of Luxor, Ramses erected six colossal figures of himself, and +on their recently-uncovered bases are inscribed the names of the various +nations he claimed to have subdued. Among them we find, for the first time +in the Egyptian records, the name of Moab, following immediately upon that +of Assar, the Asshurim of Genesis xxv. 3. That the insertion of the name +was not an idle boast we learn from a discovery lately made by Dr. +Schumacher. On the eastern side of the Jordan, but at no great distance +from the Lake of Tiberias, is a monolith called the "Stone of Job." On +this the German explorer has found Egyptian sculptures and hieroglyphs. +Above the figure of the Pharaoh are the cartouches of Ramses II., and +opposite the king, on the left, a local deity is represented with a full +face and the crown of Osiris, over whom is written the name of Akna-zapn, +or "Yakin of the North." The monument is an evidence of a permanent +occupation of the country by the Egyptians, as the name and figure of the +god indicate that it was erected, not by the Egyptians themselves, but by +the Egyptianised natives of the land. + +Along the Syrian coast Seti I. had already carried his arms. His campaigns +were followed by those of his son. Arvad, the shores of the Gulf of +Antioch, and even Cilicia, are enumerated among the conquests of the +Pharaoh. He even claims to have defeated the armies of Assyria, of Matena +or Mitanni, the Aram-Naharaim of Scripture, and of Singar in Mesopotamia. +At Luxor, on the western walls of the newly excavated court, we hear of +his having been at Tunip (now Tennib), "in the land of Naharaim," of his +capture of a fortress of the Kati in the same district, and of how "the +Pharaoh" had taken a city in "the land of Satuna." Satuna was one of those +countries in the far north whose name is never mentioned elsewhere in the +Egyptian texts. + +The Syrian conquests, however, could never have been long in the Pharaoh's +possession. Between them and Palestine lay the southern outposts of the +Hittite race. In the troublous times which followed the death of +Khu-n-Aten, the Hittites had overrun "the land of the Amorites" to the +north of Canaan, and fixed their southern capital in the holy city of +Kadesh, on the Orontes. It was a stronghold against which the forces of +Ramses were hurled in vain. For twenty years did the struggle continue +between the Pharaoh of Egypt and "the great king of the Hittites," and at +last, exhausted by the long conflict, in which neither party had gained +the advantage, the two enemies agreed upon peace. A treaty was signed on +the twenty-first of the month Tybi, in the twenty-first year of the reign +of Ramses (B.C. 1327), "in the city of Ramses," to which the Hittite +ambassadors had come. Ramses, on the one side, and Khita-sir, the son of +Mul-sir, the Hittite prince, on the other, bound themselves in it to +eternal friendship and alliance. In case of war they were to send troops +to one another's help, and they agreed to put to death any criminals who +might fly from the one country to the other. Political offenders, however, +who had taken refuge in the territory of one or other of the two +contracting parties, were not to be injured. It was of course the +Canaanitish subjects of the Pharaoh, who adjoined the Hittite kingdom, +that were principally affected by these stipulations. It was further +determined that on no pretext whatever should any change be made in the +boundaries of the two monarchies. The treaty was placed under the +protection of the deities of Egypt and the Hittites, and a Hittite copy of +it was engraved on a silver plate. The agreement was cemented by the +marriage of Ramses to a daughter of the Hittite king, who thereupon +assumed an Egyptian name. + +Northern Syria was thus formally conceded to the powerful conquerors who +had descended from the mountains of Kappadokia, while Palestine remained +under Egyptian dominion. But it was not destined to do so long. Ramses was +succeeded by Meneptah, the fourteenth of his many sons, who had reigned +only four years when the very existence of his kingdom was threatened by a +formidable invasion from the west and north. "The peoples of the north" +swarmed out of their coasts and islands, and a great fleet descended upon +Egypt, in conjunction with the Libyans and Maxyes of northern Africa. +Aqaiush or Achaeans, Shardana or Sardinians, Tursha or Tyrsenians appear +among them, as well as Leku from Asia Minor, and Zakkur, who a little +later are the colleagues and brethren of the Philistines. Part of the +Delta was overrun and devastated before the Pharaoh could make head +against his foes. But a decisive battle was at length fought at +Pa-Alu-sheps, not far from Heliopolis, which ended in the complete +overthrow of the invading hordes. Egypt was saved from the danger which +had threatened it, but it seems never to have recovered from the shock. +The power of the government was weakened in the valley of the Nile itself, +and one by one the foreign conquests passed out of its grasp. The sceptre +of Seti II., who followed Meneptah, seems to have dropped into the hands +of a usurper, Amon-messu by name: the history of the period is, however, +involved in obscurity, and all that is certain is that the empire of +Ramses II. was lost, and that Egypt itself fell into a state of decadence. +With Si-Ptah the nineteenth dynasty came to an inglorious end. + +Its fall was the signal for internal confusion and civil war. A Syrian +foreigner, Arisu by name, possessed himself of the throne of the Pharaohs, +and Egypt for a while was compelled to submit to Canaanitish rule. Its +leading nobles were in banishment, its gods were deprived of their +customary offerings, and famine was added to the horrors of war. A +deliverer came in the person of Set-nekht, the founder of the twentieth +dynasty. He drove the stranger out the country, and restored it again to +peace and prosperity. Hardly had his task been completed when he died, and +was succeeded by his son, Ramses III. Under him a transient gleam of +victory and conquest visited once more the valley of the Nile. + +It was well for Egypt that she possessed an energetic general and king. +The same hordes which had threatened her in the reign of Meneptah now +again attacked her with increased numbers and greater chances of success. +In the fifth year of Ramses III., the fair-skinned tribes of the western +desert poured into the Delta. The Maxyes, under their chieftains Mdidi, +Mashakanu, and Maraiu, and the Libyans, under Ur-mar and Zut-mar, met the +Pharaoh in battle at a place which ever afterwards bore a name +commemorative of their defeat. The victory of the Egyptians was, in fact, +decisive. As many as 12,535 slain were counted on the field of battle, and +captives and spoil innumerable fell into the hands of the victors. + +But Ramses was allowed only a short breathing-space. Three years after the +Libyan invasion, and doubtless in connection with it, came a still more +formidable invasion on the part of the barbarians of the north. This time +they came partly by land, partly by sea. Vast hordes of them had marched +out of Asia Minor, overrunning the kingdoms of the Hittites, of Naharaim, +of Carchemish, and of Arvad, and carrying with them adventurers and +recruits from the countries through which they passed. First they pitched +their camp in "the land of the Amorites," and then marched southward +towards the frontiers of Egypt. The place of the Aqaiush was taken by the +Daanau or Danaans, but the Zakkur again formed part of the invading host, +this time accompanied by Pulsata or Philistines, and Shakalsh or +Siculians. By the side of the land army moved a fleet of ships, and fleet +and army arrived together at the mouths of the Nile. The cities in the +extreme south of Palestine, once occupied by Egyptian garrisons, were +captured by the Philistines, and became henceforward their assured +possession. + +But the main body of the invaders were not so fortunate. The Egyptian +forces were ready to receive them, and their ships had scarcely entered +the mouth of the Nile before they were attacked by the Egyptian fleet. The +battle ended in the complete annihilation of the attacking host. A picture +of it is sculptured on the walls of Medinet Habu at Thebes, the +temple-palace which Ramses built to commemorate his victories, and we can +there study the ships of the European barbarians and the features and +dress of the barbarians themselves. In the expressive words of the +Egyptian scribe, "they never reaped a harvest any more." + +Ramses, however, was even now not left at rest. Three years later the +Maxyes again assailed Egypt under Mashashal, the son of Kapur, but once +more unsuccessfully. Cattle, horses, asses, chariots and weapons of war in +large quantities fell into the hands of the Egyptians, as well as 2052 +captives, while 2175 men were slain. From this time forward Egypt was +secure from attack on its western border. + +Freed from the necessity of defending his own territories, Ramses now +carried the war into Asia. What in later days was the land of Judah was +overrun by his forces; Gaza and the districts round Hebron and Salem or +Jerusalem were occupied, and the name of the Dead Sea appears on the walls +of Medinet Habu for the first time in Egyptian history. The Egyptian army +even crossed to the eastern side of the Jordan and captured the Moabite +capital. + +Another campaign led it along the Phoenician coast into northern Syria. +Hamath was taken, and Ramses seems to have penetrated as far as the slopes +of the Taurus. He even claims to have defeated the people of Mitanni or +Aram-Naharaim on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. The kings of the +Hittites and the Amorites, like the chiefs of the Zakkur and the +Philistines, were already prisoners in his hands. + +But the northern campaigns of Ramses were intended to strike terror rather +than to re-establish the Asiatic empire of Egypt. No attempt was made to +hold the cities and districts which had been overrun. Though a temple was +erected to Amon on the frontiers of the later Judaea, even Gaza was given +up, and the fortress which had so long defended the road from Canaan into +Egypt was allowed to pass into Philistine hands. It was the same with the +campaign which the Pharaoh conducted at a later date against the "Shasu" +or Bedouin of Edom. For the first time an Egyptian army succeeded in +making its way into the fastnesses of Mount Seir, slaying the warriors of +Edom, and plundering their "tents." The Edomite chief himself was made a +prisoner. The expedition had the effect of protecting the Egyptian mining +establishments in the Sinaitic peninsula as well as the maritime trade +with southern Arabia. Large quantities of malachite were brought year by +year from the Egyptian province of Mafka or Sinai, and the +merchant-vessels of Ramses coasted along the Red Sea, bringing back with +them the precious spices of Yemen and Hadhramaut. + +Ramses III. died after a reign of more than thirty-two years, and the +military renown of Egypt expired with him. His exact date is still a +matter of doubt, but his accession must have fallen about B.C. 1200. The +date is important, not only because it closes the history of Egypt as a +conquering power, but also as it marks a great era of migration among the +northern populations of the Mediterranean, as well as the permanent +settlement of the Philistines in Palestine. It was, moreover, the period +to which the Israelitish invasion of Canaan must belong. + +When Ramses III. overran the southern portion of Palestine, and built the +temple of the Theban god at the spot now known as Khurbet Kan'an, not far +from Hebron, the Israelites could not as yet have entered the Promised +Land. There is no reference to the Egyptians in the Pentateuch, and there +is no reference to the Israelites in the hieroglyphic texts of Medinet +Habu. Hebron, Migdal, Karmel of Judah, Ir-Shemesh and Hadashah, all alike +fell into the hands of the Egyptian invaders, but neither in the Egyptian +nor in the Hebrew records is there any allusion to a struggle between +Egypt and Israel. When Joshua entered Canaan all these cities belonged to +the Canaanites, and when Ramses III. attacked them this was also the case. +The Palestinian campaign of Ramses must have prepared the way for the +Israelitish conquest; it could not have followed after it. + +Moreover, "the five lords of the Philistines" seem to have already been +settled in the extreme south when the Israelitish invasion took place +(Josh. xiii. 3). Yet it also seems clear from the Egyptian monuments that +the settlement was not fully completed until after the Asiatic campaigns +of the Pharaoh had occurred. The Philistines indeed formed part of the +great invading host which poured through Syria and assailed Egypt in the +early part of his reign, but Gaza was one of his conquests, and its +possession enabled him to march into Canaan. Before Gaza could become a +Philistine city it was needful that its Egyptian garrison should be +withdrawn. Professor Prasek believes that the Philistine occupation of +southern Canaan took place in the year B.C. 1209, since the Roman +historian Justin tells us that in this year a king of Ashkelon stormed the +city of Sidon, and that the Sidonians fled to a neighbouring part of the +coast, and there founded Tyre. However this may be, the Philistine +settlement in Canaan must be ascribed to the age of Ramses III., and it +was already with the Philistines that the Israelites came into conflict +under almost the earliest of their judges. + +But the date of the Israelitish conquest of Canaan is closely bound up +with that of the Exodus out of Egypt. It is true that when we are told of +the forty years' wandering in the desert, the word "forty" is used, as it +is elsewhere in the Old Testament, as well as upon the Moabite Stone, to +denote an indeterminate period of time. It was a period during which the +greater part of the generation that had left Egypt had time to die. Joshua +and Caleb indeed remained, and Othniel, the brother of Caleb, lived to +deliver Israel from the king of Aram-Naharaim, and to be the first of the +judges. But otherwise it was a new generation which was led to conquest by +Joshua. + +If Ramses II. was the Pharaoh of the Oppression, the Pharaoh of the Exodus +must have been one of his immediate successors. Egyptologists have +hesitated between Meneptah, Seti II., and Si-Ptah. There is much to be +said in favour of each. None of them reigned long, and after the death of +Meneptah the sceptre fell into feeble hands, and the Egyptian monarchy +went rapidly to decay. + +Native tradition, as reported by the historian Manetho, made Meneptah the +Pharaoh under whom the children of Israel escaped from their house of +bondage. Amenophis or Meneptah, it was said, desired to see the gods. He +was accordingly instructed by the seer Amenophis, the son of Pa-apis, to +clear the land of the leprous and impure. This he did, and 80,000 persons +were collected from all parts of Egypt, and were then separated from the +other inhabitants of the country and compelled to work in the quarries of +Tura, on the eastern side of the Nile. Among them there happened to be +some priests, one of whom was Osarsiph, a priest of On, and the +sacrilegious act of laying hands on them was destined to be avenged by the +gods. The seer prophesied that the impure lepers would find allies, and +with their help would govern Egypt for thirteen years, when a saviour +should arise in the person of Amenophis himself. Not daring to tell the +king of this prediction, he put it in writing and then took away his own +life. After a time the workers in the quarries were removed to Avaris, the +deserted fortress of the Hyksos, on the Asiatic frontier of the Egyptian +kingdom. Here they rose in rebellion under Osarsiph, who organised them +into a community, and gave them new laws, forbidding them to revere the +sacred animals, and ordering them to rebuild the walls of Avaris. He also +sent to the descendants of the Hyksos at Jerusalem, begging for their +assistance. A force of 200,000 men was accordingly despatched to Avaris, +and the invasion of Egypt decided on. Amenophis retired into Ethiopia +without striking a blow, carrying with him his son Sethos, who was also +called Ramesses after his grandfather, as well as the sacred bull Apis, +and other holy animals. The images of the gods were concealed, lest they +should be profaned by the invaders. Amenophis remained in Ethiopia for +thirteen years, while Osarsiph, who had taken the name of Moses, together +with his allies from Jerusalem, committed innumerable atrocities. At last, +however, Amenophis and his son Sethos returned, each at the head of an +army; the enemy were defeated and overthrown, and finally pursued to the +borders of Syria. + +The tradition is a curious mixture of fact and legend. Osarsiph is but an +Egyptianised form of Joseph, the first syllable of which has been +explained as representing the god of Israel (as in Ps. lxxxi. 5), and has +accordingly been identified with Osar or Osiris. The ancient Egyptian +habit of regarding the foreigner as impure has been interpreted to mean +that the followers of Osarsiph were lepers. The Exodus of the Israelites +has been confounded with the invasion of the northern barbarians in the +reign of Meneptah, as well as with the troublous period that saw the fall +of the nineteenth dynasty when the throne of Egypt was seized by the +Syrian Arisu. And, lastly, the hated Hyksos have been introduced into the +story; their fortress Avaris is made the rallying-place of the revolted +lepers, and it is through the help they send from Jerusalem that the rule +of Osarsiph or Moses is established in the valley of the Nile. + +An interesting commentary on the legend has been furnished by a papyrus +lately acquired by M. Golenischeff, and dating from the age of Thothmes +III. On the last page is a sort of Messianic prophecy, the hero of which +has the name of Ameni, a shortened form of Amenophis. "A king," it says, +"will come from the south, Ameni the truth-declaring by name. He will be +the son of a woman of Nubia, and will be born in.... He will assume the +crown of Upper Egypt, and will lift up the red crown of Lower Egypt. He +will unite the double crown.... The people of the age of the son of man +(_sic_) will rejoice and establish his name for all eternity. They will be +far from evil, and the wicked will humble their mouths for fear of him. +The Asiatics (Amu) will fall before his blows, and the Libyans before his +flame. The wicked will wait on his judgments, the rebels on his power. The +royal serpent on his brow will pacify the revolted. A wall shall be built, +even that of the prince, so that the Asiatics may no more enter into +Egypt." In this Ameni we should probably see the Amenophis of the +Manethonian story. + +Against the identification of Meneptah with the Pharaoh of the Exodus it +has, however, been urged that he seems on the whole to have been a +successful prince. His kingdom passed safely through the shock of the +Libyan and northern invasions, and notices which have survived to us show +that, at all events in the earlier part of his reign, Gaza and the +neighbouring towns still acknowledged his authority. At Zaru, on the +Asiatic frontier of Egypt, a young scribe, Pa-ebpasa by name, was +stationed, whose duty it was to keep a record of all those who entered or +left the country by "the way of the Philistines." Some of his notes, made +in the third year of Meneptah, are entered on the back of his school +copybook, which is now in the British Museum. One of them tells us that on +the fifteenth of Pakhons Baal-- ... the son of Zippor of Gaza, passed +through with a letter to Baal-marom(?)-ga[b]u, the prince of Tyre; another +that Thoth, the son of Zakarumu, and the policeman Duthau, the son of +Shem-baal, as well as Sutekh-mes, the son of Epher-dagal, had come from +Gaza with a message to the king. + +A curious despatch, dated in Meneptah's eighth year, goes to show that at +that time the kinsfolk of the Israelites still had liberty to pass from +the desert into the land of Goshen and there find pasturage for their +flocks. One of his officials informs him that certain Shasu or Bedouin +from Edom had been allowed to pass the Khetam or fortress of Meneptah +Hotep-hima in the district of Succoth, and make their way to the lakes of +the city of Pithom, in the district of Succoth, "in order to feed +themselves and their herds on the possessions of Pharaoh, who is there a +beneficent sun for all peoples." The document may be interpreted in two +ways. It may be taken as a proof that the Israelites had not yet fled from +Egypt, and that there was consequently as yet no restraint placed by the +Egyptians upon the entrance of the Asiatic nomads into their country, or +it may be regarded as implying that the land of Goshen was already +deserted, so that there was abundance of room for both shepherds and +flocks. On behalf of this view a passage may be quoted from the great +inscription of Meneptah at Karnak, in which we read that "the country +around Pa-Bailos (the modern Belbeis) was not cultivated, but left as +pasture for cattle because of the strangers. It was abandoned since the +time of the ancestors." More probably, however, this means that the land +in question was not inhabited by Egyptian _fellahin_, but given over to +the Hebrew shepherds and the "mixed multitude" of their Bedouin kinsmen. + +A more serious objection to making Meneptah the Pharaoh of the Exodus is +the fact that his son Seti II. was already acknowledged as heir to the +throne during his father's lifetime. The "tale of the two brothers," to +which we have already had to refer, was dedicated to him while he was +still crown-prince. Indeed, it would even appear that he was associated +with his father on the throne, since the cartouches of Meneptah and Seti +II. are found side by side in the rock-temple of Surariyeh. It would seem, +therefore, that the first-born of the Pharaoh, who was destroyed on the +night of the Passover, could not have been a son of Meneptah--at all +events, if his heir and future successor were his first-born son. That +Meneptah should have been buried in one of the royal tombs of Biban +el-Moluk at Thebes, and received divine honours after his death, is of +less consequence. As has often been remarked, no mention is made in the +narrative of the Exodus that the Pharaoh himself was drowned, and though +Meneptah's tomb (No. 8) is unfinished, the cult that was paid to his +memory indicates that his mummy was deposited in it. It was plundered +centuries ago, and the numerous Greek inscriptions on its walls make it +clear that it was open to visitors in the Roman age. + +Professor Maspero has suggested that the Pharaoh of the Bible was Seti II. +We know that Seti must have been a weak prince, and that his rule was +disputed. A usurper, Amon-messu by name, seized the crown either during +his lifetime or at his death, and governed at Thebes, while the authority +of the lawful line of princes was still acknowledged in the north. We also +know that he must have died suddenly, for his tomb at Thebes (No. 15), +though begun magnificently, was never finished. Its galleries and halls +were hewn out of the rock, but never adorned with sculptures and +paintings, and, except at the entrance, we have merely outline sketches, +which were never filled in. His cartouches, however, are found in another +tomb, not far off (No. 13), and after his death worship was paid to him +and his wife. + +A despatch, written during his reign, relates to the escape of two +fugitives who had travelled along the very road which the Israelites +attempted to take. The scribe tells us that he set out in pursuit of them +from the royal city of Ramses on the evening of the 9th of Epiphi, and had +arrived at the Khetam or fortress of Succoth the following day. Two days +later he reached another Khetam, and there learned that the slaves were +already safe in the desert, having passed the lines of fortification to +the north of the Migdol of King Seti. The account is an interesting +illustration of the flight, on a far larger scale, that must have taken +place about the same time. The geography of the despatch is in close +harmony with that of the Book of Exodus, and bears witness to the +contemporaneousness of the latter with the events it professes to record. +It is a geography which ceased to be exact after the age of the nineteenth +dynasty. + +It is thus possible that Seti II., instead of Meneptah, is the Pharaoh +whose host perished in the waves of the Red Sea. But there is yet another +claimant in Si-Ptah, with whom the nineteenth dynasty came to an end. Dr. +Kellogg has argued ably on behalf of him, and it is possible that the +views of this scholar are correct. Si-Ptah's right to the throne was +derived from his wife, Ta-user, and he reigned at least six years. That he +followed Seti II. has long been admitted, on the authority of Manetho, +though doubts have been cast on it in consequence of a statement of +Champollion that he found the name of Seti written over that of Si-Ptah in +the tomb of the latter at Biban el-Moluk (No. 14). All doubts, however, +are now set at rest by an inscription I copied at Wadi Halfa two years +ago, in which the writer, Hora, the son of Kam, declares that he had +formerly belonged to the palace of Seti II., and had engraved the +inscription in the third year of Si-Ptah. In another inscription in the +same place, dated also in Si-Ptah's reign, the author states that he had +been an ambassador to the land of Khal or Syria. Intercourse with Asia was +therefore still maintained. + +Si-Ptah's tomb at Thebes was usurped by Setnekht, the founder of the +twentieth dynasty. It is even doubtful whether the king for whom it was +made was ever buried in it. In the second sepulchral hall the lid of his +sarcophagus was discovered, but of the sarcophagus itself there was no +trace. Perhaps it had been appropriated by Set-nekht. At any rate, those +who believe that the Pharaoh of the Exodus perished in the Red Sea will +find in Si-Ptah a better representative of him than in Meneptah or Seti. +And the period of anarchy which followed upon his death may be regarded as +the natural sequel of the disasters that befel Egypt before the children +of Israel were permitted to go. + +However this may be, the question of the date of the Exodus is reduced to +narrow limits. The three successors of Ramses II. reigned altogether but a +short time. Manetho gives seven years only to Si-Ptah, five years to +Amon-messu, and we know from the monuments that Meneptah and Seti II. can +have reigned but a very few years. Thirty or forty years at most will have +covered the period that elapsed between the death of the great Ramses and +the downfall of his dynasty. Then came a few years of confusion and +anarchy, followed by the reign of Setnekht. If we place the accession of +Ramses III. in B.C. 1230, we cannot be far wrong. + +When that happened, the Israelites were hidden out of the sight of the +great nations of the world among the solitudes of the desert. They were +pitching their tents on the frontiers of Mount Seir, in the near +neighbourhood of their kinsmen in Edom and Midian. There, at Sinai and +Kadesh-barnea, they were receiving a code of laws, and being fitted to +become a nation and the conquerors of Canaan. Were they included among the +Shasu of Mount Seir whose overthrow is commemorated by Ramses III.? + +For an answer we must turn to the twenty-first chapter of the Book of +Numbers. There we read how it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord: +"Waheb in Suphah and the brooks of Arnon, and the stream of the brook that +goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab." Of +the war against the Amorites on the banks of the Arnon we know something, +but the Old Testament has preserved no record of the other war, which had +its scene in Suphah. Where Suphah was we know from the opening of the Book +of Deuteronomy, which tells us that the words of Moses were addressed to +the people "in the plain over against Suph." Suph, in fact, was the +district which gave its name to the _yam Suph_ or "Sea of Suph," the Red +Sea of the authorised version, the modern Gulf of Akabah. Here were the +Edomite ports of Eloth and Ezion-geber, where Solomon built his fleet of +merchantmen (1 Kings ix. 26), and here too was the region which faced "the +plain" on the southern side of Moab. + +The barren ranges of Mount Seir run down southward to Ezion-geber and +Eloth, at the head of the Gulf of Akabah. And it was just in the ranges of +Mount Seir that Ramses III. tells us he smote the Shasu and plundered +their tents. When he made this expedition, the Israelites were probably +still encamped on the borders of Edom. They had not as yet entered Canaan +when he marched through the later Judaea, and crossed the Jordan into Moab, +and his campaign against the Shasu of the desert did not take place many +years later. At Medinet Habu, the "chief of the Shasu" figures among his +prisoners by the side of the kings of the Hittites and the Amorites. + +Was "the war of the Lord" in Suphah waged against the Pharaoh of Egypt? +Chronology is in favour of it, and if the enemies of the Israelites were +not the Egyptian army, it is hard to say who else they could have been. We +know from the Pentateuch that they were not the people of Edom; "meddle +not with them," the Israelites were enjoined; the children of Esau were +their "brethren," and God had "given Mount Seir unto Esau for a +possession." + +But whether or not Ramses III. and the tribes of Israel ever came into +actual conflict, it must have been during his reign that the first +Israelitish conquests in Canaan were made. The settlement of the twelve +tribes in Palestine was coeval with the final decay of the Egyptian +monarchy. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE AGE OF THE ISRAELITISH MONARCHIES. + + +Ramses III. was the last of the great Pharaohs in whose veins ran native +Egyptian blood. His successors all bore the same name as himself, but they +possessed neither his energy nor his power to rule. He had saved Egypt +from further attack from without, and it was well he had done so, for the +feeble monarchs of the twentieth dynasty would have been unable to resist +the foe. They ceased even to build or to erect the monuments which +testified to the prosperity of the country and the progress of its art. +The high-priests of Amon gradually usurped their authority, and a time +came at length when the last of the Ramses fled into exile in Ethiopia, +and a new dynasty governed in his stead. But the rule of the new monarchs +was hardly acknowledged beyond the Delta; Thebes was practically +independent under its priest-kings, and though they acknowledged the +authority of the Tanite Pharaohs in name, they acted, in real fact, as if +they were independent sovereigns. One of them, Ra-men-kheper, built +fortresses not only at Gebelen in the south, but also at El-Hibeh in the +north, and thus blocked the river against the subjects of the Tanite +princes, as well as against invaders from the south. At times, indeed, the +Tanite Pharaohs of the twenty-first dynasty exercised an actual +sovereignty over Upper Egypt, and Smendes, the first of them, quarried +stone at Dababiyeh, opposite Gebelen, with which to repair the canal of +Luxor; but, as a general rule, so far as the south was concerned, they +were Pharaohs only in name. The rival dynasty of Theban high-priests was +at once more powerful and more king-like. They it was who, in some moment +of danger, concealed the mummies of the great monarchs of the eighteenth +and nineteenth dynasties in the pit at Der el-Bahari, and whose own +mummies were entombed by the side of those of a Thothmes and a Ramses. + +The Egyptian wife of Solomon was the daughter of one of the last Pharaohs +of the twenty-first dynasty. She brought with her as a dowry the +Canaanitish city of Gezer. Gezer had been one of the leading cities of +Palestine in the days of the Tel el-Amarna correspondence, and through all +the years of Israelitish conquest it had remained in Canaanitish hands. It +was a Pharaoh of Tanis, and not an Israelite, into whose possession it was +destined finally to fall. + +The waning power of Solomon in Israel coincided with the waning power of +the twenty-first dynasty. Long before the death of the Hebrew monarch, a +new dynasty was reigning over Egypt. Shishak, its founder, was of Libyan +origin. His immediate forefathers had commanded the Libyan mercenaries in +the service of the Pharaoh, and inscriptions lately discovered in the +Oasis of El-Khargeh write the name Shashaka. The Egyptians slightly +changed its pronunciation and made it Shashanq, but in the Old Testament +the true form is preserved. + +Shishak brought new vigour into the decaying monarchy of the Nile. The +priest-kings of Thebes went down before him, along with the effete +Pharaohs of Tanis. It may be that Solomon attempted to assist his +father-in-law; if he did so, the only result was to bring trouble upon +himself. His rebel subject Jeroboam fled to Egypt, and found shelter and +protection in Shishak's court. + +Shishak must have looked on with satisfaction while the neighbouring +empire of Israel fell to pieces, until eventually the central power itself +was shattered in twain. The rebel he had so carefully nurtured at his own +court was the instrument which relieved him of all further fear of danger +on the side of Asia. So far from being a menace to Egypt, Jerusalem now +lay at the mercy of the Egyptian armies, and in the fifth year of +Rehoboam, Shishak led his forces against it. The strong walls Solomon had +built were of no avail; its temple and palace were plundered, and the +golden shields in its armoury were carried away. A record of the campaign +was engraved by the conqueror on the southern wall of the temple of Amon +at Karnak. There we read how he had overthrown the Amu or Asiatics, and +the Fenkhu or people of Palestine, and underneath are the cartouches, each +with the head of a captive above it, which contain the names of the +conquered places. At the outset come the names of towns in the northern +kingdom of Israel. But, as Professor Maspero remarks, this does not prove +that they were actually among the conquests of Shishak. If Jeroboam had +begged his aid against Judah, and thereby acknowledged himself the vassal +of the Pharaoh, it would have been a sufficient pretext for inserting the +names of his cities among the subject states of Egypt. But it may be that +the campaign was directed quite as much against Israel as against Judah, +and that Judah suffered most, simply because it had to bear the brunt of +the attack. + +In any case, the list of vanquished towns begins first with Gaza, the +possession of which was necessary before the Egyptian army could force its +way into Palestine; then come Rabbith of Issachar, Taanach, near Megiddo, +Hapharaim and Beth-Horon, while Mahanaim, on the eastern side of the +Jordan, is also included among them. But after this the list deals +exclusively with the towns and villages of Judah, and of the Bedouin +tribes in the desert to the south of it. Thus we have Ajalon and Makkedah, +Socho and Keilah, Migdol and Beth-anoth. Then we read the names of Azem +and Arad, farther to the south, as well as of the Hagaraim or "Enclosures" +of Arad, and Rabbith 'Aradai, "Arad the capital." Next to Arad comes the +name of Yurahma, the Jerahme-el of the Old Testament, the brother of Caleb +the Kenizzite (1 Chron. ii. 42) whose land was ravaged by David (1 Sam. +xxx. 29). But the larger portion of the list is made up of the names of +small villages and even Bedouin encampments, or of such general terms as +Hagra, "enclosure," Negebu, "the south," 'Emeq, "the valley," Shebbaleth, +"a torrent," Abilim, "fields," Ganat, "garden," Haideba, "a quarry," and +the Egyptian Shodinau, "canals."(8) Among them we look in vain even for +names like those of Gezer and Beer-sheba. Jerusalem, too, is conspicuous +by its absence, unless we agree with Professor Maspero in seeing it in the +last name of the list (No. 133), of which only the first syllable is +preserved. Were it not for the record in the First Book of Kings, we +should never have known that the campaign of Shishak had inflicted such +signal injury on the kingdom of Judah. + +Champollion, indeed, the first discoverer of the list and of its +importance, believed that he had found in it the name of the Jewish +capital. The twenty-ninth cartouche reads Yaud-hamelek, which he explained +as signifying "the kingdom of Judah," while Rosellini made it "the king of +Judah." But both interpretations are impossible. _Melek_, it is true, +means "king" in Hebrew, but "king of Judah" would have to be +_melek-Yaudah_; "kingdom of Judah," _malkuth-Yaudah_. In the Semitic +languages the genitive must follow the noun that governs it. + +Yaud-hamelek is the Hebrew Ye(h)ud ham-melech "Jehud of the king." Jehud +was a town of Dan (Josh. xix. 45), which Blau has identified with the +modern El-Yehudiyeh, near Jaffa, and the title attached to it in the +Egyptian list implies that it was an appanage of the crown. The faces of +the prisoners who surmount the cartouches are worthy of attention. The +Egyptian artists were skilled delineators of the human features, and an +examination of their sculptures and paintings has shown that they +represented the characteristics of their models with wonderful truth and +accuracy. For ethnological purposes their portraits of foreign races are +of considerable importance. Now the prisoners of Shishak have the +features, not of the Jew, but of the Amorite. The prisoners who served as +models to the Egyptian sculptors at Karnak must therefore have been of +Amorite descent. It is a proof that the Amorite population in southern +Palestine was still strong in the days of Rehoboam and Shishak. The Jews +would have been predominant only in Jerusalem and the larger cities and +fortresses of the kingdom. Elsewhere the older race survived with all its +characteristic features; the Israelitish conquest had never rooted it out. +Hence it is that it still lives and flourishes in its ancient home. The +traveller in the country districts of Judah looks in vain for traces of +the Jewish race, but he may still see there the Amorite just as he is +depicted on the monuments of Egypt. The Jews, in fact, were but the +conquering and dominant caste, and with the extinction of their +nationality came also in Judah the extinction of their racial type. The +few who remained were one by one absorbed into the older population of the +country. + +Shishak died soon after his Jewish campaigns. None of his successors seem +to have possessed his military capacity and energy. One of them, however, +Osorkon II., appears to have made an expedition against Palestine. Among +the monuments disinterred at Bubastis by Dr. Naville for the Egyptian +Exploration Fund are the inscribed blocks of stone which formed the walls +of the second hall of the temple. This hall was restored by Osorkon, who +called it the "Festival Hall" of Amon, which was dedicated on the day of +Khoiak, in the twenty-second year of the king's reign. On one of the +blocks the Pharaoh declares that "all countries, the Upper and Lower +Retennu, are hidden under his feet." The Upper Retennu denoted Palestine, +the Lower Retennu Northern Syria, and though the boast was doubtless a +vainglorious one, it must have had some foundation in truth. + +In the Second Book of Chronicles (xiv. 9-15) we are told that when Asa was +on the Jewish throne, "there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian +with an host of a thousand thousand and three hundred chariots." The +similarity between the names Zerah and Osorkon has long been noticed, and +the reign of Osorkon II. would coincide with that of Asa. Dr. Naville, +therefore, is probably right in believing that some connection exists +between the campaign of Zerah and the boast of Osorkon. It is true that +the Chronicler calls Zerah an Ethiopian, and describes his army as an +Ethiopian host; but this seems due to the fact that the next kings of +Egypt who interfered in the affairs of Palestine, So and Tirhakah, were of +Ethiopian descent. In the time of Asa, at any rate, when the twenty-second +dynasty was ruling over Egypt, no Ethiopian army could have entered Judah +without the permission of the Egyptian monarch. However, Dr. Naville draws +attention to the fact that Osorkon seems to have had some special tie with +Ethiopia. His great festival at Bubastis was attended by natives of +Ethiopia, the Anti came with their gifts from "the land of the negroes," +and are depicted like the priests on the walls of the hall. + +But troublous times were in store for Egypt. The twenty-second dynasty +came to an end, and a period followed of confusion, civil war, and foreign +invasion. The kings of Ethiopia sailed down the Nile and swept the country +from Assuan to the sea. Petty princes reigned as independent sovereigns in +the various cities of Egypt, and waged war one against the other. Pi-ankhi +the Ethiopian was content with their momentary submission; he then retired +to his ancestral capital at Napata, midway between Dongola and Khartum, +carrying with him the spoils of the Nile. Another Ethiopian, Shabaka or +Sabako, the son of Kashet, made a more permanent settlement in Egypt. He +put to death the nominal Pharaoh, Bak-n-ran-f or Bokkhoris, and founded +the twenty-fifth dynasty. Order was again restored, the petty princes +suppressed, and Egypt as well as Ethiopia obeyed a single head. The roads +were cleared of brigands, the temples and walls of the cities were +rebuilt, and trade could again pass freely up and down the Nile. + +An Egyptian civilisation and an Egyptian religion had been established in +Ethiopia since the days of the eighteenth dynasty. For some centuries, +even after they had become independent of Egypt, the ruling classes +boasted of the purity of their Egyptian descent. But before the age of +Sabako the Egyptian element had been absorbed by the native population. We +have learned from a monument of the Assyrian king, Esar-haddon, lately +found at Sinjerli, in northern Syria, that Sabako and his successors had +all the physical characteristics of the negro. But no sign of this is +allowed to appear on the Egyptian monuments. With the contempt for the +black race which still distinguishes them, the Egyptians refused to +acknowledge that their Pharaohs could be of negro blood. In the sculptures +and paintings of the Nile, accordingly, the kings of the Ethiopian dynasty +are represented with all the features of the Egyptian race. + +In spite, however, of all attempts to conceal the fact, we now know that +they were negroes in reality. But they brought with them a vigour and a +strength of will that had long been wanting among the rulers of Egypt. And +it was not long before their Asiatic neighbours found that a new and +energetic power had arisen on the banks of the Nile. Assyria was now +extending its empire throughout Western Asia, and claiming to control the +politics of Syria and Palestine. The Syrian princes looked to Egypt for +help. In B.C. 720, Assyria and Egypt met face to face for the first time. +Sib'e, the Tartan, or commander-in-chief, of the Egyptian armies, with +Hanno of Gaza and other Syrian allies, blocked the way of the Assyrian +invaders at Raphia, on the border of Palestine. The victory was won by the +Assyrian Sargon. Hanno was captured, and Sib'e fled to the Delta. But +Sargon turned northward again, and did not follow up his success. He was +content with receiving the tribute of Pharaoh (Pir'u) "king of Egypt," of +Samsi, the queen of Arabia, and of Ithamar the Sabaean. + +In Sib'e we must see the So or Seve of the Old Testament (2 Kings xvii. +4). He is there called "king of Egypt," but he was rather one of the +subordinate princes of the Delta, who acted as the commander-in-chief of +"Pharaoh." Pharaoh, it would seem, was still Bak-n-ran-f. + +A few years later Sabako was established on the throne. He reigned at +least twelve years, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Tirhakah, the +Tarqu of the Assyrian texts. Under him, Egypt once more played a part in +Jewish history. + +It was trust in "Pharaoh, king of Egypt," that made Hezekiah revolt from +Assyria after Sargon's death. The result was the invasion of his kingdom +by Sennacherib in B.C. 701. Tirhakah moved forward to help his ally. But +his march diverted the attention of the Assyrian monarch only for a while. +The armies of Sennacherib and Tirhakah met at Eltekeh, and Tirhakah the +Pharaoh of Egypt was forced to retire. Both claim a victory in their +inscriptions. Sennacherib tells us how "the kings of Egypt and the bowmen, +chariots, and horses of the king of northern Arabia, had collected their +innumerable forces and gone to the aid" of Hezekiah and his Philistine +allies, and how in sight of Eltekeh, "in reliance on Assur," he had +"fought with them and utterly overthrown them." "The charioteers and the +sons of the king of Egypt, together with the charioteers of the king of +northern Arabia," he had "taken captive in the battle." Tirhakah, on the +other hand, on a statue now in the Gizeh Museum, declares that he was the +conqueror of the Bedouin, the Hittites, the Arvadites, the Assyrians, and +the people of Aram-Naharaim. The battle, in fact, was a Kadmeian victory. +Tirhakah was so far defeated that he was forced to retreat to his own +dominions, while Sennacherib's victory was not decisive enough to allow +him to pursue it. He contented himself with marching back into Judah, +burning and plundering its towns and villages, and carrying their +inhabitants into captivity. Then came the catastrophe which destroyed the +larger part of his army and obliged him to return ignominiously to his own +capital. The spoils and captives of Judah were the only fruits of his +campaign. His rebellious vassal went unpunished, and the strong fortress +of Jerusalem was saved from the Assyrian. Though Sennacherib made many +military expeditions during the remaining twenty years of his reign, he +never came again to the south of Palestine. + +Egypt lay sheltered from invasion behind Jerusalem. But with the death of +Sennacherib there came a change. His son and successor, Esar-haddon, was a +good general and a man of great ability. Manasseh of Judah became his +vassal, and the way lay open to the Nile. With a large body of trained +veterans he descended upon Egypt (B.C. 674). The sheikh of the Bedouin +provided him with the camels which conveyed the water for the army across +the desert. Three campaigns were needed before Egypt, under its Ethiopian +ruler, could be subdued. But at last, in B.C. 670, Esar-haddon drove the +Egyptian forces before him in fifteen days (from the 3rd to the 18th of +Tammuz or June) all the way from the frontier to Memphis, thrice defeating +them with heavy loss, and wounding Tirhakah himself. Three days later +Memphis fell, and Tirhakah fled to Ethiopia, leaving Egypt to the +conqueror. It was after this success that the Assyrian monarch erected the +stele at Sinjerli, on which he is portrayed with Tirhakah of Egypt and +Baal of Tyre kneeling before him, each with a ring through his lips, to +which is attached a bridle held by the Assyrian king. + +Egypt was reorganised under Assyrian rule, and measures taken to prevent +the return of the Ethiopians. It was divided into twenty satrapies, the +native princes being appointed to govern them for their Assyrian master. +At their head was placed Necho, the vassal king of Sais. Esar-haddon now +returned to Nineveh, and on the cliffs of the Nahr el-Kelb, near Beyrout, +he engraved a record of his conquest of Egypt and Thebes by the side of +the monument whereon, seven centuries previously, Ramses II. had boasted +of his victories over the nations of Asia. + +At first the Egyptian princes were well pleased with their change of +masters. But in Thebes there was a strong party which sympathised with +Ethiopia rather than with Assyria. With their help, Tirhakah returned in +B.C. 668, sailed down the Nile, and took Memphis by storm. Esar-haddon +started at once to suppress the revolt. But on the way to Egypt he died on +the 10th of Marchesvan or October, and his son, Assur-bani-pal, followed +him on the throne. + +The Ethiopian army was encountered near Kar-banit, in the Delta. A +complete victory was gained over it, and Tirhakah was compelled to fly, +first from Memphis, then from Thebes. The tributary kings whom he had +displaced were restored, and Assur-bani-pal left Egypt in the full belief +that it was tranquil. But hardly had he returned to Nineveh before a fresh +revolt broke out there. Tirhakah began to plot with the native satraps, +and even Necho of Sais was suspected of complicity. The commanders of the +Assyrian garrisons, accordingly, sent him and two other princes (from +Tanis and Goshen) loaded with chains to Assyria. But Assur-bani-pal, +either really convinced of Necho's innocence or pretending to be so, not +only pardoned him but bestowed upon him a robe of honour, as well as a +sword of gold and a chariot and horses, and sent him back to Sais, giving +at the same time the government of Athribis, whose mounds lie close to +Benha, to his son, Psammetikhos. Meanwhile Tirhakah had again penetrated +to Thebes and Memphis, where he celebrated the festival in honour of the +appearance of a new Apis. But his power was no longer what it once had +been, and even before the return of Necho he found it prudent to retire to +Ethiopia. There he died a few months later. + +The Thebaid, however, continued in a state of revolt against the Assyrian +authority. Another Ethiopian king, whom the Assyrians call Urd-Aman, had +succeeded Tirhakah, and was battling for the sovereignty of Egypt. +Urd-Aman is usually identified with the Pharaoh Rud-Amon, whose name has +been met with on two Egyptian monuments, but about whom nothing further is +known. Some scholars, however, read the name Tand-Aman, and identify it +with that of Tuatan-Amon or Tuant-Amon, whose royal cartouches are +engraved by the side of those of Tirhakah in the temple of Ptah-Osiris at +Karnak. An inscription found built into a wall at Luxor mentions his third +year, and a large stele erected by him at Napata was discovered among the +ruins of his capital in 1862, and is now in the Museum of Gizeh. On this +he states that in the first year of his reign he was excited by a dream to +invade the north. Thebes opened its gates to him, and after worshipping in +the temple of Amon at Karnak, he marched to Memphis, which he captured +after a slight resistance. Then he proceeded against the princes of the +Delta, who, however, shut themselves up in their cities or else submitted +to him. + +One day Paqrur of Goshen appeared at Memphis to do him homage, much to the +surprise and delight of the Ethiopian king. As Paqrur was the prince of +Pi-Sopd or Goshen, who had been sent to Nineveh along with Necho, the date +of Tuatan-Amon is pretty clear. How he came to quit Egypt, however, he +does not vouchsafe to explain. + +Whether Urd-Aman were Rud-Amon or Tuatan-Amon, he gave a good deal of +trouble to the Assyrians. Thebes was securely in his hands, and from +thence he marched upon Memphis. The Assyrian garrison and its allies were +defeated in front of the city, which was then blockaded and taken after a +long siege. Necho was captured and put to death, and Psammetikhos escaped +the same fate only by flight into Syria. But Assyrian revenge did not +tarry long. Assur-bani-pal determined to put an end to Egyptian revolt and +Ethiopian invasion once for all. A large army was despatched to the Nile, +which overthrew the forces of Rud-Amon in the Delta and pursued him as far +as Thebes. Thence he fled to Kipkip in Ethiopia, and a terrible punishment +was inflicted on the capital of southern Egypt. The whole of its +inhabitants were led away into slavery. Its temples--at once the centres of +disaffection and fortresses against attack--were half-demolished, its +monuments and palaces were destroyed, and all its treasures, sacred and +profane, were carried away. Among the spoil were two obelisks, more than +seventy tons in weight, which were removed to Nineveh as trophies of +victory. The injuries which Kambyses has been accused of inflicting on the +ancient monuments of Thebes were really the work of the Assyrians. + +How great was the impression made upon the oriental world by the sack of +Thebes may be gathered from the reference to it by the prophet Nahum (iii. +8-10). Nineveh itself is threatened with the same overthrow. "Art thou +better than No of Amon, that was situate among the rivers, that had the +waters round about it, whose rampart was the sea, (the Nile), and her wall +was from the sea? Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was +infinite; Put and Lubim were thy helpers. Yet was she carried away, she +went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the +top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all +her great men were bound in chains." As the destruction of Thebes took +place about B.C. 665, the date of Nahum's prophecy cannot have been much +later. + +In the Assyrian inscriptions Thebes is called Ni', corresponding with the +No of the Old Testament. Both words represent the Egyptian Nu, "city," +Thebes being pre-eminently "the city" of Upper Egypt. Its patron-deity was +Amon, to whom its great temple was dedicated, and hence it is that Nahum +calls it "No of Amon." Divided as it was into two halves by the Nile, and +encircled on either side by canals, one of which--"the southern +water"--still runs past the southern front of the temple of Luxor, it could +truly be said that its "rampart was the sea." To this day the Nile is +called "the sea" by the natives of Egypt. + +The Ethiopians penetrated into Egypt no more. The twenty satrapies were +re-established; and Psammetikhos received his father's principality, +though the precedence among the vassal-kings was given to Paqrur of +Goshen. For a time the country was at peace. + +Fifteen years later, however, an event occurred which shook the Assyrian +empire to its foundations. A revolt broke out which spread throughout the +whole of it. The revolt was headed by Assur-bani-pal's brother, the +Viceroy of Babylonia, and for some time the result wavered in the balance. +But the good generalship and disciplined forces of Assyria eventually +prevailed, and she emerged from the struggle, exhausted indeed, but +triumphant. The empire, however, was shrunken. Gyges of Lydia had thrown +off his allegiance, and had assisted Psammetikhos of Sais to make Egypt +independent. While the Assyrian armies were battling for existence in +Asia, Psammetikhos, with the Ionian and Karian mercenaries from Lydia, was +driving out the Assyrian garrisons and overcoming his brother satraps. One +by one they disappeared before him, and at last he had the satisfaction of +seeing Egypt a united and independent monarchy, under a monarch who +claimed to be of native race. + +The blood of the founder of the twenty-sixth dynasty was, however, mixed. +He seems to have been, partly at least, of Libyan descent, and it is even +doubtful whether his name is pure Egyptian. Like his father, he surrounded +himself with foreigners: the Greeks and Karians, with whose help he had +gained his throne, were high in favour, and constituted the royal +body-guard. The native Egyptian army, we are told, deserted the king in +disgust and made their way to Ethiopia. However that may be, Greek troops +were settled in "camps" in the Delta, Greek merchants were allowed to +trade and even to build in Egypt, and the Karians became dragomen, guides, +and interpreters between the natives and the European tourists who began +to visit the Nile. + +It was during the reign of Psammetikhos I. (B.C. 664-610) that the great +invasion of nomad Scyths, referred to in the earlier chapters of Jeremiah, +swept over Western Asia. They sacked the towns of the Philistines and made +their way to the Egyptian frontier, but there they were bought off by +Psammetikhos. After their dispersion, the Egyptian Pharaoh turned his eyes +towards Palestine, with the intention of restoring the Asiatic empire of +Ramses II. The twenty-sixth dynasty was an age of antiquarian revival; not +content with restoring Egypt to peace and prosperity, its kings aimed also +at restoring the Egypt of the past. Egyptian art again puts on an antique +form, temples are repaired or erected in accordance with ancient models, +and literature reflects the general tendency. The revival only wanted +originality to make it successful; as it is, the art of the twenty-sixth +dynasty is careful and good, and under its rule Egypt enjoyed for the last +time a St. Luke's summer of culture and renown. + +The power of Assyria was passing away. The great rebellion, and the wars +in Elam which followed, had drained it of its resources. The Scythic +invasion destroyed what little strength was left. Before Psammetikhos died +Nineveh was already surrounded by its foes, and four years later it +perished utterly. + +The provinces of the west became virtually independent. Josiah of Judah +still called himself a vassal of the Assyrian monarch, but he acted as if +the Assyrian monarchy did not exist. The Assyrian governor of Samaria was +deprived of his authority, and Jewish rule was obeyed throughout what had +been the territory of the Ten Tribes. + +The weakness of Assyria was the opportunity of Egypt. The earlier years of +the reign of Psammetikhos were spent in reorganising his kingdom and army, +in suppressing all opposition to his government, and in rebuilding the +ruined cities and temples. Then he marched into Palestine and endeavoured +to secure once more for Egypt the cities of the Philistines. Ashdod was +taken after a prolonged siege, and an Egyptian garrison placed in it. + +The successor of Psammetikhos was his son Necho, who carried out the +foreign policy of his father. The old canal which ran from the Red Sea at +Suez to the Nile near Zagazig, and which centuries of neglect had allowed +to be choked, was again partially cleared out, and "the tongue of the +Egyptian sea was cut off" (Isa. xi. 15). Ships were also sent from Suez +under Phoenician pilots to circumnavigate Africa. Three years did they +spend on the voyage, and after passing the Straits of Gibraltar, finally +arrived safely at the mouths of the Nile. There an incredulous people +heard that as they were sailing westward the sun was on their right hand. + +But long before the return of his ships, Necho had placed himself at the +head of his army and entered on the invasion of Asia. The Syrians were +defeated at Migdol, and Gaza was occupied. The Egyptian army then +proceeded to march along the sea-coast by the ancient military road, which +struck inland at the Nahr el-Kelb. But the Jewish king, pleading his duty +to his Assyrian suzerain, attempted to block the way; the result was a +battle in the plain of Megiddo, where the Jewish forces were totally +routed, and Josiah himself carried from the field mortally wounded. Necho +now overran northern Syria as far as the Euphrates, and then returned +southward to punish the Jews. Jerusalem was captured by treachery, and +Jehoahaz, the new king, deposed after a reign of only three months. The +Pharaoh then made his brother Eliakim king in his stead, changing his name +to Jehoiakim. The city was fined a talent of gold and a hundred talents of +silver, and Necho sent his armour to the temple of Apollo near Miletus as +a thank-offering to the god of his Greek mercenaries. + +The empire of Thothmes was restored, at all events in Asia. But it lasted +hardly more than three years. In B.C. 605 a decisive battle was fought at +Carchemish, on the Euphrates, now Jerablus, between Necho and the +Babylonian prince Nebuchadrezzar, who commanded the army of his father +Nabopolassar. The Egyptians fled in confusion, and the Asiatic empire was +utterly lost. The Jewish king transferred his allegiance to the conqueror, +and for three years "became his servant." Then he rebelled, probably in +consequence of a fresh attempt made by the Egyptians to recover their +power in Palestine. The attempt, however, failed, and a Babylonian army +was sent against Jerusalem. Jehoiakim was already dead, but his son +Jehoiachin, along with the leading citizens, the military class, and the +artisans--"ten thousand captives" in all--was carried into exile in +Babylonia (B.C. 599). His uncle Zedekiah was placed on the throne, and for +nearly nine years he remained faithful to his Babylonian master. + +Then came temptation from the side of Egypt. Psammetikhos II., who had +succeeded his father Necho in B.C. 594, prepared to march into Palestine, +and contest the supremacy over Western Asia with the Babylonian monarch. A +Babylonian army was already besieging the revolted city of Jerusalem when +the forces of the Pharaoh appeared in sight. The Babylonians broke up +their camp and retired, and it seemed as if the rebellion of the Jewish +king had been successful (Jer. xxxvii. 5, 11; Ezek. xvii. 15). + +But it was not for long. The Egyptians returned to "their own land," and +the siege of Jerusalem was recommenced. At last, in B.C. 588, the city was +taken, its king and most of its inhabitants led into captivity, and its +temple and palace burned with fire. Judah was placed under a Babylonian +governor, and the authority of the Babylonians acknowledged as far as +Gaza. + +Psammetikhos II. had died in the preceding year, and his son Uahabra, the +Apries of the Greeks, the Hophra of the Old Testament, occupied his place. +The army which had gone to the help of Zedekiah had doubtless been sent by +him. He had recaptured Gaza, and marched along the coast to Sidon, which +he captured, and Tyre, which was in rebellion against the Chaldaeans, while +his fleet defeated the combined forces of the Cyprians and Phoenicians, and +held the sea. A hieroglyphic inscription, erected by a native of Gebal and +commemorative of the invasion, has recently been found near Sidon. But the +Egyptian conquests were again lost almost as quickly as they had been +made. + +Palestine became a Babylonian province up to the frontiers of Egypt. Many +of the Jews who had been left in it fled to Egypt. Their numbers were +reinforced by a band of outlaws, of whom Johanan was the leader, who had +murdered the Babylonian governor and had dragged into Egypt with them the +prophet Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch. Jeremiah in vain protested against +their conduct, and predicted that Hophra should be slain by his enemies, +and that Nebuchadrezzar should set up his throne on that very pavement "at +the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes" where the prophet was then +standing. Tahpanhes is almost certainly Tel ed-Defneh, the Daphnae of Greek +geography, which stands in the mid-desert about twelve miles to the west +of Kantara on the Suez Canal, and where Professor Flinders Petrie made +excavations for the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1886. There he found the +remains of a great fortress and camp, which had been built by Psammetikhos +I. for his Greek mercenaries. The walls of the camp were forty feet in +thickness, and the ruins of the fortress still go by the name of the +"Castle of the Jew's Daughter." In front of it is a brick pavement, just +like that described by Jeremiah. + +Daphnae, in fact, was one of the chief fortresses of Egypt on the side of +Asia, and it was accordingly the chief station of the Greek mercenaries. +It commanded the entrance to the Delta, and was almost the first place in +Egypt that the traveller from Palestine who came by the modern caravan +road would approach. It was, therefore, the first settlement at which +Jewish fugitives who wished to avoid the Babylonian garrison at Gaza would +be likely to arrive. And it was also the first object of attack on the +part of an invader from the East. Its possession opened to him the way to +Memphis. + +That Nebuchadrezzar actually invaded Egypt, as Jeremiah had predicted, we +now know from a fragment of his annals. In his thirty-seventh year (B.C. +567) he marched into Egypt, defeating the Pharaoh Amasis, and the soldiers +of "Phut of the Ionians," "a distant land which is in the midst of the +sea." The enemies, therefore, into whose hands Hophra was to fall were not +the Babylonians. They were, in fact, his own subjects. + +He had pursued the Hellenising policy of his predecessors with greater +thoroughness than they had done, and had thus aroused the jealousy and +alarm of the native population. The Greek mercenaries alone had his +confidence, and the Egyptians accused him of betraying the native troops +whom he had sent to the help of the Libyans against the Greek colony of +Kyrene. Amasis (or Ahmes), his brother-in-law, put himself at the head of +the rebels. A battle was fought near Sais between the Greek troops of +Hophra on the one side and the revolted Egyptians on the other, which +ended in the defeat of the Greeks and the capture of Hophra himself. +Amasis was proclaimed king (B.C. 570), and though the captive Pharaoh was +at first treated with respect, he was afterwards put to death. + +The change of monarch made little difference to the Greeks in Egypt. They +were too valuable, both as soldiers and as traders, for the Pharaoh to +dispense with their services. The mercenaries were removed from Daphnae to +Memphis, in the very heart of the kingdom, and fresh privileges were +granted to the merchants of Naukratis. The Pharaoh married a Greek wife, +and a demotic papyrus, now at Paris, even describes how he robbed the +temples of Memphis, On and Bubastis of their endowments and handed them +over to the Greek troops. "The Council" which sat under him ordered that +"the vessels, the fuel, the linen, and the dues" hitherto enjoyed by their +gods and their priests should be given instead to the foreigner. In this +act of sacrilege the Egyptians of a later day saw the cause of the +downfall of their country. The invasion of Nebuchadrezzar had passed over +it without producing much injury; indeed, it does not seem to have +extended beyond the eastern half of the Delta. But a new power, that of +Cyrus, was rising in the East. Amasis had foreseen the coming storm, and +had occupied Cyprus in advance. If Xenophon is to be believed, he had also +sent troops to the aid of Kroesus of Lydia. But all was of no avail. The +power of Cyrus steadily increased. The empires of Lydia and Babylonia went +down before it, and when his son Kambyses succeeded him in July, B.C. 529, +the new empire extended from the Mediterranean to India and from the +Caspian to the borders of Egypt. It was clear that the fertile banks of +the Nile would be the next object of attack. + +Greek vanity asserted that the actual cause of the invasion was the Greek +mercenary Phanes. He had deserted to Kambyses, and explained to him how +Egypt could be entered. That Phanes was a name used by the Egyptian Greeks +we know from its occurrence on the fragment of a large vase discovered by +Professor Petrie at Naukratis. Here we read: "Phanes the son of Glaukos +dedicated me to Apollo of Naukratis." But the invasion of Egypt by +Kambyses was the necessary consequence of the policy which had laid the +whole of the oriental world at his father's feet. + +Amasis died while the army of Kambyses was on its march (B.C. 526), and +his son Psammetikhos III. had to bear the brunt of the attack. A battle +was fought near Pelusium, and though the Greek and Karian auxiliaries did +their best, the invading forces gained the day. The Pharaoh fled to +Memphis, which was thereupon besieged by Kambyses. The siege was a short +one. The city of "the White Wall" was taken, Psammetikhos made a prisoner, +and his son, together with two thousand youths of the leading Egyptian +families, was put to death. For a while Psammetikhos himself was allowed +to live, but the fears of the conqueror soon caused him to be executed, +and with his death came the end of the twenty-sixth dynasty and the +independence of Egypt. + + + + + +CHAPTER V. THE AGE OF THE PTOLEMIES. + + +Judah had profited by the revolution which had been so disastrous to the +monarchy of the Nile. The overthrow of the Babylonian empire and the rise +of Cyrus had brought deliverance from exile and the restoration of the +temple and its services. In the Jewish colony at Jerusalem, Cyrus and his +successors had, as it were, a bridle upon Egypt; gratitude to their +deliverer and freedom to enjoy the theocracy which had taken the place of +the Davidic monarchy made the Jewish people an outpost and garrison upon +whose loyalty the Persian king could rely. + +The yoke of the Zoroastrian Darius and his descendants pressed heavily, on +the other hand, upon the priests and people of Egypt. Time after time they +attempted to revolt. Their first rebellion, under Khabbash, saved Greece +from the legions of Darius and postponed the day of Persian invasion to a +time when the incapable Xerxes sat upon the throne of his energetic +father. A second time they rose in insurrection in the reign of Artaxerxes +I., the successor of Xerxes. But under Artaxerxes II. came a more +formidable outbreak, which ended in the recovery of Egyptian independence +and the establishment of the last three dynasties of native kings. + +For sixty-five years (from B.C. 414 to 349) Egypt preserved its +independence. More than once the Persians sought to recover it, but they +were foiled by the Spartan allies of the Pharaoh or by the good fortune of +the Egyptians. But civil feuds and cowardice sapped the strength of the +Egyptian resistance. Greek mercenaries and sailors now fought in the ranks +of the Persians as well as in those of the Egyptians, and the result of +the struggle between Persia and Egypt was in great measure dependent on +the amount of pay the two sides could afford to give them. The army was +insubordinate, and between the Greek and Egyptian soldiers there was +jealousy and feud. Nektanebo II. (B.C. 367-49), the last of the Pharaohs, +had dethroned his own father, and though he had once driven the Persian +king Artaxerxes Ochus back from the coasts of Egypt, he failed to do so a +second time. The Greeks were left to defend themselves as best they could +at Pelusium, while Nektanebo retired to Memphis with 60,000 worthless +native troops. From thence he fled to Ethiopia with his treasures, leaving +his country in the hands of the Persian. Ochus wreaked his vengeance on +the Egyptian priests, destroying the temples, demanding a heavy ransom for +the sacred records he had robbed, setting up an ass--a symbol in Egyptian +eyes of all that was evil and unclean--as the patron-god of the conquered +land, and slaying the sacred bull Apis in sacrifice to the new divinity. +The murder of Ochus by his Egyptian eunuch Bagoas was the penalty he paid +for these outrages on the national faith. + +Egypt never again was free. Its rulers have been of manifold races and +forms of faith, but they have never again been Egyptians. Persians, Greeks +and Romans, Arabs, Kurds, Circassians, Mameluk slaves and Turks, Frenchmen +and Englishmen, have all governed or misgoverned it, but throughout this +long page of its history there is no sign of native political life. +Religion or taxation has alone seemed able to stir the people into +movement or revolt. For aspirations after national freedom we look in +vain. + +The Persian was not left long in the possession of his rebellious +province. Egypt opened her gates to Alexander of Macedon, as in later ages +she opened her gates to the Arab 'Amru. The Greeks had long been +associated in the Egyptian mind with opposition to the hated Persian, and +it was as a Greek that Alexander entered the country. Memphis and Thebes +welcomed him, and he did his best to prove to his subjects that he had +indeed come among them as one of their ancient kings. Hardly had he +reached Memphis before he went in state to the temple of Apis and offered +sacrifice to the sacred bull. Then, after founding Alexandria at the spot +where the native village of Rakoti stood, he made his way to the Oasis of +Ammon, the modern Siwah, among the sands of the distant desert, and there +was greeted by the high-priest of the temple as the son of the god. Like +the Pharaohs of old, the Macedonian conqueror became the son of Amon-Ra, +and in Egypt at least claimed divine honours. + +Before leaving Egypt Alexander appointed the nomarchs who were to govern +it, and ordered that justice should be administered according to the +ancient law of the land. He also sent 7000 Samaritans into the Thebaid; +some of them were settled in the Fayyum, and in the papyri discovered by +Professor Petrie at Hawara mention is made of a village which they had +named Samaria. Appointing Kleomenes prefect of Egypt and collector of the +taxes, Alexander now hurried away to the Euphrates, there to overthrow the +shattered relics of the Persian Empire. + +It was while he was at Ekbatana that his friend Hephaestion died, and +Alexander wrote to Egypt to inquire of the oracle of Ammon what honours it +was lawful for him to pay to the dead man. In reply Hephaestion was +pronounced to be a god, and a temple was accordingly erected to him at +Alexandria, and the new lighthouse on the island of Pharos was called +after his name. + +When Alexander died suddenly and unexpectedly, the council of his generals +which assembled at Babylon declared his half-brother, Philip Arridaeus, to +be his successor. But they reserved to themselves all the real power in +Alexander's empire. Ptolemy, the son of Lagos, chose Egypt as the seat of +his government, which was accordingly handed over to him by Kleomenes on +his arrival there, a year after the accession of the new king. His first +act was to put Kleomenes to death. + +Then came the long funeral procession bearing the corpse of Alexander from +Babylon to the tomb that was to be erected for him in his new city of +Alexandria. More than a year passed while it wound its way slowly from +city to city, till at last it arrived at Memphis. Here the body of the +great conqueror rested awhile until the gorgeous sepulchre was made ready +in which it was finally to repose. + +It was plain that Ptolemy was aiming at independent power. Perdikkas, the +regent, accordingly attacked him, carrying in his train the young princes, +Philip Arridaeus, and Alexander AEgos, the infant son of Alexander. But the +invading army was routed below Memphis, Perdikkas was slain, and the young +princes fell into the hands of the conqueror. From this time forward, +Ptolemy, though nominally a subject, acted as if he were a king. + +Nikanor was sent into Syria to annex it to Egypt. Jerusalem alone resisted +the invaders, but it was assaulted on the Sabbath when the defenders +withdrew from the walls, and all further opposition was at end. Palestine +and Coele-Syria were again united with the kingdom on the Nile. + +The union, however, did not last long. In B.C. 315 Philip Arridaeus was +murdered, and Alexander was proclaimed successor to his empty dignity. The +year following, Antigonus, the rival of Ptolemy in Asia Minor, made ready +to invade Egypt. But Ptolemy had already conquered Kyrene and Cyprus, and +was master of the sea. Syria and Palestine, however, submitted to +Antigonus, and though Ptolemy gained a decisive victory over his enemies +at Gaza, he did not think it prudent to pursue it. He contented himself, +therefore, with razing the fortifications of Acre and Jaffa, of Samaria +and Gaza. + +In B.C. 312 the generals of Alexander, who still called themselves the +lieutenants of his son, came to a general agreement, each keeping that +portion of the empire which he had made his own. The agreement was almost +immediately followed by the murder of Alexander AEgos. Cleopatra, the +sister of the great Alexander, and his niece Thessalonika alone remained +of the royal family, and Cleopatra, on her way to Egypt to marry Ptolemy, +was assassinated by Antigonus (in B.C. 308), and Alexander's niece soon +afterwards shared the same fate. The family of "the son of Ammon," the +annihilator of the Persian Empire, was extinct. + +Two years later, in B.C. 306, an end was put to the farce so long played +by the generals of Alexander, and each of them assumed the title of king. +Ptolemy took that of "king of Egypt." To this the Greeks afterwards added +the name of Soter, "Saviour," when his supplies of corn had saved the +Rhodians from destruction during their heroic defence of their city +against the multitudinous war-ships of Antigonus. + +Throughout his rule, Ptolemy never forgot the needs and interests of the +kingdom over which he ruled. Alexandria was completed, with its unrivalled +harbours, its stately public buildings, its broad quays and its spacious +streets. From first to last it remained the Greek capital of Egypt. It was +Greek in its origin, Greek in its architecture, Greek in its population; +Greek also in its character, its manners, and its faith. Cut off from the +rest of Egypt by the Mareotic Lake, and enjoying a European climate, it +was from its foundation what it is to-day, a city of Europe rather than of +Egypt. From it, as from an impregnable watch-tower, the Ptolemies directed +the fortunes of their kingdom: it was not only the key to Egypt, it was +also a bridle upon it. The wealth of the world passed through its streets +and harbours; the religions and philosophies of East and West met within +its halls. Ptolemy had founded in it a university, a prototype of Oxford +and Cambridge in modern England, of the Azhar in modern Cairo. In the +Museum, as it was called, a vast library was gathered together, and its +well-endowed chairs were filled with learned professors from all parts of +the Greek world, who wrote books and delivered lectures and dined together +at the royal charge. + +But the Greeks were not the only inhabitants of the new city. The Jews +also settled there in large numbers on the eastern side of the town, +attracted by the offers of Ptolemy and the belief that the rising centre +of trade would be better worth inhabiting than the wasted fields of +Palestine. All the rights of Greek citizenship were granted to them, and +they were placed on a footing almost of equality with Ptolemy's own +countrymen. + +The native Egyptians were far worse treated. They had become "the hewers +of wood and carriers of water" for their new Greek masters. It was they +who furnished the government with its revenue, but in return they +possessed no rights, no privileges. When land was wanted for the veterans +of the Macedonian army, as, for example, in the Fayyum, it was taken from +them without compensation. Taxes, ever heavier and heavier, were laid upon +them; and every attempt at remonstrance or murmuring was visited with +immediate punishment. The Egyptian had no rights unless he could be +registered a citizen of Alexandria, and this it was next to impossible for +him to be. + +It is true that the Egyptians were told all this was done in order that +their own laws and customs might not be interfered with. While the Greeks +and Jews were governed by Greek law, the Egyptians were governed by the +old law of the land. But it was forgotten that the laws were administered +by Greeks, and that the higher officials were also Greeks, who, as against +an Egyptian, possessed arbitrary power. It was only amongst themselves, as +between Egyptian and Egyptian, that the natives of the country enjoyed any +benefit from the laws under which they lived; wherever the government and +the Greeks were concerned, they were like outcasts, who could be punished, +but not tried. + +Nevertheless the country for many years remained tranquil. Unlike the +Persians, the Greeks respected the religion of the people. Ptolemy did his +utmost to conciliate the priesthood; their temples were restored and +decorated, their festivals were treated with honour; above all, their +endowments were untouched. And with the priesthood disposed to be friendly +towards him, Ptolemy had no reason to be afraid. The priests were the +national leaders; they it was who had stirred up the revolts against the +Persian, and the temples in which they served had been the fortresses and +rallying-points of the rebel armies. The Egyptians have always been an +intensely religious people; whatever may have been their form of creed, +whether pagan, Christian, or Moslem, they have clung to it with tenacity +and battled for it, sometimes with fanatical zeal. Religion will arouse +them when nothing else can do so; by the side of it even the love of gain +has but little influence. + +Besides conciliating the priesthood, Ptolemy planted garrisons of Greeks +in several parts of the country. Bodies of veterans colonised the Fayyum, +and Ptolemais, now Menshiyeh, in Upper Egypt, was a Greek city modelled in +all respects upon Alexandria. The public accounts were kept in Greek, and +though the clerks and tax-gatherers were usually natives who had received +a Greek education, many of them were Greeks by birth and even Jews. +"Ostraka," or inscribed potsherds, have been found at Thebes, which show +that in the days of Ptolemy Physkon, a Jew, Simon, the son of Eleazar, +farmed the taxes there for the temple of Amon. As he did not himself know +Greek, his receipts were written for him by one of his sons. After his +death he was succeeded in his office by his son Philokles. The name is +noticeable, as it shows how rapidly the Jews of Egypt could become wholly +Greek. The religion of his forefathers was not likely to sit heavily on +the shoulders of the tax-gatherer of a heathen temple, and we need not +wonder at the Hellenisation of his family. Simon was a sample of many of +his brethren: in adopting Greek culture the Jews of Egypt began to forget +that they were Jews. It required the shock of persecution at Jerusalem, +and the Maccabean war of independence to recall them to a recollection of +their past history and a sense of the mission of their race. + +With the rise of the Greek kingdom in Egypt, the canonical books of the +Old Testament come to an end. Jaddua, the last high-priest recorded in the +Book of Nehemiah (xii. 7, 22), met Alexander the Great at Mizpeh, and if +Josephus is to be trusted, obtained from him a recognition of the ancient +privileges of the Jews and their exemption from taxation every Sabbatical +year. The First Book of Chronicles (iii. 23) seems to bring the genealogy +of the descendants of Zorobabel down to an even later date. But where the +canonical books break off, the books of the Apocrypha begin. Jesus the son +of Sirach, in his prologue to the Book of Ecclesiasticus, tells us that he +had translated it in Egypt from Hebrew into Greek, when Euergetes, the +third Ptolemy, was king, and thirty-eight years after its compilation by +his grandfather Jesus. Like most of the apocryphal books, it thus had a +Palestinian origin, but its translation into Greek indicates the +intercourse that was going on between the Jews of Palestine and those of +Egypt, as well as the general adoption of the Greek language by the +Egyptian Jews. + +The translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek about the same period +is a yet more striking illustration of the same fact. The name of +"Septuagint," which the translation still retains, perpetuates the legend, +derived from the false Aristaeas, of its having been made all at one time +by seventy (or seventy-two) translators. But internal evidence shows that +such could not have been the case. The various books of the Canon were +translated at different times, and the translators exhibit very different +degrees of ability and acquaintance with the Hebrew language. The +Pentateuch was the first to be rendered into Greek; the other books +followed afterwards, and it would appear that the Book of Ecclesiastes +never found a place in the translation at all. The Greek translation of +the book which is now found in the Septuagint was probably made by Aquila. + +It was under Ptolemy II., who justified his title of Philadelphus, or +"Brother-loving," by the murder of his two brothers, that the work of +translation was begun. Ptolemy Soter, his father, had resigned his crown +two years before his death, and the event proved that his confidence in +his son's filial piety was not misplaced. The coronation of Philadelphus +at Alexandria was celebrated with one of the most gorgeous pageants the +world has ever seen, the details of which are preserved by Athenaeus. Under +the new king the internal development of the monarchy went on apace. The +canal was opened which connected the Nile with the Red Sea, and at its +outlet near Suez a town was built called Arsinoe, after the king's sister. +The ports of Berenike and Philotera (now Qoseir) were constructed and +fortified on the coast of the Red Sea, and roads made to them from Koptos +and Syene on the Nile. In this way the ivory and gems of the Sudan could +be brought to Egypt without passing through the hostile territories of the +Ethiopians in Upper Nubia. In the eastern desert itself the mines of +emerald and gold were worked until the royal revenue was increased to more +than three millions sterling a year. + +Though Ptolemy Philadelphus was fond of show, he was not extravagant, and +his income was sufficient not only to maintain a large army and navy and +protect efficiently the frontier of his kingdom, but also to leave a large +reserve fund in the treasury. It was said to amount to as much as a +hundred millions sterling. It was no wonder, therefore, that Alexandria +became filled with sumptuous buildings. The Pharos or lighthouse was +finished by Sostratos, as well as the tomb of Alexander, whose body was +moved from Memphis to the golden sarcophagus which had been prepared for +it. The library of the Museum was stocked with books until 400,000 rolls +of papyrus were collected together, and men of science and learning from +all parts of the world were attracted to it by the munificence of the +king. The principal librarianship, however, changed hands on the accession +of the new king. Demetrius Phalereus, the ex-tyrant of Athens, who had +been the first librarian, had offended Philadelphus by advising that the +crown should descend to his elder brother instead of to himself, and he +had accordingly to make way for Zenodotos of Ephesus, famous as a critic +of Homer. + +Among the books which found a place in the great library of Alexandria was +doubtless the Greek translation of the Pentateuch. Philadelphus showed +remarkable favour to the Jews. The Jewish captives of his soldiers were +ransomed by him and given homes in various parts of Egypt. One hundred and +twenty thousand slaves were thus freed, the king paying for each 120 +drachmas, or 30 shekels, the price of a slave according to the Mosaic Law. +It is quite possible that there may be some truth in the legend that the +Greek translation of the Old Testament was made at his desire. Whether or +not we believe that he sent two Greek Jews, Aristaeus and Andraeus, with +costly gifts to Eleazar the high-priest at Jerusalem, asking him to select +fit men for the purpose, he was probably not unwilling that a copy of the +sacred books of his Jewish subjects, in a form intelligible to the Greeks, +should be added to the library. We must not forget that it was he who +employed Manetho, the priest of Sebennytos, to write in Greek the history +of his country, which he compiled from the hieroglyphic monuments and +hieratic papyri of the native temples. + +Ptolemy III., Euergetes, the eldest son of Philadelphus, succeeded his +father in B.C. 246. A war with Syria broke out at the beginning of his +reign, and the march of the Egyptian army as far as Seleucia, the capital +of the Syrian kingdom on the Euphrates, was one uninterrupted triumph. On +his return, Ptolemy laid his offerings on the altar at Jerusalem, and +thanked the God of the Jews for his success. The Jewish community might +well be pardoned for believing that in the conqueror of Syria they had a +new proselyte to their faith. + +The Egyptians had equal reason to be satisfied with their king. Among the +spoils of his Syrian campaign were 2500 vases and statues of the Egyptian +deities which Kambyses had carried to Persia nearly three centuries +before. They were restored to the temples of Upper Egypt, from which they +had been taken, with stately ceremonies and amid the rejoicing of the +people, and Ptolemy was henceforth known among his subjects as Euergetes, +their "Benefactor." + +Euergetes, in fact, seems to have been the most Egyptian and least Greek +of all the Ptolemies. Alone among them he visited Thebes and paid homage +to the gods of Egypt. Their temples were rebuilt and crowded with +offerings, and the priesthood naturally regarded him as a king after their +own heart. He, too, like the Pharaohs of old, turned his attention to the +conquest of Ethiopia, which his predecessors had been content to +neglect.(9) It was under Euergetes, moreover, that the so-called Decree of +Canopus was drawn up in hieroglyphics and demotic Egyptian as well as in +Greek. Its occasion was the death of Berenike, the king's daughter, to +whom the Egyptian priests determined to grant divine honours. It is the +first time that we find the old script and language of Egypt taking its +place by the side of that of the Macedonian conqueror, and it is +significant that the Greek transcript occupies the third place. + +Judah had hitherto remained tranquil and at peace under the government of +the Ptolemies. The high-priests had taken the place of the kings, and +their authority was undisputed. At times, indeed, the coveted dignity was +the cause of family feuds. Jonathan, the father of Jaddua (Neh. xii. 11, +22), had murdered his brother Joshua, whom he suspected of trying to +supplant him, and the example he set was destined to have followers. But +outside his own family the high-priest ruled with almost despotic power. +Simon the Just (B.C. 300), with whom ends the list of "famous men" given +by Jesus the son of Sirach (iv. 1-21), repaired and fortified the temple +as well as the fortress which guarded it. Jewish tradition ascribed to him +the completion of the Canon of the Old Testament which had been begun by +Ezra, and it was through him that the oral Mosaic tradition of Pharisaism +made its way to Antigonus Socho, the first writer of the Mishna or text of +the Talmud, and the teacher of the founder of Sadduceism. The grandson of +Simon, Onias II., imperilled the authority his predecessors had enjoyed. +His covetousness led him to withhold the tribute of L3000, due each year +from the Temple to the Jewish king, and in spite of an envoy from Ptolemy +and the remonstrances of his countrymen, he refused to give it up. + +Jerusalem was saved by the address and readiness of Joseph, the brother of +Onias. He hastened to Egypt, ingratiated himself with Ptolemy, and +succeeded in being appointed farmer of the taxes for Syria and Palestine. +The Jews were saved, but a rival power to that of the high-priest was +established, which led eventually to civil war. The greed of Onias was the +first scene in the drama which is unfolded in the Books of the Maccabees. + +Euergetes was the last of the "good" Ptolemies. His son and successor, +Ptolemy IV., was the incarnation of weakness, cruelty and vice. He began +his reign with the murder of his mother and only brother, taking the title +of Philopator--"Lover of his Father"--by way of compensation. Syria was +reconquered by Antiochus the Great, but his Greek phalanxes were beaten at +Raphia by the Egyptians, now armed and trained in the Macedonian fashion, +and the gratitude of Philopator showed itself in a visit to the temple at +Jerusalem, where he sacrificed to the God of the Jews and attempted to +penetrate into the Holy of Holies. A tumult was the consequence, and the +exasperated king on his return to Egypt deprived the Jews of their Greek +citizenship, and ordered them to be tattooed with the figure of an +ivy-leaf in honour of Bacchus, and to sacrifice on the altars of the Greek +gods. + +The Jews had hitherto been the staunch supporters of the royal house of +Egypt, and had held the fortress of Jerusalem for it against the power of +Syria. But Philopator had now alienated them for ever. Nor was he more +successful with the native Egyptians. First the Egyptian troops mutinied; +then came revolt in Upper Egypt. The Ethiopian princes, whose memorials +are found in the Nubian temples of Debod and Dakkeh, were invited to +Thebes, and an Ethiopian dynasty again ruled in Upper Egypt. The names of +the kings who composed it have recently been found in deeds written in +demotic characters. + +Philopator died of his debaucheries after a reign of seventeen years (B.C. +204), leaving a child of five years of age--the future Ptolemy Epiphanes--to +succeed him. The Alexandrine mob was in a state of riot, the army was +untrustworthy, and Antiochus was again on the march against Syria. The +Egyptian forces were defeated at Banias (Caesarea Philippi), the Jews +having gone over to the invader, in return for which Antiochus remitted +the taxes due from Jerusalem, and not only released all the ministers of +the temple from future taxation, but sent a large sum of money for its +support. By a treaty with Rome the possession of the country was assured +to him (B.C. 188), and colonies of Mesopotamian Jews were settled in Lydia +and Phrygia. + +Meanwhile Ptolemy V., Epiphanes, was growing up, and in B.C. 196 +accordingly it was determined that he should be crowned. The coronation +took place at Memphis, and a decree was made lightening the burdens of the +country, relieving the _fellahin_ from being impressed for the navy, and +granting further endowments to the priests. It is this decree which is +engraved on the famous Rosetta Stone. + +But the revolt of the Egyptians still continued, and had already spread +northward. Reference is made in the decree to rebellion in the Busirite +nome of the Delta, and to a siege of the city of Lykopolis, in which the +insurgents had fortified themselves. It was at this time, too, that the +city of Abydos was taken by storm and its temples finally ruined, as we +gather from a Greek scrawl on the walls of the temple of Seti. But in B.C. +185 a decisive victory was gained by the Greek mercenaries over the +revolted Egyptians. Their four leaders surrendered on the king's promise +of a free pardon, and were brought before him at Sais. There, however, he +tied them to his chariot-wheels in imitation of Achilles, and dragged them +still living round the city walls, after which he returned to Alexandria +and entered his capital in triumph. + +The crimes of Epiphanes led to his murder in B.C. 180, and his +seven-year-old son, Ptolemy VI., Philometor, was proclaimed king under the +regency of his mother. While she lived there was peace, but after her +death the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, threw himself upon Egypt, +captured his nephew Philometor, and held his court in Memphis. Thereupon +Philometor's younger brother, whose corpulency had given him the nickname +of Physkon, "the Bloated," proclaimed himself king at Alexandria, and +called upon Rome for help. Antiochus withdrew, leaving Philometor king of +the Egyptians, and Physkon, who had taken the title of Euergetes II., king +of the Greeks at Alexandria. Thanks to the brotherly forbearance of +Philometor, the two reigned together in harmony for several years. +Antiochus Epiphanes, however, had again invaded Egypt, but had been warned +off its soil by the Roman ambassadors. Rome now affected to regard the +kingdom of the Ptolemies as a protected state, and the successors of +Alexander were in no condition to resist the orders of the haughty +republic. Things had indeed changed since the days when Philadelphus in +the plenitude of his glory deigned to congratulate the Italian state on +its defeat of the Epirots, and the Roman senate regarded his embassy as +the highest of possible honours. + +The command of the Romans to leave Egypt alone was sullenly obeyed by +Antiochus Epiphanes. But he had no choice in the matter. He had more than +enough on his hands at home without risking a quarrel with Rome. The Jews +were in full rebellion. The Hellenising party among them--"the ungodly" of +the Books of Maccabees--had grown numerous and strong, and had united +themselves with the civil rivals of the high-priests. Between the party of +progress and the orthodox supporters of the Law there was soon open war, +and in B.C. 175, Antiochus Epiphanes, tempted by the higher bribe, was +induced to join in the fray, and throw the whole weight of his power on +the side of innovation. Onias III. was deposed from the high-priesthood, +and his brother Joshua, the leader of "the ungodly," was appointed in his +place, with leave to change the name of the Jews to that of Antiochians. +Joshua forthwith took the Greek name of Jason, established a gymnasium at +Jerusalem, sent offerings to the festival of Herakles at Tyre, and +discouraged the rite of circumcision. But Jason's rule was short-lived. A +Benjamite, Menelaus, succeeded in driving him out of the country and +usurping the office of high-priest, while Onias was put to death. + +The second Syrian invasion of Egypt took place two years later. The story +of the check received by Antiochus Epiphanes came to Judaea with all the +exaggerations usual in the East; Antiochus was reported to be dead, and +Jason accordingly marched upon Jerusalem, massacred his opponents, and +blockaded Menelaus in the citadel. But Antiochus had been wounded only in +his pride, and he turned back from the Nile burning with mortification and +anxious to vent his anger upon the first who came in his way. The outrage +committed by Jason was a welcome pretext. The defenceless population of +Jerusalem was partly massacred, partly sold into slavery, and under the +guidance of Menelaus he entered the Temple and carried away the sacred +vessels, as well as its other treasure. Philip the Phrygian was appointed +governor of the city, while Menelaus remained high-priest. + +Severer measures were to follow. In B.C. 168 there had been a rising in +Jerusalem, which was thereupon captured on a Sabbath-day by the Syrian +general, the greater part of it being sacked and burned, and a portion of +the city wall thrown down. A garrison was established on Mount Zion, which +at that time overlooked the Temple-hill, and a fierce persecution of the +Jews commenced. Every effort was made to compel them to forsake their +religion, to eat swine's flesh, and to worship the gods of the Greeks. It +was then that "the abomination of desolation" was seen in the Holy of +Holies, the temples of Samaria and Jerusalem being re-dedicated to Zeus +Xenios and Zeus Olympios, and that at Jerusalem befouled with the rites of +the Syrian Ashtoreth. + +Thousands of the orthodox Jews fled to Egypt, where they found shelter and +welcome. Among them was Onias, the eldest son of Onias III. Philometor +granted him land in the nome of Heliopolis, and allowed him to build there +a temple in which the worship of the Hebrew God should be carried on as it +had been at Jerusalem. Excavation goes to show that the temple was erected +at the spot now called Tel el-Yehudiyeh, "the Mound of the Jewess," not +far from Shibin el-Kanatir. Here was an old deserted palace and temple of +Ramses III., and here the Jews were permitted to establish themselves and +found a city, which they called Onion. + +According to Josephus, its older name had been Leontopolis. The temple, +which was destroyed by Vespasian after the Jewish war, was fortified like +that at Jerusalem, and the porcelain plaques enamelled with rosettes and +lotus-buds, which had been made for Ramses III., were employed once more +to ornament it. Long ago the _fellahin_ discovered among its ruins, and +then broke up, a marble bath, such as is used to-day by the Jewish women +for the purpose of purification, and in the adjoining necropolis Dr. +Naville found the tombs of persons who bore Jewish names. Onias was not +allowed to build his new temple without a protest from the stricter +adherents of the Law that it was forbidden to raise one elsewhere than in +the sacred city of David. But he was a man of ready resource, and all +opposition was overcome when he pointed to the prophecy of Isaiah (xix. +19): "In that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the +land of Egypt." The Egyptian Jews had already secured their own version of +the Scriptures; they now had their own temple, their own priesthood, and +their own high-priest. True, their co-religionists in Judaea never ceased +to protest against this rival centre of their religious faith, and to +denounce Onias as the first schismatic; but their brethren in Egypt paid +no attention to their words, and the temple of Onion continued to exist as +long as that of Jerusalem. + +Onias exercised an influence not only over his own countrymen, but over +the mind of the king as well. Philometor, like Euergetes, had Jewish +leanings, and the high-priest of Onion was admitted to high offices of +state. So also was Dositheus, "the priest and Levite," who, in "The Rest +of the Chapters of the Book of Esther" (x. 1), tells us that in the fourth +year of Philometor, he and his son Ptolemy had brought to Egypt "this +epistle of Phurim," which had been translated into Greek at Jerusalem by +Lysimachus, the son of Ptolemy. Philometor even acted as a judge in the +great religious controversy which raged between the Jews and the +Samaritans. They called upon him to decide whether the temple should have +been built on Mount Moriah or Mount Gerizim, and which of them had altered +the text of Deuteronomy xxvii. 12, 13. Philometor decided in favour of the +Jews, as his duty towards his numerous Jewish subjects perhaps compelled +him to do, and his religious zeal even carried him so far as to order the +two unsuccessful advocates of the Samaritan cause to be put to death. + +While the king of Egypt was thus acting like a Jew, the king of Syria was +engaged in a fierce struggle with the Jewish people. The national party +had risen under Mattathias, the priest of Modin, and his five sons, of +whom the third, Judas Maccabaeus, was the ablest and best-known. One after +another the Syrian armies were overthrown, and in B.C. 165 the Temple was +purified and repaired, and a new altar dedicated in it to the Lord of +Hosts. Two years later Antiochus Epiphanes died while on the march against +Judaea, and with him died also the power of Syria. Rival claimants for the +throne, internal and external discord, treachery and murder, sapped the +foundations of its strength, and in spite of assassinations and religious +quarrels, of Edomite hostility and the efforts of the Hellenising party +among the Jews themselves, the power of the Maccabees went on increasing. +The high-priesthood passed to them from the last of the sympathisers with +the Greeks, and Jonathan, the brother and successor of Judas, was treated +by the king of Syria with royal honours. Treaties were made with Sparta +and Rome, and his successor, Simon, struck coins of his own. After his +murder his son John Hyrcanus extended the Jewish dominion as far north as +Damascus, annihilating Samaria and its temples and conquering the +Edomites, whom he compelled to accept the Jewish faith. Aristobulus, who +followed him, took the title of king, and added Ituraea to his kingdom, +while his brother Alexander Jannaeus attacked Egypt and annexed the cities +of the Phoenician coast. But with royal dignity had come royal crimes. Both +Aristobulus and Alexander had murdered their brothers, and their Greek +names show how the champions of Jewish orthodoxy were passing over into +the camp of the foe. + +Long before all this happened, many changes had fallen upon Egypt. +Philometor died in B.C. 145. He had been weak enough to forgive his +rebellious and ungrateful brother twice when he had had him in his power. +Once he had been compelled to go to Rome to plead his cause before the +senate, and there be indebted to an Alexandrine painter for food and +lodging; on the second occasion Physkon had endeavoured to rob him of +Cyprus by a combination of mean treachery and intrigue. + +The reward of his brotherly forbearance was the murder by Physkon of +Philometor's young son Ptolemy Philopator II. immediately after his death. +Onias, the Jewish high-priest, held Alexandria for Philopator, but his +uncle Physkon was favoured by the Romans, whose word was now law. Physkon +accordingly began his long reign of vice and cruelty, interrupted only by +temporary banishment to Cyprus. Then followed his widow, Cleopatra Kokke, +a woman stained with every possible and impossible crime. She held her +own, however, against all opponents, including her own son Ptolemy +Lathyrus, thanks to her two Jewish generals, Khelkias and Ananias, the +sons of the high-priest Onias. Palestine and Syria again became a +battle-field where the fate of Egypt was decided, and while Cleopatra was +aided by the Jews, Lathyrus found his allies among the Samaritans. + +It was in the midst of these wars and rumours of wars, when men had lost +faith in one another and themselves, and when the Jews after struggling +for bare existence were beginning to treat on equal terms with the great +monarchies of the world, that that curious Apocalypse, the Book of Enoch, +seems to have been composed, at all events in its original form. It is a +vision of the end of all things and the judgment of mankind, and it +embodies the fully developed doctrine of the angelic hierarchy to which +reference is made in the Book of Daniel. + +Cleopatra was murdered by her younger and favourite son, and Lathyrus +succeeded after all in obtaining the throne of Egypt, which he ascended +under the title of Soter II. (B.C. 87). His short reign of six years was +signalised by the destruction of Thebes. Upper Egypt was still in a state +of effervescing discontent, and the crimes of the last reign caused it to +break into open rebellion. The government was weak and wicked; the Greeks +had lost their vigour and power to rule, and their armies were now mere +bodies of unruly mercenaries. But the Thebans were not wealthy or strong +enough to withstand Alexandria when helped by the resources of the +Mediterranean. The revolt was at last suppressed, Thebes taken by storm, +and its temples, which had been used as fortresses, battered and +destroyed. The population was put to the sword or carried into slavery, +and the capital of the conquering Pharaohs of the past ceased to exist. +Its place was taken by a few squalid villages which clustered round the +ruins of its ancient shrines. Karnak and Luxor, Medinet Habu and Qurnah, +were all that remained of the former city. Under the earlier Ptolemies it +had been known as Diospolis, "the city of Zeus" Amon, the metropolis of +Upper Egypt; from this time forward, in the receipts of the tax-gatherers, +it is nothing more than a collection of "villages." Its priests were +scattered, its ruined temples left to decay. What the Assyrian had failed +to destroy and the Persian had spared was overthrown by a Ptolemy who +called himself a king of Egypt. + +After the death of Lathyrus the internal decay of the monarchy went on +rapidly. A prey to civil war and usurpation, it was allowed to exist a +little longer by the contemptuous forbearance of the Romans, who waited to +put an end to it until they had drained it of its treasures. The kingdom +of the Asmonaeans at Jerusalem also had tottered to its fall. Family +murders and civil feuds had become almost as common among them as among +the Ptolemies, and as in Egypt, so too in Palestine, Rome was called in to +mediate between the rival claimants for the crown. In B.C. 63 Jerusalem +was captured by Pompey after a three months' siege, its defenders +massacred, its fortifications destroyed, and its royal house abolished. +The Roman victor entered the Holy of Holies, and Palestine was annexed to +the Roman empire. + +Among the remnant which still retained the faith of their forefathers the +Roman conquest and the profanation of the temple gave new strength to the +conviction that the Messiah and saviour of Israel must surely soon appear. +The conviction finds expression in the so-called Psalms of Solomon, of +which only a Greek copy survives. The high hopes raised by the successes +of the Maccabean family were dashed for ever, and the temporal power of +Judah had vanished away. Henceforth it existed as a nation only on +sufferance. + +In Egypt it was not long before the Jews discovered how grievous had been +the change in their fortunes. They ceased to be feared, and therefore +respected: the mob and rulers of Alexandria had for them now only hatred +and contempt. Their citizenship was taken away, with its right to the +enjoyment of their own magistrates and courts of justice, and they were +degraded to the rank of the native Egyptians, whom the lowest Greek +vagabond in the streets of Alexandria could maltreat with impunity. They +did not recover their old privileges until Augustus had reorganised his +Egyptian province, and though they were again deprived of them by +Caligula, when Philo went in vain to plead for his countrymen before the +emperor, they were restored by Claudius, and even Vespasian after the +Jewish war did not interfere with them. + +The house of Ptolemy fell ignobly. But it fell amid the convulsions of a +civil war which rent the empire of its conquerors to the foundation, and +among the ruins of the Roman republic. Cleopatra, its last representative, +bewitched not only the coarser Mark Antony but even the master mind of +Julius Caesar. Her charms were fatal to the life and reputation of the one; +they nearly proved equally fatal to the life of the other. Besieged with +her in the palace of the Ptolemies by the Alexandrine mob, Caesar's life +trembled for a while in the balance. But the Library of Alexandria was +given in its stead; he saved himself by firing the docks and shipping, and +the flames spread from the harbour to the halls of the Museum. The +precious papyri perished in the flames, and the rooms in which the +learning and talent of the Greek world had been gathered together were a +heap of blackened ruins. It is true that Cleopatra subsequently obtained +from Mark Antony the library of Pergamos, with its 200,000 volumes, which +she placed in the temple of Serapis, but the new library never equalled +the old, either in its extent or in the value of its books. + +Cleopatra and Mark Antony died by their own hands, and Augustus was left +master of Egypt and the Roman world (B.C. 30). Caesarion, the son of +Cleopatra and Julius Caesar, was put to death, and Egypt was annexed to the +emperor's privy purse. It never, therefore, became a province of the Roman +empire: unhappily for its inhabitants, it remained the emperor's private +domain. Its prefect was never allowed to be of higher rank than the +equestrian order, and a senator was forbidden to set foot in it. Its +cities could not govern themselves, and the old Greek law, which +restricted the rights of citizenship to the Greeks and Jews and prevented +any native Egyptians from sharing them, was left in force. Egypt was the +granary of Rome, and the riches of its soil and the industry of its +inhabitants made it needful that no rival to the reigning sovereign should +establish himself in it. History had shown with what ease the country +could be invaded and occupied and with what difficulty the occupier could +be driven out. And the master of Egypt commanded the trade between East +and West; he commanded also the Roman mob whose mouths were filled with +Egyptian corn. It was dangerous to allow a possible rival even to visit +the valley of the Nile. + +The history of Alexandria under the Romans is the history of Alexandria +rather than of the Egyptians. The _fellahin_ laboured for others, not for +themselves, and the burdens which weighed upon them became ever greater +and more intolerable. Now and again there were outbreaks in Upper Egypt, +which were, however, quickly repressed, and in the third century the +barbarian Blemmyes made Coptos and Ptolemais their capitals. The +reconquest of the Thebaid by Probus (A.D. 280) was judged worthy of a +triumph. About eight years later the whole country was once more in +rebellion, and proclaimed their leader Akhilleus emperor. The war lasted +for nine years, and the whole force of the empire was required to finish +it. The emperor Diocletian marched in person into Upper Egypt and besieged +Coptos, the centre of the revolt. After a long siege the city was taken +and razed to the ground. But the war had ruined the people. The +embankments were broken, the canals choked up, the fields untilled and +overrun by the barbarians from the Sudan or the Bedouin of the eastern +desert. Diocletian, when the struggle was over, found himself obliged to +withdraw the Roman garrisons south of the First Cataract, and to fix the +frontier of the empire at Assuan. + +The war was followed by the great persecution of the Christians, the last +expiring effort of Roman paganism against the invasion of the new faith. +Christianity had become a mighty power in the Roman world, which +threatened soon to absorb all that was left of the Rome of the past, with +its patriotism, its devotion to the emperor, its law and its +administration. The struggle between it and the empire of Augustus could +no longer be delayed. The edict of Diocletian was signed, and the empire +put forth its whole strength to crush its rival and root Christianity out +of its midst. + +But the attempt came too late. The new power was stronger than the old +one, and the persecution only proved how utterly the old Rome had passed +away. The empire bowed its head and became Christian; the bishops took the +place of the prefects and senators of the past, and theological +disputations raged in the halls of philosophy. Nowhere had the persecution +been fiercer than in Egypt; nowhere had the martyrs and confessors of the +Church been more heroic or more numerous. + +The result was one which we should hardly have expected. Hitherto +Christianity in Egypt had been Greek. It was associated with Alexandria +and the Greek language, not with the villages and tongue of the people. +Its bishops and theologians were Greeks, and the school of Christian +Platonism which flourished in Alexandria had little in common with +Egyptian ideas. With the Diocletian persecution, however, came a change. +Even while it was still at its height, martyrs and confessors come forward +who bear Egyptian and not Greek names. Hardly is it over before the native +population joins in one great body the new religion. Osiris and Isis make +way for Christ and the Blessed Virgin, the Coptic alphabet replaces the +demotic script of heathenism, and the bodies of the dead cease to be +embalmed. It is difficult to account for the suddenness and completeness +of the change. The decay of the Roman power, and therewith the barriers +between Greek and Egyptian, may have had something to do with it. So too +may the revolt in Upper Egypt, which united in one common feeling of +nationality all the elements of the population. Perhaps a still more +potent cause was the spectacle of the heroism and constancy of those who +suffered for the Christian faith. The Egyptian has always been deeply +religious, and his very enjoyment of life makes him admire and revere the +ascetic. But whatever may have been the reason, the fact remains: before +the persecution of Diocletian Egyptian Christianity had been Greek; when +the persecution was over it had become Copt. The pagans who still survived +were not Egyptians but the rich and highly-educated Greeks, like the poet +Nonnus, who was tortured to death by St. Shnudi, or the gifted Hypatia, +whose flesh was torn from her bones with oyster-shells by the monks of St. +Cyril. + +The literature of Coptic Christianity was almost wholly religious. Little +else had an interest for the devoted adherents of the new faith. The +romances which had delighted their forefathers were replaced by legends of +the saints and martyrs, and Christian hymns succeeded to the poems of the +past. We owe to this passion for theology the preservation of productions +of the Jewish and Christian Churches which would otherwise have been lost. +The Book of Enoch, quoted though it is by St. Jude, would have perished +irrevocably had it not been for Coptic Christianity. The Church of +Abyssinia, a daughter of that of Egypt, has preserved it in an Ethiopic +translation, and portions of the Greek original from which the translation +was made have been found in a tomb at Ekhmim, which was excavated in 1886. +It has long been known that the text used by the Abyssinian translator +must have differed considerably from that of which extracts have been +preserved for us in the Epistle of St. Jude and the writings of the +Byzantine historians Kedrenos and George the Syncellus; the +newly-discovered fragments now enable us to see what this text actually +was like. If the original book was written in Aramaic it would seem that +at least two authorised Greek versions of it existed, one of which was +used in Europe and Syria, the other in Egypt. Which was the older and more +faithful we have yet to learn. + +The excavations at Ekhmim have brought to light fragments of two other +works, both belonging to the early days of Christianity and long since +lost. One of these is supposed by its first editor, M. Bouriant, to be the +Apocalypse of St. Peter; it opens with an account of the Transfiguration, +which is followed by a vision of heaven and hell. The book appears to have +been composed or interpolated by a Gnostic, as there is a reference in it +to "the AEon" in which Moses and Elias dwelt in glory. The other work is of +more importance. It is the Gospel known to the early Church as that of St. +Peter, and the portion which is preserved contains the narrative of the +Passion and Resurrection of Christ. Throughout the narrative the +responsibility for the death of our Lord is transferred from Pilate to the +Jews; when the guard who watched the tomb under the centurion Petronius +ran to tell Pilate of the resurrection they had witnessed, "grieving +greatly and saying: Truly he was the son of God": he answered: "I am clean +of the blood of the son of God: I too thought he was so." Docetic +tendencies, however, are observable in the Gospel: at all events the cry +of Christ on the cross is rendered, "My power, (my) power, thou hast +forsaken me!" + +What further discoveries of the lost documents of early Christianity still +await us in Egypt it is impossible to say. It is only during the last few +years that attention has been turned towards monuments which, to the +students of Egyptian antiquity, seemed of too recent a date. Countless +manuscripts of priceless value have already perished through the ignorance +of the _fellahin_ and the neglect of the tourist and _savan_, to whom the +term "Coptic" has been synonymous with "worthless." But the soil of Egypt +is archaeologically almost inexhaustible, and the land of the Septuagint, +of the Christian school of Alexandria, and of the passionate theology of a +later epoch, cannot fail to yield up other documents that will throw a +flood of light on the early history of our faith. It is only the other day +that, among the Fayyum papyri now in the British Museum, there was found a +fragment of the Septuagint version of the Psalms older than the oldest MS. +of the Bible hitherto known. And the traveller who still wishes to see the +Nile at leisure and in his own way will find in the old Egyptian quarries +behind Der Abu Hannes, but a little to the south of the city which Hadrian +raised to the memory of Antinous, abundant illustrations of the doctrine +and worship of the primitive Coptic Church. He can there study all the +details of its ancient ecclesiastical architecture cut out of the living +rock, and can trace how the home of a hermit became first a place of +pilgrimage and then a chapel with its altar to the saints. The tombs +themselves, inscribed with the Greek epitaphs of the sainted fugitives +from persecution, still exist outside the caves in which they had dwelt. +We can even see the change taking place which transformed the Greek Church +of Alexandria into the Coptic Church of Egypt. On either side of a +richly-carved cross is the record of "Papias, son of Melito the Isaurian," +buried in the spot made holy by the body of St. Macarius, which is written +on the one side in Greek, on the other side in Coptic. Henceforward Greek +is superseded by Coptic, and the numerous pilgrims who ask St. Victor or +St. Phoebammon to pray for them write their names and prayers in the native +language and the native alphabet. With the betrayal of Egypt to the +Mohammedans by George the Makaukas the doom of the Greek language and +Bible was sealed. Coptic had already become the language of the Egyptian +Church, and though we still find quotations from the Greek New Testament +painted here and there on the walls of rock-cut shrines they are little +more than ornamental designs. Christian Egypt is native, not Greek. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. HERODOTOS IN EGYPT. + + +From Coptic Christianity, just preparing to confront twelve centuries of +Mohammedan persecution, we must now turn back to Pagan Greece. The Persian +wars have breathed a new life into Greece and its colonies, and given them +a feeling of unity such as they never possessed before. Athens has taken +its place as leader not only in art and literature, but also in war, and +under the shelter of her name the Ionians of Asia Minor have ventured to +defy their Persian lord, and the Ionic dialect has ceased to be an object +of contempt. The Greek, always restless and curious to see and hear "some +new thing," is now beginning to indulge his tastes at leisure, and to +visit as a tourist the foreign shores of the Mediterranean. Art has leaped +at a single bound to its perfection in the sculptures of Pheidias; poetry +has become divine in the tragedies of AEschylus and Sophocles, and history +is preparing to take part in the general development. The modern world of +Europe is already born. + +The founder of literary history--of history, that is to say, which aims at +literary form and interest--was Herodotos of Halikarnassos. If Greek +tradition may be trusted, his uncle had been put to death by Lygdamis, the +despot of the city, and the subsequent expulsion of the tyrant was in some +measure due to the political zeal of the future historian. Herodotos was +wealthy and well educated, as fond of travel as the majority of his +countrymen, and not behind them in curiosity and vanity. He had cultivated +the literary dialect of Ionia, perhaps during his stay in Samos, and had +made good use there of the library of Polykrates, the friend and +correspondent of Amasis. What other libraries he may have consulted we do +not know, but his history shows that he had a considerable acquaintance +with the works of his predecessors, whom he desired to eclipse and +supersede. Hekataeus of Miletus, who had travelled in Egypt as far south as +Thebes, if not Assuan, and had written a full account of the country, its +people and its history, Xanthus, the Lydian, who had compiled the annals +of his native land, beside numberless other authors, historians and +geographers, poets and dramatists, philosophers and physicists, had been +made to contribute to his work. Now and again he refers to the older +historians when he wishes to correct or contradict them; more frequently +he silently incorporates their statements and words without mentioning +them by name. It was thus, we are told by Porphyry, that he "stole" the +accounts given by Hekataeus of the crocodile, the hippopotamus and the +phoenix, and the incorrectness of his description of that marvellous bird, +which, like Hekataeus, he likens to an eagle, proves that the charge is +correct. Reviewers did not exist in his days, nor were marks of quotation +or even footnotes as yet invented, and Herodotos might therefore plead +that, although he quoted freely without acknowledgment, he was not in any +real sense a plagiarist. He only acted like other Greek writers of his +time, and if his plagiarisms exceeded theirs it was only because he had +read more and made a more diligent use of his note-book. + +It is we, and not the Greek world for which he wrote, who are the +sufferers. It is frequently difficult, if not impossible, for us to tell +whether Herodotos is speaking from his own experience or quoting from +others, whose trustworthiness is doubtful or whose statements may have +been misunderstood. From time to time internal evidence assures us that we +are dealing, not with Herodotos himself, but with some other writer whose +remarks he has embodied. His commentators have continually argued on the +supposition that, wherever the first person is used, it is Herodotos +himself who is speaking. Statements of his accordingly have been declared +to be true, in spite of the contrary evidence of oriental research, +because, it is urged, he is a trustworthy witness and has reported +honestly what he heard and saw. But if he did not hear and see the +supposed facts, the case is altered and the argument falls to the ground. + +Herodotos took part in the foundation of the colony of Thurii in southern +Italy in B.C. 445, and there, rather than at the Olympic festival, as +later legend believed, he read to the assembled Greeks the whole or a part +of his history. His travels in Egypt, therefore, must have already taken +place. Their approximate date, indeed, is fixed by what he tells us about +the battlefield of Papremis (iii. 12). + +At Papremis, for the first time, an Egyptian army defeated the Persian +forces. Its leader was Inaros the Libyan, and doubtless a large body of +Libyans was enrolled in it. Along with Amyrtaeos he had led the Egyptians +to revolt in the fifth year of the reign of Artaxerxes I. (B.C. 460). +Akhaemenes, the satrap of Egypt, was routed and slain, and for six years +Egypt maintained a precarious freedom. The fortresses at Memphis and +Pelusium, however, remained in the hands of the Persians, and in spite of +all the efforts of the Egyptians, they could not be dislodged. Greek aid +accordingly was sought, and the Athenians, still at war with Persia, sent +two hundred ships from Cyprus to the help of the insurgents. The ships +sailed up the Nile as far as Memphis, where the Persian garrison still +held out. + +All attempts to oust it proved unavailing, and the approach of a great +Persian army under Megabyzos obliged the Greeks to retreat to the island +of Prosopites. Here they were blockaded for a year and a half; then the +besiegers turned the river aside and marched over its dry bed against the +camp of the allies, which they took by storm. The Greek expedition was +annihilated, and Inaros fell into the hands of his enemies, who sent him +to Persia and there impaled him. Amyrtaeos, however, still maintained +himself in the marshes of the Delta, and in B.C. 449 Kimon sent sixty +ships of the Athenian fleet to assist him in the struggle. But before they +could reach the coast of Egypt news arrived of the death of Kimon, and the +ships returned home. Four years later, if we may trust Philokhorus, +another Egyptian prince, Psammetikhos, who seems to have succeeded +Amyrtaeos, sent 72,000 bushels of wheat to Athens in the hope of buying +therewith Athenian help. But it does not appear to have been given, and +Egypt once more sullenly obeyed the Persian rule. We learn from Herodotos +(iii. 15) that "the great king" even allowed Thannyras and Pausiris, the +sons of his inveterate enemies Inaros and Amyrtaeos, to succeed to the +principalities of their fathers. + +Papremis was visited by Herodotos, and he saw there the sham fight between +the priests at the door of the temple on the occasion of their chief +festival. He also went to the site of the battle-field, and there beheld +"a great marvel." The skeletons of the combatants lay on separate sides of +the field just as they had fallen, and whereas the skulls of the Persians +were so thin that they could be shattered by a pebble, those of the +Egyptians were thick and strong enough to resist being battered with a +stone. The cause of this difference was explained to him by the dragoman: +the Egyptians shaved their heads from childhood and so hardened the bones +of it against the sun, while the Persians shaded their heads by constantly +wearing caps of thick felt. + +Not many years could have elapsed since the battle had occurred. The visit +of the Greek traveller to the scene of it may therefore be laid between +B.C. 455 and 450. The patriots of Egypt must have been still struggling +for their liberty among the marshes of the northern Delta. + +But the rebellion must have been practically crushed. No Greek could have +ventured into Persian territory while his countrymen were fighting against +its Persian masters. The army of Megabyzos must have done its work, and +the Athenian fleet been utterly destroyed. Moreover, it is evident that +when Herodotos entered the valley of the Nile the country was at peace. +His references to the war are to a past event, and when he speaks of +Inaros and Amyrtaeos it is of men who have ceased to be a danger to the +foreign government. The passage, indeed, in which he notices the peaceable +appointment of their sons to the principalities of their fathers may have +been inserted after his return to Greek lands, but this makes no +difference as to the main fact. When he came to Egypt it had again lapsed +into tranquil submission to the Persian power. + +In B.C. 450, Kimon, the son of Miltiades, had destroyed the naval power of +Persia, and in the following year Megabyzos was overthrown at Salamis. It +was then that the "peace of Kimon" is said to have been concluded between +Athens and the Persian king, which put an end to the long Persian war, +freed the Greek cities of Asia, and made the Mediterranean a Greek sea. +The reality of the peace has been doubted, because there is no allusion to +it in the pages of Thucydides, and it may be that it was never formally +drawn up. But the fact embodied by the story remains: for many years to +come there was truce between Greece and Persia, and the independence of +the Greek colonies in Asia Minor was acknowledged at the Persian court. +The year 449 marks the final triumph of Athens and the beginning of +Persian decline. + +Had Herodotos travelled in Egypt a year or two later, the ease and +security with which he did so would be readily explained. But in this case +we should be brought too near the time when his history was finished and +he himself was a resident in Italy. We must therefore believe that he was +there before the final blow had been struck at Persian supremacy in the +Mediterranean, but when the Athenian invasion of Egypt was already a thing +of the past, and the unarmed trader and tourist were once more able to +move freely about. + +For more than half a century Egypt had been closed to Greek curiosity. +There had been an earlier period, when the Delta at least had been +well-known to the Hellenic world. The Pharos of the future Alexandria is +already mentioned by Homer (_Od._ iv. 355); it was there, "in front of +Egypt," that Menelaos moored his ships and forced "Egyptian Proteus" to +declare to him his homeward road. Even "Egyptian Thebes," with its hundred +temple-gates, is known both to the _Iliad_ (ix. 381) and to the _Odyssey_ +(iv. 126), and the Pharaoh Polybos dwelt there when Alkandra, his wife, +loaded Menelaos with gifts. Greek mercenaries enabled Psammetikhos to +shake off the yoke of Assyria, and Greek traders made Naukratis and Daphnae +wealthy centres of commerce. Solon visited Egypt while Athens was putting +into practice the laws he had promulgated, and there he heard from the +priest of Sais that, by the side of the unnumbered centuries of Egyptian +culture, the Greeks were but children and their wisdom but the growth of +to-day. Before the Ionic revolt had broken out, while Ionia and Egypt were +still sister provinces of the same Persian empire, Hekataeos of Miletus had +travelled through the valley of the Nile, enjoying advantages for +information which no Greek could possess again till Egypt had become a +Macedonian conquest, and embodying his knowledge and experiences in a +lengthy book. + +But the Persian wars had put an end to all this peaceful intercourse +between Greece and the old land of the Pharaohs, and the Karian dragomen +who had made their living by acting as interpreters between the Greeks and +the Egyptians were forced to turn to other work. At length, however, Egypt +was once more open to visitors, and once more, therefore, visitors came +from Greece. Anaxagoras, the philosopher and friend of Perikles, was among +the first to arrive and to investigate the causes of the rise and fall of +the Nile. Hellanikos the historian, too, the older contemporary of +Herodotos, seems to have travelled in Egypt, though doubt has been cast on +the authenticity of the works in which he is supposed to have recorded his +experiences of Egyptian travel. At any rate, Herodotos found a public +fresh and eager to hear what he had to tell them about the dwellers on the +Nile. + +Herodotos must have reached Egypt in the summer. When he arrived, the +whole of the Delta was under water. He describes with the vividness of an +eye-witness how its towns appeared above the surface of the water, like +the islands in the AEgean, and how the traveller could sail, not along the +river, but across the plain. At the time of the inundation, he says, all +Egypt "becomes a sea, above which the villages alone show themselves." The +voyage from Naukratis to Memphis was direct and rapid, and the tourists in +making it passed by the pyramids instead of the apex of the Delta. + +In northern Egypt the rise of the Nile begins to be perceptible during the +first few days of July. Criers go about the streets of Cairo announcing +each day how high it has risen, and in the first or second week of August +the ceremony of cutting the Khalig or Canal of Cairo, and therewith +declaring that the Nile was once more flooding its banks, used to be +observed with great rejoicings. It is, in fact, in August that the land is +first covered with the flood. For another month the height of the water +continues to increase, and then for a short while to remain stationary. +But towards the end of October, when the canals of Upper Egypt are +emptied, there is again another rise, soon followed by a rapid fall. If +the Delta was like a sea when Herodotos saw it, he must have been there +between the beginning of July and the end of October. + +These are the limits of the time which he could have spent in the country. +That he did not remain till after the fall of the river and the drying up +of the land is evident from incidental statements in his work. Thus when +he visited the Fayyum it was like the Delta, a sea of waters, and the +pyramids of Biahmu, which Professor Petrie's excavations have shown to +have always stood on dry land, as they still do to-day, were seen by him +in the middle of a vast lake. Nowhere, indeed, is there any hint of his +having seen the country in its normal condition. Even his reference to +Kerkosoros, at the apex of the Delta, which every traveller to Memphis had +to pass except at the period of high Nile, is derived from "the Ionian" +writers of a previous generation, not from his own experience. Neither in +going nor in returning was his boat obliged to pass that way. We need not +be surprised, therefore, at finding that the festivals he witnessed in the +Egyptian towns were those which took place in the summer. + +Herodotos had not the time to imitate the example of his predecessor +Hekataeos and visit Upper Egypt, nor, indeed, was the summer a fitting +season for doing so. Consequently, while he lavishes his admiration on the +temples and pyramids of the Delta, of Memphis and of the Fayyum, he has +nothing to say about the still more striking temples of the south. +"Hundred-gated Thebes," whose fame had already penetrated to the Homeric +Greeks, and whose tombs and colossi led the Greek tourists of the +Macedonian age to scribble upon them their expressions of admiration and +awe, is known to him only by name. The extravagance of his praise is +reserved for the Labyrinth; about the nobler and more majestic buildings +of the capital of Upper Egypt he is absolutely silent. Against the statues +of the Egyptian kings which Hekataeos saw at Thebes, Herodotos can bring +only a smaller number which he saw at Memphis. + +The monuments even now contain evidence that, after the age of Hekataeos, +Greek sightseers did not make their way into southern Egypt until the +Macedonian conquest had made travel there easy and safe. At Abu-Simbel in +Nubia and Abydos in Upper Egypt are the records of the Greek mercenaries +of Psammetikhos and their Greek and Karian contemporaries who visited the +oracle of Abydos. But then comes a long blank in the history of Greek +writing in Egypt. With the foundation of Alexander's empire a new epoch in +it begins. From that time forward the walls of the tombs and temples were +covered with the scrawls of innumerable Greek visitors. At Thebes the +royal tombs were especial objects of attention, and ciceroni led the +inquisitive stranger round them just as they do to-day. + +But among all the mass of Greek names that have been collected from the +monuments of Upper Egypt we find neither that of Herodotos nor of any +other of his countrymen of the same age. In fact, it was not a time for +sightseeing in the southern valley of the Nile. The population were in +only half-repressed rebellion against their Persian rulers, and the whole +country swarmed with bandits. Persian authority was necessarily weaker +than in the north, and the people were more combative and had near allies +in the desert, the Bedouin and the Ethiopians. A voyage up the river was +even more dangerous than in the anarchical days of the last century: +pirates abounded, and out of reach of the Persian garrison at Memphis the +traveller carried his life in his hand. As in the time of Norden no +Egyptian bey could or would allow the traveller in Nubia to go south of +Dirr, so in the time of Herodotos the southern limit of the foreigner's +travels was the Fayyum. The "Egypt into which Greeks sail" was, as he +himself declares, the Egypt which lay north of the Theban nome and Lake +Moeris. + +Even a visit to the Fayyum was doubtless a bold and unusual undertaking, +and on this account Herodotos describes what he saw there at more than +ordinary length, and extols the wonders of the district at the expense of +the better-known monuments of Memphis and the Delta. But the Oasis had +suffered much from the civil troubles which had afflicted Egypt. The dykes +which kept out the inundation had been neglected, and the fertile nome was +transformed into a stagnant lake. Herodotos saw it as the French _savans_ +saw it at the beginning of the present century; the embankments were +broken, and fields and roads were alike submerged. + +From the walls of the capital of the province, whose mounds now lie +outside Medinet el-Fayyum, Herodotos looked northward over a vast expanse +of water. "Nearly in the middle of it," he tells us, "stand two pyramids, +each of them rising 304 feet above the water ... and both surmounted by +colossal stone figures seated upon a throne." The shattered fragments of +the colossi were found by Professor Petrie in 1888, scattered round the +pyramidal pedestals, twenty-one feet high, on which they had been placed. +Cut out of hard quartzite sandstone, they represented Amon-em-hat III., +the creator of the Fayyum, and their discoverer calculates that they were +each thirty-five feet in height. The fragments are now at Oxford in the +Ashmolean Museum. The statues faced northward, and the court within which +they stood was surrounded by a wall with a gateway of red granite. The +pedestals still remain fairly intact, and the road by the side of which +they had been erected is still used to-day. The monuments, in fact, were +erected high above the inundation, and that Herodotos should have seen +them in the midst of the water is but a further proof of the condition of +the country at the time. The Lake Moeris he describes was not the true +Moeris of Egyptian geography; it was the Fayyum itself buried beneath the +flood. + +The total height of the colossi from the ground, according to Professor +Petrie, was about sixty feet. Between this and the 304 feet assigned to +them by the Greek traveller there is indeed a wide difference. But +Herodotos could not have seen them close at hand, and the measurement he +gives must have been a mere guess. It warns us, however, not to put +overmuch faith in his statements, even when they are the results of +personal observation. He was but a tourist, not a man of science, and he +cared more for the tales of his dragoman and novel sights than for +scientific surveying and exactitude. + +Hence comes the assertion that before the time of Menes the whole country +between the sea and Lake Moeris was a marsh. Such a statement is +intelligible only if we remember that, when Herodotos sailed up the Nile, +its banks were inundated on either side. Had he seen the country south of +Memphis as the modern traveller sees it when the water is subsiding and +green fields begin to line the course of the river, he could never have +entertained the belief. But all distinction between the Delta and the rest +of Egypt was hidden from him by the waters of the inundation. That he +should have made the Fayyum the limit of the marsh is indeed natural; it +was the limit of his exploration of Upper Egypt, and consequently he did +not know that from Memphis southward to Edfu the valley of the Nile +presents the same features. + +The strange error he twice commits in imagining that there were vaults +under the pyramid of Kheops in an island formed by a canal which the +builder had introduced from the Nile is due to the same cause. Doubtless +his dragoman had told him something of the kind. A subterraneous chamber +in the rock actually exists under the great pyramid, as was discovered by +Caviglia, and there are pyramids into whose lower chambers the Nile has +long since infiltrated. Professor Maspero found his exploration of the +pyramids of Lisht, south of Dahshur, stopped by the water which had filled +them, and Professor Petrie had the same experience in the brick pyramid of +Howara, though here the infiltration of the water seems to have been +caused by a canal dug in Arab times. But the pyramids of Gizeh stand on a +plateau of limestone rock secure against the approach of water, and the +story reported by Herodotos is more probably the result of misapprehension +on his own part than of intentional falsehood on the part of his guides. +His ready credence of it, however, can be explained only by the condition +of the country at the time of his visit. The whole land was covered with +water, and in going to Memphis he had to sail by the pyramids themselves. +It was in a boat that his visit to them must have been made; and it was +easy, therefore, to believe that a canal ran from the water on which he +sailed through the tunnelled rock whereon they stood. He did not know that +the lowest chamber of the pyramid was high above the utmost level of the +flood. + +Surprise has often been expressed that Herodotos should make no mention of +the Sphinx, which to Arabs and modern Europeans alike has appeared one of +most noteworthy monuments of Gizeh. But in sailing along the canal which +led from Memphis to the pyramids he would have passed by it without +notice. As his boat made its way to the rocky edge on which the huge +sepulchres of Kheops and Khephren are built, it would have been concealed +from his view; and buried as it was in sand his guides did not think it an +object of such surpassing importance as to lead him to it over the burning +sand. In the immediate neighbourhood of the great pyramid he was +surrounded by monuments more interesting and more striking, which were +quite enough to occupy his day and satisfy his curiosity. + +South of the Fayyum and the adjoining city of Herakleopolis, whose ruins +are now known as Ahnas el-Medineh, all that Herodotos has to tell us is +derived from older authors. Now and then, it is true, the first person is +used, and we think for a moment that he is describing his own adventures. +But he is merely quoting from others, and there are no marks of quotation +in the manuscript to show us that such is the case. His book is thus like +that of another and later Egyptian traveller, Mr. J. A. St. John, whose +_Egypt and Nubia_ was published in English only fifty years ago. He too +embodies the narratives of his predecessors in the record of his own +journey up the Nile without any notice or signs that he is doing so, and +it is not until we suddenly light on the name of an earlier writer at the +bottom of the page that we become aware of the fact. Herodotos has not +given us even this help; and we need not wonder, therefore, that +commentators who have never been in Egypt have been deceived by his method +of work. But he has preserved fragments of older writers which would +otherwise have been lost, and if he has mingled them with the stories he +heard from the dragomen of Memphis and Sais, or the answers he received to +his questions about Greek legends, we must not feel ungrateful. + +Upper Egypt is mentioned only incidentally in his narrative, and, as might +be expected in a writer who had to depend upon others for his information, +what he tells us about it is very frequently incorrect. Thus he asserts +that the hippopotamus was "sacred in the nome of Papremis, but nowhere +else in Egypt," although it was also worshipped in Thebes, and he fancies +that all the cats in the country were embalmed and buried at Bubastis, all +the hawks and mice at Buto, and all the ibises at Hermopolis or Damanhur. +But this was because he had visited these places and had not travelled in +the south. Had he done so, he would never have imagined that the body of +every cat or hawk that died was carried to a distant place in the Delta. +Indeed, in the hot weather of the summer months, anything of the kind +would have been impossible. Cemeteries, however, of these sacred animals +are found all up and down the Nile. The mummies of the sacred cats are to +be met with in the cliffs of Gebel Abu Foda, at Thebes, and above all at +Beni Hassan, where a little to the south of the Speos Artemidos such +quantities of them were recently discovered as to suggest that a +commercial profit might be made out of their bones. Tons of them were +accordingly shipped to Liverpool, there to be converted into manure; but +as it was found that the mummified bones refused to yield to the process, +the exportation ceased. Mummies of the sacred hawks were disinterred in +equal numbers when the ancient cemeteries of Ekhmim were excavated a few +years ago, and the construction of the canal on the eastern bank opposite +Abutig has lately brought to light another of their burial-places, thus +fixing the site of Hierakon, "the city of the Hawk," the capital of the +twelfth nome. + +In his geography of the river above the Fayyum Herodotos was similarly +misinformed. Thus, he avers that "the country above the Fayyum for the +distance of a three days' voyage resembles the country below it." A three +days' voyage would mean about eighty miles, since he reckons it a voyage +of seven days from the sea to the Fayyum, a distance of about 190 miles. +Dahabiyeh travellers will willingly assent to the calculation. With a fair +wind, a day's voyage is about thirty miles, more or less, so that 190 +miles could be easily traversed in seven days. Now eighty miles would +bring the visitor from the Fayyum to Qolosaneh and the Gebel et-Ter. For +many miles before reaching the Gebel the banks of the Nile wear a very +different aspect from that which they present lower down. In place of a +dull monotony of sand-banks and level plains, there are picturesque lines +of cliff, amphitheatres of desert and rugged headlands. It is only as far +as Feshn, twenty miles to the south of Herakleopolis, that the description +of Herodotos is correct. It is, in fact, merely based on what he could see +from the southernmost point to which he attained. + +The view which he had from thence over the flat desert reaches of Libya +led him to make another statement equally wide of the truth. It is that +for four days after leaving Heliopolis the valley of the Nile is narrow, +but that then it once more becomes broad. But such was the case only where +the Fayyum and the province of Beni-Suef spread towards the west, and +there too only when they are covered with the waters of the inundation. +Elsewhere the cultivated valley is for the most part narrower even than in +the neighbourhood of Memphis, where it seemed to the Greek traveller to be +so confined; here and there, indeed, as at Abydos and Thebes, it broadens +out for a space, but otherwise the wilderness encroaches upon it ever more +and more until at Silsilis the barren rocks obliterate it altogether. + +Herodotos knows nothing of the great monuments of Thebes, and the Pharaohs +accordingly whose names he records have no connection with the ancient +capital of the empire. They belong to Memphis, to the Fayyum, and to the +Delta--none of them to Thebes. Even Sesostris, in whom some of the features +of Ramses II. may be detected, reigns in the north rather than in the +south. Of all the multitudinous monuments that he has left, two only are +known to the Greek traveller, and these are the two statues of himself +which stood before the temple of Ptah in Memphis. + +Of Thothmes and Amenophis and the other great monarchs of the eighteenth +dynasty whose memorials were to be found chiefly in the south, Herodotos +had never heard. All that he knew of the kings of Egypt before the age of +Psammetikhos was derived from the stories which his guides attached to the +monuments which he actually saw. Had he visited the temples and tombs of +Thebes and Abydos and Assuan we should have been told how Memnon led his +troops to Troy or how Osymandyas conquered the world. But we have to turn +to others for the dragoman's tales of Upper Egypt; Herodotos could not +record them, for he was never there. The Fayyum is the southernmost limit +of his historical knowledge, because it is also the southernmost limit of +his geographical knowledge. + +And yet here and there we come across notices of Upper Egypt, some of +which have been written by an eye-witness. But the eye-witness was not +Herodotos himself, and in giving them he generally gives an indication of +the fact. Thus he describes Khemmis or Ekhmim as "near Neapolis," the +modern Qeneh, although the distance between the two towns is really +ninety-five miles, a voyage of at least three days, and Neapolis was but +an insignificant city by the side of Khemmis itself, or of other towns +like This and Abydos that were nearer to it. Even Tentyris or Denderah, +with its ancient temple of Hathor opposite Neapolis, was more important +and better-known, while Thebes itself was only forty-five miles higher up +the river. + +But the account given by Herodotos of Khemmis and its temple is a mere +product of the imagination. Indeed, he implies that he received it from +certain "people of Khemmis" whom he had questioned, probably through his +interpreter. They told him that the temple, of which a few remains are +still visible, and which was really dedicated to Min or Amon-Khem, was +that of the Greek hero Perseus--a name suggested, it may be, by its +likeness to that of the sacred persea tree. Each year, it was further +alleged, gymnastic games in the Greek fashion were celebrated in honour of +the foreign deity, who at times appeared to his worshippers, leaving +behind him his sandal famous in Greek mythology. But the inventive powers +of the informants of the Greek traveller did not stop here. He further +assures us that the pylon of the temple bore on the summits of its two +towers two images of the deity. The statement is of itself sufficient to +discredit the whole story and to prove that Herodotos could never have +seen the temple with his own eyes. The watch-towers that guarded the +entrance of an Egyptian temple never had, and never could have, images on +their roofs. They were needed for other purposes, and the very idea of +their supporting statues was contrary to the first principles of Egyptian +architecture and religion. It was a conception wholly Greek. + +Equally wide of the truth is what Herodotos has to tell us about the First +Cataract. Like other travellers to Egypt before and since he was anxious +to learn something about the sources of the Nile. But neither "the +Egyptians nor the Libyans nor the Greeks" whom he met could give him any +information. Perhaps had he sailed as far as Assuan some of the Ethiopians +who lived there might have been more communicative. At last, however, he +was introduced to one of the sacred scribes in the temple of Neit at +Sais--the only Egyptian priest, in fact, of higher rank, whom he seems to +have conversed with--and the scribe humoured the curiosity of the traveller +to the utmost of his desires, though even Herodotos suspected that he was +being made fun of. However, as in duty bound, he gravely writes down what +he was told. "Two mountains are there with pointed tops, between Syene, a +city of the Thebais, and Elephantine, which are called Krophi and Mophi. +Out of the heart of these mountains flow the sources of the Nile, which +are bottomless, half the water running towards Egypt and the north, while +the other half goes to Ethiopia and the south. That the sources are +bottomless was proved by Psammetikhos, the king of Egypt, for after +letting down into them a rope several hundred thousand fathoms in length, +he did not find the bottom." Herodotos adds that this was probably because +there were violent eddies in the water which carried the rope away. + +Egyptian priests did not, as a rule, know Greek, and they avoided any kind +of intercourse with the "unclean" foreigner. Even to have conversed with +him would have caused pollution. Consequently "the priests" to whom +Herodotos so frequently alludes were merely the "beadles" of the day, who +took the tourist over the temples and showed him the principal objects of +interest. The sacred scribe of Sais was an exception to the general rule. +Since the days of Psammetikhos, Sais had been accustomed to Greek +visitors, and the prejudices against them were less strong there than in +other Egyptian towns. It is quite possible, therefore, that the scribe +whom Herodotos met was acquainted with the Greek language, and that no +dragoman was required to interpret his words. + +There is a reason for thinking that such was the case. The story of Krophi +and Mophi, in spite of the suspicions of Herodotos, is remarkably correct; +even the name of Krophi has not undergone a greater amount of +transformation than it might have done if Herodotos had written it down +himself from the scribe's mouth. It is the Egyptian Qerti or Qoriti, "the +two holes" out of which Egyptian mythology supposed Hapi, the Nile-god, to +emerge at the period of the inundation. The Qerti were at the foot of the +granite peaks of Senem, the island of Bigeh, and of the opposite cliff on +the southern side of the First Cataract. We can almost fix the exact spot +where one of these Qerti was believed to have been. On the western bank of +Philae, immediately facing Bigeh, is a portal built in the reign of +Hadrian, on the inner north wall of which is a picture of it. We see the +granite blocks of Bigeh piled one upon the other up to the summit of the +island where Mut the divine mother, and Horus the saviour, sit and keep +watch over the waters of the southern Nile. Below is the cavern, encircled +by a guardian serpent, within which the Nile-god is crouched, pouring from +a vase in either hand the waters of the river. Though in certain points +Herodotos has misunderstood his informant, on the whole the story of +Krophi and Mophi is a fairly accurate page from the volume of Egyptian +mythology. Even the jingling Mophi may be derived from the Egyptian +_moniti_ or "mountains" between which the river ran, though Lauth may be +right in holding that Krophi is Qer-Hapi, "the hollow of the Nile," and +Mophi Mu-Hapi, "the waters of the Nile." + +But in one point the Greek historian has made a serious mistake. It was +not between Assuan and Elephantine that the sources of the Nile were +placed, but between Bigeh and the mainland, on the other side of the +Cataract. Between Assuan and Elephantine there are no "mountains," only +the channel of the river. In saying therefore that Krophi and Mophi were +mountains and that they rose between Syene and Elephantine, Herodotos +proves beyond all possibility of doubt that he had never been at the spot. +Had he actually visited Assuan the words of the sacred scribe would have +been reported more correctly. + +At Elephantine honours were paid to "the great" god of the Nile, who rose +from his caverns in the neighbourhood. Of this we have been assured by a +mutilated Greek inscription on a large slab of granite which was +discovered by English sappers at Assuan in 1885. It records the endowments +and privileges which were granted to the priests of Elephantine by the +earlier Ptolemies, and one line of it refers to the places "wherein is the +fountain of the Nile." But long before the days of the Ptolemies and of +Greek visitors to Egypt, when the First Cataract was the boundary of +Egyptian rule and knowledge, the fountain of the Nile was already placed +immediately beyond it. This infantile belief of Egyptian mythology was +preserved, like so much else of prehistoric antiquity, in the mythology of +later days. In the temple of Redesiyeh, on the road from Edfu to Berenike, +an inscription relates how Seti I. dug a well in the desert and how the +water gushed up, "as from the depth of the two Qerti of Elephantine." Here +the bottomless springs are transferred from Bigeh to Elephantine, thus +explaining how Herodotos could have been led into his error of supposing +them to be two mountains between Elephantine and Assuan. Doubtless the +sacred scribe had marked the position of the island of Bigeh by its +relation to the better known island of Elephantine. + +The very name of the city which stood on the southern extremity of +Elephantine implied that here, in the days of its foundation, was placed +the source of the Egyptian Nile. It was called Qebhu, the city of "fresh +water," a word represented by the picture of a vase from which water is +flowing. At times the city was also called Abu, but Abu was more correctly +the name of the island on which it stood. Abu, in fact, signified the +island "of elephants," of which the Greek Elephantine was but a +translation. In that early age, when it first became known to the +Egyptians, the African elephant must still have existed there. + +Herodotos does not seem to have been aware that Elephantine was an island +as well as a city. Except where he is reporting the words of the sacred +scribe, he always speaks of it as "a city," sometimes to the exclusion of +the more important Syene. It is another sign that his voyage up the Nile +did not extend so far. + +We need not point out other instances of his ignorance of the country +above the Fayyum. Those which have been already quoted are enough. The +summer months which he spent in Egypt were more than fully employed in +visiting the wonders of Memphis and the chief cities of the Delta, and in +exploring the Fayyum. Upper Egypt was closed to him, as it was to the rest +of his countrymen for many a long day. + +But we are now able to trace his journey with some degree of exactness. He +must have arrived about the beginning of July at the mouth of the Kanopic +arm of the Nile--the usual destination of Greek ships--and thus have made +his way by Hermopolis or Damanhur to the Greek capital Naukratis. There he +doubtless hired his Karian dragoman, with whom he sailed away over the +inundated land to Sais. But his expedition to Sais was only an excursion, +from which he returned to continue his voyage in a direct line past +Prosopitis and the pyramids of Gizeh to Memphis. There he inspected the +great temple of Ptah, whom his countrymen identified with their Hephaestos, +and from thence he went by water to see the pyramids. It was while he was +at Memphis, moreover, that he paid a visit to Heliopolis, with its +university and its temple, of which all that is left to-day is the obelisk +of Usertesen. Next he made his voyage up the Nile, past the brick pyramids +of Dahshur, to Anysis or Herakleopolis, and from thence to the Fayyum. +Then he returned to Memphis, and then again passing Heliopolis sailed +northward to Bubastis and Buto. It was now probably that he made +excursions to Papremis and Busiris, though our ignorance of the precise +situation of these places unfortunately prevents us from being certain of +the fact. Eventually he found himself at Daphnae, on the Pelusiac branch of +the Nile. This brought him to Pelusium, where he took ship for Tyre. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. IN THE STEPS OF HERODOTOS. + + +Let us follow Herodotos in his Egyptian journey and meet him where he +landed at the Kanopic mouth of the Nile. The place had been known to Greek +sailors in days of which tradition alone had preserved a memory. It was +here that pirates and traders had raided the fields of the _fellahin_ or +exchanged slaves and AEgean vases for the precious wares of Egypt in the +age when Achaean princes ruled at Mykenae and Tiryns. Guided by the island +of Pharos, they had made their way a few miles eastward to the mouth of +the great river which is called Aigyptos in the _Odyssey_. + +When Egypt was at last opened to Greek trade and enterprise in the time of +the twenty-sixth dynasty it was still the Kanopic arm of the Nile towards +which their vessels had to steer. Nowhere else were they allowed to land +their goods or sail up the sacred stream of the Nile. If stress of weather +drove them to some other part of the coast, they were forced to remain +there till the wind permitted them to sail to Kanopos or to send their +goods in native boats by the same route. From time immemorial the coast of +the Delta had been carefully guarded against the piratical attacks of the +barbarians of the north. Watch-towers and garrisons were established at +fitting intervals along it, which were under the charge of a special +officer. The mouth of the Kanopic branch of the river was guarded with +more than usual care, and here was the custom-house through which all +foreign goods had to pass. + +Kanopos, from which the arm of the river took its name, was a small but +wealthy city. It was called in Egyptian Peguath, sometimes also Kah-n-Nub, +"the soil of gold" from the yellow sand on which it was built, though +Greek vanity believed that this name had been given to it from Kanobos, +the pilot of Menelaos, whose tomb was of course discovered there. In later +days, when Alexandria had absorbed its commerce and industry, it became, +along with the outlying Zephyrion, a fashionable Alexandrine suburb. It +was filled with drinking-shops and chapels, to which the pleasure-loving +crowds of Alexandria used to make their way by the canal that united the +two cities. The sick came also to seek healing in the temple of Serapis, +or to ask the god to tell them the means of cure. The rich, too, had their +villas close to the shrine of Aphrodite Arsinoe, on the breezy promontory +of Zephyrion, while the rocks on the shore were cut into +luxuriously-fitted baths for those who wished to bathe in the sea. + +The site of Zephyrion is now occupied by the little village of Abukir, +memorable in the annals of England and France. In 1891 Daninos Pasha made +some excavations there which brought to light a few scanty remains of the +temple of Aphrodite. The foundations of its walls were found, as well as +two limestone sphinxes inscribed with the name of Amon-em-hat IV., and +three great statues of red granite, one of them upright, the others +seated. The upright figure was that of Ramses II. with a roll of papyrus +in his hand; while the other two were female, one of them being a +representation of Hont-ma-Ra, the Pharaoh's wife. The sphinxes and statues +must have been brought from some older building to decorate the shrine of +the Alexandrine goddess, and their discoverer believes that the figure of +Ramses II. is older even than the age of that monarch, who has usurped it, +and that it goes back to the epoch of the twelfth dynasty. Other relics of +the temple--fragments of red granite from some gigantic naos, portions of +statues, broken sphinxes, and a colossal human foot--strew the rocks at the +foot of the promontory whereon Zephyrion stood and bear witness to the +intensity of Christian zeal when paganism was abolished in Egypt. + +The Kanopic arm of the Nile has long since been filled up, and the +_fellah_ ploughs his field or the water-fowl congregate in the stagnant +marsh where Greek trading ships once sailed. But a large part of the marsh +is now in process of being reclaimed, and the engineers who have been +draining and washing it have come across many traces of the ancient +Kanopos. It lay to the east of Zephyrion, between the shore and the marshy +lake. + +Though the journey from Alexandria to Abukir must now be undertaken in a +railway carriage and not in a barge, it is still pleasant in the early +autumn. We pass through fertile gardens and forests of fig-trees, past +groves of palm with rich clusters of red dates hanging from them, while +the cool sea-breeze blows in at the window, and the clear blue sky shines +overhead. But instead of temples and taverns we find at the end of our +journey nothing but sand and sea-shells, broken monuments, and a deserted +shore. + +The vessel in which Herodotos must have gone from Kanopos to Naukratis was +probably native rather than Greek. It would have differed in one important +respect from the Nile-boats of to-day. Its sail was square, not triangular +like the modern lateen sails which have been introduced from the Levant. +But in other respects it resembled the vessels which are still used on the +Nile. Part of the deck was covered with the house in which the traveller +lived, and which was divided into rooms, and fitted up in accordance with +the ideas of the day. Awnings protected it from the sun, and the sides of +the boat as well as the rudder were brilliantly painted. + +On the way to Naukratis the voyager passed Hermopolis, the modern +Damanhur, a name which is merely the old Egyptian _Dema n Hor_, or "City +of Horus." It is not surprising, therefore, that Herodotos refers to the +city, though the statement he makes in regard to it is not altogether +correct. All the dead ibises of Egypt, he says, were carried to Hermopolis +to be embalmed and buried. Such might have been the case on the western +side of the Delta, but it was true only of that limited district. There +was another Hermopolis in the east of the Delta, called Bah in ancient +Egyptian, Tel el-Baqliyeh in modern times, where a large burial-place of +the sacred ibises was discovered by the _fellahin_ six or seven years ago. +Tel el-Baqliyeh is the second station on the line of railway from Mansurah +to Abu Kebir, and from it have come the bronze ibises and ibis-heads which +have filled the shops of the Cairene dealers in antiquities. The bronzes +were found among the multitudinous mummies of the sacred bird, like the +bronze cats in the cemetery of the sacred cat at Bubastis. Bah was, in +fact, the holy city of the "nome of the Ibis." The mound of the old city +has now been almost demolished by the hunter for _antikas_, but Dr. +Naville noticed some fragments of inscribed stone in the neighbouring +village which led him to believe that Nektanebo II. once intended to erect +a temple here to Thoth. + +From Hermopolis to Naukratis was a short distance. Naukratis was the +capital of the Egyptian Greeks, and its site, which had been lost for +centuries, was discovered by Professor Flinders Petrie in 1884, when he +was working for the Egypt Exploration Fund. The Fund had been formed with +the primary intention of finding the sites of Pithom and Naukratis, and it +had been hardly two years in existence before that intention was +fulfilled. + +If we leave the train at Teh el-Barud, the junction of the Upper Egyptian +line of railway with that from Alexandria to Cairo, and turn our faces +westward, we shall have a pleasant walk of about five miles, part of it +under an avenue of trees, to a mound of potsherds which covers several +acres in extent and is known to the natives as Kom Qa'if. This mound +represents all that is left of Naukratis. To the west of it runs a canal, +the modern successor of the ancient Kanopic branch of the Nile. + +When Professor Petrie first visited the spot, the diggers for _sebah_ had +already been busily at work. _Sebah_ is the nitrous earth from the sites +of old cities, which is used as manure, and to the search for it we owe +the discovery of many memorials of the past. At Kom Qa'if the larger part +of the earth had been removed, and all that remained were the fragments of +pottery which had been sifted from it. But the fragments were sufficient +to reveal the history of the place. Most of them belonged to the archaic +period of the Greek vase-maker's art, and were such as had never before +been found in the land of Egypt. It was evident that the great city whose +site they covered must have been the Naukratis of the Greeks. + +As soon as Professor Petrie had settled down to the excavation of the +mound, a few months after his discovery, the evidence of inscriptions was +added to the evidence of potsherds. An inscribed stone from the mound was +standing at the entrance of the country-house in which he lived, and on +turning it over he found it was engraved with Greek letters which recorded +the honours paid by "the city of the Naukratians" to Heliodoros the priest +of Athena and the keeper of its archives. For two winters first Mr. Petrie +and then Mr. Ernest Gardner worked at the ruins, and though more +excavations are needed before they can be exhaustively explored, the plan +of the old city has been mapped out, the history of its growth and decline +has been traced, and a vast number of archaic Greek inscriptions from the +dedicated vases of its temples have been secured. + +To the south of the town were the fortress and camp of the Greek +mercenaries, who were probably settled there by Psammetikhos. The camp was +surrounded by a wall, and within it stood the Hellenion, the common altar +of the Ionians from Khios, Teos, Phokaea and Klazomenae, of the Dorians from +Rhodes, Knidos, Halikarnassos and Phaselis, and of the AEolians of +Mytilene. The great enclosure still remains, as well as the lower chambers +of the fort, and Mr. Petrie found that in the time of Ptolemy +Philadelphus, when it was no longer needed for purposes of defence, it was +provided with a stately entrance, to which an avenue of ruins led from the +west. + +The traders and settlers built their houses north of the camp. Here too +the Greek sailors and merchants, who had taken no part in the erection of +the great altar, and who perhaps had no relations among the soldiers of +the fort, built special temples for themselves. If we walk across the +level ground which separates the fort from the old city, the first heap of +rubbish we come to marks the site of the temple and sacred enclosure of +Castor and Pollux. A little to the north was the still larger temple and +_temenos_ or sacred enclosure of Apollo, and adjoining it, still on the +north side, was the temple of Here, whose _temenos_ was the largest of +all. The temple of Apollo had been erected by the Milesians, and that it +was the oldest in the city may be gathered from the archaic character of +the inscriptions on the potsherds discovered in the trench into which the +broken vases of the temple were thrown. The Samians were the builders of +the temple of Here, and Herodotos tells us that there was another +dedicated to Zeus by the AEginetans. The ruins of this, however, have not +yet been found, but far away towards the northern end of the ruin a small +temple and _temenos_ of Aphrodite have been brought to light. Here +Rhodopis worshipped, who had been freed from slavery by the brother of +Sappho, and whose charms were still celebrated at Naukratis in the days of +Herodotos. + +Among the potsherds disinterred from the rubbish-trench of the temple of +Apollo were portions of a large and beautiful bowl dedicated to "Phanes, +the son of Glaukos." Mr. Gardner is probably right in believing that this +is the very Phanes who deserted to Kambyses, and, according to the Greek +story, instructed him how to march across the desert into Egypt. It may be +that Herodotos saw the bowl when it was still intact, and that the story +of the deserter was told him over it; in any case, it was doubtless at +Naukratis, and possibly from the priests of Apollo, that he heard it. + +To the west of the temple of Apollo and divided from it only by a street, +Mr. Petrie found what had been a manufactory of scarabs. They were of the +blue and white kind that was fashionable in the Greek world in the sixth +century before our era, and the earliest of them bear the name of Amasis. +From Naukratis they were exported to the shores of Europe and Asia along +with the pottery for which the Greek city was famous. + +On his way to Naukratis Herodotos had passed two other Greek settlements, +Anthylla and Arkhandropolis. But we do not yet know where they stood. Nor +do we know the position of that "Fort of the Milesians" which, according +to Strabo, was occupied by Milesian soldiers near Rosetta in the time of +Psammetikhos, before they sailed upon the river into "the nome of Sais" +and there founded Naukratis. + +The city of Sais was one of the objects of Herodotos's journey. In the +period of the inundation it was within an easy distance of Naukratis, so +that an excursion to it did not require much time. Sais was the birthplace +and capital of the Pharaohs of the twenty-sixth dynasty; it was here that +Psammetikhos raised the standard of rebellion against his Assyrian +suzerain with the help of the Greek mercenaries, and his successors +adorned it with splendid and costly buildings. When Herodotos visited it, +it had lost none of its architectural magnificence. He saw there the +palace from which Apries had gone forth to attack Amasis, and to which he +returned a prisoner; the great temple of Neit, with its rows of sphinxes +and its sacred lake; and the huge naos of granite which two thousand men +spent three whole years in bringing from Assuan. It had been left just +outside the enclosure within which the temple stood, as well as the tombs +of Apries and Amasis, and even of the god Osiris himself. True, there was +a rival sepulchre of Osiris at Abydos, venerated by the inhabitants of +Upper Egypt since the days of the Old Empire, but Abydos was far distant +from Sais, and when the latter city became the capital of the kingdom +there was none bold enough to deny its claim. Herodotos, at all events, +who never reached Abydos, was naturally never informed of the rival tomb. + +He was told, however, of the mystery-play acted at night on the sacred +lake of Sais in memory of the death and resurrection of Osiris, and he was +told also of the shameful insult inflicted by Kambyses on the dead Amasis. +It was said that the Pharaoh's mummy had been dragged from its +resting-place, and after being scourged was burnt to ashes. The Egyptian +priests bore no good-will to Kambyses, and it may be, therefore, that the +story is not true. + +Sais was under the protection of the goddess Neit, the unbegotten mother +of the sun. When the Greeks first came there, they identified the goddess +with their own Athena, led thereto by the similarity of the names. But +this identification led to further results. As Athena was the patron +goddess of Athens, so it was supposed that there was a special connection +between Sais and Athens. While Athena was fabled to have come from Libya, +Kekrops, the mythic founder of Athens, was transformed into an Egyptian of +Sais. It was from a priest of Sais, moreover, that Solon, the Athenian +legislator, learned the wisdom of the Egyptians. + +The squalid village of Sa el-Hagar, "Sais of the stone," is the modern +representative of the capital of Psammetikhos. In these days of railways +it is difficult of access, as there is no station in its neighbourhood. In +the earlier part of the century, however, when the traveller had to go +from Alexandria to Cairo in a dahabiyeh, he was compelled to pass it, and +it was consequently well-known to the tourist. But little is left of the +populous city and its stately monuments except mounds of disintegrated +brick, a large enclosure surrounded by a crude brick wall seventy feet +thick, and the sacred lake. The lake, however, is sacred no longer; +shrunken in size and choked with rubbish, it is a stagnant pool in the +winter, and an expanse of half-dried mud in the late spring. It is +situated within the great wall, which is that of the _temenos_ of Neit. +Stone is valuable in the Delta, and hardly a fragment of granite or +limestone survives from all the buildings and colossal monuments that +Herodotos saw. But in 1891 a great number of bronze figures of Neit, some +of them inlaid with silver, were found there by the _fellahin_. They are +of the careful and finished workmanship that marks the age of the +twenty-sixth dynasty, and on one of the largest of them is a two-fold +inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs and the letters and language of the +Karians. It was dedicated to the goddess of Sais in the reign of +Psammetikhos by a son of a Karian mother and an Egyptian father who bore +both an Egyptian and a Karian name. It is an interesting proof of the +readiness of some at least among the natives of Sais to mingle with the +foreigner, and it shows further that the Karian mercenaries, like the +Greeks, brought their wives and daughters along with them. + +Herodotos seems to have been at Sais when the festival of "burning lamps" +was celebrated there. On the night of the festival lamps were lighted +round about the houses in the open air, the lamps being cups filled with +salt and oil, on the surface of which a wick floated. All who could +thronged to Sais to take part in the ceremonies; those who could not be +there lighted their lamps at home and so observed the rites due to Neit. +The festival took place in the summer, probably at the time of the summer +solstice, and the illuminations characteristic of it are still perpetuated +in some of the numerous festivals of modern Egypt. The annual festival in +honour of Isis was observed all over Egypt in the same way. + +As the Greek traveller approached Memphis the pyramids of Gizeh were shown +to him towering over the water on his right. His visit to them was +reserved to another day, and he continued to sail on to the ancient +capital of the country. Memphis was still in all its glory. Its lofty +walls of crude brick, painted white, shone in the sun, and its great +temple of Ptah still preserved the monuments and records of the early +dynasties of Egypt. Built on an embankment rescued from the Nile, it was +said, by Menes, the first monarch of the united kingdom, Memphis, though +of no great width, extended along the banks of the river for a distance of +half-a-day's journey. To the west, in the desert, lay its necropolis, the +city of the dead, reaching from Abu Roash on the north to Dahshur on the +south. On the opposite side of the Nile, a little to the north, was the +fortress of Khri-Ahu, which guarded the approach to the river. Where Cairo +now stands Herodotos saw only sand and water. Even Khri-Ahu was merely an +insignificant village at the foot of a fortress of mud brick; the strong +walls and towers of hewn stone in which the Roman legion afterwards kept +ward over Egypt were as yet unbuilt. All who could afford it lived in +Memphis and its suburbs, and the rock-hewn tombs at the foot of the +citadel of modern Cairo are of the Roman age. + +From Memphis to Heliopolis was rather more than twenty miles, or a +morning's row on the river. Herodotos, therefore, after having been told +at Memphis of the experiment made by Psammetikhos to discover the origin +of language, speaks of having "turned into" Heliopolis in order to make +further inquiries about the matter, "for the Heliopolitans are said to be +the best informed of the Egyptians." We may gather from his words that he +made an excursion to Heliopolis while he was staying in Memphis. But he +would have passed it again on his homeward voyage. + +The site of Heliopolis is well-known to every tourist who has been to +Cairo. The drive to the garden and ostrich-farm of Matariyeh and the +obelisk of Usertesen I. is a pleasant way of filling up an afternoon. But +of the ancient city of Heliopolis or On, with its famous temple of Ra, the +Sun-god, its university of learned priests, and its innumerable monuments +of the past, there is little now to be seen. The obelisk reared in front +of its temple a thousand years before Joseph married the daughter of its +high-priest still stands where it stood in his day; but the temple has +vanished utterly. So, too, has the sister obelisk which was erected by its +side, and of which Arabic historians still have something to say. Nothing +is left but the mud-brick wall of the sacred enclosure, and a thick layer +of lime-stone chippings which tell how the last relics of the temple of +the Sun-god were burnt into lime for the Cairo of Ismail Pasha. One or two +fragments were rescued from destruction by Dr. Grant Bey, the most +noticeable of which is a portion of a cornice, originally 30 feet 4 inches +in length, which had been erected by Nektanebo II., the last of the native +Pharaohs. Blocks with the names of the second and third Ramses are also +lying near the western gate of the enclosure, and in the eastern desert +are the tombs of the dead. Nothing more remains of the old capital of +Egyptian religion and learning. The destruction is indeed complete; the +spoiler whom Jeremiah saw in prophetic vision has broken "the images of +Beth-Shemesh," and burnt with fire "the houses of the gods of the +Egyptians." If we would see the obelisks and images of On we must now go +to the cities and museums of Europe or America. It was from Heliopolis +that the huge scarab of stone now in the British Museum was originally +brought to Alexandria, and at Heliopolis Cleopatra's Needle was first set +up by Thothmes III. in front of the temple of Amon. + +Heliopolis was the centre and source of the worship of the Sun-god in +ancient Egypt, in so far, at all events, as he was adored under the name +of Ra. The worship goes back to prehistoric days. Menes was already a "son +of Ra," inheriting his right to rule from the Sun-god of On. The theology +of Heliopolis is incorporated in the earliest chapters of the Book of the +Dead, that Ritual of the Departed, a knowledge of which ensured the safe +passage of the dead man into the world to come. It was in the great hall +of its first temple that Egyptian mythology believed Horus to have been +cured of his wounds after the battle with Set. The origin of the temple, +in fact, like the origin of the school of priests which gathered round it, +was too far lost in the mists of antiquity for authentic history to +remember. + +As befitted its theological character, Heliopolis was rich in sacred +animals. The bull Mnevis, in which the Sun-god was incarnated, was a rival +of the bull Apis of Memphis, the incarnation of Ptah. The two bulls point +to a community of worship between the two localities in that primeval age +when neither Ra of Heliopolis nor Ptah of Memphis was known, and when the +primitive Egyptian population--whoever they may have been--were plunged in +the grossest superstitions of African fetichism. Herodotos did not hear of +the bull Mnevis. But he was acquainted with the story of another sacred +animal of Heliopolis, the _bennu_ or Phoenix, the sacred bird of Ra. +Indeed, the fame of the phoenix had long before penetrated to Greece. +Hesiod alludes to it, and the account of the marvellous bird given by +Herodotos was "stolen," we are told by Porphyry, from his predecessor +Hekataeos. Hekataeos says that it was like an eagle, whereas the monuments +show that it was a heron, and Herodotos follows him in the blunder. We may +argue from this, as Professor Wiedemann does, that Herodotos himself never +saw its picture. But otherwise his account is correct. Its wings were red +and gold, and it represented the solar cycle of five hundred years. + +When Strabo visited Heliopolis in the age of Augustus he found it already +half deserted. Its schools and library had been superseded by those of +Alexandria, and although the houses in which the priestly philosophers had +once lived were still standing, they were now empty. Among them was the +house in which Plato and Eudoxos had studied not long after the time when +Herodotos was there. In spite, therefore, of the Persian wars Herodotos +must have found the ancient university still famous and flourishing. Just +as in the Cairo of to-day the whole circle of Mohammedan science is taught +in the University of El-Azhar on the basis of the Qoran, so in the +Heliopolis which Herodotos visited all the circle of Egyptian knowledge +was still taught and learned on the basis of the doctrines of the +Heliopolitan school. The feelings with which the Greek traveller viewed +the professors and their pupils--if, indeed, he was allowed to do so--must +have been similar to those with which an English tourist now passes +through the Azhar mosque. + +From Heliopolis Herodotos continued his voyage down the Pelusiac arm of +the Nile to Bubastis, thus following nearly the same line of travel as the +modern tourist who goes by train from Cairo to Zagazig. The rubbish heaps +of Tel Basta, just beyond the station of Zagazig, mark the site of +Bubastis, called Pi-beseth in the Old Testament (Ezek. xxx. 17), Pi-Bast, +"the Temple of Bast," by the Egyptians. The cat-headed goddess Bast +presided over the fortunes of the nome and city, where she was identified +with Sekhet, the lion-headed goddess of Memphis. But the cat and the lion +never lay down in peace together. As a hieroglyphic text at Philae puts it, +Sekhet was cruel and Bast was kindly. + +The exclusive worship of Bast at Bubastis, however, dated from the time of +Osorkon II. of the twenty-second dynasty, as Dr. Naville's excavations +have made plain. Before that period other deities, more especially Buto +and Amon-Ra, reigned there. Bast, in fact, was of foreign origin. She was +the feminine form of Bes, the warrior god who came from the coasts of +Arabia, and her association with the cat perhaps originated far away in +the south. + +The description given by Herodotos of Bubastis and its festival is clearly +that of an eye-witness. He tells us how the temple stands in the middle of +the town surrounded by a canal which is shaded with trees, and how the +visitor looks down upon it from the streets of the city, which had grown +in height while the level of the temple had remained unaltered. He tells +us further how a broad street runs from it to the market-place, and thence +to a chapel dedicated to Hermes, and how at the great annual festival +crowds of men and women flocked to it in boats, piping and singing, +clapping the hands and dancing, offering sacrifices when they arrived at +the shrine, and drinking wine to excess. A similar sight can be seen even +now in the month of August at Tantah, where the religious fair is thronged +by men and women indulging in all the amusements recounted by the old +Greek traveller, sometimes beyond the verge of decency. Wine alone is +absent from the modern feast, its place being taken by _hashish_ and +_raki_. + +As the festival was held in honour of Bast, it was probably an annual +commemoration of the great "Shed-festival" of thirty years celebrated by +Osorkon II. in his twenty-second year, and depicted on the walls of the +hall which Dr. Naville has discovered. The "Shed-festival" took place +during the month of August--in the time of the sixth dynasty on the 27th of +Epiphi. It was probably, therefore, at the end of August or the beginning +of September that Herodotos found himself in the city of Bast. + +The description Herodotos gives of the position of the temple is still +true to-day. The temple, which he pronounced to be the prettiest in Egypt, +is now in ruins, like the houses and streets that encircled it. But the +visitor to Tel-Bast still looks down upon its site from the rubbish-mounds +of the ruined habitations, and can still trace the beds of the canals +which were carried round it. Even the street which led to the market-place +is still visible, and Dr. Naville has found the remains of the little +temple which Herodotos supposed to be that of Hermes, the Egyptian Thoth. +In this, however, he was wrong. Like the larger edifice, it was dedicated +to Bast, and seems to have been used as a treasury. It was, therefore, +under the protection of Thoth, whose figure decorated its walls, and Dr. +Naville is doubtless right in believing that this has led to the mistake +of Herodotos or his guides. Osorkon I. consecrated in it large quantities +of precious things, including about L130,300 in gold and L13,000 in +silver--an evident proof that the internal condition of his kingdom was +flourishing. + +Dr. Naville's excavations were undertaken for the Egypt Exploration Fund +in 1887-89, and were chiefly made among the broken columns and dislocated +stones of the larger temple. They have given us the outlines of its +history. Like most of the great temples of Egypt, its foundation went back +to the very beginning of Egyptian civilisation. The Pharaohs of the Old +Empire repaired or enlarged it, and the names of Kheops and Khephren, as +well as of Pepi I., have been found upon its blocks. The kings of the +twelfth and thirteenth dynasties embellished it, and even the Hyksos +princes did the same. In the days when they had adopted the culture and +customs of Egypt and were holding royal state at Zoan, two of them at +least restored and beautified the temple of Bubastis and called themselves +the sons of Ra. One of them, Apophis, may have been the Apophis whose +demand that the vassal-king of Thebes should worship Sutekh instead of +Amon brought about the war of independence; the other, Khian +User-n-Set-Ra, the Iannas of Manetho, has engraved his name on a colossal +lion which was carried to Babylon by some Chaldaean conqueror. + +The monarchs of the eighteenth dynasty continued the pious work of the +Hyksos whom they had expelled. But the civil disturbances which attended +the fall of the dynasty caused injury to the temple, and we find Seti I. +and Ramses II. once more restoring it. The kings of the twentieth dynasty +have also left memorials in it, but it was under the twenty-second +dynasty--the successors of Shishak--that Bubastis reached the highest point +of its prosperity. The princes who followed Shishak made the city their +capital and its temple their royal chapel. The great festival hall was +built by Osorkon II. between the entrance hall and the main court, and the +worship of Bast was exclusively installed in it. Temple and city alike +underwent but little change down to the days of Herodotos. It was after +his visit that the last addition was made to the sacred buildings. With +the recovery of Egyptian independence after the successful revolt from +Persia came a new era of architectural activity, and Nektanebo I., the +first king of the thirtieth dynasty, erected a great hall in the rear of +the shrine. After this the history of the temple fades out of view. + +Herodotos was told that the height of the mound on which the city of +Bubastis stood was an indication of the evil deeds of its inhabitants. +Sabako, the Ethiopian conqueror, it was said, had caused the sites of the +Egyptian cities to be raised by convict labour, just as they had been +previously raised by those who cut the canals under Sesostris. But the +whole story was an invention of the dragomen. The disintegration of the +crude brick of which the houses of Egypt are built makes them quickly +decay and give place to other buildings, which are erected on the mound +they have formed. As the city grows in age, so does the _tel_ or mound +whereon it stands grow in height, and had Herodotos travelled in Upper +Egypt he would have seen the process going on under his eyes. In the +Delta, moreover, there was a special cause for the great height of the +city-mounds. The water of the inundation percolated through the ground, +and in order that the lower floor of a house should be dry, it was +necessary to build it on a series of vaults or cellars. A few years ago +these vaults were very visible in some of the old houses of Tel-Bast. They +had no outlet, either by door or window, and were consequently never +employed as store-rooms. Their sole use was to keep the rest of the house +dry. + +The cemetery of the sacred cats was on the western side of the town. But +the cats do not appear to have been embalmed, as elsewhere in Egypt; they +were either buried or burned. Among the bones which have been sent to +England naturalists have found none of our modern domestic cat. Several, +however, of the bronze cats of the Ptolemaic age which have been +discovered with the bones unmistakably represent the domestic animal. +Generally they have the small head of the modern Egyptian puss. + +"A little below Bubastis" Herodotos passed the deserted "camp" and +fortress of the Ionian and Karian mercenaries of Psammetikhos, and saw the +slips for their vessels and the ruins of their houses still standing on +the shore. Amasis had transferred them to Memphis, in the belief that it +was rather from his Egyptian subjects that he needed protection than from +his neighbours in Asia. The site of the camp was discovered and partially +excavated by Professor Petrie for the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1886, and +one of the results of his discoveries was to show that it was also the +site of the frontier fortress called by the Greeks Daphnae. What its +Egyptian name was we do not know with certainty, though it is probable +that Professor Petrie is right in holding it to be the Tahpanhes of the +prophet Jeremiah. It is now known as Tel ed-Deffeneh. + +The drying up of the Pelusiac arm of the Nile has brought the desolation +of the desert to Tel ed-Deffeneh. The canal which has replaced it is +brackish; Lake Menzaleh, which bounds the Tel to the east, is more +brackish still. The land is impregnated with salt, and covered in places +with drifts of sand. There is no cultivated soil nearer than Salahiyeh, +twelve miles away; no water-way less distant than Kantara on the Suez +Canal. + +The greater part of the ancient site lies between Lake Menzaleh on the +east and a swamp out of which the canal flows on the west, and it covers a +large acreage of ground. Northward are the canal, a marsh, and mounds of +sand, and beyond the canal lies the cemetery of the ancient fortress, as +well as a suburb which was probably the Karian quarter. In the centre of +the site rises the Tel proper, a great mound of disintegrated brickwork +called "the palace of the Jew's daughter." Excavation soon made it clear +that it represented the fortress of Daphnae, and that it was built by +Psammetikhos when he settled his Greek garrison there. For a frontier +fortress no place could have been better chosen. It guarded the eastern +branch of the Nile, while from its summit we look across the desert, on +one side along the high-road which once led to Syria, and on the other as +far as the mounds of Tanis. The fort itself has crumbled into dust, but +the vaulted chambers on which it was erected still exist, as well as the +"pavement" at its entrance. + +The pottery found at Tel ed-Deffeneh is early Greek, but of a different +type from that of Naukratis. Like the latter, it would seem to have been +manufactured on the spot and exported from thence to all parts of the +Greek world. Jewellery, too, appears to have been made there by the Greek +or Karian artisans who lived under the protection of their military +kinsmen. But the manufacture of both pottery and jewellery came to a +sudden end. When Amasis removed the mercenaries to Memphis in the middle +of the sixth century before Christ the civilian population departed with +them. Between that date and a new and unimportant settlement in the +Ptolemaic period the site seems to have been deserted. When Herodotos +passed it by, it had no inhabitants. + +From Daphnae to Pelusium the voyage was short. Pelusium, once the key of +Egypt, has shared the fate of Daphnae. The channel of the river that flowed +by it has become a dreary reach of black salt mud, and the fields which +once supplied the city with food are wastes of sterile soil or mountains +of yellow sand. Not even a solitary Bedouin disturbs the solitude of the +spot at most seasons of the year. All that reminds the traveller of human +life as he encamps on the edge of the sand-dunes is the electric light +which flashes through the night from Port Said far away on the horizon. + +In the midst of the desolate waste of poisonous mud rise the two large +mounds which alone are left of Pelusium. On the larger of these, to the +westward, lie the granite columns and other relics of the Roman temple, +beneath which, and below the present level of the water, are the ruins of +the temple of the Pharaonic age. The ground is strewn with broken glass +and pottery, some Roman, some Saracenic. + +The Egyptian name of Pelusium is still unknown, and before we can discover +it excavations upon its site will be necessary. Ezekiel calls it Sin (xxx. +15, 16)--at least, if the commentators are to be trusted--and when the +Greeks sought an etymology for the name they gave it in their own word for +"mud." But it was a famous spot in the records of Egyptian history. +Avaris, the Hyksos stronghold, must have been in its neighbourhood, and it +was outside its walls that the Persian conquest of Egypt was decided. The +battle-field where the army of Kambyses, led by the Greek deserter Phanes, +overthrew the Greek mercenaries of the Pharaoh, was near enough for +Herodotos to walk over it and compare the skulls of the Egyptian and +Persian combatants, as he had already done at Papremis. Here, too, he was +shown the spot where the Greek and Karian soldiers of Psammetikhos III. +had slaughtered the sons of Phanes over a huge bowl in the sight of their +father, and after mixing the blood of the boys with wine and water, had +savagely drunk it and then rushed to the battle. + +Not far from Pelusium another tragedy took place four centuries after +Herodotos had been there. The fugitive Pompey was welcomed to the shore by +Septimius, the general of the Roman forces in Egypt, and Akhillas, the +commander of the Egyptian army, and murdered by them as he touched the +land. Akhillas then hastened to Alexandria, to besiege Caesar in the royal +palace, and the burning of the great library was the atonement for +Pompey's death. + +Down even to the middle ages Pelusium was still the seaport of the eastern +Delta. It held the place now occupied by Port Said. It was from its quays +that the vessels started for the Syrian coast. In one that was bound for +Tyre, Herodotos took his passage and ended his Egyptian tour. + +But he had visited certain cities in the Delta into which we have been +unable to follow him, owing to the uncertainty that still hangs over their +exact position. Besides the places already described, we know that he saw +Buto, which is coupled with Khemmis, as well as Papremis and Prosopitis, +and probably also Busiris. + +Khemmis--which must be carefully distinguished from the other Khemmis, the +modern Ekhmim--was, he tells us, a floating island "in a deep broad lake by +the side of the temple at Buto," where Leto, the Egyptian Uaz, was +worshipped. Brugsch identifies this island of Khemmis with the town and +marshes of Kheb, where the young Horus was hidden by his mother Isis out +of the reach of Set. Kheb was in the nome called that of Menelaos by the +Greeks, the capital of which seems to have been Pa-Uaz, "the temple of +Uaz," transformed by Greek tongues into Buto, and of which another city +was Kanopos. Buto, or at least the twin-city where the great temple of the +goddess stood, is probably now represented by Tel Fera'in, not far to the +west of Fuah, at the extremity of the Mahmudiyeh canal. It was thus within +easy distance of Kanopos on the one side and of Sais on the other, and +Herodotos might have visited it from either one of them. + +But after all it is not certain that he did so. Buto is mentioned again by +him in a passage which shows that it could not have been Pa-Uaz, but must +have rather lain on the eastern side of the Delta, in the land of Goshen, +where the desert adjoined the "Arabian nome." It is where he tells us +about "the winged serpents" which fly in the spring-time from Arabia to +Egypt, on the confines of which they are met and slain by the sacred +ibises. Anxious to learn something about them, he visited the spot where +the yearly encounter took place, and there saw the ground strewn with the +bones and spines of the slaughtered snakes. This spot, he further informs +us, is in the Arabian desert, where it borders on "the Egyptian plain," +"hard by the city of Buto." + +Thanks to the excavations made by Mr. Griffith for the Egypt Exploration +Fund at Tel en-Nebesheh, near Salahiyeh, we now know where this eastern +city of Buto stood. Its Egyptian name was Am, and it was the capital of +the nineteenth nome of Am-pehu, but it was consecrated to the worship of +the goddess Uaz, who was symbolised by a winged snake. The great temple of +the goddess was built on the western side of the town, and the Pharaohs of +the twelfth dynasty, as well as Ramses II. and his successors, and the +Saites of the twenty-sixth dynasty, had all helped to endow and embellish +it. When the Greek garrison was established in the neighbourhood at +Daphnae, a colony of Cyprian potters settled at Am. But in the age of the +Ptolemies it fell into decay, and by the beginning of the Roman era its +magnificence belonged to the past. + +Just beyond the precincts of the town was the Arabian desert, the realm of +Set. The legend of Isis and Horus was accordingly transferred to it, and +its patron goddess became Uaz of Buto, who, under the form of Isis, +concealed Horus in its marshes. Was it here, therefore, in the Pa-Uaz of +Am, that the Buto of Herodotos has to be looked for, rather than in the +Menelaite nome? + +We know that he must have passed the city of Am on his way from Bubastis +to Daphnae, and his expedition to the desert in search of the winged +serpents shows that he stopped there. On the other hand, his account of +the floating island of Khemmis was derived from his predecessor Hekataeos, +and when he states that the Buto with which it was connected was built on +the Sebennytic branch of the Nile, "as one sails up it from the sea," it +would seem certain that his account of this Buto was also quoted from the +older writer. And yet it is difficult to believe that his description of +the monolithic shrine which stood there is not given at first-hand. +Perhaps the best explanation would be that Herodotos really made an +excursion to the city, but has so skilfully mingled what he himself saw +there with the description of Hekataeos as to make it impossible to +separate the two. + +The site of Papremis is absolutely unknown, and we have no clue even to +its relative position. But Prosopitis may be the fourth nome, Sapi-ris or +"Sapi of the south." In Byzantine times its capital bore the name of +Nikiu, which Champollion long ago identified with the Coptic Pshati and +the modern Abshadi, not far from Menuf. Menuf stands in a straight line +due westward of Benha, and would have lain directly in the path of the +traveller on his way from Naukratis to Memphis. + +It was in the island of Prosopitis that the Athenian fleet was blockaded +by the Persians under Megabazus, and captured only when the river was +turned into another channel, after the blockade had lasted for a year and +a half. Immediately westward of Menuf, in fact, an island is formed by the +Rosetta and Damietta branches of the Nile which unite at the southern end +of it, and are joined together towards the north by the Bahr +el-Fara'-uniyeh. But the island is twenty-seven miles long by fifteen +wide, and it is difficult to understand how this could have been blockaded +by the Persian army, much less defended by the crews of seventy vessels, +for the space of a year and a half. Herodotos indeed asserts that the +island of Prosopitis was nine skhoenoe, or about sixty miles in +circumference, and that it contained many cities; but this only makes the +difficulty the greater. + +Lastly, we come to Busiris, which is described by the Greek traveller as +"in the centre of the Delta." This description exactly suits the position +of Pa-Usar or Busiris, "the temple of Osiris, the lord of Mendes," and the +capital of the Busirite nome. Its modern representative is Abusir, a +little to the south of Semennud or Sebennytos, on the railway line from +Tanta to Mansurah. If Herodotos really visited this place, he must have +done so from Sais, to the west of which it lies in a pretty direct line. +But the distance was considerable, and there is nothing in the language he +uses in regard to it which obliges us to believe that he was really there. +His description of the festival held there in honour of Isis is not that +of an eye-witness; indeed, the remark he adds to it that "all the Karians +who live in Egypt slash themselves on the forehead with swords" in their +religious exercises goes to show that it could not have been so. All he +knows about the festival is that, after sacrificing, men and women strike +themselves in honour of Osiris. The Karians, however, who cut their heads +like the Persian devotees of Huseyn in modern Cairo, were not Egyptians, +and therefore would not have been allowed to join in the mysteries of the +worship of Osiris; moreover, they did not live in Busiris, but in the +Karian quarter of Memphis. What Herodotos tells us about them plainly +comes from his Karian dragoman, and refers to some native Karian festival. + +There was more than one Pa-Usar or Temple of Osiris in Lower Egypt. Next +to that in the Busirite nome, the most famous was that of the Ur-Mer or +the bull Mnevis, in the environs of Heliopolis. This latter Herodotos +would have seen when he paid his visit to the city of the Sun-god, and +this too was near Memphis, where the Karians lived. + +There was yet another Busiris a little to the north of Memphis itself. +According to Pliny, its inhabitants made their living by climbing the +pyramids for the amusement of strangers, like the Bedouin of Gizeh to-day. +Its name has been preserved in the village and pyramids of Abusir. But +neither the Busiris of Memphis nor the Busiris of Heliopolis was "in the +centre of the Delta," and it would seem that in this instance also +Herodotos is either quoting from other travellers or is mixing their +experiences with his own. With the Busiris of Memphis and the Busiris of +Heliopolis he was doubtless acquainted: with the Busiris of the middle +Delta we must conclude he was not. Hence his scanty notice of the festival +that was celebrated there; hence also his reference to the Karian settlers +in Memphis and their religious ceremonies. We must remember that Herodotos +was not the first Greek tourist in Egypt, and that he too had his _Murray_ +and his _Baedeker_ like the tourist of to-day. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. MEMPHIS AND THE FAYYUM. + + +We have followed Herodotos in his travels through the Delta, have seen him +make his way from Kanopos and Naukratis to Memphis and back again to +Pelusium, and it is now time to accompany him through Memphis itself and +the Fayyum. There are no longer any uncertain sites to identify; from +Memphis southward all is clear and determined. + +To the visitor the interest of Memphis centred in its temple of Ptah. It +was round the temple that the city had grown up, and as the city had been +the capital of the older dynasties, so the temple had been their royal +chapel. When the supremacy passed from Memphis to Thebes, it passed also +from Ptah the god of Memphis to Amon the god of Thebes. + +It is the great temple of Ptah, accordingly, about which Herodotos has +most to tell us. Other localities in Memphis, such as the citadel and the +palace, the Karian quarter, or "the Tyrian Camp" with its shrine of +Ashtoreth, are noticed only incidentally. But the great temple and its +monuments are described as fully as was possible for an "impure" +foreigner, who was not permitted to enter its inner courts and who was +unacquainted with the Egyptian language. + +The history of Egypt known to Herodotos before the age when Greek +mercenaries and traders were settled in the country by Psammetikhos is +almost wholly connected with the monuments of the temple which were shown +to him. And a very curious history it is--a collection of folk-tales, +partly Egyptian, but mainly Karian or Greek in origin, and not always of a +seemly character, which the dragomen attached to the various objects the +visitor saw. Even the royal names round which they revolved were sometimes +indiscoverable in the authentic annals of Egypt. But the stories were all +gravely noted down by the traveller, and though they have lost nothing in +the telling, it is probable that they have not always been reported by him +correctly. + +In one respect, at all events, this mythical history of Egypt is the +creation of Herodotos himself and not of his guides. This is the order in +which he has arranged the kings. It is the order in which he visited the +monuments to which the dragomen attached their names, and it thus throws a +welcome light on the course of his movements. With this clue in our hands +we can follow him from one part of the temple of Ptah to another, and can +trace his footsteps as far as the Fayyum. + +It is true he asserts that his list of kings was given on the authority of +"the Egyptians and the priests," and that it was they who reckoned three +hundred and forty-one generations from Menes, the founder of the kingdom, +to Sethos, the antagonist of Sennacherib, the number of kings and +high-priests during the period being exactly equal to the number of +generations. But it can easily be shown that the calculation was made by +Herodotos himself, and that neither the "Egyptians," whose language he did +not understand, nor the sacristans, whom he dignifies with the title of +priests, are in any way responsible for the absurd statement that a +generation and a reign are equivalent terms. The number of kings whose +names he heard from his dragoman is exactly eleven; in addition to these, +he tells us, the names of three hundred and thirty kings were read to him +from a papyrus roll by one of the temple scribes; so that the number three +hundred and forty-one is obtained by adding the three hundred and thirty +names to the eleven which were furnished him by his guides. Among the +three hundred and thirty must have been included some of the latter, +though the Greek traveller did not know it. + +At Memphis Herodotos learned that Menes was the first king of united +Egypt, though the further statements he records in regard to him are not +easily reconcilable one with the other. On the one hand he was informed +that in his time all Egypt was a marsh except the Thebaic nome--a piece of +information which seemed to Herodotos consonant with fact--on the other +hand, that the land on which Memphis was built was a sort of huge +embankment reclaimed from the Nile by Menes, who forced the river to leave +its old channel under the plateau of Gizeh and to run in its present bed. +Mariette believed that the dyke by means of which the first of the +Pharaohs effected this change in the course of the river still exists near +Kafr el-Ayyat, and it is geologically clear that the Nile once ran along +the edge of the Libyan desert, and that the rock out of which the Sphinx +was carved must have been one of those which jutted out into the stream. + +But it was not on account of his engineering works that the name of Menes +has been preserved in the histories of Herodotos. It was because he was +the founder of the temple of Ptah and the city of Memphis. The temple +which was the object of the tourist's visit owed its origin to him, and +the traveller's sight-seeing naturally began with the mention of his name. + +Before Herodotos could be shown round such parts of the sanctuary as were +accessible to strangers, it was necessary that he should be introduced to +the authorities and receive their permission to visit it. Accordingly he +was ushered into what was perhaps the library of the temple, and there a +scribe read to him out of a roll the names of the three hundred and thirty +kings, beginning with Menes and ending with Moeris. To three only does a +story seem to have been attached, either by the scribe or by the +interpreter, and only three names therefore did Herodotos enter in his +note-book. The first of these was that of Menes, the second that of +Nitokris, the third that of Moeris. Nitokris was celebrated not only +because she was the one native woman who had ruled the country, but also +because she had treacherously avenged the death of her brother and then +flung herself into the flames. Neit-aker, as she was called in Egyptian, +was actually an historical personage; she was the last sovereign of the +sixth dynasty, but was very far from being the only queen who had reigned +over Egypt. As regards Moeris the statements of Herodotos are only +partially correct. He is said to have built the propylaea on the north side +of the temple of Ptah, to have dug the great lake of the Fayyum, and to +have erected the pyramids which Herodotos believed he had seen standing in +the middle of it. Moeris, however, was not the name of a king, but the +Egyptian words Mi ur or "great lake"; the Fayyum was not created by the +excavation of an artificial reservoir, but by banking out the water which +had filled the oasis from geological times; and the monuments seen by +Herodotos were not pyramids, but statues on pyramidal bases erected by +Amon-em-hat III. of the twelfth dynasty in front of an ancient temple. Nor +could any educated Egyptian have alleged that a king of the twelfth +dynasty, who was not even the last monarch of that dynasty itself, closed +the line of the Pharaohs. The whole account must rest on a combination of +the Greek historian's own erroneous conclusions with the misinterpreted +statements of the Egyptian "priest." + +Moeris, in the topographical chronology of Herodotos, was followed by +Sesostris, but this was because the tourist, after leaving the scribe's +chamber, first visited the northern side of the temple. Here stood the two +colossal figures of Ramses II. in front of the entrance, which, after +centuries of neglect and concealment, have again become objects of +interest. The larger one, forty-two feet in length, was discovered in 1820 +and presented by Mohammed Ali to the British Government, but, as might +have been expected, was never claimed. For years it lay on its face in the +mud and water, but in 1883 Major Bagnold turned it round and raised it, +and finally placed it in the shed, where it is now safe from further +injury. The son and daughter of the Pharaoh were originally represented +standing beside him. Major Bagnold also brought to light the companion +statue, of lesser height and of a different stone. This is in a better +state of preservation, and has been set up on a hillock by the side of a +stele which was discovered at the same time. Fragments of papyri inscribed +with Greek and demotic have been found at the north-eastern foot of the +hillock, and it may be that they mark the site of the chamber where +Herodotos listened to the words of the roll. + +Northward of the colossi was the sacred lake, said to have been formed by +Menes, and now a stagnant pond. At its south-eastern corner the +foundations have recently been laid bare of small square rooms, the walls +of which have been adorned with sculptures. But the waters of the +inundation have followed the excavators, and the walls are fast perishing +under the influence of moisture and nitrous salt. + +About Sesostris the guides of Herodotos had a good deal to say. But +nothing of it was history--not even his conquests in Europe and Scythia, +his excavation of the canals which rendered Egypt unfit for horses and +chariots, his equal division of the land among his subjects, or his having +been the sole Egyptian monarch who governed Ethiopia. How even a dragoman +of Memphis could have imagined that it had ever been possible to cultivate +the Egyptian soil without canals it is difficult to understand, and still +more difficult to imagine how a traveller who had seen the Delta could +have believed a statement of the kind. The only explanation can be that +Herodotos never saw the Delta in its normal condition when the inundation +had ceased to cover the land. That Sesostris should have been supposed to +have been the only Pharaoh who established his power in Ethiopia is but a +proof how little was known of the real history of Egypt by either +Herodotos or his informants. + +The origin of the name given to this Pharaoh of the dragoman's imagination +is still a puzzle. The statues in front of the temple of Ptah, to which +the name was attached, were set up by Ramses II., and in a papyrus we find +the name Sesetsu given as the popular title of the same monarch. Perhaps +it means "the son of Set is he." We know that Set, the ancient god of the +Delta, was a special object of worship in the family of Ramses II., and +his father Seti was named after the god. Sesetsu would correspond with +fair exactitude to the Sesoosis of Diodoros; for Sesostris we should have +to presuppose the form Sesetsu-Ra. + +The son and successor of Sesostris, according to Herodotos, was Pheron. +The name is merely a mispronounced Pharaoh, the Egyptian Per-aa or "Great +House." Pheron undertook no military expedition, being blind in +consequence of his impiety in hurling his spear at too high a Nile. After +ten years of blindness an oracle came to him from Buto that he would be +cured if he would wash his eyes in the urine of a woman who had been true +to her husband. Trial after trial was made in vain, and when at last the +king recovered his sight he collected all the women in whose case he had +failed into "a city now called the Red Mound," and there burnt them, city +and all. He then erected the two obelisks which stood in front of the +temple of Ra at Heliopolis. + +There are many "Red Mounds" in Egypt, and the name Kom el-Ahmar or "Red +Mound" is accordingly very plentiful in a modern map of the country. +Wherever kiln-baked bricks have been used in the construction of a +building, or where the wall or houses of a city have been burnt, the mound +of ruins to which they give rise is of a reddish colour. Such a mound must +have existed in the neighbourhood of Heliopolis in the days of Herodotos. +There is still a Kom el-Ahmar close to Tel el-Yehudiyeh, where the Jewish +temple of Onias was built. But "the Red Mound" of the guides was probably +one that was visible from the pylon of the great temple of Heliopolis, +where the obelisks stood with which the story of it was associated. The +obelisks had indeed been erected by a "Pharaoh," but it was not a son of +Ramses II. They had been set up by Usertesen I. of the twelfth dynasty +nearly fifteen centuries before Ramses II. was born. + +As Pheron was the son of Sesostris it was necessary for Herodotos to +introduce him into his list immediately after his father, even though he +had left no monument behind him in the temple of Memphis. But after Pheron +he returns to his series of "Memphite" kings. This time it is "a Memphite +whose Greek name is Proteus," and whose shrine was situated in the midst +of "the Tyrian Camp" or settlement on the "south side of the temple of +Ptah." The tourist, therefore, walked round the eastern wall of the great +temple from north to south, and as the pylon on this side of the sanctuary +was connected with the name of a king who was the builder of a brick +pyramid seen on the way to the Fayyum, an account of it is deferred till +later. The next monument Herodotos came to was accordingly of Phoenician +and not of Egyptian origin. + +Proteus in fact was a Phoenician god, worshipped, Herodotos tells us, along +with the foreign Aphrodite, whom he suspects to be the Greek Helen in +disguise. The Phoenician Aphrodite, however, was really Ashtoreth, which +the Greeks pronounced Astarte, the Istar of the Babylonians and Assyrians. +But the "priests," or rather the guides of the traveller, were equal to +the occasion, and on his asking them concerning Helen they at once gave +him a long story about her arrival and adventures in Egypt. Proteus was at +the time the king in Memphis, and not the sea-god of ships and prophetic +insight, as Homer had imagined, and he very properly took Helen away from +Paris and kept her safely till Menelaos arrived after the Trojan war to +claim his wife. Accordingly Proteus, the Phoenician "old man of the sea," +has gone down among the three hundred and forty-one Pharaohs of Egypt +whose names were recounted to Herodotos by the "priests." There could not +be a better illustration of the real character of his "priestly" +informants, or of the worthlessness of the information which they gave +him. + +When, however, Herodotos goes on to assert that "they said" that +Rhampsinitos succeeded Proteus in the kingdom, he is dealing with them +unjustly. The supposed fact must have come from his own note-book. After +visiting the Tyrian Camp, on the south side of the great temple, the +traveller was taken to its western entrance, where he was told that the +propylaea had been erected by Rhampsinitos, as well as two colossal statues +in front of them. The order in which he saw the monuments determined the +order in which the names of Proteus and Rhampsinitos occurred in his +note-book, and the order in his note-book determined the order of their +succession. + +Rhampsinitos represents a real Egyptian king. He is Ramses III. of the +twentieth dynasty, the last of the conquering Pharaohs, and the builder of +Medinet Habu at Thebes. But Herodotos was never at Thebes, and had +consequently never heard of the superb temple and palace Ramses had built +there. All that he knows of the architectural works of the Pharaoh are the +insignificant additions he made to the temple of Memphis. Of the real +Pharaoh he is equally ignorant. In place of the vanquisher of the hordes +of the north, the monarch who annihilated the invaders from the AEgean and +captured or sunk their ships, the conqueror who carried his arms into +Palestine and Syria, we have the hero of a folk-tale. Rhampsinitos and his +treasury have become the subject of the story of the master-thief, a story +which in various forms is found all over the world, and perhaps goes back +to the infancy of mankind. Why this story should have been attached to +Ramses III. it is just as impossible for us to know as it is to understand +why the name of Neit, the goddess of Sais and the twenty-sixth dynasty, +should have been combined with that of the Theban Pharaoh of the +twentieth. Rhampsinitos, Ramessu-n-Neit or "Ramses of Neit," indicates the +period in which alone the name could have been formed. It must have been +the invention of the Karian dragomen who came into existence under the +Saitic dynasty. + +Ramses III. was, however, as we learn from the great Harris papyrus, one +of the wealthiest of Egyptian princes. The gifts he made to the temples of +the gods, more especially to that of Amon of Thebes, are almost fabulous +in amount. His trading ships brought him the wares of the south and north; +and the gold-mines of the eastern desert, as well as the copper and +malachite mines of the province of Mafkat, the Sinaitic Peninsula of our +modern maps, were actively worked in his reign. The chambers of one of his +treasuries still exist at Medinet Habu, and we can still see depicted on +their walls the vases of precious metal which he deposited in them. + +The Rhampsinitos of folk-lore was similarly rich. He built a treasury for +his wealth beside his palace, which should secure it against all attempts +at robbery. But the architect left in it a stone which could be easily +removed by any one who knew its secret, and before he died the secret was +communicated to his two sons. To the amazement of the king, therefore, the +gold began to disappear, though his seals remained unbroken and the doors +fast locked. He set a trap, accordingly, by the side of the chests of +gold; and one of the thieves was caught in it. He thereupon induced his +brother to cut off his head, so that his body might not be recognised, and +to decamp with it. Next morning Rhampsinitos found the headless corpse, +which was thereupon exposed to public view under the protection of armed +guards, who were ordered to arrest whoever showed any signs of recognising +it. The mother of the dead man, frantic at the treatment of his body, +which would deprive him of all hope in the next world, threatened to +disclose the whole story unless her surviving son could secure his +brother's corpse and give it honourable burial. Loading several asses with +wine-skins, therefore, he drove them past the place where the guards sat +over the corpse. There he allowed some of the wine to escape, accidentally +as it were, and when the guards began eagerly to drink it he craftily +encouraged them to do so until they had all fallen into a drunken sleep. +He then seized the body and carried it to his mother. The king was now +more than ever desirous of discovering such a master-thief, and ordered +his daughter to adopt the Babylonian custom of sitting in public and +admitting the attentions of any one who passed on condition that he told +her the cleverest trick he had ever performed. The thief provided himself +with the arm of a mummy, which he concealed under his cloak, and thus +prepared presented himself to the princess and disclosed to her all he had +done. As she tried to seize him, he left the dead man's arm in her hand +and escaped. The king, struck with admiration, determined that so +exceedingly clever a youth should be his own son-in-law, and issued a +proclamation not only pardoning him but allowing him to marry his +daughter. Such was the way in which Egyptian history was constructed by +the combined efforts of the popular imagination, the foreign dragomen, and +Herodotos! + +After all, however, the master-thief did not succeed Rhampsinitos on the +throne. After passing the western entrance of the temple of Ptah, +Herodotos arrived again at the northern side, from which he had started, +and, as he was not allowed to enter the sanctuary, there was nothing +further for him to see. His next visit, accordingly, was to the pyramids +of Gizeh, and the pyramidal builders--Kheops, Khephren, and Mykerinos of +the fourth dynasty--are made to follow Ramses III. of the twentieth, who +lived more than two thousand years after them. It does not say much for +the judgment of our classical scholars that before the decipherment of the +hieroglyphs they should have preferred the chronology of Herodotos to that +of Manetho. + +Herodotos, like a true sight-seer, found nothing in Memphis to interest +him except the temple. About the city itself he has nothing to say, not +even about the stuccoed city-wall which gave to it its name of "the White +Wall." Portions of this wall are still standing at the northern end of the +mounds which cover the site of Memphis. Like all the other city-walls of +ancient Egypt, it is built of sun-dried bricks, bound together with the +stems of palm-trees, and was once of great thickness. At the southern end +of the mounds are the remains of the kilns in which the potters of the +Roman and Byzantine age baked their vases of blue porcelain. Some of their +failures still lie on the surface of the ground. + +Herodotos went to the pyramids of Gizeh by water, across the lake on the +western side of the city, which he states had been made by Menes, and then +along a canal. At Gizeh his love of the marvellous was fully satisfied. He +inspected the pyramids and the causeway along which the stones had been +brought from the quarries of Turah for building them, and listened +reverentially to all the stories which his guides told him about them and +their builders. The measurements he gives were in most cases probably made +by himself. But in saying that there were hieroglyphic inscriptions "in +the pyramid" he has made a mistake. There were no inscriptions either in +it or outside it, unless it were a few hieratic records left by visitors +on the lower casing-stones of the monument. At the same time it is certain +that Herodotos saw the hieroglyphs, and that his guide pretended to +translate them, since they contained, according to him, an account of the +quantity of radishes, onions, and leeks eaten by the workmen when building +the great pyramid, as well as the amount of money which it cost. But the +vegetables represented Egyptian characters--the radish, for instance, being +probably _rod_, "fruit" or "seed," and the mention of them is a proof that +it really was a hieroglyphic text which the dragoman proposed to +interpret. It is even possible that the guide knew the hieroglyphic +symbols for the numerals; if so, it would explain his finding in them the +number of talents spent by Kheops upon his sepulchre, and it would also +show that the inscriptions were engraved, not "in the pyramid," but in an +adjoining tomb. In fact, this seems the simplest explanation of what +Herodotos says about them; like many another traveller, he forgot to note +where exactly the inscriptions were inscribed, and when he came to write +his book assumed that they were in the pyramid itself. + +According to the dragoman's legend, Kheops and Khephren were cruel and +impious tyrants, while their successor Mykerinos (Men-ka-Ra) was a good +and merciful ruler. The key to this description of them is probably to be +found in the statement of Diodorus Siculus that the people threatened to +drag their bodies from their tombs after death and tear them in pieces, so +that through fear of such a fate the Pharaohs took care to have themselves +buried in a secret place. This secret place is the subterranean island, +with its chambers, which Herodotos says was made under the great pyramid +by means of a canal in order that the king might be entombed there. The +myth must have originated in the fact that in the days of Herodotos the +mummies of Kheops and Khephren were not to be found in their pyramids, +which had been rifled centuries before, and the story of the cruelty and +impiety of the two kings accordingly grew up to account for the fact. + +The righteousness of Mykerinos was visited with the anger and punishment +of the gods, since it had been destined that the Egyptians should be +evil-entreated for one hundred and fifty years, and his piety and justice +had averted from them part of their doom. This view of destiny and the +action of the gods was as essentially Greek as it was foreign to the +Egyptian mind, and it is not surprising therefore that the decree of +heaven was announced to the unhappy Pharaoh through that thoroughly Greek +institution, an oracle. We are reading in the story a Greek tragedy rather +than a history of Egypt. + +It was part of the punishment of Mykerinos that he should lose his +daughter, and the dragomen thus managed to connect the pyramid at Gizeh +with a gilded wooden image of a cow in the palace at Sais, which, since +the reign of Psammetikhos, must have been well-known to them. The cow, +which was really a symbol of Neit in the form of Hathor, with what +Herodotos supposed to be the disk of the sun between its horns, though it +was really the moon, was imagined to be hollow, and to be the coffin of +the daughter of the Pharaoh. The wooden figures which stood beside it were +further imagined to represent the concubines of the king. There were, +however, other stories about both the figures and the cow, less reputable +to the royal character, but equally showing how entirely ignorant +Herodotos's informants were of Egyptian religion and custom. Though they +knew that at the festival of Osiris the cow was carried out into the open +air, they said this was because the daughter of Mykerinos when dying had +asked her father that she might once a year see the sun. Can there be a +stronger proof of the gulf that existed between the native Egyptian and +the "impure" stranger, even when the latter belonged to the caste of +dragomen? To us the representation of Hathor under the form of a cow with +the lunar orb between its horns seems an elementary fact of ancient +Egyptian religion; the modern tourist sees it depicted time after time on +the walls of temples and tombs, and the modern dragoman has begun to learn +something about its meaning. But in the fifth century before our era the +dragoman and the tourist were alike foreigners, who were not permitted to +penetrate within the temples, and there were neither books nor teachers to +instruct them in the doctrines of the Egyptian faith. + +Herodotos must have returned to Memphis after his visit to the pyramids, +before setting forth on his voyage to the south. Had he gone straight from +Gizeh to the Fayyum along the edge of the desert, he would have passed the +step-pyramid and the Serapeum at Saqqara. It is difficult to believe that, +had he done so, he would have told us nothing about the burial-place of +the sacred bulls and the huge sarcophagi of granite in which they were +entombed. The subterranean gallery begun by Psammetikhos was still open, +and each Apis as he died was buried in it down to the end of the Ptolemaic +period. At a later date, when the Persian empire had been overthrown, the +Serapeum became a favourite place of pilgrimage for Greek visitors to +Memphis. A Greek temple was built over the sepulchres of the bulls, Greek +recluses took up their abode in its chambers, and Greek tourists inscribed +their names on the sphinxes which lined the approach to the sanctuary. + +Herodotos knew all about the living Apis, and the marks on the body of the +bull which proved his divinity, as well as about the court in the temple +of Ptah at Memphis, which Psammetikhos had built for the accommodation of +the incarnate god. He was well acquainted also with the legend which made +Kambyses slay the sacred bull and scourge its priests, and he tells us how +the latter buried the body of their slaughtered deity in secret. But +neither he nor his guides knew where the burial took place, or where the +mummies of the bulls had been entombed from time immemorial. Had they done +so we should have heard something about it. But, instead of this, we are +told that the dead oxen were buried in the suburbs of the town where they +had died, their horns being allowed to protrude above the ground in order +to mark the spot. When the flesh was decayed the bones were conveyed in +boats to a city in the island of Prosopitis, called Atarbekhis, and there +deposited in their last resting-place. + +It is evident, therefore, that the great cemetery of Memphis was not +visited by travellers, and that the guides accordingly knew nothing about +it. The Egyptians probably had the same feeling in regard to it as their +Moslem descendants; the graves would be profaned if the "impure" foreigner +walked over them. The "impure" foreigner, moreover, was usually satisfied +with the three pyramids of Gizeh; he did not care to make another long +expedition in the sun to the western desert in order to see there another +pyramid. And, apart from the pyramid, there was little for him to visit. +It is doubtful whether he would have been permitted to descend into the +burying-place of the bulls, and the buildings above it were probably of no +great size. + +But whatever might have been the reason, Saqqara and its Serapeum were +unknown to the dragomen, and consequently to Herodotos as well. He must +have started for the Fayyum from Memphis and have sailed up the channel of +the Nile itself. If he noticed the pyramids of Dahshur and Medum, they +would have been in the far distance, and have appeared unworthy of +attention after what he had seen at Gizeh. Soon after passing Medum, +however, it would have been necessary for him to leave the river and make +his way inland by the canal which joined the Bahr Yusuf at Illahun. Here +he would have been close to the great brick pyramid whose secret has been +wrested from it by Professor Petrie, and here too he would have seen, a +little to the south, the city of Herakleopolis, the Ahnas el-Medineh of +to-day, standing on the rubbish-mounds of the past on the eastern bank of +the Bahr Yusuf. + +Herakleopolis, called Hininsu in Egyptian and the cuneiform inscriptions, +was the capital of a nome which the Greek writers describe as an island. +It was, in fact, enclosed on all sides by the water. On the east is the +Nile; on the west the Bahr Yusuf, itself probably an old channel of the +river; northward a canal unites the two great streams, while southward +another canal (or perhaps a branch of the river) once did the same in the +neighbourhood of Ahnas. Strabo still speaks of it as a great "island" +which he passed through on his way to the Fayyum from the north. + +The route followed by Strabo must have been that already traversed by +Herodotos. He too must have passed through the island of Hininsu on his +way to the Fayyum, and his scheme of Egyptian chronology ought to contain +evidence of the fact. + +And this is actually the case. Mykerinos, he teaches us, was succeeded by +a king named Sasykhis or Asykhis, who built not only the eastern propylon +of the temple of Ptah at Memphis, but also a brick pyramid, about which, +of course, his guides had a characteristic story to tell him. That the +story was of Greek origin is shown by the inscription, which they +professed had been engraved by order of the Pharaoh, but which only a +Greek could have invented. The brick pyramid must have been that of +Illahun. The two brick pyramids of Dahshur would have been invisible from +the river, and even to a visitor on the spot the state of ruin in which +they are would have made them seem of little consequence. His attention +would have been wholly absorbed by the massive pyramids of stone at the +foot of which they stand. + +The brick pyramid of Howara, again, cannot be the one meant by Herodotos. +It formed part of the buildings connected with the Labyrinth, the size and +splendour of which overshadowed in his eyes all the rest. There remains, +therefore, only the brick pyramid of Illahun, by the side of which, as we +have seen, the voyage of Herodotos would have led him. + +The pyramid of Illahun, when seen near at hand, is indeed a very striking +object. It is the only one of the brick pyramids which challenges +comparison with the pyramids of stone, and may well have given occasion +for the story which was repeated to the Greek tourist. Its striking +character is due to the fact that the brick superstructure is raised upon +a plateau of rock, which has been cut into shape to receive it. The +excavations of Professor Petrie in 1890 revealed the name of its builder. +This was Usertesen II. of the twelfth dynasty, the king in the sixth year +of whose reign the "Asiatics" arrived with their tribute of antimony as +depicted in the tomb of Khnum-hotep at Beni-Hassan. How the guides came to +call him Sasykhis is difficult to explain. Perhaps it is the Egyptian +Sa-Sovk, "the son of Sovk" or "Sebek" the crocodile-god of the Fayyum, +whom the Greeks termed Sukhos. The Pharaohs of the twelfth dynasty, as +creators and benefactors of the Fayyum, the nome of the crocodile, were +specially devoted to its worship, and in their inscriptions they speak of +the works they had undertaken for their "father Sovk." + +After Sasykhis, Herodotos continues, "there reigned a blind man named +Anysis, from the city of Anysis: while he was reigning the Ethiopians and +Sabako, king of Ethiopia, invaded Egypt with a large force, so the blind +man fled into the marshes, and the Ethiopian ruled Egypt for fifty years." +After his departure in consequence of a dream the blind man returned from +the marshes, where he had lived in an artificial island called Elbo, which +no one could rediscover until Amyrtaeos found it again. Anysis, of course, +is the name of a city, not of a man, and, in making it both, Herodotos has +committed a similar mistake to that which he has made in transforming +Pi-Bast, "the temple of Bast," and Pi-Uaz, "the temple of Uaz," into the +names of his goddesses Bubastis and Buto. It is, in fact, merely the Greek +form of the Hebrew Hanes, and the Hebrew Hanes is the Egyptian Hininsu, +which, according to a well-known rule of Semitic and Egyptian phonetics, +was pronounced Hinissu. We learn from the Book of Isaiah (xxx. 4) that +Hanes was playing a prominent part in Egyptian politics at the very time +when Sabako and his Ethiopians occupied the country. The ambassadors of +Hezekiah who were sent from Jerusalem to ask the help of the Egyptian +monarch against the common Assyrian enemy came not only to Zoan in the +Delta, but to Hanes as well. Zoan and Hanes must have been for the moment +the two centres of Egyptian government and the seats of the Pharaoh's +court. + +The intermittent glimpses that we get of Egyptian history in the stormy +period that preceded the Ethiopian conquest show how this had come to be +the case. Shishak's dynasty, the twenty-second, had been followed by the +twenty-third, which Manetho calls Tanite, and which, therefore, must have +had its origin in Zoan. While its second king, Osorkon II., was reigning +at Tanis and Bubastis, the first sign of the coming Ethiopian invasion +fell upon Egypt. Piankhi Mi-Amon, the king of Napata, descended the Nile, +and called upon the rival princes of Egypt to acknowledge him as their +head. Osorkon, who alone possessed a legitimate title to the supreme +sovereignty, seems to have obeyed the summons, but it was resisted by two +of the petty kings of Upper Egypt, those of Ashmunen and Annas, as well as +by Tef-nekht or Tnephakhtos, the prince of Sais. Ashmunen and Ahnas were +accordingly besieged, and Ashmunen soon fell into the invader's hands. +Ahnas and the rest of the south thereupon submitted, and Piankhi marched +against Memphis. In spite of the troops and provisions thrown into it by +Tef-nekht, the old capital of the country was taken by storm, and all show +of resistance to the conqueror was at an end. From one extremity of the +country to the other the native rulers hastened to pay homage to the +Ethiopian and to accept his suzerainty. + +Piankhi caused the account of his conquest to be engraved on a great stele +of granite which he set up on Mount Barkal, the holy mountain of Napata. +Here he gives a list of the seventeen princes among whom the cities of +Egypt had been parcelled out, and each of whom claimed independent or +semi-independent authority. Out of the seventeen, four bear upon their +foreheads the royal uraeus, receive the title of kings, and have their +names enclosed in a cartouche. Two of them are princes of the north, +Osorkon of Bubastis and Tanis, and Aupet of Klysma, near Suez. The other +two represent Upper Egypt. One is the king of Sesennu or Ashmunen, the +other is Pef-dod-Bast of Hininsu or Ahnas. Thebes is wholly ignored. + +The conquest of Piankhi proved to be but momentary. The Ethiopians +retired, and Egypt returned to the condition in which they found it. It +was a nation divided against itself, rent with internal wars and private +feuds, and ready to fall into the hands of the first invader with military +ability and sufficient troops. Two states towered in it above the rest; +Tanis in the north and Ahnas in the south. Tanis had succeeded to the +patrimony of Bubastis and Memphis; Ahnas to that of Thebes. + +Sabako, therefore, fixed his court at Zoan and Hanes, simply because they +had already become the leading cities, if not the capitals, of the north +and the south. And to Zoan and Hanes, accordingly, the Jewish envoys had +to make their way. The princes of Judah assembled at Zoan; the ambassadors +went farther, even to Hanes. It is noteworthy that a century later the +Assyrian king Assur-bani-pal still couples together the princes of Ahnas +and Zoan in his list of the satraps of Egypt. + +Anysis or Hanes was the extreme limit of Herodotos's voyage. As afterwards +in the days of Strabo, it was the entrance to the Fayyum, and the +traveller who wished to visit the Fayyum had first to pass through the +city which the Greeks called Herakleopolis. The patron-god of the city was +Hershef, whose name was the subject of various unsuccessful attempts at an +etymology on the part of the Egyptians. But, like the names of several +other deities, its true origin was lost in the night of antiquity. In +Plutarch it appears in a Greek dress as Arsaphes. The god was invested +with warlike attributes, and hence it was that he was identified by the +Greeks with their own Herakles. His temple stood in the middle of the +mounds of the old city, which the _fellahin_ call Umm el-Kiman, "the +mother of mounds." In 1891 they were partially excavated by Dr. Naville +for the Egypt Exploration Fund, but little was found to repay the expense +and labour of the work. The site of the temple was discovered somewhat to +the north-east of the four columns which are alone left of an early Coptic +church. But hardly more than the site can be said still to exist. A few +blocks of stone inscribed with the names of Ramses II. and Meneptah, and a +fragment of a temple built by Usertesen II., are almost all that survive +of its past. Even the necropolis failed to produce monuments of antiquity. +Its tombs had been ransacked by treasure-hunters and used again as places +of burial in the Roman era, and Dr. Naville found in it only a few traces +of the eighteenth dynasty. + +And yet there had been a time when Herakleopolis was the capital of Egypt. +The ninth and tenth dynasties sprang from it, and the authority of the +tenth dynasty, at all events, was, as we now know, acknowledged as far as +the Cataract. Professor Maspero and Mr. Griffith have shown that three of +the tombs in the hill behind Assiout (Nos. III., IV., and V.) belong to +that age. Hollowed out of the rock, high up in the cliff above the tombs +of the twelfth dynasty, their mutilated inscriptions tell us of the +ancient feudal lords of the nome, Tef-aba and his son Khiti, the latter of +whom won battles for his master, the Pharaoh Mer-ka-Ra. Thebes was in open +rebellion; so also was Herakleopolis itself, the home of the Pharaoh's +family, and Khiti provided ships and soldiers in abundance for him. The +fleet filled the Nile from Gebel Abu Foda on the north to Shotb on the +south, and the forces of the rebels were annihilated. For awhile the +authority of the Pharaoh was restored; but the power of the Theban princes +remained unshaken, and a time came when the Thebans of the eleventh +dynasty succeeded to the heritage of the Herakleopolites of the tenth. + +Who the "blind" king of Anysis may have been we do not know. But he was +certainly not the legitimate Pharaoh, although Herakleopolite vanity may +have wished him to be thought so. According to Manetho, the Tanites of the +twenty-third dynasty were followed by the twenty-fourth dynasty, +consisting of a single Saite, Bokkhoris, whom the monuments call +Bak-n-ran-f. Bokkhoris is said to have been burnt alive by his conqueror +Sabako. In making the latter reign for fifty years, Herodotos has confused +the founder of the dynasty with the dynasty itself. The length of his +reign is variously given by the two copyists of Manetho--Africanus and +Eusebius--as eight and twelve years; the last cypher can alone be the right +one, as an inscription at the gold mines of Hammamat mentions his twelfth +year. He was followed by two other Ethiopian kings, the second of whom was +Tirhakah, and the whole length of the dynasty seems to have been fifty-two +years. The Christian copyists, indeed, with their customary endeavour to +reduce the chronology of the Egyptian historian, make it only forty and +forty-four years; but the monuments show that Herodotos, with his round +half century, is nearer the truth. + +From a topographical point of view the introduction of Sabako and the +Ethiopian between Ahnas and the Fayyum is out of place. But the story told +to Herodotos prevented him from doing otherwise. The blind king is said to +have fled to the marshes of the Delta, and there to have remained in +concealment until the end of the Ethiopian rule, when he was once more +acknowledged as Pharaoh. The legend of Sabako is thus only an episode in +the history of the Herakleopolite prince. + +From the blind Anysis we ought to pass to the kings of the twelfth dynasty +who created the Fayyum and erected the monuments which the Greek traveller +saw there. We do not do so for two reasons. Herodotos had already +mentioned king Moeris and the lake and pyramids he made when describing the +list of kings which the sacred scribe had read to him in Memphis. He could +not count the Egyptian monarch twice, at the beginning as well as the end +of his eleven topographical Pharaohs. Then, again, the story told him +about the Labyrinth connected its origin with Psammetikhos, with whom the +Greek history of Egypt began. From this point forward Herodotos no longer +derived his information from "the Egyptians themselves," that is to say, +from his guides and dragomen, but "from the rest of the world." By "the +rest of the world" he means the Greeks. The story of the Labyrinth is +accordingly relegated to what may be termed the second division of his +Egyptian history, and forms part of his account of the rise of the +twenty-sixth dynasty. + +Between the blind king of Ahnas, therefore, and the supposed builder of +the Labyrinth, a folk-tale is interposed which once more takes us back to +the temple of Ptah at Memphis. It is attached to an image in the temple, +which represents a man with a mouse in his hand, and it is evident that +Herodotos heard it after his return from the Fayyum. Had he heard of it +when he was previously in Memphis, it would have been recorded in an +earlier part of his book. Moreover, the statue stood within the temple, +which the tourist was not allowed to enter, so that he would not have seen +it at the time of his visit to the great Egyptian sanctuary. Whether he +ever saw it at all is doubtful; perhaps he may have caught a glimpse of it +through the open gate of the temple like the glimpses of sculptured +columns in Mohammedan mosques which the older travellers in the East have +boasted of securing. But more probably he heard about it from others, more +especially from the dragoman he employed. + +The story is a curious mixture of Egyptian and Semitic elements, while the +inscription which the dragomen pretended to read upon the statue is a +Greek invention. A priest of Ptah, so it ran, whose name was Sethos, +became king of Egypt. His priestly instincts led him to neglect and +ill-treat the army, even to the extent of robbing them of the twelve acres +of land which each soldier possessed of right. Then Sennacherib, "king of +the Arabians and Assyrians," marched against him, and the army refused to +fight. In his extremity the priest-king entered the shrine of his god and +implored him with tears to save his worshipper. Sleep fell upon the +suppliant, and he beheld the god standing over him and bidding him be of +good courage, for no harm should happen to him. Thereupon Sethos proceeded +to Pelusium with such volunteers as he could find--pedlars, artisans, and +tradesmen--and there found the enemy encamped. In the night, however, +field-mice entered the camp of the Assyrians and gnawed their bowstrings +and the thongs of their shields, so that in the morning they found +themselves defenceless, and the Egyptians gained an easy victory. In +memory of the event the stone image of the king was erected in the temple +of Ptah with a field-mouse in his hand. + +The statue must have been that of Horus, to whom alone, along with Uaz, +the field-mouse was sacred. But it was apparently only in a few localities +that such was the case. The figure of the animal is found on coins of +Ekhmim, and a bronze image of it discovered at Thebes, and now in the +British Museum, is dedicated to "Horus, the lord of Sekhem," or Esneh. At +"Buto," where the two deities were worshipped together, we may expect to +find a cemetery of field-mice like that of the cats at Bubastis, and the +Liverpool Museum possesses two bronze mice, both on the same stand, which +were discovered in the mounds of Athribis near Benha. Horus was the god of +Athribis, where he was adored under the name of Kheti-ti. + +The priest-king of the folk-tale has taken the place of the historical +Tirhakah. The name of his enemy, Sennacherib, however, has been +remembered, though he is called king of "the Arabians" as well as of the +Assyrians. But the title must be of Egyptian origin. The "Arabians" of the +Greek writer are the Shasu, the Bedouin "plunderers" of the Egyptian +monuments, and none but an Egyptian would have described an Asiatic +invader by such a name. + +It was in B.C. 701, during his campaign against Hezekiah of Judah, that +the Assyrian monarch met the forces of Tirhakah. The Ethiopian lord of +Egypt had marched to the help of his Jewish ally, and at the little +village of Eltekeh the battle took place. Tirhakah was defeated and driven +back into Egypt, while Sennacherib was left to continue his campaign and +reduce his rebellious vassal to obedience. In the insolence of victory he +sent Hezekiah a letter declaring that, in spite of the promises of his +God, Jerusalem should be delivered into the hands of its foes. Then it was +that Hezekiah entered the sanctuary of the temple, and, spreading out the +letter before the Lord, besought Him to save himself and the city from the +Assyrian invader. The prayer was heard: Isaiah was commissioned to declare +that the Assyrian king should never come into Jerusalem; and the Assyrian +host perished mysteriously in a single night. + +Half-a-century later a similar event happened in Assyria itself. Its king, +Assur-bani-pal, surrounded by insurgent enemies, was suddenly attacked by +Te-umman of Elam. While he was keeping the festival of the goddess Istar +at Arbela, a message was brought to him from the Elamite monarch that he +was on his march to destroy Assyria and its gods. Thereupon Assur-bani-pal +went into the temple of the goddess, and, bowing to the ground before her, +with tears implored her help. Istar listened to the prayer, and that night +a seer dreamed a dream wherein she appeared and bade him announce to the +king that Istar of Arbela, with quivers behind her shoulders and the bow +and mace in her hand, would fight in front of him and overthrow his foes. +The prophecy was fulfilled, and before long the Elamite army was crushed, +and the head of Te-umman sent in triumph to Nineveh. + +In Judah and Assyria we are dealing with history, in the story of Sethos +with a folk-tale, and it is impossible therefore not to believe that the +conduct of the priest of Ptah has been modelled upon that of Hezekiah and +Assur-bani-pal. The basis of it is Semitic rather than Egyptian; it would +have been told more appropriately of Sennacherib than of the Egyptian +Pharaoh. Perhaps it had its source among the Phoenicians of the Tyrian camp +at Memphis, or even among the Egyptianised Jews who carried Jeremiah into +Egypt. Whatever may have been its origin, it does not belong to the realm +of history. + +Even with the appearance of Psammetikhos upon the stage, the Egyptian +history of Herodotos does not yet commence. Before it can do so, he has to +finish his wanderings and his sight-seeing, to be quit of his dragomen and +of the topographical chronology that he built upon their stories. Through +Herakleopolis lay the entrance to the Fayyum, and the Fayyum united the +folk-lore of the guides with the sober history of the Greek epoch in +Egypt. + +Herodotos knows that Psammetikhos was king of Sais and that his father's +name had been Necho. But when he goes on to say that Necho had been slain +by the Ethiopian Sabako, and that Psammetikhos himself had been driven in +consequence into Syria, he takes us into the domain of fiction and not of +fact. Necho had been one of twenty Egyptian satraps under Esar-haddon and +Assur-bani-pal, and though he had once been carried in chains to Assyria +on a charge of treason, he had returned to his government loaded with +honours. Sabako had been dead long before, and Tirhakah was vainly +endeavouring to drive the Assyrians and their vassal-satraps out of Egypt. + +Still further from the truth was the legend which associated Psammetikhos +with the Fayyum. When the Egyptians had been "freed," we are told, after +the reign of the priest of Ptah, there arose twelve kings who divided the +country between them. They married into each other's families and swore an +oath ever to remain friends. By way of leaving a monument of themselves +they built the Labyrinth, with its twelve courts, each court for a king, +six of them being on the north side and six on the south. But an oracle +had announced that this friendly intercourse would be broken if ever one +of them at their annual gathering in the temple of Ptah should pour a +libation to the god from a bronze helmet. The prince who did so would +become king of all Egypt. This untoward accident eventually occurred. +Psammetikhos on one occasion accidentally used his helmet in place of the +proper libation-bowl, and he was thereupon chased away by his colleagues, +first into the marshes and then into Syria. An oracle, however, again came +to his help. It declared that he would be avenged when men of bronze came +from the sea, and, taking the hint, he hired some Ionian and Karian +pirates, armed with bronze, who had landed for the sake of plunder, and +with their assistance became undisputed master of Egypt. With this story +of the foundation of the twenty-sixth dynasty, the Egyptian folk-lore of +Herodotos came fitly to an end. + +The twelve kings owe their origin to the twelve courts of the Labyrinth. +They are a reminiscence of the twenty vassal-kings or satraps whom the +Assyrians appointed to govern the country, and among whom Psammetikhos and +his father had been included. But even the twelve courts are not +altogether correct. We learn from Strabo that there were many more than +twelve--as many, in fact, as were the nomes of Egypt. This makes us +distrustful of the further statement of Herodotos that the halls contained +one thousand five hundred chambers above the ground, and one thousand five +hundred below. The information must have come from the guides, and it is +not likely that he verified it. To count three thousand chambers would +have occupied at least a day. + +In the time of Strabo it was known that the real builder of the Labyrinth +was Maindes, that is to say, Ma(t)-n-Ra, or Amon-em-hat III. of the +twelfth dynasty. The excavations of Professor Petrie at Howara in 1888 +have proved the fact. He succeeded in penetrating into the central chamber +of the brick pyramid which formed part of the building, and there, deep in +water, he found the sarcophagus and the shattered fragments of some of the +funerary vases of the dead Pharaoh. They were all that had been left by +the spoilers of a long-past age, but they were sufficient to show who the +Pharaoh was. He had not been buried alone. In another chamber of the +pyramid was the sarcophagus of his daughter Neferu-Ptah, who must have +died before the pyramid was finally closed. The labyrinth itself has been +used as a quarry or burnt into lime long ago. On its floor of hard plaster +lie the chippings of the stones which composed it, six feet in thickness, +and covering a far larger area than that of any other Egyptian temple of +which we know. There was none other which could vie with it in size. + +Amon-em-hat III. seems to have left another memorial of himself further +north--at least, such is the natural interpretation of Mr. de Morgan's +recent discoveries at Dahshur. Though the pyramid did not repay his +engineering skill with even a scrap of inscription, he found tombs on its +northern side which prove that here also was a burial-place of the twelfth +dynasty. Two long corridors had been cut out of the rock, one above the +other, and at intervals along their northern walls square chambers had +been excavated, in which were placed the sarcophagi of the dead. +Inscriptions show for whom they were intended. Nofer-hont, Sont-Senebt, +Sit-Hathor and Menit, were the royal princesses who had been entombed +within them in the time of Amon-em-hat III. Their jewels had been hidden +in two natural hollows in the stone floor of the corridors, and had thus +escaped the eye of the ancient treasure-hunter. We can see them now in the +Gizeh Museum, and thus learn to what an exquisite state of perfection the +art of the goldsmith had already been brought. + +Among them we may notice large sea-shells of solid gold, enamelled +lotus-flowers and necklaces of amethyst, carnelian and agate beads. Of +beautifully-worked gold ornaments there is a marvellous profusion. But +nothing surpasses the golden pectorals inlaid with precious stones. The +work is so perfect as to make it difficult to believe that we have before +us a mosaic and not enamel. On one of the pectorals the cartouche of +Usertesen III. is supported on the paws of two hawk-headed lions, crowned +with the royal feathers, and trampling under their feet the bodies of the +foe. On another Amon-em-hat III. is represented smiting the wild tribes of +the Sinaitic Peninsula. By the side of this jewellery of the twelfth +dynasty, that of Queen Ah-hotep of the seventeenth, found by Mariette at +Thebes, looks formal and degenerate. In jewellery, as in all things else +in ancient Egypt, the earlier art is the best. + +From Amon-em-hat III. of the twelfth dynasty to the founder of the +twenty-sixth, two thousand years later, is a far cry, and how the +Labyrinth came to be connected with the latter by the guides of Herodotos +it is hard to say. The bronze helmet of Psammetikhos indicates that the +story is of Greek origin. That was a Greek head-dress; no Egyptian, much +less an Egyptian Pharaoh, would ever have worn it. The head-dress of the +Egyptian monarch was of linen, coloured red for Lower Egypt, white for the +south. + +Herodotos seems to have visited Howara from the capital of the Fayyum, +much as a traveller would do to-day. At least, such is the inference which +we may draw from his words. Its position is defined as being "a little +above Lake Moeris, near the city of the Crocodiles." But we must remember +that the Lake Moeris of the Greek tourist included not only the actual +lake, but also the inundation, which covered at the time the cultivated +land of the Fayyum. Nor was it, as he supposed, an artificial piece of +water excavated in a district which was "terribly waterless," the +excavators of which were wasteful enough to fling all the earth they had +extracted into the Nile twenty miles away. It was, on the contrary, an +oasis reclaimed from marsh and water by the wise engineering labours of +the kings of the twelfth dynasty and the embankments which they caused to +be erected. So far from destroying the precious cultivable ground by +turning it into a lake, they drained the lake so far as was possible, and +thereby created a new Egypt for the cultivators of the soil. + +From the walls of the city of the Crocodiles Herodotos looked out over a +vast expanse of water, which he thought was the creation of the Pharaohs, +but which was really the result of man's neglect. The dykes were broken +which should have kept back the flood and prevented it from swamping the +summer crops. It was with this view of almost boundless waters that the +journey of Herodotos up the Nile came to an end. He returned to Memphis, +and from thence pursued the way along which we have followed him to +Pelusium and the sea. His note-book was filled with memoranda of all the +wonders he had seen; of the strange customs he had observed among the +Egyptian people; above all, with the folk-tales which his guides had +poured into his ear. At a later day, when his eastern travels were over, +and he had leisure for the work, he combined all this with the accounts +written by his predecessors, and added a new book to the libraries of +ancient Greece. From the outset it was a success, and though malicious +critics endeavoured to condemn and supersede it, though Thukydides +contradicted its statements in regard to Athens, though Ktesias declared +that its oriental history was a romance and Plutarch discoursed on the +"malignity" of its author, the book survived all attacks. We have lost the +work of Hekataeos of Miletos, we have lost also--what is a more serious +misfortune--that of the careful and well-informed Hekataeos of Abdera, but +we still have Herodotos with us. And in spite of our own knowledge and his +ignorance, in spite even of his innocent vanity and appropriation of the +words of others, it is a pleasure to travel with him in our hand and visit +with him the scenes he saw. Nowhere else can we find the folk-lore which +grew and flourished in the meeting-place of East and West more than two +thousand years ago, and in which lay the germs of much of the folk-lore of +our own childhood. It may even be that some of the stories which the +modern dragoman relates to the modern traveller on the Nile have no better +parentage than the guides of Herodotos. Cairo is the successor of Memphis, +and 'the caste' of the dragomen is not yet extinct. + + + + + +APPENDICES. + + + + +Appendix I. + + + +The Egyptian Dynasties According To Manetho (As Quoted By Julius +Africanus, A.D. 220), Etc. + + +[The excerpts of Africanus are known from George the Synkellos (A.D. 790) +and Eusebius (A.D. 326): where Eusebius differs from Synkellos the fact is +stated.] + +(Each king is followed by the number of years reigned.) + +DYNASTY I.--Thinites: 8 kings. + +1. Menes 62 +2. Athothis his son 57 +3. Kenkenes his son 31 +4. Ouenephes his son 23 +5. Ousaphaidos his son (Ousaphaes, _Eus._) 20 +6. Miebidos his son (Niebaes, _Eus._) 26 +7. Semempses his son 18 +8. Bienakhes his son (Oubienthes or Vibethis, _Eus._) 26 + ---- +Sum 253 +(_Eus._ 252 +Really 263) + +DYNASTY II.--Thinites: 9 kings. + +1. Boethos (Bokhos, _Eus._) 38 +2. Kaiekhos (Khoos or Kekhous, _Eus._) 39 +3. Binothris (Biophis, _Eus._) 47 +4. Tlas (unnamed by _Eus._) 17 +5. Sethenes (unnamed by _Eus._) 41 +6. Khaires (unnamed by _Eus._) 17 +7. Nepherkheres 25 +8. Sesokhris 48 +9. Kheneres (unnamed by _Eus._) 30 + ---- +Sum 302 +(_Eus._ 297) + +DYNASTY III.--Memphites: 9 kings. + +1. Nekherophes (Nekherokhis, _Eus._) 28 +2. Tosorthros (Sesorthos, _Eus._) 29 +3. Tyreis (unnamed by _Eus._) 7 +4. Mesokhris (unnamed by _Eus._) 17 +5. Soyphis (unnamed by _Eus._) 16 +6. Tosertasis (unnamed by _Eus._) 19 +7. Akhes (unnamed by _Eus._) 42 +8. Sephouris (unnamed by _Eus._) 30 +9. Kerpheres (unnamed by _Eus._) 26 + ---- +Sum 214 +(_Eus._ 197) + +DYNASTY IV.--Memphites: 8 kings. (_Eus._ 17.) + +1. Soris (unnamed by _Eus._) 29 +2. Souphis I. (3rd king of the dynasty, _Eus._) 63 +3. Souphis II. (unnamed by _Eus._) 66 +4. Menkheres (unnamed by _Eus._) 63 +5. Ratoises (unnamed by _Eus._) 25 +6. Bikheris (unnamed by _Eus._) 22 +7. Seberkheres (unnamed by _Eus._) 7 +8. Thamphthis (unnamed by _Eus._) 9 + ---- +Sum 277 +(_Eus._ 448 +Really 284) + +DYNASTY V.--Elephantines: 9 kings. + +(_Eus._ 31 kings, including Othoes or Othius the First and Phiops; the +others are unnamed.) + +1. Ouserkheres 28 +2. Sephres 13 +3. Nepherkheres 20 +4. Sisires or Sisikhis 7 +5. Kheres or Ekheres 20 +6. Rathoures 44 +7. Menkheres 9 +8. Tankheres 44 +9. Ounos or Obnos 33 + ---- +Sum 248 +(Really 218) + +DYNASTY VI.--Memphites: 6 kings. (No number in _Eus._) + +1. Othoes 30 +2. Phios 53 (or 3) +3. Menthu-Souphis 7 +4. Phiops (lived 100 years) 94 +5. Menthe-Souphis 1 +6. Nitokris, a queen 12 + ---- +Sum 160 +(_Eus._ 245) + +DYNASTY VII.--70 Memphites for 70 days. (_Eus._ 5 kings for 75 days, or 75 +years according to the Armenian Version.) + +DYNASTY VIII.--27 Memphites for 146 years. (_Eus._ 5 kings for 100 years, +or 9 kings according to the Armenian Version.) + +DYNASTY IX.--19 Herakleopolites for 409 years. (_Eus._ 4 kings for 100 +years.) + +1. Akhthoes ? + +DYNASTY X.--19 Herakleopolites for 185 years. + +DYNASTY XI.--16 Thebans for 43 years, after whom Ammenemes reigned 16 +years. + +End of Manetho's first book, the kings of the first eleven dynasties +reigning altogether 2300 years (_Eus._ 2200) and 70 days (really 2287 +years and 70 days). + +DYNASTY XII.--Thebans: 7 kings. + +1. Sesonkhosis, son of Ammenemes 46 +2. Ammanemes, slain by his eunuchs 38 +3. Sesostris 48 +4. Lakhares (Lamaris or Lambares, _Eus._), the builder of 8 +the Labyrinth +5. Ammeres (unnamed by _Eus._) 8 +6. Ammenemes (unnamed by _Eus._ 8 +7. Skemiophris his sister (unnamed by _Eus._) 4 + ---- +Sum 160 +(_Eus._ 245) + +DYNASTY XIII.--Thebans: 60 kings for 453 years. + +DYNASTY XIV.--Xoites: 76 kings for 134 years. (_Eus._ 484 years). + +DYNASTY XV.--Shepherds: 6 Phoenician strangers at Memphis for 284 years. +(_Eus._ Thebans for 250 years). + +1. Saites 19 +2. Bnon 44 +3. Pakhnan 61 +4. Staan 50 +5. Arkles 49 +6. Aphobis 61 +---- +Sum 284 + +DYNASTY XVI.--Shepherds: 32 kings for 582 years. (_Eus._ 5 Thebans for 190 +years). + +DYNASTY XVII.--Shepherds: 43 kings for 151 years and 43 Thebans for 151 +years. (_Eus._ Shepherds, Phoenician strangers for 103 years: + +1. Saites 19 +2. Bnon 40 +3. Arkles (Arm. Version) 30 +4. Aphophis (Arm. Version) 14 + ---- +Sum 103 + +DYNASTY XVIII.--Thebans: 16 kings. (_Eus._ 14 kings.) + +1. Amos[is] 25 +2. Khebros (Khebron, _Eus._) 13 +3. Amenophthis (Amenophis for 21 years, _Eus._) 24 +4. Amensis or Amersis (omitted by _Eus._) 22 +5. Misaphris (Miphris for 12 years, _Eus._) 13 +6. Misphragmouthosis 26 +7. Touthmosis 9 +8. Amenophis Memnon 31 +9. Horos (Oros, _Eus._) 37 +10. Akherres (Akhenkheres or Akhenkherses for 16 or 12 32 +years, _Eus._) +11. Rathos (omitted by _Eus._) 6 +12. Khebres (Akherres for 8 years, _Eus._) 12 +13. Akherres (Kherres for 15 years, _Eus._) 12 +14. Armeses (Armais Danaos, _Eus._) 5 +15. Ramesses (Ramesses AEgyptos for 68 years, _Eus._) 1 +16. Amenophath (Amenophis for 40 years, _Eus._) 19 + ---- +Sum 263 +(_Eus._ 348 +Really 287) + +DYNASTY XIX.--Thebans: 7 kings. (_Eus._ 5 kings.) + +1. Sethos (for 55 years, _Eus._) 51 +2. Rapsakes (Rampses for 66 years, _Eus._) 61 +3. Ammenephthes (for 8 years, _Eus._) 20 +4. Ramesses (omitted by _Eus._) 60 +5. Ammenemmes (for 26 years, _Eus._) 5 +6. Thouoris or Polybos 7 + ---- +Sum 209 +(_Eus._ 194 +Really 204) + +DYNASTY XX.--Thebans: 12 kings for 135 years. (_Eus._ 172 or 178 years.) + +Among the 12 kings were:-- + +Nekhepsos 19 +Psammouthis 13 +Kertos 16 (_Eus._ + 12) +Rampsis 45 +Amenses or Ammenemes 26 +Okhyras 14 + ---- +Sum 137 + +DYNASTY XXI.--Tanites: 7 kings. + +1. Smendes 26 +2. Psousennes (for 41 years, _Eus._) 46 +3. Nephelkheres (Nepherkheres, _Eus._) 4 +4. Amenophthis 9 +5. Osokhor 6 +6. Psinakhes 9 +7. Psousennes (for 35 years, _Eus._) 14 + ---- +Sum 130 +(_Eus._ 130 +Really 114) + +DYNASTY XXII.--Bubastites: 9 kings. (_Eus._ 3 kings.) + +1. Sesonkhis (Sesonkhosis, _Eus._) 21 +2. Osorthon 15 +3, 4, 5. Unnamed (omitted by _Eus._) 25 +6. Takelothis 13 +7, 8, 9. Unnamed (omitted by _Eus._) 42 + ---- +Sum 120 +(_Eus._ 44 +Really 116) + +DYNASTY XXIII.--Tanites; 4 kings. (_Eus._ 3 kings.) + +1. Petoubates (Petoubastes for 25 years, _Eus._) 40 +2. Osorkho Herakles (Osorthon for 9 years, _Eus._) 8 +3. Psammous 10 +4. Zet (omitted by _Eus._) 31 + ---- +Sum 89 +(_Eus._ 44) + +DYNASTY XXIV.--One Saite. + +1. Bokkhoris the legislator (for 44 years, _Eus._) 6 + +DYNASTY XXV.--Ethiopians: 3 kings. + +1. Sabakon (for 12 years, _Eus._) 8 +2. Sebikhos his son (for 12 years, _Eus._) 14 +3. Tearkos (Tarakos for 20 years, _Eus._) 18 + ---- +Sum 40 +(_Eus._ 44) + +DYNASTY XXVI.--Saites: 9 kings. (_Eus._ 1, Ammeris the Ethiopian for 18 or +12 years.) + +1. Stephinates (Stephinathis, the 2nd king, _Eus._) 7 +2. Nekhepsos (the 3rd king, _Eus._) 6 +3. Nekhao (for 6 years, _Eus._) 8 +4. Psammetikhos (for 44 or 45 years, _Eus._) 54 +5. Nekhao II. 6 +6. Psammouthis II. (or Psammitikhos, for 17 years, _Eus._) +6 +7. Ouaphris, (for 25 years, _Eus._) 19 +8. Amosis (for 42 years, _Eus._) 44 +9. Psammekherites (omitted by _Eus._) 1/2 + ------- +Sum 150-1/2 +(_Eus._ 167) + +DYNASTY XXVII.--Persians: 8 kings. + +(Each king is followed by the number of years and months reigned.) + +1. Kambyses, in the 5th year of his reign (for 3 years, 6 0 +_Eus._) +2. Dareios, son of Hystaspes 36 0 +3. Xerxes I. 21 0 +4. Artabanos (omitted by _Eus._) 0 7 +5. Artaxerxes 41 0 +6. Xerxes II. 0 2 +7. Sogdianos 0 7 +8. Dareios, son of Xerxes 19 0 + ---- +Sum 124 4 +(_Eus._ 120 4) + +DYNASTY XXVIII.--One Saite. + +1. Amyrtaios 6 0 + +DYNASTY XXIX.--Mendesians: 4 kings. (_Eus._ 5 kings.) + +1. Nepherites I. or Nekherites 6 0 +2. Akhoris 13 0 +3. Psammouthes 1 0 +(_Eus._ inserts Mouthis here, 1 year.) +4. Nepherites II. 0 4 + ---- +Sum 20 4 +(_Eus._ 21 4) + +DYNASTY XXX.--Sebennytes: 3 kings. + +(Each king is followed by the number of years reigned.) + +1. Nektanebes I. (for 10 years, _Eus._) 18 +2. Teos 2 +3. Nektanebes II. (for 8 years, _Eus._) 18 + ---- +Sum 38 +(_Eus._ 20) + +DYNASTY XXXI.--Persians: 3 kings. + +1. Okhos, in his 20th year (for 6 years, _Eus._) 2 +2. Arses (for 4 years, _Eus._) 3 +3. Dareios (for 6 years, _Eus._) 4 + ---- +Sum 9 +(_Eus._ 16) + + + +The Dynasties Of Manetho According To Josephus. + + +DYNASTY XV.--Hyksos or Shepherds. + +After the overthrow of Timaios, the last king of the fourteenth dynasty, a +period of anarchy. + +(Each king is followed by the number of years and months reigned.) + +1. Salatis at Memphis 13 0 +2. Beon 44 0 +3. Apakhnas 36 7 +4. Apophis 61 0 +5. Yanias or Annas 50 1 +6. Assis 49 2 + +DYNASTIES XVIII. and XIX.--Thebans. + +1. Tethmosis 25 4 +2. Khebron his son 13 0 +3. Amenophis I. 20 7 +4. Amesses his sister 21 9 +5. Mephres 12 9 +6. Mephramouthosis 25 10 +7. Thmosis 9 8 +8. Amenophis II. 30 10 +9. Oros 36 5 +10. Akenkhres his daughter 12 1 +11. Rathotis her brother 9 0 +12. Akenkheres I. 12 5 +13. Akenkheres II. 12 3 +14. Armais 4 1 +15. Ramesses 1 4 +16. Armesses Miamoun 60 2 +17. Amenophis III. 19 6 +18. Sethosis AEgyptos and Ramesses (or Hermeus) Danaos 59 0 +19. Rhampses his son 66 0 +20. Amenophis his son ? +21. Sethos Ramesses his son ? + +[The order ought to be: 15, 18, 19 (identical with 16), 20 (identical with +17).] + + + +The Theban Kings Of Egypt According To Eratosthenes. + + +(Each king is followed by the number of years reigned.) + +1. Menes, a Thenite of Thebes, interpreted "of Amon" 62 +2. Athothes, son of Menes, interpreted "born of Thoth" 59 +3. Athothes II. 32 +4. Diabies his son, interpreted "loving his comrades" 19 +5. Pemphos his brother, interpreted "son of Herakles" 18 +(Semempsis) +6. Toigar the invincible Momkheiri, a Memphite, interpreted 79 +"with superfluous limbs" (Tosorthros) +7. Stoikhos his son, interpreted "insensate Ares" [? Set] 6 +8. Gosormies (perhaps Tosertasis) 30 +9. Mares his son, interpreted "Sun-given" 26 +10. Anoyphis his son, interpreted "promiscuous" or "festive" 20 +11. Sirios, interpreted "son of side-locks" or "unenvied" 18 +12. Khnoubos Gneuros, interpreted "the golden son of the 22 +golden" +13. Rauosis, interpreted "chief ruler" (Ratoises) 13 +14. Biyres (Bikheres) 10 +15. Saophis, interpreted "long-haired" or "tradesman" 29 +(Kheops) +16. Saophis II. (Khephren) 27 +17. Moskheres, interpreted "given to the Sun" (Mykerinos) 31 +18. Mousthis 33 +19. Pammes Arkhondes (Pepi I.) 35 +20. Pappos the Great (Pepi II.) 100 +21. Ekheso-Sokaras (Sokar-m-saf) 1 +22. Nitokris, a queen, interpreted "Nit the victorious" 6 +23. Myrtaios the given to Amon 22 +24. Thyosi-mares, interpreted "the strong Sun" 12 +25. Thirillos or Thinillos, interpreted "who has increased 8 +his father's strength" (Nefer-ka-Ra Terel) +26. Semphroukrates, interpreted "Herakles Harpokrates" 18 +27. Khouther Tauros the tyrant (perhaps Akhthoes) 7 +28. Meures 12 +29. Khomaephtha, interpreted "a world loving Ptah" 11 +30. Soikouniosokhos the tyrant 60 +31. Pente-athyris 16 +32. Stammenes III. (Amen-m-hat II.) 23 +33. Sistosi-khermes, interpreted "Herakles the strong" 55 +(Usertesen II.) +34. Maris (Amen-m-hat III.) 43 +35. Siphyas (Siphthas), interpreted "Thoth the son of Ptah" 5 +(Si-Ptah) +36. Name lost 14 +37. Phrouron or Neilos (Sebek-neferu-Ra) 5 +38. Amouthantaios 63 + + + +The Egyptian Kings According To The Monuments. + + +DYNASTY I. + + Abydos. Saqqarah. Turin Manetho. + Papyrus. +1. Meni Meni Menes +2. Teta Atut Athothis +3. Atota Kenkenes +4. Ata Ouenephes I. +5. Husapti Husapti Ousaphaidos +6. Mer-ba-pa Mer-ba-pen Mer-ba-pen, + 73 yrs. + Miebidos +7. Samsu Samsu, 72 Semempses + yrs. +8. Qabh(u) Qabhu Qabhu, 83 Bienekhes. + yrs. + +DYNASTY II. + + Abydos. Saqqarah. Turin Manetho. + Papyrus. +1. Buzau Bai-nuter (Buzau), 95 Boethos + yrs. +2. Kakau Kakau Kakau Kaiekhos +3. Ba-nuter-en Ba-nuter-en Ba-nuter-en, Binothris + 95 yrs. +4. Uznas Uznas (Uznas), 70 Tlas + yrs. +5. Senda(10) Send Senda, 74 (?) Sethenes + yrs. +6. Nefer-ka-Ra (Nefer-ka-Ra), Nepherkheres. + 70 yrs. + +DYNASTY III. + + Abydos. Saqqarah. Turin Manetho. + Papyrus. +1. Nefer-ka-Sokar Nefer-ka-Sokar Nekherophes + (? 2) 8 yrs. + 4 mths. 2 + dys. +2. Zefa Hu-Zefa, 25(?) Tosorthros + yrs. 8 mths. 4 + dys. +3. Babai +4. Zazai Zazai, 37 yrs. Tyreis + 2 mths. 1 day. +5. Neb-ka Neb-ka-(Ra), Mesokhris + 19 yrs. +6. Zoser-Sa Zoser Zoser, 19 yrs. Soyphis + 2 mths. +7. Teta II. Zoser-teta Zoser-teta, 6 Tosertasis + yrs. +8. Sezes Neb-ka-Ra Akhes +9. Nefer-ka-Ra (Nefer-ka-Ra), Sephouris + I. 6 yrs. +10. Huni Huni, 24 yrs. Kerpheres. + +DYNASTY IV. + + Abydos. Saqqarah. Turin Manetho. + Papyrus. +1. Snefru Snefru Snefru, 24 Soris + yrs. +2. Khufu Khufuf (Khufu), 23 Souphis I. + yrs. +3. Ra-dad-f Ra-dad-f (Ra-dad-f), 8 Ratoises + yrs. +4. Kha-f-Ra Kha-f-Ra Souphis II. +5. Men-kau-Ra [Men]-kau-[Ra] Menkheres +6. Shepseskaf Shepseskaf Seberkheres + (?) + +DYNASTY V. + + Abydos. Saqqarah. Turin Manetho. + Papyrus. +1. User-ka-f User-ka-f (Userkaf), 28 Ouserkheres + yrs. +2. Sahu-Ra Sahu-Ra (Sahu-Ra), 4 Sephres + yrs. +3. Kaka (Kaka), 2 + yrs. +4. Nefer-Ra Nefer-ar-ka-Ra(11) (Nefer-ar-ka-Ra), Nepherkheres + 7 yrs. +5. Shepses-ka-Ra (Shepses-ka-Ra), Sisires + 12 yrs. +6. Kha-nefer-Ra Kheres +7. Akau-Hor, 7 Rathoures + yrs.(12) +8. Ra-n-user (Ra-n-user-An), + (An) 25 yrs. +9. Men-kau-Hor Men-ka-Hor Men-ka-Hor, 8 Menkheres + yrs. +10. Dad-ka-Ra Ma-ka-Ra Dad(-ka Ra Assa), Tankheres + (Assa) 28 yrs. +11. Unas Unas Unas, 30 yrs. Obnos. + +DYNASTY VI. + + Abydos. Saqqarah. Turin Manetho. + Papyrus. +1. Teta III. Teta Othoes +2. User-ka-Ra (Ati?) +3. Meri-Ra (Pepi Pepi I. (Pepi I.), 20 Phios + I.) yrs. +4. Mer-n-Ra Mer-n-Ra I. (Miht-m-saf Methousouphis + Miht-m-saf I. I.), 14 yrs. +5. Nefer-ka-Ra Nefer-ka-Ra (Pepi II. ), Phiops + (Pepi I.) 9 (4) yrs. +6. Mer-n-Ra (Miht-m-saf Menthesouphis + Miht-m-saf II.), 1 yr. 1 + II. mth. +7. Neit-aker, a Nitokris. + queen + +DYNASTIES VII. AND VIII.(13) + +Turin Papyrus. Abydos. +1. Nefer-ka, 2 yrs. 1 mth. 1. Nuter-ka-Ra +1 dy. +2. Neferus, 4 yrs. 2 mth. 2. Men-ka-Ra +1 dy. +3. Ab-n-Ra I., 2 yrs. 1 3. Nefer-ka-Ra III. +mth. 1 dy. +4. ... 1 yr. 8 dys. 4. Nefer-ka-Ra IV. Nebi +5. Ab-n-Ra II. 5. Dad-ka-Ra Shema +6. Hanti 6. Nefer-ka-Ra V. Khondu +7. Pest-sat-n-Sopd 7. Mer-n-Hor +8. Pait-kheps 8. Snefer-ka I. +9. Serhlinib.(14) 9. Ka-n-Ra. + 10. Nefer-ka-Ra VI. Terel + 11. Nefer-ka-Hor + 12. Nefer-ka-Ra VII. + Pepi-Seneb + 13. Snefer-ka II. Annu + 14. [User-]kau-Ra + 15. Nefer-kau-Ra + 16. Nefer-kau-Hor + 17. Nefer-ar-ka-Ra. + +DYNASTY IX. Monuments. + +Khiti (or Khruti) I. Aa-hotep-Ra Skha-n-Ra +Mer-ab-Ra (the Akhthoes of +Manetho) + Aah-mes(?)-Ra +Maa-ab-Ra Se-n(?)-mu-Ra(15) +Kha-user-Ra + +DYNASTY X. + +Monuments. Turin Papyrus. +Mer-ka-Ra + +Nefer-hepu-Ra + Nefer-ka-Ra +Ra-hotep-ab Khiti II. +Amu-si-Hor-nez-hirtef + Se-heru-herri + [Ameni?](16) + Mer ... + Meh ... + Hu ...(17) + +DYNASTY XI.(18) + +Karnak. Other Monuments. +1. Antef I., Prince (of Seshes-Hor-ap-maa-Ra +Thebes) Antuf-Aa +2. Men[tu-hotep I.] the Neb-hotep Mentu-hotep I. +Pharaoh +3. Antef II. Uah-ankh [Ter?]-seshes + ap-maa-Ra Antef-Aa, his + son +4. Antef III. Seshes-herher-maa-Ra + Antef, his brother +5. Nuter-nefer Neb-taui-Ra + Mentu-hotep II. +6. Antef IV. Nub-kheper-Ra Antauf (more + than 50 yrs.) +7. Neb-[khru]-Ra Neb-khru-Ra Mentu-hotep + III. (more than 46 yrs.) +8. Queen Aah +9. Antef V. her son +10. S-ankh-ka-Ra S-ankh-ka-Ra(19) + +DYNASTY XII. + +Monuments. Turin Papyrus. Manetho. +1. Amen-m-hat I. S-hotep-ab-Ra, 19 Ammenemes +S-hotep-ab-Ra alone, yrs. +20 yrs. With +Usertesen I., 10 +yrs. +2. UsertesenI. ... 45 yrs. 7 mths. Sesonkhosis +Kheper-ka-Ra alone, +32 yrs. With +Amen-m-hat II., 3 +yrs. +3. Amen-m-hat II. ... 3[2] yrs. Ammanemes +Nub-kau-Ra alone, 29 +yrs. With Usertesen +II., 6 yrs. +4. Usertesen II. ... 19 yrs. Sesostris +Kha-kheper-Ra +5. Usertesen III. ... 3[8] yrs. Lakhares +Kha-kau-Ra (more +than 26 yrs.) +6. Amen-m-hat III. ... 4[3] yrs. Ammeres +Maat-n-Ra, 43 yrs. +7. Amen-m-hat IV. Ma-khru-[Ra], 9 yrs. Ammenemes +Ma-khru-Ra 3 mths. 27 dys. +8. Sebek-nefru-Ra (a Sebek-nefru-Ra, 3 Skemiophris +queen) yrs. 10 mths. 24 + dys. + Sum of years of + twelfth dynasty: 213 + years 1 mth. 17 + days. + +DYNASTIES XIII. and XIV. Turin Papyrus.(20) + +1. Sebek-hotep I. [Sekhem]-khu-taui-Ra (son of Sebek-nefru-Ra), 1 yr. 3 + mths. 24 dys. +2. Sekhem-ka-Ra, 6 yrs. +3. Ra Amen-m-hat V. +4. S-hotep-ab-Ra II. +5. Aufni, 2 yrs. +6. S-ankh-ab-Ra [Ameni Antuf Amen-m-hat], 1 yr. +7. S-men-ka-Ra +8. S-hotep-ab-Ra III. +9. S-ankh-ka-Ra +10, 11. Destroyed +12. Nezem-ab-Ra +13. Ra-Sebek-hotep II. +14. Ran-seneb +15. Autu-ab-Ra I. (Hor)(21) +16. Sezef-[ka]-Ra +17. Sekhem-khu-taui-Ra II. Sebek-hotep III. +18. User-n-Ra +19. S-menkh-ka-Ra Mer-menfiu +20. ... ka-Ra +21. S-user-set-Ra +22. Sekhem-uaz-taui-Ra Sebek-hotep IV. +23. Kha-seshesh-Ra Nefer-hotep, son of Ha-ankh-f +24. Si-Hathor-Ra +25. Kha-nefer-Ra Sebek-hotep V. +26. [Kha-ka-Ra] +27. [Kha-ankh-Ra Sebek-hotep VI.] +28. Kha-hotep-Ra Sebek-hotep VII., 4 yrs. 8 mths. 29 dys. +29. Uab-Ra Aa-ab, 10 yrs. 8 mths. 29 dys. +30. Mer-nefer-Ra Ai, 23 yrs.(22) 8 mths. 18 dys. +31. Mer-hotep-Ra Ana, 2 yrs. 2 mths. 9 dys. +32. S-ankh-n-s-uaztu-Ra, 3 yrs. 2 mths. +33. Mer-sekhem-Ra Anran,(23) 3 yrs. 1 mth. +34. S-uaz-ka-Ra Ur, 5 yrs. ... mth. 8 dys. +35. Anemen ... Ra +36-46. Destroyed +47. Mer-kheper-Ra +48. Mer-kau-Ra Sebek-hotep VIII. +49-53. Destroyed +54. ... mes-Ra +55. ... mat-Ra Aba +56. Nefer-uben-Ra I. +57. ... ka-Ra +58. S-uaz-n-Ra. +59-60. Destroyed +61. Nehasi-Ra(24) +62. Kha-khru-Ra +63. Neb-f-autu-Ra, 2 yrs. 5 mths. 15 dys. +64. S-heb-Ra, 3 yrs. +65. Mer-zefa-Ra, 3 yrs. +66. S-uaz-ka-Ra, 1 yr. +67. Neb-zefa-Ra, 1 yr. +68. Uben-Ra I. +69-70. Destroyed +71. [Neb-]zefa-Ra II., 4 yrs. +72. [Nefer-]Uben-Ra II. +73. Autu-ab-Ra II. +74. Her-ab-Ra +75. Neb-sen-Ra +76-79. Destroyed +80. S-kheper-n-Ra +81. Dad-khru-Ra +82. S-ankh-ka-Ra +83. Nefer-tum-Ra +84. Sekhem ... Ra +85. Ka ... Ra +86. Nefer-ab-Ra +87. A ... ka-Ra +88. Kha ... Ra, 2 yrs. +89. Nez-ka ... Ra +90. S-men ... Ra +91-111. Destroyed. +112. Sekhem ... Ra +113. Sekhem ... Ra +114. Sekhem-us ... Ra +115. Sesen ... Ra +116. Neb-ati-uzu-Ra +117. Neb-aten-uzu-Ra +118. S-men-ka-Ra +119. S-user-[aten]-Ra +120. Kha-sekhem-[hent]-Ra +Some 37 more names are illegible. + +[DYNASTIES XIII. and XIV. Karnak. + +1. ... ka. +2. S-uaz-n-Ra (Nefer-ka-Ra) +3. S-ankh-ab-Ra (T. P. 6) +4. Sekhem-khu-taui-Ra (T. P. 17) +5. Sekhem-s-uaz-taui-Ra. (T. P. 22) +6. Kha-seshesh-Ra (T. P. 23) +7. Kha-nefer-Ra (T. P. 25) +8. Kha-ka-Ra (T. P. 26) +9. Kha-ankh-Ra (T. P. 27) +10. Kha-hotep-Ra +11. S-nefer-Ra +12. ... Ra +13. Ses-user-taui-Ra +14. Mer-sekhem-Ra +15. Sekhem-uaz-khau-Ra (Sebek-m-saf I.) +16. S-uah-n-Ra +17. [Sekhem]-uah-khau-Ra (Sebek-m-saf II.) +18. Za ... Ra +19. S-uaz-n-Ra +20. S-nefer ... Ra +21. ... Ra. + +Other Monuments. + +Men-khau-Ra An-ab +Sekhem-ap-taui-Ra +Nefer-kheper-ka-Ra +Mut-r-ka-n-Ra +Ta-neb-n-Ra +Sekhem-nefer-khau-Ra Apheru-m-saf +Maa-nt-n-Ra Ter-n-Ra +Senb-in-ma +Uazd +Kha-nefrui +Men-nefer-Ra (Menophres) +Sekhem-sheddi-taui-Ra Sebek-m-saf II. +Ra-seshes-men-taui Tehuti]. + +DYNASTIES XV. and XVI. Turin Papyrus. + +1. Abehnas ... (?) +2. Apepi +3. A ... + +Other Monuments. + +Shalati (?) +Banan (?) +Ya'qob-hal ("Jacob-el") +Khian S-user-(Set-)n-Ra +Apepi I. Aa-user-Ra (reigned more than 33 years) +Apepi II. Aa-ab-taui-Ra. + +DYNASTY XVII. + +Skenen-Ra Taa I. (contemporary with Apepi II.) +Skenen-Ra Taa II. Aa +Skenen-Ra Taa III. Ken +Uaz-kheper-Ra Ka-mes, and wife Aah-hotep. + +Other kings of the seventeenth dynasty were:-- + +Si-pa-ar-Ahmes +Aah-hotep +S-khent-neb-Ra +Amen-sa +Kheper-ka-n-Ra +S-nekht-n-Ra. + +DYNASTY XVIII. + + Manetho. +1. Neb-pehuti-Ra Aahmes (more than 20 yrs.), and Amosis +wife Nefert-ari-Aahmes(25) +2. Ser-ka-Ra Amen-hotep I., his son (20 yrs. 7 Amenophis I. +mths.); his mother at first regent +3. Aa-kheper-ka-Ra Tehuti-mes I., his son, and Chebron (?) +wife Aahmes Meri-Amen, and Queen Amen-sit. +4. Aa-kheper-n-Ra Tehuti-mes II., his son (more Amensis +than 9 yrs.), and wife (sister) Hashepsu I. +Ma-ka-Ra +5. Khnum Amen Hashepsu II. Ma-ka-Ra, his sister Amensis (?) +(more than 16 yrs.) +6. Ra-men-kheper Tehuti-mes III., her brother, Misaphris +(57 yrs. 11 mths. 1 dy., B.C. 1503, March +20-1449, Feb. 14(26)) +7. Aa-khepru-Ra Amen-hotep II., his son (more Misphragmu-thosis +then 5 yrs.) +8. Men-khepru-Ra Tehuti-mes IV., his son (more Touthmosis +than 7 yrs.) +9. Neb-ma-Ra Amen-hotep III., his son, (more Amenophis II. +then 35 yrs.), and wife Teie +10. Nefer-khepru-Ra Amen-hotep IV. Horos +Khu-n-aten(27), his son (more than 17 yrs), and +wife Nefrui-Thi S-aa-ka-khepru-Ra +11. Ankh-khepru-Ra, and wife Meri-Aten Akherres +12. Tut-ankh-Amen Khepru-neb-Ra, and wife Rathotis +Ankh-nes-Amen +13. Aten-Ra-nefer-nefru-mer-Aten +14. Ai Kheper-khepru-ar-ma-Ra and wife Thi more +than 4 yrs. +15. Hor-m-hib Mi-Amen Ser-khepru-Ka (more than 3 Armais +yrs.) + +DYNASTY XIX. + + Manetho. +1. Men-pehuti-Ra Ramessu I. (more than 2 yrs.) Ramesses +2. Men-ma-Ra Seti I. Mer-n-Ptah I. (more than 27 Sethos +yrs.), and wife Tua +3. User-ma-Ra (Osymandyas) Sotep-n-Ra Ramessu +II. Mi-Amen (B.C. 1348-1281) +4. Mer-n-Ptah II. Hotep-hi-ma Ba-n-Ra Mi-Amen Ammenephthes +5. User-khepru-Ra Seti II. Mer-n-Ptah III. Sethos + Ramesses +6. Amen-mesu Hik-An Mer-kha-Ra Sotep-n-Ra Amenemes +7. Khu-n-Ra Sotep-n-Ra Mer-n-Ptah IV. Si-Ptah Thouoris +(more than 6 yrs.), and wife Ta-user + +DYNASTY XX. + +1. Set-nekt Merer Mi Amon (recovered the kingdom from the Phoenician Arisu) +2. Ramessu III. Hik-An (more than 32 yrs.) +3. Ramessu IV. Hik-Ma Mi-Amen (more than 11 yrs.) +4. Ramessu V. User-ma-s-kheper-n-Ra Mi-Amen (more than 4 yrs.) +5. Ramessu VI. Neb-ma-Ra Mi-Amen Amen-hir-khopesh-f (Ramessu Meri-Tum in + northern Egypt) +6. Ramessu VII. At-Amen User-ma-Ra Mi-Amen +7. Ramessu VIII. Set-hir-khopesh-f Mi-Amen User-ma-Ra Khu-n-Amen +8. Ramessu IX. Si-Ptah S-kha-n-Ra Mi-Amen (19 yrs.) +9. Ramessu X. Nefer-ka-Ra Mi-Amen Sotep-n-Ra (more than 10 yrs.) +10. Ramessu XI. Amen-hir-khopesh-f Kheper-ma Ra Sotep-n-Ra +11. Ramessu XII. Men-ma-Ra Mi-Amen Sotep-n-Ptah Kha-m-uas (more than 27 + yrs.) + +DYNASTY XXI. ILLEGITIMATE. + +1. Hir-Hor Si-Amen, High-priest of Amon at Thebes, and wife Nezem-mut +2. Piankhi, High-priest, and wife Tent-Amen +3. Pinezem I., High-priest, and wife Hont-taui +4. Pinezem II., King, and wife Ma-ka-Ra +5. Men-kheper-Ra, High-priest, and wife Isis-m-kheb +6. Pinezem III., High-priest. + +DYNASTY XXI. LEGITIMATE. + + Manetho. +1. Nes-Bindidi Mi-Amen Smendes +2. P-seb-kha-n I. Mi-Amen Aa-kheper-Ra Psousennes +Sotep-n-Amen I. +3. [Nefer-ka-Ra] Nephelkheres +4. Amen-m-apt Amenophthis +5. Osokhor +6. Pinezem (?) Psinakhes +7. Hor P-seb-kha-n II. Psousennes + II. + +DYNASTY XXII. + + Manetho. +1. Shashanq I. Mi-Amen Hez-kheper-Ra Sotep-n-Ra, Sesonkhis +son of Nemart (more than 21 yrs.), and wife +Ka-ra-mat +2. Usarkon I. Mi-Amen Sekhem-kheper-Ra (married Osorkon +Ma-ka-Ra, daughter of P-seb-kha-n II.) +3. Takelet I. Mi-Amen Si-Isis User-ma-Ra +Sotep-n-Amen (more than 23 yrs.) +4. Usarkon II. Mi-Amen Si-Bast User-ma-Ra (more +than 23 yrs.) +5. Shashanq II. Mi-Amen Sekhem-kheper-Ra +6. Takelet II. Mi-Amen Si-Isis Hez-kheper-Ra Takelothis +(more then 15 yrs.) +7. Shashanq III. Mi-Amen Si-Bast User-ma-Ra (52 +yrs.) +8. Pimai Mi-Amen User-ma-Ra Sotep-n-Amen +9. Shashanq IV. Aa-kheper-Ra (more than 37 yrs.) + +DYNASTY XXIII. + + Manetho. +1. S-her-ab-Ra Petu-si-Bast Petoubastes +2. Usarkon III. Mi-Amen Aa-kheper-Ra Osorkho +Sotep-n-Amen +3. P-si-Mut User-Ra Sotep-n-Ptah Psammos +4. Zet. + +INTERREGNUM. + +Egypt, divided between several princes, including Tef-nekht +(Tnephakhthos), father of Bak-n-ran-f. It is overrun by Piankhi the +Ethiopian, while Usarkon III. reigns at Bubastis. The son and successor of +Piankhi is Mi-Amen-Nut. + +DYNASTY XXIV. + + Manetho. +1. Bak-n-ran-f Uah-ka-Ra (more than 16 yrs.)(28) Bokkhoris + +DYNASTY XXV. + + Manetho. +1. Shabaka Nefer-ka-Ra, son of Kashet (12 yrs.) Sabako +2. Shabataka Dad-ka-Ra Sebikhos +3. Taharka Nefer-tum-khu-Ra or Tirhakah (26 Tearkos +yrs.) + +INTERREGNUM. + +The Assyrian conquest and division of Egypt into twenty satrapies, B.C. +672-660. Taharka and his successor Urdamanu (Rud-Amen), or, as the name +may also be read, Tandamane (Tanuath-Amen), make vain attempts to recover +it. In Manetho the period is represented by Stephinates (Sotep-n-Nit), +Nekhepsos and Nekhao, the last of whom is called in the Assyrian +inscriptions Niku, the father of Psammetikhos, and vassal-king of Memphis +and Sais. + +DYNASTY XXVI. + + Manetho. +1. Psamtik I. Uah-ab-Ra and wife Mehet-usekh Psammetikhos +(B.C. 664-610) +2. Nekau Nem-ab-Ra and wife Mi-Mut Nit-aker Nekhao +(B.C. 610-594) +3. Psamtik II. Nefer-ab-Ra, and wife Nit-aker Psammouthis +(B.C. 594-589) +4. Uah-ab-Ra Haa-ab-Ra and wife Aah-hotep (B.C. Ouaphris +589-570) +5. Aah-mes Si-Nit Khnum-ab-Ra and wife Amosis +Thent-kheta (B.C. 570-526) +6. Psamtik III. Ankh-ka-n-Ra (B.C. 526-525) Psammekherites + +DYNASTY XXVII. + + Manetho. +1. Kambathet Sam-taui Mestu-Ra (B.C. 525-519) Kambyses +2. Ntariush I. Settu-Ra (B.C. 521-485) Dareios I. +3. Khabbash Senen Tanen Sotep-n-Ptah (B.C. 485) +4. Khsherish (B.C. 484) Xerxes I. +Artakhsharsha (B.C. 465-425) Artaxerxes +Ntariush Mi-Amen-Ra (B.C. 424-405) Dareios II. + +DYNASTY XXVIII. + + Manetho. +Amen-ar-t-rut(29) (more than 6 yrs.), B.C. 415 Amyrtaios + +DYNASTY XXIX. + + Manetho. +1. Nef-aa-rut I. Ba-n-Ra Mi-nuteru (more than 4 Nepherites +yrs.) I. +2. Hakori Khnum-ma-Ra Sotep-n-Ptah (13 yrs.) Akhoris +3. P-si-Mut User-Ptah-sotep-n-Ra (1 yr.) Psammouthes +4. Hor-neb-kha (1 yr.) Mouthes +5. Nef-aa-rut II. (1 yr.) Nepherites + II. + +DYNASTY XXX. + + Manetho. +1. Nekht-Hor-hib Ra-snezem-ab Sotep-n-Anhur, son Nektanebes +of Nef-aa-rut I. (9 yrs.) I. +2. Zihu (1 yr.) Teos +3. Nekht-neb-f Kheper-ka-Ra (18 yrs.) Nektanebes + II. + + + + +Appendix II. Biblical Dates. + + +B.C. 1348-1281. Ramses II., the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and builder of +Pithom. + +_Cir._ 1200. Campaign of Ramses III. in Judah and Moab. + +_Cir._ 960. Solomon marries the daughter of the Tanite Pharaoh, and +receives Gezer. + +_Cir._ 925. Shishak (Shashanq I.) invades Palestine and takes Jerusalem. + +_Cir._ 900. Invasion of Judah by Zerah (Osorkon II.) + +725. Hoshea of Israel makes alliance with So of Egypt. + +720. Sargon defeats the "Pharaoh" and Sibe his general at Raphia. + +701. Defeat of Tirhakah by Sennacherib at Eltekeh. + +674. Invasion of Egypt by Esar-haddon. + +670. Tirhakah driven from the frontier to Memphis and thence to Ethiopia. + +668. Revolt of Egypt suppressed by Assur-bani-pal. + +665. Destruction of Thebes (No-Amon) by the Assyrians. + +609. Necho invades Asia; defeat and death of Josiah. + +605. Necho defeated at Carchemish by Nebuchadrezzar; loss of Asiatic +possessions. + +_Cir._ 585. The Jews fly to Egypt, carrying Jeremiah with them. + +567. Egypt invaded by Nebuchadrezzar. + +320. Palestine seized by Ptolemy I.; many Jews settled by him in Egypt. + +_Cir._ 280. The Greek translation of the Old Testament commenced. + +167. Onias permitted by Ptolemy Philometor to build the temple at Onion. + +4. Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt. + +A.D. 70. Vespasian orders the prefect Lupus to close the temple at Onion. + + + + +Appendix III. The Greek Writers Upon Egypt. + + +(1) Hekataios of Miletos, tyrant, statesman, and writer, B.C. 500-480. +Sent as ambassador to the Persians after the suppression of the Ionic +revolt. Travelled in Egypt as far as Thebes. His account of Egypt +contained in his great work on geography, now lost. + +(2) Thales of Miletos, philosopher, B.C. 500. Wrote on the causes of the +inundation of the Nile. + +(3) Hellanikos of Mytilene, historian, B.C. 420. Wrote an account of Egypt +and a journey to the oasis of Ammon, now lost. + +(4) Herodotos of Halikarnassos, historian, B.C. 445-430. Travelled in +Egypt as far as the Fayyum. His account of Egypt chiefly contained in the +second book of his histories. + +(5) Demokritos of Abdera, philosopher, B.C. 405. Spent five years in +Egypt, and wrote books on geography and on the Ethiopic hieroglyphics, now +lost. + +(6) Aristagoras of Miletos, B.C. 350. Wrote a history of Egypt in at least +two books, now lost. + +(7) Eudoxos of Knidos, philosopher. Visited Egypt in B.C. 358, and wrote +an account of it in his work on geography, now lost. + +(8) Leo of Pella, B.C. 330. Wrote a book on the Egyptian gods, now lost. + +(9) Hekataios of Abdera, B.C. 300. Lived at the court of Ptolemy I., +travelled up the Nile and examined the Theban temples. Wrote a history of +Egypt, the first book of which was on Egyptian philosophy, now lost. The +account of the Ramesseum (the temple of Osymandyas or Usir-ma-Ra) given by +Diodoros is derived from his work. + +(10) Manetho, Egyptian priest of Sebennytos, B.C. 270. Compiled the +history of Egypt in Greek from the records contained in the temples. +Corrected many of the errors of Herodotos, according to Josephus. The work +was divided into three parts, and Josephus quotes from it the account of +the Hyksos conquest, the list of the kings of the eighteenth dynasty, and +the Egyptian legend of the Israelitish Exodus. An epitome of the history +was probably added at the end of the work. We know it from the list of +dynasties quoted by the Christian writers Julius Africanus (A.D. 220) and +Eusebius, both of whom endeavoured to harmonise its chronology with that +of the Old Testament. The work of Africanus is lost, but the list of +dynasties has been preserved by Georgios the Synkellos or Coadjutor of the +Patriarch of Constantinople (A.D. 792), who has added two other lists +professedly from Manetho, but really from post-Christian forgeries ("The +Old Chronicle" and "The Book of Sothis"). Eusebius quotes from a copyist +of Africanus, or some unknown copyist of Manetho himself, and his list has +been preserved (like that of Africanus) by George the Synkellos, as well +as in an Armenian translation. Manetho also wrote (in Greek) on Egyptian +festivals and religion, but all his works are lost. + +(11) Eratosthenes of Kyrene, geographer, chronologist, astronomer and +mathematician, B.C. 275-194. Librarian of the Alexandrine Museum under +Ptolemy IV. First fixed the latitude of places by measuring the length of +the sun's shadow at noon on the longest day in Alexandria and then +calculating the distance to Assuan, where there was no shadow at all. In +his work on chronology (now lost) he gave a list of Theban kings, selected +from the various dynasties, like the lists of Karnak or Abydos. This has +been preserved, along with an attempt to translate the meaning of the +names. The translations, however, are erroneous, as they are made from the +Greek forms of the names compared with words then current in the decaying +Egyptian of the day. + +(12) Ptolemy of Megalopolis, B.C. 200. Wrote a history of Ptolemy +Philopator, now lost. + +(13) Kallixenos of Rhodes, B.C. 210. Wrote a description of Alexandria in +four or more books, now lost. + +(14) Philistos of Naukratis, B.C. 225. Wrote a description of Naukratis, a +history of Egypt in twelve books, and an account of Egyptian religion in +three books: all lost. + +(15) Kharon of Naukratis, B.C. 160. Wrote on Naukratis and on the +succession of the Ptolemaic priests; the works are lost. + +(16) Lykeas of Naukratis, B.C. 160. Wrote an account of Egypt, now lost. + +(17) Agatharkhides of Knidos, geographer and historian, B.C. 120. Gave an +account of the working of the Egyptian gold-mines (in his geographical +work on the Red Sea) which has been preserved by Photios. + +(18) Lysimakhos of Alexandria, B.C. 50. Wrote a history of Egypt +containing the Egyptian legend of the Hebrew Exodus, which has been +preserved by Josephus. + +(19) L. Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, B.C. 82-60. Wrote an account of +Egypt in three books; now lost. + +(20) Diodoros of Sicily (Diodorus Siculus), historian, travelled in Egypt, +B.C. 57, published his great historical work, called _Bibliotheke_, B.C. +28. The first book of it devoted to Egypt and Ethiopia. Quoted largely +from Herodotos, Hekataios of Abdera, Ephoros and other authors now lost. +We are dependent on him for a connected history of Egypt during the +Persian period. + +(21) Ptolemy of Mendes, historian, A.D. 1. Wrote a history of Egypt in +three (?) books, now lost. + +(22) Strabo of Amasia, geographer, A.D. 20. Travelled in Egypt. The last +(17th) book of his great work on geography is devoted to Egypt. + +(23) Apion of El-Khargeh, grammarian and historian, A.D. 40. Pleaded for +the Alexandrines against Philo and the Jews before Caligula. Wrote a +history of Egypt in five books, the third of which discussed the Hebrew +Exodus; now lost. + +(24) Khairemon of Naukratis, stoic philosopher, A.D. 50. Was Nero's +teacher. Wrote an account of Egypt and an explanation of the +hieroglyphics; now lost. + +(25) Josephus, son of the Jewish priest Matthias, born A.D. 37, received +his freedom and the name of Flavius, A.D. 69. Quotes from Manetho, +Lysimakhos, etc., in his _Antiquities of the Jews_ and _Contra Apionem_. + +(26) Plutarch of Khaironeia, moralist, A.D. 125. Wrote at Delphi his +treatise on Isis and Osiris, which is of great value for the history of +the Osiris-myth. + +(27) Ptolemy of Alexandria, geographer, A.D. 160. Egypt is thoroughly and +scientifically treated in his great work on geography. + +(28) St. Clement of Alexandria, head of the Alexandrine (Christian) +School, A.D. 191-220. Many references to Egyptian history and religion in +his _Stromateis_. He divides Egyptian writing into hieroglyphic, hieratic +and epistolographic (or demotic), the first being further divided into +alphabetic and symbolic, and the symbolic characters into imitative, +figurative and rebus-like. + +(29) Julius Africanus, Christian apologist, wrote in A.D. 221 his +_Chronology_, in five books; now lost. + +(30) Porphyry of Batanea, A.D. 233-305, wrote a history of the Ptolemies; +now lost. + +(31) Eusebios, bishop of Caesarea, published in A.D. 326 his _Chronicle_, +containing a list of Manetho's dynasties. The work has been preserved in +an Armenian translation. + +(32) Horapollo of Nilopolis, grammarian, A.D. 390, wrote a work on the +hieroglyphics in Coptic, which was translated into Greek by Philippos. +Only the ideographic values of the characters are given, but they are +mostly correct. + + + + +Appendix IV. Archaeological Excursions In The Delta. + + +(1) Tel el-Yehudiyeh or Onion.--Take the train from Cairo at 10 A.M., +reaching Shibin el-Qanater at 12.25. Leave Shibin el-Qanater at 5.57 P.M., +reaching Cairo at 6.50. Donkeys can be procured at Shibin, but it is a +pleasant walk of a mile and a half through the fields (towards the +south-east) to the Tel. There is a _cafe_ at Shibin adjoining the station, +but it is advisable to take lunch from Cairo. + +(2) Kom el-Atrib or Athribis.--The mounds lie close to the station of Benha +el-´Asal, north-east of the town, and can easily be explored between two +trains. All trains between Cairo and Alexandria stop at Benha. + +(3) Naukratis.--The mounds of Naukratis (Kom Qa´if) lie nearly five miles +due west of the station of Teh el-Barud on the line between Cairo and +Alexandria, where all trains stop except the express. The first half of +the walk is along a good road under an avenue of trees, but after a +village is reached it leads through fields. Donkeys are not always to be +had at Teh el-Barud. The low mounds west of the station are not earlier +than the Roman period. + +(4) Kanopos or Aboukir.--A train leaves the Ramleh station at Alexandria at +7.40 A.M., and reaches Aboukir at 10.42 A.M., returning from Aboukir at +4.42 P.M. It is a short walk northwards from the station to the temple of +Zephyrion discovered by Daninos Pasha in 1891. Then walk eastward along +the shore, where the rocks have been cut into baths and numerous relics of +antiquity lie half-covered by the waves. + +(5) The Monument of Darius, near Suez.--A ride of rather more than five +miles through the desert north of Suez along the line of the Freshwater +Canal brings us to the fragments of one of the granite stelae erected by +Darius to commemorate his re-opening of the Canal between the Red Sea and +the Nile. Traces of the cuneiform and hieroglyphic inscriptions can still +be detected upon some of them. The stelae were erected at certain intervals +along the line of the Canal, and the remains of three others of them have +been found, on a mound one kilometre south of Tel el-Maskhutah or Pithom, +a little to the east of the station of the Serapeum on the Suez Canal, and +on the side of a mound between the 61st kilometre of the Canal and the +telegraphic station of Kabret. From Ismailiyeh to Tel el-Maskhutah is a +ride across the desert of eleven miles. + +(6) Tanis or Zoan.--The easiest way of visiting Tanis or San is to sleep at +Mansurah, where there is a very tolerable hotel, and go by the morning +train (at 9.15) to the station of Abu ´l-Shekuk, arriving there at 10.55 +A.M. One of the small dahabiyehs which ply on the Mo'izz canal, which +passes the station and runs to San, should have been previously engaged, +and a servant sent with food the day before from Mansurah to get it ready. +It is advisable also to send cantine and bedding. A few hours (8 to 10) +will take the traveller to San, where he can remain as long as he wishes. +There is sufficient water in the canal all the year round to float the +dahabiyeh. On the way to Abu ´l-Shekuk the station of Baqliyeh is passed +(at 9.41 A.M.), close to which (to the east) is Tel el-Baqliyeh or +Hermopolis Parva. The twin mounds of Tmei el-Amdid (Mendes and Thmuis) are +not far to the east of the station of Simbellauen, which is reached at +10.11 A.M. (or by the 6.45 A.M. train from Mansurah at 7.30 A.M.). Donkeys +should be telegraphed for beforehand. The great monolithic granite shrine +of Amasis still stands on the mounds. Tel en-Nebesheh is only eight miles +south-east of San. + +(7) Horbet or Pharbaithos.--Leaving Mansurah at 9.15 A.M., the train +reaches Abu-Kebir at 11.55, where donkeys can be easily procured. It is a +pleasant ride of three miles through the fields to Horbeit and the +gigantic monoliths of Nektanebo. The train leaves Abu-Kebir for Zagazig +and Cairo at 4 P.M., reaching Zagazig at 4.32 and Cairo at 6.50 P.M. + +(8) Behbit (Egyptian Hebit, Roman Iseum).--The granite ruins of the temple +of Isis, built by Ptolemy II., lie eight miles by river north of Mansurah, +and are less than half-an-hour's walk from the eastern bank of the river. +Delicate bas-reliefs have been carved on the granite blocks. The ruins are +a favourite object of picnic parties from Mansurah. + +(9) Bubastis or Tel Bast.--The ruins of the ancient city are a few minutes' +walk from the railway station and can be visited between two trains. The +site of the temple is in the middle of the mounds, the ruins of the old +houses rising up on all sides of it. There is a poor hotel in Zagazig, +kept by a Greek. + +(10) Sais or Sa el-Hagar.--This has become difficult of access since the +construction of the railway from Alexandria to Cairo. The nearest railway +station is Kafr ez-Zaiyat, from which it is distant (by donkey) about five +hours. The voyage by river involves the passage of several bridges. + +(11) Tel ed-Deffeneh.--Tents and camels are necessary, as well as drinking +water, for that of the canal and Lake Menzaleh is brackish. Either go by +train to Salahiyeh (leaving Cairo at 5 P.M., arriving at 9.35 P.M.), or, +better, sleep at Ismailiyeh, and go thence by tramway to Kantara. The +distance across the desert to Tel ed-Deffeneh from Salahiyeh and Kantara +is about the same (eleven miles), but donkeys are more easily procurable +at Kantara than camels. At Kantara (on the east side of the canal) are +monuments and a _Tel_ (perhaps that of Zaru). The excursion may be +combined with one to Pelusium, passing Tel el-Hir on the way. From Kantara +to Pelusium is rather more than half-a-day's journey. Encamp at the edge +of the sand-dunes, one-and-a-half miles from the mounds of Pelusium, +walking to them over the mud, which sometimes will not bear the weight of +a camel. No fresh water is procurable there. + + + + + +INDEX. + + +A + +_abrek_, 33. + +Ab-sha, 19. + +Abshadi, 238. + +Abu, 203. + +Abukir, 208. + +Abu-Simbel, 48, 186. + +Abusir, 240. + +Abutig, 194. + +Abydos, 75, 153, 186, 196, 216. + +Achaeans, 84. + +Adapa or Adama, 66. + +AEginetans, 214. + +Africanus, 16, 40, 286. + +Ah-hotep, Queen, 283. + +Annas el-Medineh, 36, 192, 264, 269. + +Aigyptos, 206. + +Akhaemenes, 178. + +Akhillas, 234. + +Akhilleus, 167. + +Alexander AEgos, 139, 140. + +Alexander's Tomb, 138. + +Alexandria, 140, 147. + +Am, Am-pehu, 236, 237. + +Amasis (Ahmes II.), 130 _sqq._, 215, 216, 230, 232. + +Ameni, 94. + +Amenophis III., 53, 58, 196. + +---- IV. (Khu-n-Aten), 53. + +Amon, 12, 53, 88, 122, 228, 242. + +Amon-em-hat III., 13, 189, 247, 281-3. + +---- IV., 208. + +Amorites, 82, 88, 101, 110. + +Amyrtaeos, 178, 179, 181, 266. + +Anaxagoras, 183. + +Antiochus, 153 _sqq._ + +Anthylla, 215. + +Anysis, 204, 266 _sqq._ + +Apis, 118, 223, 261. + +Apopi, 15, 23, 42, 45, 228. + +Apries, 128 _sqq._, 216. + +Arabian nome, 236. + +Arabians, 276. + +Arad, 108. + +Aram-Naharaim (Mitanni), 58, 82. + +Arioch, 1. + +Armais (Hor-m-hib), 73. + +Arisu, 84, 94. + +Arkhandropolis, 215. + +Arsaphes (Her-shef), 270. + +Arvad, 81. + +Ashdod, 125. + +Ashkelon, 90. + +Ashmunen, 268, 269. + +Ashtoreth, 242, 252. + +Asshurim, 81. + +Assur-bani-pal, 118, 120, 269, 277. + +Assyria, 59, 82, 275. + +Asykhis or Sasykhis, 264. + +Atarbekhis, 262. + +Aten (-Ra), 55. + +Athena, 217. + +Athenians, 179, 181, 238. + +Athribis, 118, 276. + +Aupet, 269. + +Avaris, 15, 39, 41, 92, 233. + +B + +Baba, 36. + +Babylonians, 33, 60, 61. + +Bagnold, Major, 4, 247. + +Bah, 210. + +Bahr Yusuf, 263, 264. + +Bashan, 72. + +Bast, 224 _sqq._ + +Bata, 25 _sqq._ + +Benha, 238, 276. + +Beni-Hassan, 19, 194, 266. + +Berenike, 146. + +Bes, 225. + +Biahmu, 185, 188. + +Bigeh, 200, 203. + +Blemmyes, 167. + +Bokkhoris, 272. + +Book of the Dead, 222. + +Bouriant, M., 171. + +Brugsch, 26, 35, 77, 335. + +Bubastis, 45, 110, 112, 193, 204, 224 _sqq._, 267. + +Busiris, 205, 239 _sqq._ + +Buto, 193, 204, 225, 235 _sqq._, 250, 267. + +C + +Caesar, 165, 234, + +Caesarion, 166. + +Cairo, 220. + +Canaan, 60, 67 _sqq._ + +---- libraries in, 67. + +camel, 21. + +canal, 77, 125, 146. + +Carchemish, 126. + +Canopus, Decree of, 150. + +cats, 193, 225, 230. + +Cilicia, 81. + +Champollion, 109, 238. + +Christianity, 168 _sqq._ + +circumnavigation of Africa, 125. + +Cleopatra, 140, 165. + +colossus at Memphis, 3, 247. + +colossi of Fayyum, 188 _sqq._ + +Coptos, 167. + +Coptic alphabet, 169. + +cuneiform, 60-65. + +---- tablets, 61 _sqq._ + +Cyprian potters, 236. + +D + +Dahabiyeh voyage, 194. + +Dakkeh, 152. + +Dahshur, 204, 263, 265, 282. + +Damanhur, 193, 204, 210. + +Danaans, 86. + +Daninos Pasha, 208. + +Daphnae, 129, 131, 205, 230. + +Dead Sea, 87. + +Debod, 152. + +De Cara, Dr., 39. + +De Morgan, Mr., 281, 300. + +Demetrius Phalereus, 147. + +Denderah, 197. + +Der Abu Hannes, 173. + +Diocletian, 167. + +Diodoros, 247, 259. + +Diospolis (Thebes), 163. + +dreams, 30. + +Dudu, 60. + +E + +Ebed-Asherah, 72. + +Ebed-tob, 71. + +Ecclesiasticus, 145. + +Edom, 43, 72, 88, 96, 101-103. + +Egypt, etymology of, 4, 206. + +Ekhmim, 197, 235, 275. + +Elbo, 266. + +Eleazar, 148. + +Elephantine, 201 _sqq._ + +El-Hibeh, 105. + +El-Kab, 14, 36, 41. + +El-Khargeh, 106. + +Eltekeh, 276. + +Enna, 25. + +Enoch, book of, 162, 170. + +Erman, Professor, 17, 25. + +Esar-haddon, 113, 116, 118, 279. + +Esneh, 276. + +Ethiopians, 112, 122, 149, 152, 249, 266. + +Eusebius, 17, 40, 286. + +Exodus, 38, 40, 45, 51, 91. + +Ezer, 72. + +F + +Fayyum, 13, 137, 141, 142, 186, 188, 194, 196, 246. + +famines, 34-38. + +Fenkhu, 107. + +G + +Gardner, Mr. E., 212, 214. + +Gaza, 80, 87, 88, 90, 95, 107, 126, 128, 139. + +Gebal (Byblos), 72. + +Gebel Abu Foda, 194, 271. + +Gebelen, 105. + +Gezer, 105. + +Goshen, 43, 44, 96, 120, 236. + +Golenischeff, M., 94. + +Grant-Bey, Dr., 221. + +Greeks, 123, 131. + +Griffith, Mr., 11, 236, 271. + +Gyges, 122. + +H + +Hadashah, 90. + +Hamath, 88. + +Hammamat, 272. + +Hanes (Ahnas), 267. + +Hapi (Nile), 200. + +Hathor, 31, 260. + +hawks, 193. + +Hebron, 72, 87, 89. + +Hekataeos, 176, 177, 183, 186, 223, 237, 285. + +Helen, 251. + +Heliopolis, 204, 220 _sqq._, 240, 250. + +Hellanikos, 183. + +Hellenion, 213. + +helmet, bronze, 283. + +Hephaestion, 138. + +Herakleopolis (Ahnas), 192, 195, 204, 264, 270-271. + +Hermes, 227. + +Hermopolis, 193, 204, 210. + +Her-shef (Arsaphes), 270. + +Hezekiah, 115, 276. + +Hierakon, 194. + +Hininsu (Ahnas), 264, 267. + +hippopotamus, 177, 193. + +Hittites, 63, 74, 82, 86, 88. + +Homer, 182. + +Hont-ma-Ra, 208. + +Hophra, _see_ Apries. + +Hor-m-hib, 73, 75. + +Horus, 201, 222, 235, 237, 275. + +Howara, 191, 265, 281, 283. + +Huseyn, feast of, 239. + +Hyksos, 14, 23, 38, 39, 40, 42, 227. + +Hypatia, 170. + +I + +Iannas, 228. + +ibises, 193, 210. + +Illahun, 263, 265. + +Inaros, 178, 181. + +inundation, 184. + +Ionians, 213, 230, 280. + +Isis, 219, 235, 239. + +Istar, 277. + +J + +Jaddua, 144, 150. + +Jason, 156. + +Jerahmeel, 108. + +Jeroboam, 106. + +Jerusalem, 71, 80, 87, 106, 116, 126, 127, 134, 139. + +Jews, 141, 144, 148, 152, 153, 155, 159, 162, 164. + +Joseph, 24 _sqq._, 93, 221. + +Josiah, 126. + +Judah, 87, 88, 107. + +K + +Kadesh, 82, + +Kambyses, 132, 149, 262. + +Ka-meri-Ra, 11. + +Kanopos, 207-209, 235. + +Kanopic arm of Nile, 206, 209, 211. + +Karians, 123, 183, 187, 218, 230, 239, 242, 254, 280. + +Kafr el-Ayyat, 245. + +Kellogg, Dr., 99. + +Kerkasoros, 185. + +Khabiri, 71. + +Khabbash, 134. + +Khal, 72, 100. + +Khaf-Ra (Khephren), 256, 259. + +Kheb, 235. + +Khemmis, 197, 235, 237. + +Kheops (Khufu), 8, 227, 256, 258. + +Khephren (Khaf-Ra), 256, 259. + +Kheti-ti, 276. + +Khian (Iannas), 228. + +Khita-sir, 82. + +Khiti, 271. + +Khri-Ahu, 220. + +Khu-n-Aten (Amenophis IV.), 53 _sqq._ + +Kimon, 179, 181. + +Kirjath-sepher, 67, 68. + +Kleomenes, 137, 138. + +Klysma, 269. + +Kokke (Cleopatra), 161. + +Kom el-Ahmar, 250. + +Kom Qa'if, 211. + +Krophi, 199-201. + +Ktesias, 285. + +Kyrene, 130. + +L + +Labai, 71. + +Labyrinth, 186, 273, 279. + +Leku, 84. + +Leontopolis, 158. + +Lepsius, 76. + +Leto, 235. + +Libyans, 84, 106, 123, 130. + +Lisht, 191. + +M + +Maccabees, the, 160. + +Mafkat (Sinai), 254. + +Mahanaim, 108. + +Mahler, Professor, 17, 308. + +Maindes, 281. + +Manasseh, 116. + +Manetho, 14, 16, 18, 73, 92, 100, 148, 228, 257, 272. + +Mariette, 39, 78, 245, 283. + +Mark Antony, 166. + +Maspero, Professor, 39, 107, 191, 271. + +Master-thief, tale of, 253. + +Maxyes, 84, 85, 87. + +Medinet Habu, 87, 89, 102, 253, 254. + +Medum, 7, 263. + +Megabyzos, 179, 181. + +Megabazus, 238. + +Megiddo, 72, 107. + +Melchizedek, 71. + +Memnon, 196. + +Memphis, 2, 5, 41 _sqq._, 219, 242 _sqq._ + +Mendes, 239. + +Menelaus (the Jew), 153. + +Menelaite nome, 235, 237. + +Menes, 2, 190, 244, 246. + +Meneptah, 40, 43, 45, 49, 83, 92, 96, 97, 270. + +Menshiyeh (Ptolemais), 143. + +Menzaleh, Lake, 231. + +Menuf, 238. + +Mer-ka-Ra, 271. + +Merom, 80. + +Messianic prophecy, 94. + +mice, 193, 275, 276. + +Miletus, 126. + +Milesians, 214, 215. + +Min, 197. + +Mitanni (Aram Naharaim), 58, 82, 88. + +Mnevis, 222, 240. + +Moab, 81. + +_Mohar, Travels of a_, 68. + +Moph (Memphis), 3. + +Mophi, 201. + +Moeris, 188, 189, 246 _sqq._, 273, 283. + +Museum, the, 141, 147, 165. + +Mut, 201. + +Mykerinos (Men-ka-Ra), 256, 259, 264. + +N + +Nahum, 121. + +name, change of, 31. + +Napata, 112, 119, 268. + +Naville, Dr., 43, 44, 76, 78, 110, 158, 211, 225, 226, 270, 271. + +Naukratis, 131, 132, 204, 209 _sqq._, 232. + +Neapolis (Qeneh), 197. + +Nebuchadrezzar, 127, 129, 130. + +Necho of Sais, 117, 118, 120, 278. + +---- II., 125 _sqq._ + +Neferu-Ptah, 281. + +Neit, 199, 216, 218, 253, 260. + +Nektanebo I., 229. + +---- II., 135, 211, 221. + +Nikanor, 139. + +Nikiu, 238. + +Nile, 31, 34, 183, 184. + +---- sources of, 198 _sqq._ + +Nineveh, 124. + +Nitokris, 11, 246. + +No-Amon (Thebes), 121. + +Noph (Memphis), 3. + +Norden, 187. + +Nut-Amon, 30. + +O + +On (Heliopolis), 31, 131. + +Onias, 157 _sqq._, 162, 250. + +---- II., 151. + +Onion, 157. + +Osarsiph, 92. + +Osiris, 216, 239. + +Osorkon I., 227. + +---- II., 110, 225, 226, 228, 268. + +ostraka, 144. + +Osymandyas, 196. + +P + +Pausiris, 179. + +Papias, 173. + +Papremis, 178, 180, 193, 205, 238. + +Pa-Uaz (Buto), 235. + +Peguath, 207. + +Pelusiac arm of Nile, 224. + +Pelusium, 178, 232. + +Pepi I., 227. + +Perdikkas, 138. + +Pergamos, library of, 166. + +Perseus, 198. + +Peter, Apocalypse of St., 171. + +---- Gospel of St., 171. + +Petrie, Professor W. F., 7, 9, 11, 48, 54, 57, 65, 78, 129, 137, 185, 188, + 191, 211, 230, 266, 281. + +Phanes, 132, 214, 233, 234. + +Phakussa, 43. + +Pharaoh, meaning of, 22, 250. + +Pharos, 147, 182. + +Pheron, 250. + +Philae, 200. + +Philistines, 80, 84, 86, 88, 90. + +Philotera (Qoseir), 146. + +Phut, 130. + +phoenix, 177, 223. + +Pi-ankhi, 112, 268. + +Pi-Sopd, 120. + +Pithom, 43, 169. + +Plato, 224. + +Plutarch, 270, 285. + +Polybos, 182. + +Polykrates, 176. + +Pompey, 164, 234. + +Potiphar, 24. + +Probus, 167. + +Prosopitis, 238, 262, 335. + +Proteus, 182, 251. + +Psalms of Solomon, 164. + +Psammetikhos I., 118, 120, 122 _sqq._, 231, 243, 278 _sqq._ + +---- II., 127. + +---- III., 132, 234. + +Ptah, 4, 196, 204, 242 _sqq._, 274, 279. + +Ptolemais, 143. + +Ptolemy I., Lagos, 138 _sqq._ + +---- II., Philadelphus, 146 _sqq._, 213. + +---- III., 148 _sqq._ + +---- IV., 151. + +---- V., 152. + +---- VI., 154. + +---- Physkon, 154. + +---- Lathyrus, 162. + +Pyramid, the great, 8, 190, 256. + +Q + +Qebhu, 203. + +Qerti, 200, 202. + +Qoseir, 146. + +R + +Ra, 12, 24, 29, 56, 222. + +Raamses (city), 76, 98. + +Ra-men-kheper, 105. + +Ramses I., 75. + +---- II., 3, 16, 18, 43, 47, 68, 76, 78, 80 _sqq._, 117, 196, 206, 208, 228, + 236, 247, 250, 270. + +---- III., 85-90, 101, 102, 157, 253, 254. + +Ra-nefer, 7. + +Raphia, 114. + +Red Mound, 250. + +Retennu, 111. + +Rhampsinitos (Ramses III.), 252 _sqq._ + +Rhodopis, 214. + +Rome, 153, 155, 164. + +Rosetta Stone, 153. + +S + +Sabako, 110, 229, 266, 269, 273. + +Sadducees, 151. + +Sa el-Hagar (Sais), 217. + +Saft el-Henneh (Goshen), 43. + +Sais, 204, 215 _sqq._ + +Samaritans, 137, 159, 162. + +Samians, 214. + +Sapi-ris, 238. + +Sappho, 214. + +Sardinians, 84. + +Sargon, 114. + +Sasykhis or Asykhis, 264, 266. + +Satrapies, Assyrian, in Egypt, 117, 122, 279. + +Satuna, 82. + +Schumacher, Dr., 81. + +Scyths, 123. + +_sebah_, 212. + +Sebek, 266. + +Sebennytic arm of Nile, 237. + +Sehel, stela of, 35. + +Sekhem (Esneh), 276. + +Sekhet, 225. + +Semennud (Sebennytos), 239. + +Send, 6. + +Senem (Bigeh), 200. + +Sennacherib, 114, 244, 275 _sqq._ + +Septimius, 234. + +Septuagint, 145. + +Serapeum, 261. + +Serapis, 207. + +serpents, winged, 236. + +Sesetsu (Sesostris), 249. + +Sesostris (Ramses II.), 47, 196, 229, 247 _sqq._ + +Set, 75, 222, 235, 237, 249. + +Sethos, 244, 275. + +Seti I., 75, 228. + +---- II., 84, 97-100. + +Set-nekht, 100. + +Shasu (Bedouin), 276. + +Shechem, 72. + +Shed-festival, 226. + +Shepherd kings, 14. + +Sheri, 6. + +Shishak, 106, 228. + +Sib'e (So), 114. + +Siculians, 86. + +Sidon, 91, 128. + +Simon the Just, 150. + +Sin, 233. + +Sinai, 7, 89, 254, 283. + +Singar, 82. + +Si-Ptah, 84, 99. + +Smendes, 105. + +Snefru, 6. + +So (Sib'e), 114. + +Solomon, 105. + +Solon, 183, 217. + +Sostratos, 147. + +Sphinx, 5, 30, 191, 245. + +St. John, J. A., 192. + +Strabo, 223, 264, 281. + +Succoth, 43, 77, 96. + +Sumerian, 64, 65. + +Suphah, 101. + +Sutekh, 23, 39, 228. + +T + +Tahpanhes, 129, 131. + +Tand-Amon, 119. + +Tanis (_see_ Zoan), 104 _sqq._, 232. + +Tantah, 226. + +Ta-user, Queen, 99. + +Teie, Queen, 57, 58. + +Tel el-Amarna, 52 _sqq._ + +Tel el-Baqliyeh, 210. + +Tel ed-Deffeneh, 129, 231 _sqq._ + +Tel el-Yehudiyeh, 157, 250. + +Tel en-Nebesheh, 236. + +Tel Fera'in, 235. + +Tel Mokdam, 39. + +Thannyras, 179. + +Thebes, 12, 50, 163, 182, 186, 194, 196. + +This (Girgeh), 2. + +Thothmes III., 18, 58, 80, 196, 222. + +Thukydides, 285. + +Tirhakah, 114 _sqq._, 272, 276. + +Tnephakhtos, 268. + +Tunip, 82. + +Turah, 257. + +Turin Papyrus, 16. + +Tut-ankh-Amon, 73. + +Two brothers, Tale of, 25 _sqq._ + +Tyre, 72, 205, 234. + +Tyrian camp, 242, 251. + +Tyrsenians, 84. + +U + +Uaz, 235, 236, 237, 275. + +Urd-Amon, 119. + +Ur-mer, 240. + +Usertesen I., 221, 251. + +---- II., 19, 266, 270. + +---- III., 282. + +W + +Wadi Tumilat (Goshen), 43. + +Wiedemann, Professor, 39, 223. + +Wilbour, Mr., 35. + +X + +Xanthos, 176. + +Y + +Yaud-hamelek, 109. + +Z + +Zagazig, 224. + +Zahi, 72. + +Zakkur, 84, 86, 88. + +Zaphnath-paaneah, 32. + +Zemar, 72. + +Zenodotos, 147. + +Zephyrion, 207. + +Zerah, 111. + +Zoan (San, Tanis), 15, 19, 39, 41, 42, 48, 78, 267. + + + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + + 1 Hosea ix. 6; Isaiah xix. 13; Jeremiah ii. 16. + +_ 2 Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh_ (first edition), p. 44. + +_ 3 Pap. Anastasi_, i. p. 23, line 5. + + 4 Horner, in the _Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society_, + 1855-58. + + 5 Brugsch's translation, _Egypt under the Pharaohs_, Eng. trans. first + edition, i. p. 266. + + 6 Ramses II. reigned from B.C. 1348 to 1281; if the stela of San had + been erected in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, four hundred + years would take us back to B.C. 1720. The Syrian wars were + concluded by the treaty with the Hittites in the twenty-first year + of his reign. + + 7 This is the length of the reign as given by Manetho, and with this + agree all the dated monuments of Hor-m-hib, with the exception of a + fragment in the British Museum (_Egyptian Inscriptions_, 5624), + which has been supposed to refer to his seventh and twenty-first + years. But the king to whom these dates refer is uncertain, and Dr. + Birch may be right in considering that Amenophis is meant. + + 8 See Maspero's exhaustive paper "The List of Sheshonq at Karnak," in + the _Journal of the Transactions of the Victoria Institute_, xxvii. + (1893-94). + + 9 Sharpe, _History of Egypt_, i. p. 346. + + 10 The inscription of Sheri, the prophet of Send, part of which is in + the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford and part at Cairo, makes Per-ab-sen + the successor of Send. He will have corresponded to the Khaires of + Manetho. + + 11 In an inscription now at Palermo a King Ahtes is mentioned by the + side of Nefer-ar-ka-Ra. + + 12 In the tomb of Mera, discovered by Mr. de Morgan at Saqqarah in + 1894, Akau-Hor stands between Unas and Teta. + + 13 One of the kings of the seventh dynasty was Dad-nefer-Ra Dudu-mes, + whose name is conjoined with those of the sixth dynasty kings at + El-Kab, and who built at Gebelen. + + 14 The last five names are thus given by Lauth. + + 15 The names of these six kings are found only on scarabs, and are + placed here by Professor Petrie. + + 16 Ameni is mentioned in a papyrus along with Khiti. + + 17 According to Lauth, the Turin papyrus gives nineteen kings to the + tenth dynasty, and 185 years. + + 18 According to Petrie's arrangement. Lieblein further includes in the + dynasty, Ra-snefer-ka, Ra ..., User-n-Ra, Neb-nem-Ra, and An-aa. + + 19 According to Lieblein the Turin papyrus makes the sum of the + eleventh dynasty 243 years, Neb-khru-Ra reigning 51 years. + + 20 According to Brugsch. + + 21 His name has been found by Mr. de Morgan at Dahshur. + + 22 According to Maspero, thirteen years. + + 23 Maspero: Andu. + + 24 Monuments of Nehasi, "the negro," have been found at Tel Mokdam and + San. + + 25 In the eighteenth year of Aahmes, Queen Amen-sit is associated with + him on a stele found at Thebes. + + 26 According to Dr. Mahler's astronomical determination. Thothmes + counted sixteen years of his sister's reign as part of his own. + Hashepsu was only his half-sister, his mother being Ast, who was + probably not of royal blood. The mother of Hashepsu was Hashepsu I. + + 27 Called Khuri[ya] in one of the Tel el-Amarna tables. Hence the Horos + of Manetho. + + 28 There is a contract in the Louvre drawn up at Thebes in the + sixteenth year of his reign. + + 29 According to Wiedemann. + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EGYPT OF THE HEBREWS AND HERODOTOS*** + + + +CREDITS + + +February 12, 2012 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Delphine Lettau, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + + + +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 38843.txt or 38843.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/8/8/4/38843/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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